Looking for connections…

Book in Vegas

My book is travelling again thanks to Nollind and Teresa, who recently left it in this lovely library at the Las Vegas RV Resort. Over the next few months, they’ll release several more copies of Conscious Spending, Conscious Life “into the wild” under the BookCrossing program.

BookCrossing puts books into public places with an invitation to take the book, read it, and then release it somewhere when you’re finished with it. Each book has a unique identity number which facilitates following its travels from reader to reader. BookCrossing currently has 2,445,823 BookCrossers and 10,099,359 books travelling throughout 132 countries. Their aim is to connect people through books and they describe BookCrossing as the “World’s Library.”

I love that my book is part of a worldwide library. The free-form, serendipitous nature of BookCrossing tickles my imagination. It allows me to believe that I can put my book in unexpected places where it will be found by people who need it.

Who are these people? Who might benefit from reading Conscious Spending, Conscious Life? Certainly the young­­—those who are just starting out. At this stage of life they don’t fully understand how the system works and are also subject to peer pressure. These two factors make them particularly vulnerable to the persuasive pitches of credit card companies and product marketers. It’s a combination that leads many to a lifetime of perpetual consumer debt. My book gives them a leg up by helping them quickly gain some consumer street smarts. Parents and grandparents tell me it’s the kind of book they’d have written for their kids if they were inclined to write a book.

Age, though, isn’t the defining factor. Many of life’s experiences challenge us to look at how we live our daily lives­­—the systems, the habits, and the thinking behind them.

We encounter many transitions and changes in a lifetime: Starting over after financial disruption such as bankruptcy, business collapse, or job loss. Regrouping after difficult personal experiences such as divorce, adult children moving back home, and death of a spouse or partner. Rethinking when we reach midlife—assessing what we’ve accomplished and taking another look to see things in a new light. Because Conscious Spending, Conscious Life offers fresh perspectives, it helps in that process. For some people, the value is that it confirms their own good sense.

My first job was to get the book written. Now comes the fun part—making connections. Ideas are welcome.