The Pietist Schoolman

T-36 days until Charles Lindbergh: A Religious Biography of America’s Most Infamous Pilot hits shelves! If that excites you almost as much as it does me, to the extent that you want to help me get the word out about the book before and after it drops…

I’m looking for some people to serve as my Lindbergh launch team.

Well, “take-off team” would probably be more appropriate for a book about the pilot of the Spirit of St. Louis — though there is a whole section on Lindbergh and the space race in chapter 12…

Anyway, the idea is that books like this tend to find their audience less through mass media advertising and appearances on national bestseller lists and more via word of mouth: readers mentioning the book to family, friends, and colleagues, or sharing a review with people who share the same interest. If it’s a well written book about an interesting topic — and the early responses have all been positive! — that kind of momentum will build naturally.

But it helps to prime the pump.

To that end, I’m looking for folks willing to do the following:

1. Read a free advance copy of the book. I don’t have the exact date, but the publisher will send it to you before August 17th. If you’ve already pre-ordered the book, you can always pass along that copy to someone you know, or donate it to a local library.

2. Share info about the book on social media in the weeks before and after its publication. In addition to the publisher and Amazon pages, I’ll suggest some potential links and memes you can use.

3. Once the book is out, review it for Amazon. Of course, reviews at sites like Barnes & Noble and Good Reads are also helpful, but for better and worse, Amazon dominates book sales in this country and beyond it. Nothing helps an author reach an audience as much as accumulating good reviews on Amazon.

(Or if you just don’t use Amazon, it’d also be helpful if you could instead encourage your favorite local bookseller to stock the book.)

If you’re excited about my Lindbergh biography and are willing to do those things to help me out, just complete this brief form, then I’ll get in touch with next steps once we’ve assembled the team. Thanks!

[Update: thanks to all those who volunteered to join the launch team! The survey is now closed.]