Winner Dinner!

We're all Too Blessed to be Stressed! 

One of the best - and certainly the most fun - book promotions I've ever done was to host an adoption fundraising dinner for my daughter's family.

What in the world does that have to do with promoting a book, you're probably wondering.

Well, everything!

Three months before my daughter's baby boy was due and simultaneously two months before the baby girl she was adopting was due, she and I spent two solid days in her kitchen preparing meals that kind-hearted folks traded for donations to help raise the thousands of dollars needed for steep adoption fees.

Chocolate Eclair Cake for dessert

The literary connection? All meal recipes came from my upcoming Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook. We got rave reviews for the Baked Spaghetti, Parmesan Nuggets, and Mudbar Ecstasy. Some excited folks even called the next day begging for more.

Hey, what better way to tease palates and evoke passionate interest than to provide samples of delicious food?

Everyone who bought a meal was included in a drawing; five lucky winners received vouchers for autographed copies of the Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook when it debuts Nov 1, and the grand prize winner received a homemade dinner with the author (moi).

Chili Dip for a zesty starter

So last night was the big Winner Dinner and we had an absolute blast! (See photo of winner Donna and her husband Ish above on far left holding Baby Boy, I'm in the middle, my daughter and son-in-law on right holding Baby Girl.)

Once again, the menu consisted of ... can you guess??? ... recipes from the Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook!  We feasted on Teriyaki Pork, scalloped potatoes, Spinach-Broccoli Surprise, mixed fruit, and for dessert, none other than my ooey, gooey Chocolate Eclair Cake. Oh, mustn't forget the delicious Chili Dip with Frito Scoops we scarfed as an appetizer.

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It was hardly any trouble at all, because every recipe in the Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook takes less than 20 minutes of hands-on prep time. The hardest part was deciding which delicious dishes to serve.  

Yummmm! At the end of the evening, in one accord, we all said, "Let's do it again!"

So not only did we help a family, we had a fun evening with some great folks, and made solid inroads into getting word of the Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook out throughout our area (the local newspaper even did an article on the fundraising dinner).

As a result, we now have salivating people standing in line for their copies two months before it comes out.

It pays to think outside the bookstore. What creative book promo's have worked for you?