A Life of Faith Promotion Takes Off Bigger Than Anticipated

FRANKLIN, TN — When Mission City Press, the owners of the A Life of Faith brand, sent out an email with the headline “Hey Moms! Want Your Daughters to Read Great Books and Get FREE Rewards!?” they had no idea it would be so popular.

“We wanted a way to introduce fans of our A Life of Faith novels to the companion books in the line,” said Sandi Shelton, president and publisher for Mission City Press. “We’d never run a reading rewards program, so we decided to give it a try.” But when literally hundreds of responses flooded the Mission City Press offices, located in downtown Franklin, Tennessee, the staff was overjoyed—and overwhelmed. Fulfilling all the prizes was no small task!

The promotion worked like this: “Read any 5 A Life of Faith novels and get a free Elsie or Millie or Violet Daily Diary. Read any 10 A Life of Faith novels and get a free Daily Diary plus an Elsie or Millie or Violet Life Lessons study guide too.” Then, the top level was “Read any 15 A Life of Faith novels and get a free Daily Diary plus a free Life Lessons study guide plus a free Elsie or Millie or Violet activity or advice book, plus a coupon for 50% off any A Life of Faith doll.” The dolls retail for $99.99.

This was no easy challenge that girls had ahead of them. Each novel is at least 224 pages long. The “fine print” of the promotion said that a participant had to provide a complete listing of the A Life of Faith book titles she read over the specified 3 month period, along with the date she finished each book, plus one or two sentences about how each book affected her. Then a parent had to certify the list.

To date, the company has received at least 350 certified responses, most of which were from girls who finished 15 novels during the time period. That means that well over 5,000 novels were read by girls as a result of the promotion. At 224 pages per book, that translates to over 1,120,000 pages of text read by devoted fans in just 3 months!

Girls took away many different personal applications from reading the inspiring A Life of Faith novels. For example, after reading Violet’s Bold Mission, Alea S. from Colorado wrote, “As we begin to travel on the path God has set for us, we will face trials. But we shouldn’t be discouraged. Trials strengthen us and our faith. They are part of God’s great plan for our lives.”

“We absolutely love the responses we got from girls,” Shelton said, “but it was also really exciting to read the unexpected letters we got from parents thanking us for the positive impact of our books.”

The Townsends of Wichita, Kansas wrote: “Here is an example of how these books affected [our daughter] positively: [the other night] I had sore knees from a recent sports injury…with my husband at work and 4 younger children to care for, I felt up against the wall. Hannah, my oldest, took over as servant. She cleaned the kitchen, unloaded the dishwasher, refilling it, sweeping the floor, etc. Then she got everyone ready for bed and sat and massaged my sore legs for me. When I thanked her for her servant’s heart, she responded that Millie [an A Life of Faith heroine] had inspired her, because Millie had little siblings and was a big help to her mom in caring for them. I am thankful that these books are inspiring my daughter to live a life of faith, to serve others instead of self. Thank you!”

“This campaign has been so very successful that we hope to repeat it again in the new year,” said Kathy Needham, marketing director, “but we need a break first to catch our breath. Seriously, we’re not complaining, we love our A Life of Faith readers. They are so passionate about this series, and this promotion is great evidence of that. But next time we will be much more prepared for a landslide response!”

Check out the entire A Life of Faith line at www.alifeoffaith.com.

About Mission City Press

Mission City Press is a non-denominational Christian publishing and communications company that is committed to helping young people develop a strong foundation of faith in God. The company has three main product lines for children—The Beginner’s Bible, which brings the timeless stories of the Bible to life for preschool age children, and A Life of Faith, which provides role models, resources, and relationships designed to help 8-14 year old girls understand, imagine, and experience what it means to live a lifestyle of faith. And Faith and Friends, which brings fun, faith and fashion to girls ages 6-10. For more information, visit www.alifeoffaith.com.