HPH Publishing Inc.
A Wealth of Family
Thomas Brooks
Summary of the book
A Wealth of Family: An Adopted Son's International
Quest for Heritage, Reunion and Enrichment [ISBN 0977462935]
was written by Thomas Brooks. This inspiring adoption and reunion
saga delivers timely and provocative viewpoints on multicultural
families and powerful insights on how to triumph
over racism and poverty.
Brooks grew up as the only child of a struggling single mother in
inner-city Pittsburgh. He was battling racial stereotypes at school and
searching for a place among his peers. Then he was told at age eleven
that he was adopted. He did not know it at the time, but Brooks
had actually been born to a white
biological mother who descended from Lithuanian Jews and a black Kenyan
foreign student father.
Years after that stunning revelation, Brooks escaped the ghetto and
traveled to search for his heritage. He found his biological mother in
London with his previously unknown British siblings. He then located his
biological father and extended family in Nairobi. His international
search and the resulting reunions have profoundly affected three
families in the United States, England, and Kenya.
Author Bio
Thomas Brooks has been featured in articles, on the
radio, and on television. In 1998, Brooks won a Career Communications
Group national award for Technical Sales and Marketing for his work in
corporate America.
The entrepreneur co-founded MinorityProfessionalNetwork.com in 2001,
which provides a global Career, Economic and Lifestyle Connection.
Brooks is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and also the
National Black MBA Association. He enjoys snow skiing with the NBS,
running and salsa dancing. He lives near Houston with his wife and
two children. For Thomas' two page bio please visit
www.alphamultimedia.com/Thomas-Brooks-Bio-AWOF.pdf
Story about the story
I wrote my first book because I know my story can
help, inspire or entertain some people who have
faced issues related to adoption, multicultural families, racism and/or
poverty.
In A Wealth of Family, some stories I was told and letters written to me
are paraphrased within the dialogue. As much as possible, I attempted to
keep the meaning and context of the original communication intact. Of
course, some of the memories of my sources have faded. Some accounts
conflict. It's seldom easy to write about the personal lives of others,
but it was very interesting to pull together stories across generations,
cultures, and continents. A few names of nonfamily members not
central to the story were changed (denoted by *) to protect their
privacy. Writing about one's own
family life is hard. Having a large, multicultural family increases the
challenge. History, especially one's personal history, can be
subjective. Even two siblings will have radically different views and
memories of their shared childhood. By nature, the human mind has a way
of retelling and reordering events and communications between people not
so much to deceive as to make the remembrance not only bearable but also
memorable. I have done my best to present an accurate story, taking
advantage of detailed notes and videotapes of key trips and events. The
content is my perspective, my memories. It is objectively factual to me
but not necessarily objective.
Why you choose to go “indie”
Authors have to understand the seemingly difficult
reality: Authors (unless you are already famous like Bill Clinton)
are ultimately responsible for the marketing of their own books,
regardless of the publisher. Thus, you can get a higher share of
the profits as a small publisher if you have the knowledge and
persistence.
Biggest mistake(s)
I was too slow to outsource "developmental editing" to
restructure my first manuscript. Once I finally did that,
everything fell into place. Another issue I am rectifying is to
have a strong plan to sell books "in bulk" to organizations or
companies, often linked to paid speaking engagements.
Best thing(s) that happened
Numerous Approving Blurbs and Review Excerpts from
Midwest Book Review, Fearless Reviews, Andrew Young, Dan O'Brien, Tim
Green, Dr. Henry Ponder, George Fraser and others. Press coverage
in Adoption Today and Genealogy Magazine.
Word of encouragement to other upcoming “indie’s”
Focus on your marketing plan. Do the things that
you enjoy and can do efficiently; outsource the rest.
Contact Info
Thomas Brooks
www.AlphaMultimedia.com/ContactUs.htm
