An unusually serendipitous
incident happened 2 days after the campaign ended where a reviewer found a copy
of my book left on a plane and wrote a nice review for the San Jose Mercury News (bayareane.ws/1j9ralj)...maybe. My weekly report shows that Sarah sent
that newspaper reviewer, Steve Butler, a copy of the book in September. In any case, it was a very nice review
and I sent it to about 60 Twitter followers and people whom I am following. During the campaign, my Social
Influence score as measured by Klout.com jumped from 48 to 52, out of a
possible 100 (Obama has a 99, Robert Reich an 85). It's hard to tell what impact the campaign had on my
recognition factors. In no single week of the campaign did my book ever sell more than in the high single digits, but this was still higher than before the campaign.
The larger and more important question is what sort of impact on society did this have? Did it move the world a bit closer to implementing the reforms discussed? It's hard to say at this point, and not just because 1 or 2 more interview opportunities may trickle in over the next few weeks, as producers clear their backlog. (Sarah will forward those to me to follow up with as they come to her. She will retain the books and press releases for the rest of November to send out even after the campaign ended on November 17th in case she is contacted as well).
I've been an activist since 2009, and have promoted the 4 solutions in my book for at least the last 4 years. I've led two small activist groups, been interviewed dozens of times, made over a dozen presentations, been active on Social Media, and written over 200 articles. Does a Publicist help beyond all that? Probably. It's not enough alone, and it's not enough even if you have good ideas and area relatively presentable speaker. I don't know if you need scads of money. Henry George didn't have that and he moved millions with his words and persuasive force alone. The Georgist movement has never achieved such momentum since. Some of the other movements like Public Banking and Monetary Reform seem to be slowly picking up momentum. Do we need a Charismatic Leader? Better watch what you wish for, you just might get it (bit.ly/1l9SWzr). Many of my colleagues are discouraged by the slow pace of change, or even retreat, yet we press on because There Is No Alternative (TINA).
Meanwhile, just remember, America is Not Broke! (bit.ly/1LqTeHv)
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