Book Promotion Interview With Author And Dietitian Jean LaMantia

Theresa Albert, DigiWriting Director of Communications

For the book promotion program we’ve developed for Health and Wellness authors, I’ve been in search of Health and Wellness Experts who have written a book to further help their clients and build their brand authority.

Working in the book promotion field and on our Promote Your Book Like a Pro course has been informative and inspiring! I’ve met people in many stages of their publishing journey and am honoured to be able to help them help others. It is a beautiful thing when you can use your skills in a meaningful way. I’ve created an interview column in Authority Magazine to find the authors on the best paths so we can share their ideas and support their work.

Take, for instance, Registered Dietician, Jean LaMantia, who is specializing in nutrition for those living with Lymphedema. Cancer treatments come with digestive downsides which makes choosing what to eat to support health and accommodate digestive discomfort so important. Following are some of the top insights Jean shares about her process.

What do you feel is the most important character trait that is instrumental to growing an author’s brand when promoting a health and wellness book?

“When it came to launching my book, the first character trait that comes to mind is to be open to opportunities. I was asked to speak at a variety of events and I said yes to as many of them as I could. Some were small support groups and others were medical conferences, and I remained open minded to every opportunity.”

Jean is so right about this! You never know where an opportunity will go, who will see it, and what doors it may open for you. That said, I learned the hard way that you have manage and prioritize your time.

Pro-Tip: If it isn’t an exact perfect fit, don’t discard it but don’t schedule things too far in advance. Ask if the opportunity can be pitched to you within a week or a month of it happening. If your commitments aren’t full, do it! But if you took that “unpaid opportunity” and committed to it on a day that another highly paid, bigger outlet wants you, you may be stuck.

Pro-tip: Toss the opportunity but keep the contact! If it just isn’t a fit for you, be sure to note the person who reached out and their role and maintain a relationship with them. If you can connect with them in personal social channels, or better yet, on LinkedIn, you will be able to find each other when another chance shows itself.

I asked Jean to share an example of how marketing a book helped her to grow her health and wellness brand.

“Within a few months of [my lymphedema book] being published, I was a speaker at the National Lymphedema Network conference and the Canadian Lymphedema Framework conference. Without writing such a well-researched, high quality book, I would not have been featured in such a prominent way in that industry. This has allowed me to grow my brand as the lymphedema dietitian.”

What Jean learned here is important for all of us to keep in mind-no effort is ever wasted. I bet there were days when she felt as though it was too hard to keep her business running and write a book. But what she learned was that the book was part of keeping her business running. Think of it this way, the research and writing is sweat equity time traded for marketing dollars. This investment in yourself and your time leverages itself at the other end and it is a far, far more genuine way to “spend” resources instead of advertising dollars.