Becoming a Voice, How the Book Took Off

“Most teachers will enjoy this paperback. . . . Most administrators will want to burn it.” Marc Hansen, Des Moines Register

How do three unknowns in Des Moines with no budget and limited marketing skills sell a book? We persuaded two local bookstores, Borders Books in West Des Moines and Big Table Books in Ames, to take a few copies. Then Marc Hansen of the Des Moines Register wrote an article about it—and the book took off. Within one week after his column, the first printing was gone.

We hit the airwaves, too. Gretchen appeared on a local radio talk show where Steve Deace, the host, called the book “required reading for all teachers and parents.” She also did a live interview with Marcus McIntosh on the KCCI-TV noon news. The book sold out at both stores. The Des Moines Public Library bought seven copies.

About that time, Christian Gurney and Dick Kirsner from KGInterdev read our novel and GAVE us a Web site, www.disgracetotheprofession.com. That made information about the book—and the means to order it—available worldwide. Monitoring Web hits became our passion; we were thrilled and excited to mark its progress around North America. We printed twice more, increasing the number of books each time.

Jane Burns of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote a review. Our Web site had over 1,600 hits in 24 hours. We heard from bookstores all over Minnesota and some from Wisconsin. Her column, “Des Moines Book Creates Stir Among Teachers,” was also syndicated in papers in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts (perhaps others). We printed two more times.

Tim Schmitt, writer for Point Blank, one of Des Moines’ alternative newspapers, called the book “the brutal truth.” Mike Kilen, also of the Des Moines Register, featured our novel in the “Iowa Life” section; the subhead announced, “Little Book, Big Message.” His column was also syndicated nationally and was listed with a link on the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) e-mail “InBox.” Pam England discussed the book in her weekly column, “Whim Whams,” in the Adams County Free Press. Omaha-World Herald columnist Bob Glissmann read the book during a snowstorm and called the next day to schedule an interview for an article.

We landed in some magazines, too. The Iowan featured the book in the “Iowa Authors” column. Kellye Carter Crocker’s “A Is for Effort” in Pages told the nation that “teachers around the country are cheering the spot-on depiction of the bureaucratic red tape and petty, image-obsessed administrators that make it so difficult for them to focus on their primary job—teaching.” And we were thrilled when the American Library Association’s Book List gave us a very positive review.

What about our book led to this publicity? Pam England: “Lively, concise writing … depicts a small cast of memorable and sometimes eerily familiar characters.” Tim Schmitt: “The story flows nicely, the characters are engaging and real, and the problems are presented in a way that is understandable and never preachy.” Education Matters: “A Disgrace to the Profession has proven to be the most popular of all the books reviewed by members of our staff and our book review council over the past several years.” Whitney Scott in Book List: The book is a “roman engagé [that presents] the all-too-credible circumstances that define [readers’] lives.” Jane Burns: “It’s contagious.”

Watch for our next posting: Becoming a Voice, the Power of Word of Mouth.