Endorsed?

I was intimidated by the suggestion in the WAP Blueprint to reach out to others who could endorse the book. But in the middle of June, I did manage to humbly ask a number of people. My targets were experts in fields that relate to themes in Invisibly Ill and Living with Hope. Word Alive Press gave me a soft deadline of August 15 for endorsements to come in. They had less than two months, and the assignment I gave these busy people was significant. I hoped to get one or two endorsements, but I wasn’t counting on any. Each time a potential endorser said yes, I prepared an “Advanced Reader Copy” or ARC for each of them. These ARCs were watermarked manuscripts and sometimes differed from each other as the project was a living document and constantly being subjected to revisions; hence, the watermark “working copy.” I also highlighted areas of the text that would be of special interest to each endorser given their areas of expertise.

I was stunned by the support I received and the willingness of others to read my manuscript and even come up with praise for it. Each time another endorsement came in, I was astonished. “Kevin, Claire! Listen to what they said about the book! Can you believe it? They actually read it. They actually seemed to like it. I can’t believe what people are doing for me.”

In subsequent posts, I will highlight the people who contributed to the book with their public statements of affirmation.