I flew to New York on May 25 with the objective of finding Literary Agent to take on my book to complete US versions for the existing two.

On Wednesday I went to the first day of Book Expo America which was dedicated to authors. There were about 400 people there and they had some great seminars regarding how to plot your way through the publishing maze which gave some excellent insights.

 

We then had the opportunity to do a “pitch slam” with Literary Agents. Over here, publishers receive an average of 300 manuscripts per day and very rarely follow up any directly and rely on the LA’s to vet opportunities.

 

In “pitch slam” the 400 authors have 3 minutes to tell their story to about 50 LA’s with a view to getting feedback on their project and perhaps a signal of interest that could lead to the LA taking on their project. Before getting to NY I had done a lot of research to find out who would be the best LA’s to take on my project. I had targeted 6. Of the 6 I slammed, 5 expressed interest and my 3 top picks expressed very strong interest including one saying “I’m totally on board – don’t bother seeing any other agents”. I had emailed my top 3 LA’s prior to getting to NY with my new 3 minute keynote demo and I think this added considerable momentum (http://www.pineapplemedia.com.au/Cowan.html  )

 

I had another great day yesterday and by chance met with Judith Curr the Executive Vice President of Atria books which is a division of Simon and Schuster. Believe it or not she is an Australian who is now based in New York. She was the publisher of “The Secret” which has now sold 7 million copies. She asked me to post her copies of my books and follow up with her executive editor which is very exciting.

 

A key part of the US success will be getting on board the American celebrities to be interviewed in BFTB. BFTBToo is ready to go almost immediately but it makes sense to launch the 2 together.

 

On Monday we head to Chicago to see the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance to get their support (which I need for local credibility with the high profile people) for getting the project underway. I have already had email and phone contact with them and it is looking very good.

 

On Friday night Hilary and I went to “Jersey Boy” – a musical about Franky Valli and the Four Seasons. It was just sensational – real stand up, shout and cheer show. After that we strolled through Times Square which at 11pm was just jam packed with people – you feel guilty for going to sleep in this place.

 

Hope all is well back home.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: back from the brink, depression books, depression help, depression treatments

One of the biggest problems you have when you google depression or anxiety disorders is that you get 6 Trillion websites - where do you start?

I am very proud of the new resources section for  www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com . It is extremely comprehensive and covers helplines, organisations, websites, support groups, and books for Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, and Canada.

It was put together with a huge contribution from a friend of mine, who wishes to remain anonymous. It is broken down into subcategories which include:

General Mental Health

Depression

Bipolar

Child and Adolescent

Carers

Post and Antenatal Depression

Anxiety Disorders

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Support Groups

There is also a large listing of books that is broken down into the same categories and are linked directly to Amazon so that you can read more about each book to see if it is for you.

You can check out the resources section at: http://www.iambackfromthebrink.com/resources.html

Hopefully this directory will save you lots of time in identifying websites that have good material.

Have a look at the section and let me know by answering this blog if there are any other sites that you think should be included. http://www.iambackfromthebrink.com/resources.html

Kind Regards

Graeme Cowan

www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com

 

Tags: anxiety, bipolar, depression, depression books, depression resources

I thought I would share some wonderful news with you. There is a book by Jack Canfield called the “Aladdin Factor”. Basically it asserts that if you have wishes and dreams you should float them out there because it is remarkable what can happen. I have a very good example of that. I’ll try and keep a long story short:

An amazing journey

Earlier this year I had a call from a counsellor from Lifeline Cental in SA requesting to buy a couple of books. As I had previously received several emails from other Lifeline counsellors saying how helpful they had found the book, I decided to donate a box of 30 books. The counselling manager from the region, offered to help coordinate the written feedback from counsellors after they had read it. Overwhelmingly they agreed that it would be very helpful (see comments below).

 

A couple of nights after receiving that feedback from SA, I was giving a keynote address at a Lifeline fundraiser for h2h in Sydney. At the end of my speech, I mentioned briefly that it was my vision to find a sponsor to provide a copy of my book for every Lifeline TC. A couple approached me after my talk saying they would like to help on the condition that their involvement remained anonymous. After contacting a colleague overseas they were able to raise the necessary money for the 4200 books – truly inspirational.

What Lifeline TC’s had to say about BFTB

“I read it in two and a half days – I couldn’t put it down”

“It helped me understand the different forms depression can take and how they can affect people”

“The stories were full of hope – it is what clients need to hear”

“There are stories in there that everyone can relate to”

 Put 11.00am Tuesday September 9, 2008 @ The Blackdog Institute in your diary

I’m thrilled to confirm the launch day for BACK FROM THE BRINK TOO: Helping your loved one overcome depression. I am very excited by the potential of this book to touch many lives. An official invitation will follow soon but I just wanted to get the date in your diary.

 

Kind Regards

Graeme

 

Tags: depression books, inspiration, overcoming depression