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Sales Pitch for the New Book…

I’ve been thinking about a few ways to pitch the new book. Here’s a couple I’m working on, shoot me an email and let me know which one you think works the best.

The Sales Pitch

In this dark humored War Memoir, Iraq veteran Michael Anthony discusses his return home from war and how he turned to the Pick-Up Artist Community to help defeat his PTSD.

dark humored military memoir“An intense memoir.” -Kirkus

“I wont soon forget this book.” -Mary Roach

“A must read.” -Colby Buzzell

The Sales Pitch

If you’re interesting in a book about an Iraq veteran who tries to cure his PTSD by becoming a PUA then pick up a copy of my newest book: Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir. Available at your local bookseller and all your online book retailers.

I don’t know though, it’s hard pitching a book and trying to capture it. Even the above doesn’t do it justice. In reality, it’s just a good book that any veteran who’s ever struggled will understand, relate to, and get something out of. And/or if you have a significant other or friend who’s a veteran who’s struggled with things, it’s a book that will help you understand things a little better. I guess that’s what I’m trying to say, but more elegantly though, you know?

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Civilianized: Book Endorsements

dark humored military memoirHere are a few of the endorsements that Civilianized has received so far:

Praise

“Civilianized has the introspection of a literary memoir and the narrative momentum of a novel.”
–Booklist


“[T]his at-times darkly comic memoir serves as an important reminder of the human cost of America’s involvement in overseas conflicts. . . An intense memoir.”
–Kirkus Reviews


“Michael Anthony writes with emotional clarity, dark wit, and unpremeditated honestly. But what stayed with me most, I think, were the quiet punches to the gut: That to kill oneself, one must not only feel like dying, but also like killing, and the feelings could not be farther apart. That what messed with him the most was not the brutality of his foes but the moral bankruptcy of certain commanders. That it is not so much the intensity of combat that derails a soldier but the flatness of its absence. I won’t soon forget this book.”
–Mary Roach,

Author of Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers


“Michael Anthony’s Civilianized howls with hard-earned wisdom. An unflinching story of homecoming and the after-war, Anthony has been to the brink and back. He writes with both soul and candor, and for that, contemporary war literature is in his debt.”
–Matt Gallagher,

Author of Youngblood and Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War


“Anthony navigates the dark side of a veteran’s homecoming with honestly, skill, and even a touch of humor. Prepare to be disturbed and entertained in equal measure.”
–Brian Castner,

Author of The Long Walk and All the Ways We Kill and Die


“In this tender memoir Civilianized, returning Iraq war veteran Michael Anthony hurls us into the raw, moral betrayals of war and the awful moral dislocation of coming home. At times hilarious, at other times harrowingly sad, Anthony’s memoir screams out at us to pay attention to the needs of our veterans.”
–Nancy Sherman,

Author of Afterwar: Healing the Moral Wounds of our Soldiers and Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of our Soldiers


“Important and essential, CIVILIANIZED is an unflinching look at the dark hell of reintegration. Michael Anthony’s personal story provides us with a deeper understanding of the war that many of us post 9/11 veterans face alone when returning home. A must read.”
–Colby Buzzell,

Author of My War: Killing Time in Iraq and Thank You for Being Expendable

 

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NEW BOOK!!!

dark humored military memoirHey Everyone! I wanted to let you know that my new book is officially for sale and available for Pre-Order.
The title is: Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir. It’s a story about my homecoming from Iraq and some of the struggles I faced (though it’s a bit darker, and funnier than it might sound/seem). Here’s the text from the jacket:

“After twelve months of military service in Iraq, Michael Anthony stepped off a plane, seemingly happy to be home–or at least back on US soil. He was twenty-one years old, a bit of a nerd, and carrying a pack of cigarettes that he thought would be his last. Two weeks later, Michael was stoned on Vicodin, drinking way too much, and picking a fight with a very large Hell’s Angel. At his wit’s end, he came to an agreement with himself: If things didn’t improve in three months, he was going to kill himself. Civilianized is a memoir chronicling Michael’s search for meaning in a suddenly destabilized world.”

Pick up a copy today!

 

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Thought For the Day – Chuck Palahniuk (PTSD and scars)

This quote summarizes any veteran with PTSD. It’s easier to remember your friend who died in a mortar attack–the smell of their blood, the feeling of them in your arms, their look on their faces, the sound of their dying breaths–than it is for a person to remember their high school sweetheart, or a good time camping with friends.

This is one of the reasons I think veterans suffer from PTSD. Because it’s easier to remember the bad. There are no scars for  happiness, but there are scars from mortar attacks and firefights–physically and mentally.

Standard, Uncategorized

Veteran’s Day: Are you the type of person that’s worth dying for?

Here’s the thing about Veteran’s Day … and what has me so bitter today…

There’s an implicit agreement between veterans and civilians: As Veterans our job is to fight and die for our country and countrymen; as civilians, your job to make sure that our country is worth fighting and dying for. And honestly, as of late, when I read the news and listen to the stories that are going on, I begin to feel as though you civilians aren’t holding up your end of the deal.

