Forever Free

I wanted to rewind a moment and take you all back to the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) that we were able to attend a couple of weeks ago.  It was an amazing display of STUFF…books, books and more books and everything that goes with books as well as all the beautiful little trinkets that you find in your favorite Christian store.  I was overwhelmed with the shear number of books to the point I began to wonder who would even be interested in my book with so many other choices???  But then, after the initial shock wore off, we were able to meet many of the retail store owners and one by one found that most said there was a great need for a book like Unfinished Love - big relief for me!  I was able to get a copy of the book into the hands of various Chrisitian TV show producers - we even have had one call us to schedule an appearance!  Dirk and I will be taping a show with a couple that do a show on the CTN network (http://www.ctnonline.com/hs04.html) called the It’s time for the Herman & Sharron Show!  We will be taping at their studio on August 14th and I will post when the program will air.  I was also able to do an interview with Ruth Dinwiddie with Moody Radio (on 91.1 in Tampa) about the book.  She was a wonderful lady and the interview went very well.  She was going to try to tell me when it would air so I will pass that along as well. 

Each year at this conference they have an event called the “New Release Party” where all the new authors gather in one large room with 150 copies of their books and hundreds of retail buyers flood in to receive a free copy to evaluate and possibly carry in their store.  As I sat and signed book after book and shared just a small piece of Zach’s story with each person, the author next to me asked each person where they were from.  As I listened I realized Zach’s story was going to be travelling around the world!  There were people attending from England, Nigeria, Kenya as well as all over the US and Canada!!  It was amazing to think and imagine all the different hands this story will fall into!  My prayer is that it will fall into those hands that need it most and the ripples from the Zach Impact will continue to spread as more and more people read the story. 

The other thing I learned from attending this conference was that shelf space in retail stores is very limited and the only way my book will make it on to those shelves is by demand.  If enough people ask, the bigger stores will have it on hand, otherwise, it will be listed in their online store, but more than likely will not be on their shelves.  So spread the word and keep putting those reviews on Amazon (THANKS to all those brave ones who have done this already!).  It really makes a difference and will help entice others in reading the story.

Overall, this show was very enlightening in helping me to understand the “world of book selling.”  I am so thankful that I have been given this opportunity to share Zach’s story.  It is comforting to know his memory will be preserved for years to come and all the lessons that came from his short eight year journey with us will be used to help others and most importantly to glorify our amazing God. 

As always, thanks for visiting this site and walking this journey with us.  Your messages and e-mails of encouragement mean so much to me and continue to touch my heart every day.

Thanking God for His Love,

Sherry