Next in a series of posts featuring the winners of the 2026 Christian Authors Network (CAN) Excellence in Marketing Awards. Amy Joob won first place in the nonfiction Physical Media category.
Entries for the 2027 Excellence in Marketing Awards will be accepted through December 1, 2026. CAN members, be thinking of how you can enter! See the guidelines at https://christianauthorsnetwork.com/marketing-award/
Using Physical Media
by Amy Joob
Congratulations on winning first place in Nonfiction Physical Media, Amy! What book were you marketing?
Arise from Grief & Flourish Again, a Christian living Prescriptive Memoir by Amy Joob.
What was the goal of your marketing campaign?
My goal was to publish Arise from Grief & Flourish Again and blanket our nation in hope, healing, peace, and God’s glory!
How did you decide what activities to include?
I prayed, knocked on doors, and received counsel from mentors. I have a team of faithful friends who prayed with me, and I also received help from a PR agent, Victoria Chapin. I was blessed to do a kickoff book launch at my home church, Ocean in Estero, Florida. They hosted my inaugural book launch there at Union Coffee. I have done events in Florida as well as Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Illinois, and Minnesota so far on the Arise Book Tour. I am grateful for guidance from Susan Neal and others, and grateful I was able to attend NRB (National Religious Broadcasters) and Blue Lake Christian Writers’ Conference this year too!
What was your favorite aspect of your marketing campaign? Why?
For me, publishing and launching this book has been very healing. I am out of the grief cave now and helping others heal from their grief too. Being in person at these events and giving people hugs, listening to their stories, and praying with them has been such a blessing to me. I am thankful for all the support I have received from others. My husband Eric has given me wonderful marketing advice and financial backing; my graphic designer Laura Bangert helped me create a lot of my physical media (banner, bookmarks, flyers, business cards, and postcards), my friend Kristen Pasche and her company Travel Light have partnered with me on giveaway baskets.
One of my favorites was the Italian-themed basket Kristen created with her products and my books for the Sole Espresso Bar. Together we are Modeling Jesus (we both worked in the modeling industry for decades). Sole is an Italian coffee shop in Greenville, SC, where my life-long friend and photographer, Sarah Hansen, helped me set up a book signing and invited her friends. The outpouring of support from the book launches to the in-person events has blown me away. God has truly answered my prayers!
That’s terrific! What results surprised you the most?
I reached out to my friend and prayer partner Amy Allen in Alabama (who partners with me through Prayer Force Ministries in praying for college and university students and campuses across the US) and she and Stacey Crabtree helped set up a women’s event at Stacey’s church and a number of women came including one of my former Auburn University friends I haven’t seen in 30 years! Amy also talked to her pastor and I was able to speak at her church and do a book signing in Scottsboro as well. God set up so many divine appointments!
I was able to speak at chapel at Christian Life College where I graduated from almost 30 years ago with a second degree in Pastoral Studies. It was my first time speaking at chapel and in the fall of 2024, not long after my brother Donny died by suicide, Pastor Daryl Merrill invited me to be on the President’s Council at Christian Life College. It felt like everything was coming full circle! When I spoke at chapel in Mt. Prospect, Illinois outside of Chicago, family members and even one of my prayer partners, Clara Barnes, drove up from downstate to see me.
What new skills did you need to learn for your efforts to succeed?
I really had to push myself to work hard and believe God would give me the grace. During my book launch in the fall of 2025, I went through health challenges, many tests and procedures, and then surgery. I discovered I had breast cancer. After surgery I am thankful to be at Stage 0 and cancer-free. I learned new rhythms, including when to rest and when to work and for a short season, about 2 1/2 months, I had to take time off events to recover. It was during this time of recovery I registered for the CAN Marketing in Excellence Award. Ironically, I didn’t originally even consider signing up because I didn’t think I had a chance to win. Yet, I decided to go for it and I am so glad I did! You never know what God has in store, so it pays to apply!
I also have been learning new skills on the computer, on social media, and have been learning that the art is in the follow up! So, if you do not hear back from someone, go follow up in person, or email again. I found following up three times is sometimes necessary and even offering the coffee shop owner, the pastor, or women’s ministry director a complimentary copy of your book pays off!
Did you have a favorite Bible verse that encouraged you during this time?
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9 NIV).
How did you determine the return on investment?
I believe we can determine our return on investment by the fruit! It reminds me of the verse in John 15:16 NKJV. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
I have not looked at just the book sales, but the people I have been able to reach through in-person events, book signings, speaking engagements, podcasts, TV, and radio interviews, coaching, and through social media. I cherish the times people either comment or reach out in a private message and let me know how much my book has ministered to them or how Arise from Grief has been life-changing for them!
I am grateful God healed me from cancer and from the grief storm my family and I went through over a period of about four years. I am so thankful to be alive and to be able to go out and share the good news with others, that grief is not the end of your story but the launching pad for your new beginning! I encourage you to read Isaiah 61:7 & 8 and stand on His promises too.
Truly a worthwhile topic. What marketing advice would you offer other writers?
I joined CIPA back in 2021 when I launched my second book, Unstuck: Step into the New, a 40 Day Prayer Journal, and the resources have been so helpful!
Arise from Grief & Flourish Again is my third book, and I went through the course on Key Words and Categories and invested in Publisher Rocket before the release. It took some time to figure out the right keywords and categories, but this was key in a successful launch! For the first time, I also hired professionals to lead my Book Launch Team, and that was a second key in helping Arise from Grief & Flourish Again to reach #1 on Amazon as a Hot New Release and Best-Seller. It really gave me the rocket boost I needed from the beginning, and I recommend investing in these resources as well.
Also, you can really utilize social media as this is free publicity! I encourage you to not only do written posts but challenge yourself to make videos and reels so people can see your face and hear your story and the mission behind why you wrote your book. It is powerful!
Finally, I encourage you to attend NRB (National Religious Broadcasters). You can go individually or through an exhibitor. I have gone twice with CIPA (Christian Indie Publishers Association). It is very helpful and can lead to many interviews and excellent marketing for your book. Make sure you pitch to the media when the list comes out before you attend the conference so you can line up interviews. I did a number of podcast, TV, and radio interviews there and since attending. Recently, I was on Club 36 through Watchmen Broadcasting/WBPI TV 49 and Friends and Neighbors through WATC TV 57 and I met those individuals through attending NRB.
Great advice, Amy. Thank you. How can readers learn more about you and your writing?
If you are interested in learning more about my writing or my author coaching, you can visit my website and follow me on socials through the links below. Thank you, and praying God blesses your writing and all the works of your hands!
- https://www.amyjoob.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/amyjoob1?igsh=cmFwb3VncWl0YjQ3
- https://facebook.com/amy.robnikjoob/
- https://m.facebook.com/AmyJoobAuthor/
- http://linkedin.com/in/amy-robnik-joob-4466b226