And now, here we are on Veteran’s Day…

Veteran’s day is a day to thank veteran’s for their sacrifices—both current, and veterans throughout the ages. It’s a day to thank those brave men and women who were willing to fight and die for the sake of their country, and their countrymen. From those first Americans fighting to free us from British oppression, to freeing the slaves, to liberating the concentration camp, to modern day soldiers…

But here’s the thing, this veteran’s day (and for the rest of this year, really) instead of wasting our time and money buying “Support our Troops,” bumper stickers, and shaking hands with veterans, or Facebooking a message to a friend-of-a-friend who served overseas; instead, I have a different idea…

Instead of thanking a soldier for being willing to fight and die on our behalf; instead of taking a moment of silence for all those who have given their life in the line of duty; how about we take that same amount of time  and instead focus on being the type of people, and the type of country, that’s actually worth dying for.

Those brave men and women who sign that dotted line are the bravest, and toughest, that our country has to offer—this means that, as always, it’s the toughest who protect the weakest. And that’s fine, we all have our parts to play, not everyone’s made to be a solider and a warrior.

But we need to keep in mind that when those men and women go overseas to fight and die, they’re doing it for US! And those who’ve never fought need to stop and ask themselves, “Am I worth it?” “Am I worth dying for?” And is our “Country worth dying for?” And if the answer is “No.” Then it’s up to us to walk down to that recruiting station and sign ourselves up, or it’s up to else to make sure our country is the type of place that’s still worth dying for. Because I’ll tell you, I’m tired of seeing that my brothers in arms are fighting for people who care more about the Kardashians than the battle of Kandahar, people who care more about the latest iPhone than the struggles that veterans faces after the war, people who’ve sent our economy into a recession, people who’ve shut the government down, and people who refuse to step up and actually make a different.

I don’t think it’s been done deliberately, but I do believe that you guys need to be reminded about the deal: we’ve held up our end, now it’s time for you guys to step up and hold up yours.

Quote

Thought For the Day – Alden Nowlan (Growing up in War)

This quote, by the poet Alden Nowlan, really hit me at the right moment in my life. Recently, I had been reminiscing about my time in the military, particularly Iraq, and I felt this quote captured something that I had been trying to piece together for many years…

When I had first deployed to Iraq, I was only twenty years old. At that point, I had gone to college for a year, had been through army basic training and AIT–which included dozens of intense surgeries, and even delivering a baby or two–but even with all that, I went to war as an adolescent.

All of my commanders and NCOIC’s were older than me, by many years, and as I watched several of them struggle through being leaders and commanding troops, I constantly found myself pointing out their imperfections. I couldn’t believe, to put it bluntly, how shitty some of these people seemed–as leaders, soldiers, and just, humans in general.

Now, granted, some of my hate and frustration with my leadership was warranted–one sergeant major, two first sergeants, and a company commander were relieved of duty after all (and even all that was a bit of an understatement)–but it’s only now, years later, that I realized I had been viewing much of my leadership through adolescent eyes that expected “adults,” and older people to have all the answers.

I know now that “adults” don’t have all the answers, and never did, and that I was foolish to expect them to in the first place.

As I’ve traversed through the  ages that many of my leaders were in Iraq, I find it chilling to think of the responsibility that many of my fellow soldiers had at such young ages. One leader, for example, was only twenty-seven when he was in charge of the section I worked in. To me, at that time, twenty-seven might as well have been forty, but as I’ve turned twenty seven myself–and then left it behind–I shuttered to think of having such responsibility when still at such a young age.

Now, at the age of thirty, I have my own responsibilities, full-time employment, a wife and daughter to look after, a mortgage to pay, etc. But my responsibilities now are nothing compared to the responsibilities that a leader faces during war–and many of them were younger than I am now.

Perhaps there’s no perfect age to be a leader at war; after all, age doesn’t always equal intelligence, or ethics…

But, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I now realize how foolish it was of me to expect these “adults,” to be perfect people, perfect soldiers, and perfect leaders. Some of them were shitty leaders, don’t get me wrong, but I realize now that many of them were just doing the best they could in a shitty situation. Maybe it’s taken all these years for me to reach adulthood and forgive them (forgive, but not forget, many of those bastards are beyond any grace). But I guess that’s where I’m at and I think this quote by Nowlan summarized it up nicely.

 

 

Book Notes, Standard

Why A Virtual Book Tour Is A MUST For Authors

A virtual book tour can be used as a powerful tool to promote authors and their works. Book tours are not a new concept. Authors have always used these as a tool to expose their work to the public. But the days of physical book tours are quickly becoming passé now. It is very rare for authors to go out and about promoting their work in public from city to city. Authors rarely do signings in order to encourage shoppers to buy their works in brick-and-mortar bookstores. And it is actually even harder to find a publisher that is actually willing to go through that hard work and invest in this old style of promotion. These days, book tours have gone virtual.

