A big thank you to those of you who have written asking, “What’s happening with A Deadly Misunderstanding since its release two weeks ago? And what can I do to help spread the word?”

The day of its release, the book hit #1 on Amazon in three categories: “Islam,” “Church and State,” and “Comparative Religion” and was in the top 200 (all books).

Mark has spoken on twenty-six radio interviews and is doing his best to book major media appearances—but with the two-headed media juggernaut of economic crisis and presidential politics, it’s all but impossible to get a word in edgewise right now.

The biggest impact happening is with influential individuals, who are writing to us even before finishing the book to tell us how moved they are. Here are two examples:

“I am very impressed by Mark’s forays into Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic and his determination to get to the bottom of these knotty problems. This book is a unique gift to people of deep faith and good will — a potent antidote to the prevailing deadly misunderstanding that threatens to envelope us all. I couldn’t put it down, and finished it in one sitting!” — Hon. Ali Khalif Galaydh, former Prime Minister of Somalia

“I’ve just started it and can already tell what an important and timely book this is. I hope a copy was sent to every Congressman, Senator, Cabinet member and candidates. I believe this is one of the most important issues our world is facing right now, because it has ramifications in so many areas besides just foreign policy, i.e., homeland security, energy policy, and more.” — Scott Allen, About.com “Entrepreneur’s Guide” and coauthor of The Virtual Handshake

What you can do to help:

• Once you’ve read the book, go onto Amazon.com and BN.com and share your personal views. Equally important as sheer sales is the enthusiasm of those who have read it.
• If your local bookstore is not carrying it on their shelves, ask them to. (Many stores will let you order a book without paying for it up front.) Libraries too!
• Share the book with influence-leaders in your community — authors, speakers, political leaders, pastors, imams and other religious leaders, media figures . . . anyone you know who is in a position to help influence dialogue on this vital issue.
• Explore Mark’s web site to follow events as they unfold over the weeks and months ahead!

And yes: 535 copies of the book have been bought (by the Bridges Foundation) and are being distributed to each member of the U.S. Congress.

Will that change the world? Hard to say – but it’s a place to start. It could turn out that the person you give a copy to has more influence than anyone in Congress.

Networking is like that.

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