If You've Read our Book and Liked It....

The last couple weeks have been incredibly crazy in every way. Lots of good things are happening, but I don't have a lot of time to sit down and put two thoughts together. Now that I am alone and the kids have started school hopefully a thought or two can connect.

Just wanted to let people know who have read the book and feel that it is helpful how to get involved in helping us get the word out about the book. Here are several ways.

1) Write an entry on your blog. Some of you have already done so like Gary and Cindy and Once Lost and Cindy and Holly (Holly is giving away a free book and Just checked and she only has 8 comments. Good chance you could win). I am going to be adding an endorsement page to the book website and you can increase your blog traffic by having a link there if you're interested in little perk and, like my kids are asking, "What's in it for me." Smile.

2) Write an official endorsement. If you'd like your name in print in the next edition, we are thinking of including an endorsement page. Four or five sentences with your name and title and yes, "Adoptive Mom of One" or "Hope to be Foster Parent" are titles. Parents and those in the process of being parents are some of the best endorsers as the book is written specifically for y'all (as you southerners would say). You can write an endorsement just by leaving a comment or sending an email.

3) Write a book review on Goodreads or in Adoption Voices.

4) Send out an email to whoever you can think of that might be interested. Friends, family members, colleagues, whoever.... If you are on any adoption listservs, you could tell them about it. If I tell them about it seems like spam, I supposed (and that isn't Spiced Ham)

5) Tell your agency that you've found a good resource for those starting the process. My dream is to have agencies handing out copies of the book at training, which is why we are negotiating to sell them in bulk at a low price.

6) If you participate in any adoption message boards or discussion groups, post something there.

7) Tell your pastor or someone at your church. November is Adoption Awareness Month and I am thinking about being in some churches that month to talk about our story and raise awareness about adoption. If you've been wanting to do that but aren't sure how, this would be a way to start.

8) Send me a list of the errors you found so they won't show up in the next printing. The birthmom/homestudy faux pas (is that how you spell that?) is corrected, but others would be great to hear about. I have already had a couple of you do so). I'm still amazed at how many errors are there no many how many people edited it.

Wow, I guess I just started going and couldn't stop. Sorry about that. I appreciate anything you might do to get the word out about the book. I hope you realize that I'm asking that you help not simply because we want to sell lots of books, but because we truly did write the book with hopes to motivate and encourage folks to adopt kids.

If one more kid gets a home and stays there because someone read the book, it's all worthwhile. Just think -- if you were the one to let them know about the book, you would have had a part in the greatest thing ever -- helping a kid find a family before they enter the world as an legally orphaned adult with nobody to be there for them when things aren't going well. And believe me, there is no greater feeling than to know you've been a part of making that true for a child.