Bonnie S. Calhoun is the Founder and Publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine . She is also the Owner and Director of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance which is the parent organization for the magazine.

In addition to her passion for spreading the word about Christian fiction, Bonnie is also an author of suspense/mystery thrillers. In the summer of 2009, she signed a co-authored two book contract with Abingdon Press. The first book will be released in 2011 and the second in 2012. She is represented by Terry Burns at Hartline Literary.

I met LeAnn through the publishing house that she was working with several years ago. And she quickly moved into my list of favorite publicists to work with because of her attention to detail. I am excited that she has struck out on her own. Tell us about your business LeAnn.

You’ve written your book. You’ve spent countless hours agonizing over every detail of your story and it’s finally being published. You visualize holding the first copy in your hands, seeing your name on the cover, and smelling the newly inked pages. The joy of that moment will make you forget all the blood, sweat, and tears it took to get it done. But still, you have a secret fear: No one will read it.

Your fear is valid. Over 200,000 books are published in the United States every year. How will you get someone to choose your book out of the ocean of other books on the shelves? You need to find a way to stand out, but you have no idea how to do it. Promoting your book is not easy. It takes a lot of work, almost as much as it took to write it. Most writers have no idea where to begin.

That is why I started Hamby Media. You may not know where to begin, but I do. I’m here to help. I can help you with everything from trailers to reviews, from interviews to signings, and more. Promoting fiction titles is tricky, and only a handful of publicists work with novelists. I not only know how to do promote fiction, I also love working with Christian fiction writers. My authors have gotten reviews in Publishers Weekly, Christian Retailing, Charisma, and more. They’ve been reviewed and interviewed on multiple Websites, blogs, and radio shows. They’ve even been invited to be panelists for fiction roundtable discussions. I would love to do the same thing for you.

“Working with LeAnn is always a pleasurable experience. She is attentive, professional, timely, and proactive. And she knows the market and industry. Knowing she’s on my team gives me a great sense of confidence”
-Mike Dellosso, author of The Hunted, Scream, and Darlington Woods.

When I was working at a publishing house, we would request book trailers from our authors. When they turned them in I was struck by the extreme variance in quality. Some were so bad they weren’t useable. Others were extremely good, but when we found out how much they cost, we were concerned that the authors overspent. There had to be a happy medium somewhere. When we looked for places to get quality, affordable Book Trailers, they were hard to find. That’s when I decided to learn how to make them myself.

As a former industry insider, I know how to make a Book Trailer that you and your publisher will love. I keep the branding consistent with your book cover, I tease the viewer with the twists of your story, but I don’t reveal too much. I build the anticipation, but they will have to buy the book to get the answers. That is the point, after all.

“As a new fiction author, I am trying to learn how best to let readers know about my books. A terrific part of that process has been working with Hamby Media and using one of their custom video trailers as a tool. LeAnn is professional, patient, and full of great ideas. When she produced the trailer, she looked at the big picture and paid attention to the smallest details. The final result captures the heart of my novel Goodness Gracious Green, and I appreciate that so much.”
-Judy Christie, author of Goodness Gracious Green, from The Green Series.

“Right away LeAnn captured the mood of the book for me. I’ve had many people comment on the video asking, ‘Who did it?’ LeAnn is extremely professional, and I personally think it takes great creativity to develop a video that captures a book’s message. She hit the nail on the head with the music, too. Everything was very effective, including the length. I am more than pleased with what she created and intend to ask her to create one for my next book next summer”
- Karen Young, author of Missing Max.

LeAnn Hamby is the president of Hamby Media, a literary publicity firm specializing in Christian fiction. In addition to PR campaigns, LeAnn also creates book trailers specially designed to fit the branding of each book. She has worked with authors from publishing houses such as Strang Book Group, Howard Books and Abingdon Press. Before starting her own firm, LeAnn was the Publicity Coordinator at Strang Book Group and represented many authors, including Jack Hayford, Dondi Scumaci, Mike Dellosso, and Jennifer Strickland. During her tenure at Strang, LeAnn also pioneered the publicity efforts for its fiction imprint, Realms. Visit her website at www.hambymedia.com or email her at leannhamby@gmail.com.