Nursing Inside the ICU

This past week I had an opportunity to go to a really nice community book store in Morgan Hill. BookSmart is located on E. 2nd Ave. The store is owned by Brad Jones and Cinda Meister. Their event planner Jan arranged for an author event to be held at the book store. The entire experience was a demonstration of “community.” All of the people I met were the nicest people. I couldn’t find one single grumpy person in that community. I hear that the book store is very involved in their local community and they support others in many ways. This time they supported me in my quest to market my book.

The event was scheduled for Thursday Nov. 11th. They posted a poster, placed books and notes throughout the store, and published the event in local newspapers and on local websites. The evening of the event, food and wine was also provided. The event was a small gathering, a few people from Morgan Hill came to hear about my book and hear what I had to say.

I had an opportunity to tell them about myself, about the book, and why I wrote it. I read a short passage about Ronald, the 87-yr-old who didn’t tell his doctor that he didn’t want machines to keep him alive. Neither he nor his family had expressed Ronalds end-of-life wishes in a timely manner. So, he was ‘coded’ and place on life support. This passage from the book initiated quiet a few end-of-life questions and a discussion about what many of us need to do – discuss it with our families.

I was grateful to have another opportunity to market my book in a new community. I was happy that people came, discussed the book, and talked about one of the most important messages in the book. I hope that those who went home with my book will share it with others and the word will spread.

I’m looking forward to more opportunities to share the lessons in the book: end-of-life discussions and compassionate nursing care.

This week I opened my NurseWeek magazine that came in the mail. As I paged through it to preview the stories, my eyes landed on MY NAME. On page 22 in the section titled Notable Nurses… there I was. A short blurb about the fact that I had writen the book. An attempt to “take the mystery out of the ICU.”

I had sent an email to NurseWeek a while back asking them to write something in the Local Beat about my book. I was contacted by email asking where I currently live and work. The next thing I know, I’m actually in the magazine.  I’m hoping that millions of nurses around the country will see the note and look for the book. Hopefully they will Google my name and find my website that will tell them more about the book and, of course, how to buy it.

Marketing the book is an ongoing adventure.  I’m waiting for a few other magazines to publish articles and book reviews too.  Hopefully as each one comes into print, more and more nurses will find the book and spread the word.

To see what NurseWeek said, go to my website and click on Publicity tab.

Today I took a chance. I sent an email to Oprah. Why, because I want her to do a show about nurses during National Nurses Week. Yes, there is a week May 6th – 12th,  and a day, May 6th, that is meant to honor nurses. It sometimes seems that only nurses, and their employers, know about and celebrate Nurses Day. This year with the help of Oprah, maybe we will actually get the national recognition we deserve.  If… she decided to read my book and mention it on her national program, that would be good also. Maybe she will help me spread the word of what nurses actually do on a day-to-day basis.

In addition to Oprah, I also sent an email to the director of Ohlone College  TV broadcasting. I’m hoping to start with Ohlone TV in my media publicity.  There are many people who listen to Ohlone TV and can benefit from the information in the book.  I’m waiting for the live news class to review the idea and get back to me.

So the media publicity quest has started… we’ll have to wait and see where it goes.

There’s just a little lag right now. The book signing went off withoug a glitch. The newspaper article was printed last week. Now I’m just waiting for the magazine article to come out. Registered Nurse Magazine, distributed by CNA, has written an article and I’m hoping it will be in this month’s edition. After that is printed I will embark on my next step. Local TV shows, local news radio, maybe even the local college radio and/or TV. Not sure where I’ll go, but will need to take the steps on my own since I’m not getting much help from my publisher. I guess I was expecting more maarketing help from him than I will get. But, I’ll keep plugging along, until Oprah reads it, I’ll just keep taking baby steps.

Last evening I had my first official Book Signing. Yes, I have had small informal book signings with friends and family, but this was the first one held at a book store. Barnes and Noble, here in Fremont, hosted my first. I was pleasantly surprised how many people came. Some friends and family came to show their support, but there were also quite a few strangers. People I didn’t know came to see “ME” and buy my book. The newspaper article that was published earlier in the week helped to promote the book. There were people who are in the medical field, there were folks that wanted to buy the book for family member’s who are in the medical field, and there were others who came to get the book because they were interested to see what goes on in the hospital.

When the evening was over, there was ONE book left. Wow, almost a sell out. I’m just glad that my first book signing wasn’t a “dud”. I’ve heard tales of other authors that sit alone at their table and the book sellers go over and make conversation with them because they feel sorry for them. I’m sure I might have a few of those too. But right now I’m feeling pretty good about myself and the moment of success I had last evening.

I hope that everyone who went home with a book will enjoy it and tell their friends about it. But most of all I hope that each and every reader will get some small bit of information that will help them in some aspect of their life.

Today I saw myself in the newspaper. There was an article about me and the book. Until I read the article, I guess it had not sunk in. Wow, I really did it. I spent many years writing and publishing the book. Now it’s out there for everyone to read. Now my hopes are that people will read the book and something, even a small bit of information, might stimulate some thought and help them with some of the more difficult stressful situations that they may live through.