what I now need to do

I could use my readers' help with what comes next with this book: marketing.

Yes, the book needs to be marketed and to be honest, I hate marketing. There's being a ho, and there's being a ho, understand? Marketing means selling yourself, promoting yourself, spreading the word about yourself. Me, me, me to you, you, you. It's one thing to maintain a blog and attract a readership through the simple act of writing. (Writing, after all, is one form of communication, and except for the recluse's jealously guarded diary, it implies an audience.) It's another thing to take this to the next level and actively bother people about what you've written.

But that's what comes next.

What I need to do-- and fast-- is start to spread the word to various circles: university ListServes, church/temples email lists, blogs, and sundry societies devoted to questions of philosophy and religious studies.

So from my readers, at least early on, I'm humbly asking two things: (1) a brief or lengthy review of my book,* and (2) some help in spreading the word to people you know who might be interested in books like mine. If you've got a neighbor or fellow church member who might be interested in a book like Water from a Skull, please tell them about your purchase.

Thank you in advance for your help. And a BIG thank-you to the readers who have already-- already!-- visited my online store and bought copies of the book. As I said long ago, I have no illusions that the book will make me rich, but I do hope to sell a couple hundred copies within a year. Your assistance is crucial in achieving that goal.

Eventually, I will develop and install less intrusive ads on this blog, but for the moment, I'm going to let the big, obnoxious banner ad hang there.

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*If your review is going to be mostly negative, then it's obviously unlikely that I will want or need it. You are, of course, free to review the book however you want, and I admit I'll be curious about the critiques I receive (motivation to make a Second Edition later on!), but what I'm looking for are reviews that help market the book-- quotes I can place on the book's back cover, for example. Because marketing power stems in part from the credibility of promoters, having a string of letters behind your name of the "MA, Ph.D, CEO" type will be an enormous help.

That reminds me-- if you are of the academic persuasion, I might need you to write a foreword or afterword for the Second Edition (not likely to appear for at least a year or two). Gracias.


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