Most books only sell 5,000 copies, but most larger magazines have readerships ranging from 10,000 to over 1 million readers.

Think of the exposure your message will get if you write an article for a major Christian publication, based on one of the ideas or chapters in your book. The bio at the end of the article can plug your book and give you unbelievable exposure.

The key is finding the right fit. If your book is geared towards stay-at-home-moms, don’t approach a magazine like Mature Living! Look through Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide and find the magazines that have the readers who are right for your message.

If your message can cross over to the general market, look in the Writer’s Market, published annually by Writer’s Digest. This will give you many more avenues to check out for possible articles. Other resources to check include the Directory of Newsletters and the Directory of Associations.

Make sure you understand what they are looking for in an article; find some recent issues and see what kind of articles they normally publish.

If the magazine seems like a good fit, send a 1-page (maximum) query letter or a brief e-mail to the editor (follow the instructions in the Market Guide as to their preferences for receiving queries). If you’ve never written a query letter, read a good book or take a class at a Christian Writers’ Conference about how to write a good query letter. If you want to get your foot in the door with several Christian magazines, you’ll need to do a bang-up job at that initial contact.

Once the editor contacts you to express interest in your article, begin the writing process. You might rework a chapter or take an idea from the book and write an article around that. Either way, you will be able to say that the article is adapted from your book; you may even be able to provide ordering information in your bio.