After working on it on and off for the last 15 months it's finally done. The title we agreed on is What Every Immigrant Needs to Know - Practical information for living and succeeding in the United States. I now have 10,000 copies of it in our office, my car, and my garage. My goal is to sell 500,000 this year. Ambitious but doable. I'm very pleased with how it turned out - the cover is colorful and catchy and the rest is simple and easy to read. It has a ton of information, 170 topics, condensed into 48 pages. I haven't been this excited about anything since we first started Intercambio. The potential for this guide to be utilized heavily throughout the country is real, and I feel like whether I reach that potential depends on the marketing efforts. I have no doubt the product is needed, affordable and high quality.
Today we mailed about 150 samples to places like Mexican Consulates, Police Depts, Housing Depts, Refugee resettlement Agencies, Unions, ESL programs, Health Depts, Libraries, and more. We've researched about 10 different cities throughout the country so far, but I want to do much more.
I'm also excited about a conversation I had with someone from Ashoka last week about potentially becoming a fellow with them. Ashoka is an amazing nonprofit that works with social entrepreneurs throughout the world. It has been my dream for the last few years to somehow be a part of that inspiring network of people who are creating new ideas that result in lasting change. It's a longshot that they'll accept me, but it's still exciting. They seemed intererested in my broader vision for the immigrant guide, which is to modify it for different countries in order to build cultural understanding on a global level. Most of the gloabl cultural conflicts stem from people simply not knowing where the other side is coming from and not being aware of cultural differences, and this guide makes those differences transparent and real in a respectful way. We'll just wait and see what happens with that.
Lots of other exciting stuff to write but it'll have to wait. It's 12:30 and my eyes are starting to close. Buenos nachos.
This is the best book ever written about immigration! Everyone who is or knows someone who is new to the United States should read this informative guide written by a very talented and brilliant author. I know everyone is wishing Lee the best of luck with this new endeavor.
Posted by: Susan Ilka | March 05, 2009 at 04:10 PM