I was recently introduced to the funniest dang children’s book I’ve ever read. Maybe you’ve heard of it; it’s called Go the F**K to Sleep.
Actually it’s not a children’s book at all; it just looks like one. This beautifully illustrated, outrageous bedtime story is striking a major cord with exhausted parents everywhere. If you haven’t read it already, click here to see what the buzz is all about and read the whole book. Not only will it make you laugh (especially if you’re a parent), it’s also a stellar example of a book that just can’t lose. Ranked at the top of Amazon (out of 2.5 million titles) and free as a download, NPR just announced it’s been made into an audio book, with Samuel L. Jackson narrating. That’s a marketing bonanza.
When my son was a baby—and hyper as could be, perhaps from all the fresh fruit he devoured daily—I used to joke that we needed to invent a magical “baby hammer.” One feather-light tap of this imaginary tool to his noggin’ would send him immediately into a deep slumber for the entire night. (This differed greatly, in my mind from the doses of cold medicine several fried friends of mine resorted to giving their unruly tots on occasion.) Alas, no such “hammer” was ever created, and I was relegated to falling asleep way past midnight on most nights, only to be awakened many times thereafter. Wouldn’t you know, he’s now 20 years old, stands 6’3,” and still rarely goes to sleep before 2 am. Some things are clear right from the start.
I wish I’d had this book! Parents report that it makes them feel MORE patient and able to laugh when seeing that their frustrations getting their manipulative little ones to sleep are entirely universal. [Hint, hint: being universal is one of the tenants to a hit book, as we covered last December.]
For a fun, nurturing place to work on your bestseller, come play with us in Carmel in TWO weeks! We’ve just had 2 spots open up for our June 29th retreat (one woman had to cancel and one had a scheduling conflict and transferred to our October retreat). If you are feeling the call, I’d love to speak with you about joining us (323) 769-5153. From last month’s retreat…
“I just wanted to say how much I loved the retreat—I had such a great experience—and how much it kicked my butt into action and kick started my career. I’ve been back home four days now and have finished listening to all the other downloads (which are amazing!), birthed my blog, http://caitlinmthompson.wordpress.com, and contacted 5 groups in my niche about speaking for them. Thanks for all your wonderful advice and inspiration. I am about to be a force to be reckoned with!”
Katie Stevens, 24-year-old memoirist, San Francisco, CA
“The retreat is really a transformational space. A supportive and free flowing environment for women to come together around a shared passion and heart’s calling, giving each other enough room to organically discover themselves, enough support to build the crucial confidence we need to hold ourselves as writers in the world, and enough feedback and sounding board to start to cultivate the clarity, quality and courage necessary to move forward on the huge task of writing a book (or more than one as the case may be for some).
“My biggest take away from the experience, other than absolutely beautiful connections with 6 beautiful women (that includes Linda’s dog, who we all know I am completely in love with), which is no small thing, is a very real and very clear sense that, not only do I have books that I want to write, but that I am a writer. This clarity of self and dedication of heart is something I know I will carry with me and will be what carries my projects to completion as I reenter the demands and environment of my daily life.
“This is more than a writer’s retreat; it is a transformational experience for women who are writers.”
Julie Cramer, Writer, Healer, Intuitive, Coach, New York
That’s all for now.
Leave me a comment and let me know what books (or parenting tools) make you laugh!
xx Yours,
Linda
