My dear hobbits,
This past week marked six months since the release of my book WILD WONDER! Wild, right?! It has truly been a wild & wonderful ride. And so at the risk of sounding self-congratulatory, I wanted to take a brief moment to say THANK YOU!
Thank you to all of you for so much love & support surrounding this release. This has been my first-ever published book, one that I didn’t expect a few years ago, and so this past season has been one filled with expectancy & excitement, along with a few jitters. I usually cringe at any onslaught of self-promotion, but with so many friends & family rallying around this project, it made stepping into the spotlight a little more warming & welcoming.
I’m so thankful, not only to those of you who’ve bought the book, but who’ve bought multiple copies & gifted them to others. And I’m grateful to all of you who went a step further in sharing about the book on social media & writing reviews on Amazon. And I want to especially thank those who hosted book launch events & invited me to speak to (y)our communities across America & recently in New Zealand — totaling a dozen events altogether!
Many of you have asked how the book is selling. I’m not sure if this is kosher or humble, but I’ll go ahead & share some numbers for those who are curious. Over 4000 books have been shipped to retailers, and out of that number, a little over 2000 have sold. Tbh, I don’t know if those are “good numbers” in the publishing industry or not, but I am so grateful to have even sold a hundred!
LET’S GET WILD WONDER FURTHER INTO THE WILD!
I hope WILD WONDER has brought you & your home a little more peace, calm, & beauty. And if it has, and you’d like to see that spread further into this wild world, I would be so grateful if you’d consider doing at least one of these three things:
Leave a Review on Amazon. This has a greater impact on reach than you’d ever imagine. If you want to go a step further, copy & paste that review on Goodreads!
Share on Social Media. Tbh, this one is difficult to ask, especially since I’m taking an extended break from social media myself (with a few exceptions.) Almost everyone I talk to is exhausted by noise of this chaotic world & taking a step back. But if you’re still hanging in there & want to invite others to have a little more peace & calm in their lives, I’d be honored if you’d share about the book & direct folks to WildWonderBook.com!
Gift the book to someone in need. WILD WONDER is designed to be a gift. And I love seeing it given away, especially to those who could use the encouragement. One of my favorite stories of this is my own dad buying a case load of books so that he can give them to friends who are grieving. And I’ve heard similar stories from others who have experienced loss recently.
This book is meant to be an antidote to the fast-paced busyness, noise & chaos that is plaguing our culture today, inviting us to reconnect with the healing beauty found in Creation (and in the Creator who is holding our mess together with grace.) Thank you for joining me in doing this work & helping me spread the word!
I hate asking people to do anything. It’s uncomfortable for me. Doing so has been an invitation to “step out of my comfort zone”, as we often say. So thank you for some extended grace here as I make a little effort to push this book further into the wild! I truly can’t do this without you guys.
On that note, I have one more request. It’s selfish, really. If you’ve been enjoying the book, I would love to hear from you. If you’ve got the time & energy, please leave a comment on this Substack post or reply to this email. I’d love to hear your thoughts… what you’ve liked, which landscape or photo you’ve resonated with the most, or even something that you’ve found challenging or didn’t like about the book. I welcome it all & would love to turn this monologue into a dialogue. =)
Alright, this is getting too long. Thanks again for the past six months, guys. Truly.
Peace be with you,
Stephen P.
P.S. Thank you to ON EARTH (Michael Gungor & Tyler Chester) for the music used in the video montage/slideshow! You can listen to their calming, beautiful instrumental music on Apple Music & Spotify.
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