Promoting a Book, While Reflecting on Promoting a Book.

I contributed to a book again.

The last one was devotions for Advent, reflective readings for the Christmas season to refocus the reader to remember that Christ came to earth as a human baby.

The first book was uplifting in theme and overtly worshipful.

This second book is a little different than that.

Here is the official description:

Our society understands how terrible the loss of a child is when that child is out of the womb, but what about when a child dies before birth? Or what about the emptiness that comes when a very-much-wanted child is never even conceived? These quiet, private losses are hard for those who have not experienced them to understand. And these losses leave those who have suffered them feeling alone in their grief.
Not Alone: A Literary and Spiritual Companion for Those Confronted with Infertility and Miscarriage is a resource both for those who have suffered through these experiences and for their friends and relatives, who want to understand what their loved ones are going through.
This collection contains true stories that are: * sensitive, and yet honest * angry and raw, but not despairing * unique, and yet relatable The contributors to this book are male and female, old and young, some who eventually had children and some who never did, and yet despite their differences, they share a common grief and a common faith. No experience of miscarriage and infertility is like any other, yet by reading these painful and hope-filled stories, you'll be comforted by knowing there are others who understand the journey you're on, the loss you've suffered, and you will find that even though your loss is uniquely yours, you are not alone.

This book is also a collection of reflections, but it’s not necessarily uplifting. The reflections are about pain and loss and longing, longings from each writer for a human baby who didn’t come.

The publisher would like all contributors to promote the book. While I think it would helpful, spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically, for someone who has gone through a similar struggle to read a work like this, I find it awkward to promote it.  It feels cheap and degrading, something like:

“Hello, I happen to know you’ve gone through a horrible, tragic, scarring event in your life…..Buy My Book!”

Though I do think it’s a good book. And if you’re going to read it, you have to buy it first.

My contribution is about sadness of infertility and the immeasurable pain of waiting through the unpredictable adoption process.  Since my story ends with a completed adoption, it does have a hopeful tinge to it, but I don’t have answers for anyone’s struggle. I don’t know if there even are answers to these situations.  This book doesn’t pretend to answer anything.

I do think it’s good to know you’re not alone when you’re struggling, and that’s what this book is for.