So, what exactly is a virtual book tour, you may ask? Well, it is a book tour that can be done in the comfort of an author’s home. An author can now hop from one blog to another, promoting his or her book without the need to leave his or her own personal sanctuary at home. This means that an author can make more than 30 stops in a month without any other added overhead costs that are usually related to traditional book tours.

A virtual book tour may include any of the following activities:

  1. Writing blog posts as guests to blogs that are related to the book’s genre
  2. Getting a blogger to review the book
  3. Getting featured in a related blog
  4. An email interview by a blogger
  5. A podcast, Internet radio, or actual radio interview

There are a lot of famous authors that have increased their exposure through social media.

So, if you are planning to market your book with a virtual book tour, here are a few things to remember:

Always Ask

There are a lot of blogs online. If you find one that is related to the genre of the book you are writing, then it would be a good idea to ask around if your book can be featured in it. Be sure to carefully write an introduction about your book and the possible benefits of featuring your book in their blog. If a blogger says no, don’t take it personally and just move on to a next prospective blog.

Some bloggers may ask for a remuneration to feature your work. Often, this may just include a free copy of the book but more well-known websites may ask for a certain fee, depending on the type of feature you want them to do.

Make Varied Content

It is important to make sure that the content you put up in blogs vary in order to keep your audience engaged. For example, some authors tend to leave some hints about their main character’s possible demise in the book in order to make readers look forward to the book launch.

Be Organized

It is very important to be organized. Always keep track of the bloggers that you have asked to participate in the tour and their schedule. If they don’t respond to your request, then just scratch them off the list. If they do respond, however, make sure to record their information like name, email, the name of the blog, and the blog’s URL. Not everyone will be willing to help you out with your endeavor. But it is important that you personally thank those who are willing to lend out a hand. A simple thank-you note can do a lot of help in building your relationship with anyone, even in a virtual world.

Communicate

Make sure to proofread all your requests and communicate well with your contacts. Always be prepared to inform your target market about your book tour. In fact, it is a good idea to keep your schedule open and let people know where you are. You can easily do this by updating your social media accounts and providing your followers with a link of your current virtual location.

If you are still hesitant about virtual book tours, here are a few of its benefits:

More Exposure

With a traditional book tour, you are limited to the number of people in an area. For example, one day in Boston during a traditional book tour will only enable you to interact with the people that are gathered in your book tour location. But a virtual book tour can actually enable you to interact with everyone that has access to the Internet.

Backlinks

A virtual book tour can also help you create more lasting and quality backlinks to your website. This means that you can keep getting regular traffic (from the blogs you had on your tour) back to your website.

Reviews

Getting a virtual book tour can help you generate a lot of reviews and feedback about your book.

Comfort and Convenience

Most importantly, you can enjoy all of these benefits without leaving the comforts of your home!

Politics / News, ptsd, Uncategorized

How can I help someone with PTSD?

PTSD Awareness Month

PTSD does not just affect the person who has it. Rather, the condition can also have a negative impact on his or her family and friends. It’s not easy to live with the symptoms of PTSD, and seeing your loved ones suddenly change their behavior can be utterly terrifying. You fear that they won’t ever come back to normal, even when they’re under therapy.

Even though things may get difficult, it is important that you give your full support to the person suffering from PTSD. It doesn’t sound much, but it can actually promote a positive change to your loved one. Here are tips on how you and your family can cope with PTSD:

  1. Be patient. Even if a person is totally committed to his treatments, it will really take a lot of time before he can recover from PTSD. This means that you really need to be patient throughout the process.
  2. Learn more about PTSD. If you understand how PTSD works, its effects, and the available treatments, you will be more capable of helping your loved one and keep everything in the right perspective.
  3. Don’t force the person to discuss his thoughts and feelings. Talking about traumatic experiences can be really difficult, even if you are discussing it with someone close to you. Instead of forcing your loved one to talk to you, give him some space and allow him to open up when he is ready. Just tell him that you are always willing to talk.
  4. Learn to listen. If they are ready to talk about their traumatic experiences, listen to them without forming any judgments and expectations. Make him feel that you are interested in what he is saying and that you care about him. You don’t necessarily have to give some advice all the time; it’s enough that you just listen to him. Let the professionals give the advice for you.

In some cases, a person suffering from PTSD may feel the need to rehash the traumatic event over and over again. This can be infuriating at times, but avoid scolding him and telling him to move on with his life. Let him talk and lend a listening ear.

Keep in mind that it’s alright if you don’t like what you hear. It’s understandable that traumatic experiences are stories that are really difficult to digest. However, make sure that you still respect their feelings.

Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir

In this dark humored War Memoir, Iraq veteran Michael Anthony discusses his return from war and how he defeated his PTSD. Civilianized is a must read for any veteran, or anyone who knows a veteran, who has returned from war and suffered through Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

dark humored military memoir“An intense memoir.” -Kirkus

“I wont soon forget this book.” -Mary Roach

“A must read.” -Colby Buzzell

“[S]mart and mordantly funny.” –Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Anthony delivers a dose of reality that can awaken the mind…” Bookreporter

Order your copy of Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir .

Picture: Flickr/Alexis Lane