Skyrocket Your Publishing Career through NRB
Attending the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention can skyrocket your publishing career. Typically, you get a year’s worth of media interviews through this conference. NRB is the largest gathering of Christian communicators in the world. Media from radio, podcasts, television, newspapers, magazines, journals, digital marketing, and more attend. In 2024, they will hold the NRB convention in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort on February 21–23.
NRB has been key to my personal journey of walking out the call of God in my life. My first NRB experience with the Christian Authors Network and Christian Indie Publishing Association (CAN/CIPA) was in 2022. Attending the convention as a CAN/CIPA member allowed me to obtain more media exposure. I did a book signing at the CAN/CIPA booth and another official NRB book signing where my name and book title were published in the NRB brochure, where thousands of media and readers viewed it. The experience at the book signing was amazing.
Benefits of NRB
Besides book signings, one benefit of attending CAN/CIPA was that I received a list of all the media outlets attending the convention. Before the conference, we received a training session from the CAN/CIPA CEO, Susan Neal, about tactics to land interviews. I secured over fifteen media interviews by attending my first NRB convention, including magazine articles, newspaper features, and podcast and television interviews. I was exclusively featured on two television episodes with my entire family with a two-day recording that aired and broadcast worldwide.
While waiting to be interviewed for a television feature at NRB, I noticed a vibrant woman to whom I introduced myself. She was a publicist for a very large international public relations firm. While I waited, we struck up a great conversation. A year later, when I needed a publicist for my book, The Parents Battle Plan, with Baker Publishing Group, I contacted her, and she became my publicist. I don’t think this publicity firm would have represented me had I not met her in person. I remember how Susan Neal encouraged us to pray for Divine meetings; this was one of them.
Of course, I signed up to attend NRB the following year. I got to the event a day early and went to one of the hotel’s restaurants. It was a hibachi-style restaurant where we sat in a large group around a grill. I ended up sitting with the founders and executives of Pray.com. This company is the premier sponsor for the NRB event. The relationship I developed with the founders continues to this day and has been such a blessing to me. This was another Divine meeting.
Media Features
Again, I was blessed with many media features, including television shows, podcast interviews, online streams, blogs, and articles. I even met a new publishing house that will publish my next book, Warfare Parenting: A 365 Devotional for Parents, which releases in February 2025. At this NRB, I saw a publicist I had worked with over the years who scheduled his clients for interviews on my Warfare Parenting Podcast. We sat down to discuss each other’s plans for the upcoming year. He ended up introducing me to my newest publisher. Now, that was a Divine introduction.
I cannot express my gratitude for the CAN/CIPA organization. I have benefited tremendously from the many courses and guides that are part of this association. I’ve used the guide to writing press releases, which helped with my media campaigns and book releases. There are guides on how to query media, create a media kit, and conduct media interviews. Plus there is a list of 125 radio and podcast media that comes with your membership. If you are an author, I recommend joining at CIPA.Podia.com. If you want to sign up to attend NRB with CAN/CIPA, check out the details at https://christianpublishers.net/trade-shows/. The NRB opportunity has been a tremendous catalyst for launching my successful media features.
About the Author
To learn more check out Laine’s website at https://lainelawsoncraft.com/.Laine Lawson Craft’s latest book, “The Parent’s Battle Plan: Warfare Strategies to Win Back Your Prodigal,” won the 2023 Nonfiction Book of the Year Golden Scroll Award. This book shares her personal journey of victory over spiritual warfare with her children. Laine is determined to help millions of parents’ guide their teens through difficult choices. The book is driven by stories of victory that offer hope and healing. You can listen to her Warfare Parenting podcast here.