Book Promotion & Marketing Opportunity for WHY: A Memoir

Hello friends! Before getting into WHY's passion, vision, and mission (below), I must tell you about a wonderful opportunity. I returned to do another GoFundMe campaign because of an excellent opportunity to promote WHY at an exclusive event on June 1st in Hollywood, California. Gurus Magazine (which did the very first book review of WHY) has invited us to participate in their #30voices30days to celebrate the beginning of Pride month. I will be doing a book signing, some networking/PR type of things, and have a bit of fun.

The trip will cost between $4,500 and $5k altogether to set up a table for the book display in the main area, travel, signage, etc.

The first successful GoFundMe campaign opened the door to working with this group, so thank you! The main reason why I am passionate about this opportunity is that it may get WHY in front of a lot of people who then could promote it to their friends to change hearts and minds and help end conversion therapy and also provide help for LGBTQ+ youth in crisis. You can help make this happen. Thank you in advance for your support!

For those new to learning about the book, here is the main description/intention for the overall book promotion and marketing (below).

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Hello! My name is Randy Scobey (formerly Randy Thomas before I married my husband). My first book, WHY: A Memoir, is set to launch on May 14th, 2024 (my birthday!). This all came about because my story was featured in the award-winning documentaries Pray Away and For They Know Not What They Do, where I shared my life-long struggle of coming to terms with being a gay man of faith. The energy and connections made by participating in these projects inspired a drive to help even more people by sharing my truth as a memoir.

In my former career, I was a lead spokesperson and the last Executive Vice President of Exodus International, the most extensive ex-gay ministry in the world. I contributed to several books and was featured in The Los Angeles Times. As shared in my author bio (photo above), I did interviews with many worldwide media outlets. I was a staunch and influential advocate of the organization, and I would eventually help shut down.

Maya Angelou said, "Do your best until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better." Now that I know better, it's time to correct the record and do better.

My memoir will share how I came to be filled with self-loathing because of all manner of abuse and systemic bigotry against LGBTQ+ people. This constant form of systemic homophobia made me vulnerable to the toxic ideology that drives ex-gay ministry (the pastoral form of conversion therapy). Entering that world further harmed me and taught me to harm the people I should have embraced: the LGBTQ+ community.

The toxic ideology that underlies ex-gay conversion therapy is abuse. For people like me, it was abuse born out of a lifetime of abuse. Far too many young LGBTQ+ people are forced and trapped in the church closet to this very day. While Exodus shut down, ex-gay efforts have only grown in today's current climate.

This powerful memoir is made even more so with Anne Heche writing the foreword to it just weeks before she passed. We had become new friends after I was on her podcast, "Better Together With Anne And Heather." She was such a light of hope to people worldwide and me. Anne shared my mission to help others be free of religious stigma so they can love themselves and others.

Through what I consider a miraculous chain of events, I met one of Anne's best friends, a media guru willing to help with promotion and public relations around the book launch. But, of course, all that costs money that needs to be raised so we can get the word out to as many people as possible. Those trapped in this abuse and self-loathing need to hear they can find their way out to authenticity, to love and be loved for who they indeed are.

Please help with this effort.

Thanks in advance for your support.