getting my book in the hands of one million people

I have been handed $10,000 to best promote the better world book.  

Suggestions?

I advocate a targeted campaign to get the Better World Book into the hands of educators and academia - displays at school libraries, teachers' resources, and the like.

Here's what has me thinking along these lines:

In the book Ministry of the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson, there is a fictitious agency tasked with enforcing corporate and international gov't carbon draw-down mandates and agreements.

Their 'black ops' wing takes over some equivalent of the World Trade Organization Summit, effectively kidnapping the world's most economically and politically influential people in the world, in an attempt to re-educate them into ecological sensibility.  During the course of their capture, they were forced to endure presentations on global ecosystem collapse and a hundred ways that regenerative, non-toxic, and conservationist practices could be even more economically viable than the status quo.  Then they were released at the end of the summit.  

The narrator for this chapter, one of the elite captives, said something to the effect of "nobody cares, nothing changed, so f*** you!"

It got me thinking - how do we impart transformative change where it makes the most difference?  Where is the sweet spot where potential for change and influence intersects receptivity, maleability, and in a sense, vulnerability to a change of mind?

I can't help but think along the lines of generational change - the older a generation gets, the less likely they are to experience a mass shift in paradigm.  I have heard non-religious economists refer to this as the Moses Principle, siting that a whole generation of Israelites had to die before the people were culturally ready to enter the promised land.  

Which makes me think, perhaps the most effective target for the Better World Book (and your ideas in general) may indeed be amongst younger demographics - high school and college, perhaps middle school - where these concepts might take hold and affect change in greater measure, over time.

Beau Davidson wrote:Which makes me think, perhaps the most effective target for the Better World Book (and your ideas in general) may indeed be amongst younger demographics - high school and college, perhaps middle school - where these concepts might take hold and affect change in greater measure, over time.

I can just imagine all the seriously crappy books my sons had to read for English class at Middle and High School. What would happen if the whole class had to read the BWB together, analyze the concepts and science involved (like the difference between toxic cleaners and vinegar at the chemistry level), and identify changes they could make in their lives.

I'd already been thinking along the lines of identifying libraries which have "book clubs" were a group of people all read the same book at the same time and discuss it. One of our permies members wrote instructions for a guided discussion of the book for this purpose. I've currently reading Rob Avis' Building your Permaculture Property and on pg 19 he talks about the efficacy of having an "Accountability Partner". It's not just about getting the book publicized - it's about getting people to actually move onto the permaculture step ladder and actually changing how they do things and what they buy.

A good way to get in front of teachers is to do a presentation or buy a booth at one of their conferences. Teachers are required to take continuing education, and one of the places they can do that is at their conferences. If you find two people who can talk about the book and are presentable in a professional way, $10,000 should easily pay for a booth, airfare, hotel rooms, food and your new sales representatives' time. You could probably do it for $5,000. Personnel costs would be about $5,000. The biggest unknown variable is the price for the booth. That usually depends on the size of the conference/how many people will attend.

The Montana Federation of Public Employees puts it's Educator Conference on October 20th-21st, in Helena. They are accepting applications for presentations until the 30th of this month.

I see that there is also a Montana Environmental Education Association. Their conference is on Septenber 18th-20th, 2022.

Here is my estimate of personnel costs. Or you can see this Google Sheet and edit the numbers yourself.

Per person
[Airfare 1200
Hotel 3 nights 450
Food 300
Pay @ $30/hr 480
Total 2430
Total for 2 people 4860

Rental car 100

What kind of return would you see on that investment? I don't know, but here are my guesses. The related Montana conference for school leadersrs claims that 700 people attend. I think we can at least double that number for the educator's conference. So, if 1,400 people attend, maybe 50 will purchase books right then and there. Some will buy a single copy, and some will spring for the 12 copy pack. I think three of those people will put copies into their school's library. I think that at least 90% of the books sold will be read. I think that quite a few teachers will join Permies, or start listening to podcasts, or such. Going to a teacher's conference would get the word out.

Selling several hundred books at a cost of at least $5,000 is a poor ROI. But it might be worth it in terms of building relationship with teachers.

I think the idea of donating books to be distributed in a conference's goody bag has been brought up in this thread. Do that for the Montana Environmental Education Association conference, and you might get an excellent ROI. Those people think about environmental education every day, and they influence the curriculum choices for the state. It's also going to be a smaller crowd, but I think readership would be high.

$10,000 worth of postage for "The Knights Who Say Free"?

Jeremy VanGelder wrote:

I see that there is also a Montana Environmental Education Association. Their conference is on Septenber 18th-20th, 2022.

Looking at this website I see this about the conference:

 

   Date: September 16th – 18th, 2022
   Format:
       Friday: Field Trips
       Saturday: Sessions
       Sunday: Morning sessions (hike, yoga, coffee, etc.) A detailed schedule will be announced as soon as possible, the format is subject to change.
   Location: Missoula, MT
   Registration Fee: TBA
   Speakers, Schedule & Theme: TBA

Isn't Missoula right in your backyard so to speak?  If so that would make this a far less expensive conference to attend with no airfare or hotel to pay for.  I see they plan field trips and speakers.  Both might be something worth looking into if this group is really about environmental education.

David Huang wrote:

Jeremy VanGelder wrote:

I see that there is also a Montana Environmental Education Association. Their conference is on Septenber 18th-20th, 2022.

Looking at this website I see this about the conference:

 

   Date: September 16th – 18th, 2022
   Format:
       Friday: Field Trips
       Saturday: Sessions
       Sunday: Morning sessions (hike, yoga, coffee, etc.) A detailed schedule will be announced as soon as possible, the format is subject to change.
   Location: Missoula, MT
   Registration Fee: TBA
   Speakers, Schedule & Theme: TBA

Isn't Missoula right in your backyard so to speak?  If so that would make this a far less expensive conference to attend with no airfare or hotel to pay for.  I see they plan field trips and speakers.  Both might be something worth looking into if this group is really about environmental education.

Anyone on this thread familiar with this organization or conference?  Last years presentations look pretty good/diverse.  Anyone been before?  

It only took them 3 years... but my library is now the happy owner of 2 copies of the BWB - and 2 people on the wait list. Hopefully the copies will get well read!

ETA: I just posted a review for the book on the library website as well! Thanks for the pie - I think I deserve to go bake a nice rhubarb pie to celebrate this win!