Friend,

Over the past month, I have been attempting to contact free-standing hyperbaric facilities about the release of my book, Fighting the Dragon: How I Beat Multiple Sclerosis. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was the first treatment that started the reversal of many of my multiple sclerosis symptoms and actually stopped what had become steady and persistent deterioration.

In mid-October this year, I took the book to the Tampa Bay Times Festival of Reading. Most unknown authors’ meet and greet a lot of festival attendees. Many of these people attend to hear well-known authors speak, but buy few, if any, books from the “unknowns.” However, the theory goes, authors’ “face time” with the “potential audience” may produce future sales, especially if the writers hand out bookmarks or other promotional material with information on how to order their books.

My experience? I sold TWELVE copies of “Fighting the Dragon” at the Festival, mostly to people who had a family member, friend, or co-worker suffering the disease. “I’m giving this to my aunt for Christmas,” one woman told me. Another told me his copy was going to a cousin who lives in Germany. “A Christmas gift,” he said. I left the festival tired, but thrilled. The story was “getting out,” even as far away as Germany.

Ten days later, on Halloween (October 31), I dropped candy and 2 “bookmarks”—a 3”X4” Fighting the Dragon trading card and a bookmark advertising my children’s book, The Whose-its and Whats-its into the bags of the trick-or-treaters. Result? A few online (CreateSpace and Amazon) sales within the next couple of days.

On November 7, I set up a display of my books and gave a Creativity presentation to a writing group. The next day, I had another little “pop” in online sales—whether from Halloween or the speech, I’m not certain.  

In that same week after the festival, the doctor who treated me with hyperbaric oxygen called. “I just had a patient walk in here with your book,” he told me. “She’s excited about starting hyperbaric oxygen and low dose naltrexone. What can you tell me about LDN?”

I apologized that I had not yet gotten a copy of the book to him—his facility is a good hour away and I was hoping to set up some time to sit down and talk with him. However, I did explain the dosing to him and then referred him to Skip Lenz at Skip’s Pharmacy, a compounding pharmacy that specializes in LDN. Skip was invaluable when I was working on the book, and probably the most knowledgeable person I know when it comes to LDN.

I had tried to tell the hyperbaric doctor about LDN almost a year previously . . . but with the book . . . and Skip’s guidance, I think we may have gained a convert. I hope so.

About a week after I sent Skip a copy of the book, I tried to contact him to make sure he got it. He wasn’t available. Then, one afternoon last week, he called me. “I wanted to make sure you got my book,” I said.

“I did,” he said. “Guess where it is.”

“I haven’t the vaguest,” I said.

He then proceeded to tell me that he had gone to an International Leadership Conference in Moloba, Equatorial Guinea (West Africa). “I took your book to read on the plane,” he said. “When I got there, I talked with the Minister of Health and he wanted to see what I was reading.”

The end result? The Minister of Health absconded with the book and refused to give it back. “Expect something big,” Skip told me, “bigger than you can imagine, in six to eight months.” He gave me no further hints. Amazing to think that a self-published book which has been out for a month is now halfway around the world.

A few days later, I got a call from a woman in Canada who had heard of the book, but found she couldn’t order it onAmazon.ca. I redirected her to the CreateSpace site:www.createspace.com/3953919, and she called me a few minutes later to tell me she had successfully ordered the book. Createspace verified that the book would not be available on Canadian Amazon, but that anyone, anywhere in the world, could get it on Amazon.com. Now I know.

So, in between résumés, writer’s coaching, and editing, I am now planning the second Dragon book, where I will talk about how the therapies discussed in the first can be applied to other autoimmune conditions, cancer, and AIDS.

Today, I recontacted the hyperbaric facilities and talked with a man who told me to send the book to Michelle Obama and to contact local radio stations, and the major talk shows (Oprah and Dr. Phil). I’m having an interesting time wrapping my head around that one.

Curious how a thirty year path to what seemed total loss only four years ago could turn around and lead to something that appears to be doing so much good. I have been truly blessed.

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2012  All rights reserved 

Sandra Kischuk, Writer, Editor, and Success Coach

The writing on this page may be freely forwarded in its entirety and must include this copyright notice.    

The use of the material for any other purpose, in part or in whole, oral or written, or in any form reproduced, presented, or recorded, is only by express written consent of the author. 

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Fighting the Dragon: How I Beat Multiple Sclerosis is available in standard print atwww.createspace.com/3953919

and large print at:www.createspace.com/3967215

Also on Amazon and in popular ebook formats.

See The Whose-its and Whats-itsat: www.createspace.com/3743939

See my coaching website at:        LivingBeyondLimits.com

See my writing website at: http://www.SandraKischuk.com

“I change lives.”

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Sandra teaches online writing courses at Coffee House for Writers:

www.coffeehouseforwriters.com

– The First Edit: Finding and Fixing Your Writing Errors

– Your Personal Editor

– Grantwriting