Networking Help for Somebody's Always Hungry

Can you help Julie with Networking? We need your help...

Hi you all, That's our daughter Lilly networking for her mom's book, Somebody's Always Hungry. That was several years ago; she is now five years old. I'm Julie's husband Barry, but I love her work in spite of that, or beyond that. I mean, I think I wouldn't be part of this if I wasn't genuinely touched by her writing. I'm a pretty honest guy. Some of you are visiting the website for the first time -- and, if you haven't read any of her stories and musings, roam around. I think you'll agree that she's got a real special voice. Others or you have been around since we started communicating in January of 2008 and most of you fall somewhere in between. The exciting thing is that a whole lot of you are fans of her writing. People, after reading the book, are buying it in quantities as gifts for loved ones. We got a grandfather reading the book and recommending it on Amazon. One new mother, having been given it as a Mother's Day gift, bought seven copies to give out at a shower for her best friend. We have another new mother from New Jersey (whose work takes her to multiple states on the Eastern seaboard) passing out book cards in Maryland and South Carolina and Alabama and Georgia. We are getting raves notices from Australia and New Zealand ... and Dubai, even. Here's a recent posting on the Amazon.com site in England: "`Somebody's Always Hungry' is a little cupcake of a book covered with sprinkles of joy. Thank goodness for Juliet Myfanwy Johnson's guttural honesty about raising a young family; this series of essays on every day life is an essential read for every parent of a young family. What she offers is not the sugary sweet slice of life when a new baby arrives that so many books and manuals of raising a family often present, but a down to earth, sausage and mash take on what really happens. After reading this book, most parents will want to bake cakes for the author for the rest of their lives in gratitude for her ability to reveal that we are not the monster parents we thought we were. In fact, the feelings of joy, horror, sadness, frustration, anger, pain and elation are all part of normal family life; oh and the never ending round of meals because somebody is always hungry!" Our problem is we did not start with a large enough universe. We began with who we knew. We designed a website. We searched the internet for possible connections. We put out a couple of press releases. We got what (e)mailing lists we could. Really, Julie and I and anyone we could drag in rolled up our sleeves, and, besides giving the kids the attention they needed, we have given our all to the book. We tried to make up for the tiny sums of money coming from our publisher with passion and hard work. We need you to help us with networking. We are on the verge of national attention. We have the book being read by some pretty big hitters (you may even recognize a few names). We were featured (after a highly competitive selection process) in the July/August, 2010 issue of ForeWord Magazine, the voice of the independent book publishing trade, which serves some 25,000 libraries, independent bookstores, agents and publishers. The response from book professionals has been, so far, universal: Julie's voice is important, and entertaining. This is pretty remarkable coming from people who read thousands of books a month. Julie's freshness seems to be waking up some people who have every right to be somewhat sleepy. Now is the time. Can you help us get over the hump? Don't be daunted by any of this. If you want to just stay home and read the book, do it. But if you can look at the next few months as the time to do your part for Somebody's Always Hungry in some greater and more persistent way, please do that. Whatever you can do, we extend sincere thanks for showing interest in (and affection for) this little project of ours. Network now! Barry, for myself and Julie

Here is how you can help:

1. Networking with your friends and new moms. Just read the book, enjoy it, give it to others. The book itself is its own greatest promoter. Point out to everyone our website address at the end of the book (page 181), point out that networking is our strength, our power over the traditional book selling empires, and urge your community to do it now.

2. Networking by writing. We could use further customer reviews on Amazon and Barnes & Noble (and the others like Target and Shop.com). If you have an account at any booksellers or shopping websites, just type in "Somebody's Always Hungry" and search. If they offer the book for sale, they will probably have a tab to allow customer reviews. Say something nice (if you feel it), no matter how short. Get your name in internet lights.

3. Networking in your community. We have book cards available for distribution. We could use countrywide distribution. Pediatrician offices are a great place. Baby clothing stores, furniture stores, independent bookshops. Places you yourself frequent. Just ask. Store owners who know you most often will have no problem putting out the cards. Check in afterwards to see how they are doing. Ask us to send you book cards by filling out the CONTACT form (found on that page) and letting us know in the optional comments box that you want book cards.

4. Networking as a revolutionary act. Go online and tout the book anywhere you can. There are mothering sites and baby sites and mommy blogs and support groups and chats. Any place you can comment, do so. Urge people to our website...there they can find out more about the book and Julie. The more links IN we get the better we look to internet search engines and the more new visitors come to us.