God Definitely Has a Sense of Humor

And hopefully I'll be laughing all the way to the bank (at some point, assuming there still are banks)!

The unbelievable saga of my retreat planning book continues... When I started my research last spring, I began calling camp and conference centers around the US to get my data for the "get yourself started" listing of facilities nationwide. I had the hardest time reaching a live person, and often when I did, the person was rather suspicious, like I was trying to sell ad space, not simply obtain basic info about their camp. After working my way through the first 5 states on my list and getting a dismal response rate, I opted to just utilize two online camp/conference databases and only deal with facilities that had detailed web sites. That worked, and my book continued unhindered.

However, after the book came out in December, I asked my Judson Press marketing director if she thought we should send a mailer to all the camp/conference centers in the book to let them know the book was available. I hesitated because I didn't want these places to feel like I was running some kind of bait and switch scam and now I expected them to buy because they'd been included. Oddly enough, though, camps began contacting Judson and asking if they could buy the book in bulk and give it away to all of the groups who use their facilities. That request got the marketing director thinking about a different way to promote the book as both a tool and a blessing for user groups. So, a direct mail piece was done and sent to all the Christian Camp and Conference Association members letting them know about the book and offering a discount for buying in bulk. That's resulted in a small but steady stream of orders every day from the camps, which hopefully will turn into bulk orders down the line. Who knew?

Like I said, I hope I'm ultimately laughing all the way to the bank and that the book continues to be both a blessing and a tool for all who read it! You gotta love God's sense of humor!