These are all actual questions that I’ve received—with the most frequently asked questions at the top.
Q: How do I get my book on your site?
A: Go to the Free Spotlight Info Page, read it, and then complete the form.
Q: I’m LDS and my book isn’t on your site. Why not?
A: Could be several reasons. Most likely, it means I either don’t know you exist, don’t know you’re LDS, and/or don’t know your book exists. Go to the Free Spotlight Info Page, read it, and then complete the form.
It could also be that it’s a category I don’t include: such as non-fiction, picture books, etc. Read the Free Spotlight Info Page.
Less likely, it’s because your book contains offensive materials or covers that would make my core readers upset. This is a personal judgment call. Read the Free Spotlight Info Page.
Q: You have the first two books in my series on your site, but not the last two. Why not?
A: I didn’t know they were out. Go to the Free Spotlight Info Page, read it, and then complete the form.
Q: Why do I need to fill out the form?
A: Books that are submitted using the form get precedence over other books! The form includes everything I need to create the post. I can usually just copy and paste that information into my spotlight post template. If you don’t use the form, I will have to go looking for the information. That takes more time. Which means I’ll put off doing that research until I have time—and honestly, sometimes that means weeks or months.
Q: Why do I have to contact you for every single new release? Can’t you just stay on top of things and pay attention to my new releases?
A: *insert hysterical laughter here* No, grasshopper. It doesn’t work that way. I have a massive database with over 1,200 LDS authors—and counting! To check each one on a monthly basis to see if they have a new release would be impossible.
If you have an Amazon Author Page, I will follow it. But it frequently doesn’t send me a message until the book has been out for a month or two.
If you have a newsletter, I will subscribe to that. But you have to make it easy to find so I know it’s there.
If you have a Facebook Author Page, I will “like” it, but you know Facebook. It won’t show me every post you make.
But with 500+ novels by LDS authors coming out each year, it is still going to be an impossible task to keep track of all of you. It will be much easier if YOU make a database or checklist of people/places to notify when you have a new release.
Q: Why do you backdate posts? People will miss my post if you backdate it. It’s not my fault you didn’t know about my book/I didn’t know about your site.
A: This is a blog. It needs consistent daily posts. If I posted by when I discovered a book, it means I’d do maybe 10 posts in January, then 200 posts in December. That just doesn’t work.
I’m sorry I didn’t know about your book or that you didn’t know about my site. But people won’t miss your post because regardless of when the post is dated, it will still be included on my Book Lists (see menu). And if it was released within the past 9 months, it will be included in my weekly newsletter.
Q: What if my book is co-authored by someone who is not LDS/or it’s an anthology with multiple non-LDS authors?
A: No problem. As long as it’s under one cover and YOU are LDS, your book gets a spotlight post. I will link to the other authors in the post (if possible) but only LDS authors are included in the Book Lists and get an Author Bio at the bottom of the post.
Q: What if I’m part of a series of books by different authors and some are LDS and some aren’t?
A: Only the books by the LDS authors get a spotlight post. But I will link to the series page if there is one. (See American Mail-Order Bride books as an example.)