Today I’m
hosting an interview with Shelley Hitz, the co-author of the book, “Forgiveness Formula: Finding Lasting Freedom in Christ.” In fact, the book launch for “Forgiveness Formula” is today, December
6th! When you get your copy
of the book today, you’ll also get 19 bonuses worth over $100 and be entered to
win the grand prize drawing of one Kindle Fire, Nook or iPod Touch. You can get all the details here: www.theforgivenessformula.com/gifts/
(NOTE: if you don't have a Kindle or Nook, you get the free application for your smart phone or pc by clicking on the link.)
Shelley, how did you come up with your
title, “Forgiveness Formula: Finding
Lasting Freedom in Christ?”
To be
honest, we recognize that there is truly no “formula” for forgiveness. It is something supernatural that God does within
us. But as far as the title goes, “Forgiveness Formula,” – the word formula
refers to the teachings that Christ have given us in His Word, the Bible. His teachings or His “mathematics” that truly
do “add up” to a full life (John 10:10).
Often
time, we scratch our heads - like the image on our front cover of a boy
scratching his head and looking at the chalkboard of all these mathematical
equations. I think sometimes we look at
our lives and we’re scratching our heads because our circumstances don’t make “add
up” in our eyes. They just don’t make
sense in our human “calculations.”
Yet, when we truly do apply the teaching of Jesus regarding forgiveness, it opens the way for God to bring healing into our lives. I actually learned about this during a counseling session when I was going through some deep healing. The counselor shared with me the illustration of the forgiveness cross that I will never forget. It contains three parts: forgiving others, asking God’s forgiveness and then forgiving ourselves. That’s the three-step process that we explain in more detail in our book and one of the main illustrations I use in my section on forgiveness.
Share a few of the marketing strategiesyou
used to promote “Forgiveness Formula.”
For the
first time since I published my first book in the fall of 2008, I wrote out a
book marketing plan. To be honest, I
wish I would have started this habit a lot sooner. As they say, “If you fail to plan, you plan
to fail.” And that’s also true with book
marketing.
Since
my husband and I co-authored this book, we sat down together and decided on a
4-month book marketing plan. We didn’t
have a huge marketing budget, so we chose options that were either free or low
cost.
Here is a list of what we put into
place starting in September 2011.
- Book website
- Book blog with the theme of forgiveness
- Facebook business page
- Twitter account
- YouTube video marketing
- Press Releases
And I’m
not going to lie….book marketing is a lot of work! Not only did we start setting up our author
platform through blogging and social media, but we also began planning a free online conference,
book launch and virtual booktour. Looking back I wonder, “What
was I thinking?” We don’t have a large
staff, or any staff at all and so we’ve spent many hours investing into these
book marketing strategies.
Is it
worth it? You bet!
We are
passionate about spreading the message of Christ’s forgiveness through our book
and so if even one life is changed, it’s been worth it. People have told us that they both laugh and
cry as they read our book. Ultimately,
we pray that many lives are impacted by Christ through our book – through the
testimonies we share and through the power of God’s Word.
Shelley Hitz is the co-author of
Forgiveness Formula: Finding Lasting Freedom in Christ, along with her husband,
CJ. In this book they talks more about
this topic of forgiveness as well as when bad things happen. Visit their book website to check out their
full virtual book tour schedule and special gifts with purchase at:
www.TheForgivenessFormula.com 