Novel Marketing Conference Testimonial
I recently attended my first Novel Marketing Conference (Jan 2026) to learn how to market my Cajun fantasy book and here’s my review.
I walked into the conference afraid:
will I be able to talk to people?
will I ever learn everything I need to know to market my book?
will I be able to execute the things I learn?
The first speaker inspired us, do it afraid! Targeted, appropriate advice
Here’s how the conference addressed each of my fears.
First, will I be able to talk to people?
It is easier to talk to people who already love the same thing you love. WRITING! I learned that at the Habit Writing Weekends in Nashville. Those have been so cozy and comfortable, but this Conference was bigger and scarier. However, when I wove my way through the tables on the first morning and found my assigned group, the first two people I met were not merely fellow writers, but fellow middle-aged Christian homeschool moms who use their experience to write educational material as well as fiction. That is very narrow! And we met within the first ten minutes because we had been intentionally placed at the same table. I know similar meet-ups were happening at other tables with different sets of demographics. And even more important, we had multiple chances to blend and meet other types of writers too.
Second, will I ever learn everything I need to know to market my book?
I can always learn more (Glory to God!) but I learned enough to feel good about getting started. From Branding to Book Covers to Podcasts to Book Tables to Reader Magnets and more. I've heard that whether you publish indie or with a publisher, you still need to do some of your own marketing. I’m a control freak, so I appreciated learning the sub-steps and guidelines of these marketing tools so that I can trust other people to help me and limit my work to what is strategic for me.
Third, will I be able to execute the things I learn?
Here’s where the Novel Marketing Conference gave me confidence! After most of the talks, we had a chance to put the content into practice with our table groups. Almost an hour dedicated to fleshing out an idea in a way that applied specifically to each one of us. We struggled through brand questions. We helped each other see our blind spots and find what type of help we needed. We practiced a podcast, interviewing each other.