Coping with Life: So why am I creating all these lists? Because every book - particularly in mental health

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

So why am I creating all these lists? Because every book - particularly in mental health - needs a boost

Publicity budgets have been slashed. Agents and publicists find themselves either overloaded with work, or they narrow their focus so small, because they have to do so much with so little.

Nevertheless, I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish with A Legacy of Madness: Recovering My Family From Generations of Mental Illness. I knew it would be an uphill battle. But I also knew that it would take a little creative thought to push a product that has been operating on the so-called "shoestring budget."

I also knew that more than money was necessary in order to preserve the book's core principles (as well as my own).

I never intended for this to be a best-seller. If I had, I would have pushed the envelope toward the Random House's of the world. The bigger agents and publishing outfits wanted me to reveal more about myself, and my family. I didn't want to do it.

When I went to graduate school, I learned the ways of the web. The way to get on the web is to write, post and link.

1 comment:

Noch Noch said...: I would love to have a book published too.... maybe publishing world is not really for me though; December 21, 2011 at 9:25 PM

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SUSAN DOWD STONE
Susan has served as president of Postpartum Support International. She is a certified therapist who serves on the national board of the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition. She is an adjunct assistant professor in the Silver School of Social Work at NYU, where she teaches cognitive therapies. She also writes for the Empowher blog.

ANDY BEHRMAN
Andy is a mental health writer whose autobiographical book, "Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania," has been translated into six foreign languages. His articles have been featured in The New York Times Magazine, and he was recently featured on CNN's "360" with Anderson Cooper. He currently lives mania-free in Los Angeles with his wife and daughters.

STEVE BERLIN
Steve Berlin has experience as a writer for national publications. He has had lengthy experience in the fire service, and served briefly as a high school teacher. A resident of Arlington, Va., Steve is pursuing a masters degree in public policy.

LAUREN HALE
A mother of three and survivor of Postpartum OCD, Lauren Hale now supports women and families who struggle with perinatal mood disorders. She serves as Georgia's postpartum international support coordinator, moderates message boards at iVillage for new mothers and blogs at Unexpected Blessing. Lauren is also one of the founders of The Postpartum Dads Project.