Readers of The White Rhino Report are already very familiar with the story of U.S. Army Captain Scotty Smiley, the Army's first blind active duty officer. I have even shared in the past year some advance peaks into the story being told in the book, "Hope Unseen," authored by Scotty and Doug Crandall. Scott, his wife Tifanny and Doug Crandall each spoke with great impact at last fall's Intersection 2.0 event.
After a long gestation, the book is going to be released on September 14. I was privileged to have been able to offer comments regarding some of the early drafts of the manuscript, so I have been sent a pre-publication copy of the book by Simon and Schuster. I began the book last evening, and was in tears within the first five minutes. I will offer a full review within the next week, but I wanted my readers to be aware of some upcoming publicity events that will lead up to the official book release.
I am pleased to share an e-mail I received this morning from Doug Crandall that tells about some of these upcoming events. I can already tell you - only a few chapters into the book - that this is one you will not only want to read yourself, but will want to give as gifts to loved ones and friends.
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Friends and Family --
I promise this is the one and only e-mail blast I will send about Hope Unseen. As you may know by now, the book releases to the public on Sep. 14th. I received my copies today, and it was honestly pretty emotional. From a depression that put me on my bedroom floor two years ago (which I share in the preface), to leaving my job before we ever had a publisher (with the blessing of my amazing wife) -- just knowing God wanted me to do this, to finding a great agent and having ONE publisher that wanted the story, to being down to just a few dollars in the savings account and waiting for an advance check, to forming a loving and enduring friendship with Scotty and Tiffany...after 18 months, the book arrived at our door today.
I don't brag often (I hope). But I will say that I couldn't be more proud of what is between the covers. It is a riveting story of a man and woman whose faith shines through total darkness (literally and metaphorically). I am confident it is going to change lives and spread hope. A member of our publishing team paid me the compliment of telling me that I am a gifted writer. I appreciated that...but in this case I disagree. This book was a gift to me, and I thank God for orchestrating every step of it. More than that, Scotty and Tiffany's example is a gift to us all.
So...we'd now like every possible person to read it. You can help by spreading the word (and I know so many of you already are). Buy a few extra copies and give them as gifts. Post reviews of the book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and your blogs. The publisher has put together an amazing national media campaign (with events still forming). Scotty will be on CBS Sunday Morning this week. Fox and Friends is interested. He's going to be on Good Morning Dallas. On the USA Radio Network. Family Life Radio. In Touch Magazine. An LA radio show with 1 million listeners. Dave Ramsey is going to talk about the book to his 5 million listeners. This really has a chance to saturate our nation with hope.
But grass roots is still where I believe the power comes from. Telling your friends, who tell their friends, who tell their friends...
Of course if you don't like the book, please don't tell anyone. :) But if you do, share away.
And if you can make it to our launch on Sep. 18th, we can't wait to see you there.
Thanks for reading this e-mail -- which is all about me in a sense. But I stink at sales. I blow every interview I have, because I can't sell myself. This story? I can sell it. It's phenomenal. And it's real.
Sincerely,
Doug
Amazon Link to "Hope Unseen"
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