Brother John

Brother John is a charming and simple story with a powerful and insightful message.  August Turak speaks beautifully about what truly makes life worth living.  Carl McColman, author, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism; cohost of EncounteringSilence.com

A beautiful, and beautifully illustrated, parable for our time--for any time.  James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage

Meaning.  Purpose. Engagement.  Those are our modern buzz words.  Yet most focus on the purpose of doing, and not the purpose of being who we really are.  Turak's beautiful Brother John gently points us inward and upward toward our ultimate purpose.  David W. Miller, PhD, Director, Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative

In this beautifully illustrated book, August Turak pulls back the curtain of monastic life.  Brother John shows us how to bring a little bit of heaven to earth, right now.  I highly recommend that you read Brother John and share it with anyone you care about.  Mike Morrell, collaborating author with Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance

Beautiful illustrations and it was so refreshing to reread Brother John.  It's a powerful reminder of how Brother John lives, how we should all live, and what might be holding us back.  Kavita Hall, Director, Corporate and Foundation Relations, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Congratulations, August!  We're proud of you and Brother John.  God bless!  Rick Warren, author, The Purpose Driven Life

Brother John is uniquely positioned to be a very successful book.  It combines the essay that won the $100,000 Templeton Prize with the moving illustrations of an acclaimed and award-winning artist, Glenn Harrington.   While not a Christmas book, the fact that the magical, monastic encounter between the author and a Trappist monk that drives the narrative takes occurs on Christmas Eve, also makes Brother John a wonderful Christmas gift.

The author is 100% committed to the marketing and promotion of this book. His track record includes the successful marketing of a previous book now in its third printing that is still selling well, and he will leverage that experience to make Brother John successful as well.  

The author was a founding employee of both MTV and what is now the A&E network. He will use his extensive contacts with people like Anne Sweeney, the former CEO of ABC Television, Tom Freston, the former CEO of Viacom, Harriet Seitler, head of marketing for Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, Geraldine Laybourne, the former CEO of Oxygen Media, Mark Booth, the Founder of MTV/Europe and Fred Ciporen, the former CEO of Publisher’s Weekly to insure ample media attention for this book.  

Mr. Turak has over 30 years of experience as a successful sales and marketing professional. The author is also a successful entrepreneur who started a software publishing business, Raleigh Group International (RGI). RGI went on to win the Fast Fifty Award from KPMG as well as an award from Microsoft Corporation before being sold in a $150 million deal. The author will leverage all his experience, his contacts, as well as a substantial personal financial commitment, to guarantee the successful launch for this book.

The author already has a rapidly growing Internet and social media platform. He is currently a popular contributor for Forbes.com and the BBC. Turak has appeared on over 50 popular podcasts and will be returning to many of them to promote Brother John.  He is also an experienced public speaker, and a nationwide speaking tour along with extensive media promotions around this tour is planned.

August Turak is an experienced and articulate radio guest. He has appeared on dozens of radio shows over the last several years, and he is an ongoing contributor for the BBC—a platform which will give him an opportunity to promote the book worldwide.  He has engaged the same radio “booker” he used for his last book, and she has confidently predicted a minimum of 50 interviews both local and national for this book as well.

Podcasts

The author has appeared on many popular podcasts.  He will return to many of these venues to promote this book.

Turak will be engaging a publicist at his own expense to go after print marketing opportunities.

Mr. Turak has been interviewed and featured in a variety of publications including the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fast Company, Success, and the New York Times. (See complete list at AugustTurak.com) Besides writing more articles for publication around the launching of this book, the author and his publicist will actively pursue both business and general interest publications.

The author’s background as a successful businessman who has spent many months living at a Trappist monastery over the last 20 years makes him an intriguing television guest. He has appeared on TV many times, and was an ongoing contributor for WRAL TV in Raleigh, NC.  His conversational, jargon free, approach centered on storytelling is also ideal for the medium.

The author runs a successful and rapidly growing web site: AugustTurak.com. He has sevearal thousand Facebook followers as well as thousands of followers on Twitter.  In addition, he maintains a mailing list of 5,000 who subscribe to his newsletter.  Turak is a popular contributor for Forbes.com and some of his articles have been read by as many as 500,000 people.  Turak’s last book was positively reviewed by over 30 Evangelical bloggers, and he will reach out to them again.  Finally, the author has engaged FSB Associates, http://www.fsbassociates.com/ to manage the online push for Brother John.  FSB has more than twenty years of experience in helping authors with online marketing, and the author attributes much of the success of his last book to the efforts of this agency.   

The author has been a successful business executive and entrepreneur for over thirty years. He has extensive contacts in New York City and will use these contacts to host parties, provide endorsements, create speaking opportunities, and provide multi-copy book sales.  

Brother John’s illustrator, Glenn Harrington, also has a studio in Charleston, SC very close to Mepkin Abbey where the action of Brother John takes place.  The monks of Mepkin Abbey are extremely popular in Charleston (the mushrooms they grow are used in all the top restaurants), and Harrington and the author plan to host a week-long launch event at his studio.  This will include showing the finished paintings used for the illustrations, promoting copies of the books for sale, a series of talks by Turak, guest appearances by Brother John himself, and an “invitation only” champagne and cheese party.  All of this will be accompanied by a tie in to local media outlets.

The author is also a graduate of the prestigious Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT and is very active in alumni affairs as a donor, speaker, and class leader. Mr. Turak will actively promote this book to Hotchkiss alumni who represent a market that is far more influential than sheer numbers would imply.

August Turak is a powerful, articulate, and charismatic public speaker with thirty years of experience. He has also chaired many workshops and seminars. The author’s web site proactively seeks out speaking engagements, and as mentioned above a nationwide speaking tour accompanied by an outreach to local media is planned. The author enjoys public speaking and the travel it requires. A key element in this marketing plan will be working through speaker’s bureaus and AugustTurak.com to promote book sales through public speaking, book signings, and personal appearances.

Advertising

The author is allocating $50,000 for the promotion of this book.  A large portion of this spend will be targeted toward running ads on Facebook and other social media platforms.