Book marketing is the hardest part of writing a book. Do something everyday towards your goal of marketing a book to the public. Never give up. Persistence is key.
As a part of our series about “Big Ideas That Might Change The World In The Next Few Years” we had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Dow.
Michael is a Registered Nurse practicing in an inpatient psychiatric hospital and holds three Masters degrees. Michael is the author of the multi-award winning Nurse Florence® series which introduces kids to some medical words in every book. Michael is also the author of the Nurse Dorothea series which is about mental health for teenagers and young adults (www.NurseDorothea.com).
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you please tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was on a path to attend medical school when then the events of September 11, 2001 occurred. I became angry at the terrorists and decided to join the US Air Force. I went through Officer Training School and then graduated specialized Navigator training to become an Electronic Warfare Officer. I deployed 6 times for the Global War on Terror between 2005 and 2009 with the EC-130H Compass Call mission. I medically retired in 2010 and then became a US Army contractor serving Wounded Warriors and ensuring they received all of their entitled benefits for 8 years. My GI bill was going to expire so I decided to use it to enter a third career in the field of medicine. I now work as a Registered Nurse at an inpatient psychiatric hospital. The Nurse Florence® series was born out of COVID because I wanted to help supplement my kids’ science education with their online schooling. There are now over 100 illustrators working on the project and we publish a new book every 5 days. Nurse Dorothea is about mental health for teenagers and young adults and the books are interactive with the reader. We publish a new Nurse Dorothea every 5 weeks. You can find our books for sale on Harvard University’s Online Book store at www.Harvard.com.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
For my Air Force career, there were a lot of Secret and Top-Secret related things so I cannot share that. For my Army Wounded Warrior Advocate career, I took it upon myself to research how to get my assigned Veterans approved for Combat Related Special Compensation. Of the eligible Veterans, I had a 100% success rate of getting them approved which brought from $200 to $1,500 a month for each Veteran depending on years of service and percent disability. For my nursing career, I created a Beethoven group therapy session where we go over his life and listen to some of his music. Almost all the patients that participate say how much it touched their life, even the patients on the high acuity unit of the psychiatric hospital.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
The US Air Force taught the core values of Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do. I seek to say what I mean, mean what I say, and don’t say it mean. My life has been of service to the community and society. I seek to leave things better than the way I found them. I seek excellence in all that I do. The first 75 books of the Nurse Florence® series each have their own book award as well as two best series awards with one being two years in a row. The Nurse Dorothea series has won Distinguished Favorite with NYC Big Book Award.
Ok thank you for that. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?
The Nurse Dorothea series directly addresses mental health. Our world is filled with complicated situations that can easily disturb our mental health equilibrium. We need a resource to address our mental health concerns and Nurse Dorothea fulfills that need. We need to be able to openly discuss mental health topics in a safe place and the series provides that. The setting is a high school nurse leading an after-school club to discuss many different topics (we plan to produce about 50 books in the series). We have already addressed what mental well-being is, impulsivity, coping skills, not taking people for granted, bipolar disorder, and social media use. What if the world could easily manage their mental health? What if there were no stigma if dealing with a mental illness? What if all generations supported each other in their journey to mental well-being? What if all societies sought well-being for each other? What if all cultures had appreciation for each other and included each other in achieving success as a civilization? What if we could all reach our potential?
How do you think this will change the world?
The book series is meant to be done as group activity since the books are interactive. The nurse speaks directly to the readers and asks them questions for them to discuss amongst themselves. I envision a set of the books being in schools around the world and classes reading the books together. Everyone will learn from each other and the synergy of helping each other on life’s journey to well-being will be attained. The series will be translated into every language in the world so that all cultures can benefit.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this idea that people should think more deeply about?
One potential drawback is the rebellious spirit that many humans can have. Some people will not participate in Nurse Dorothea simply to rebel. They may choose to harbor their stigma for different mental illnesses. The rebellious group could become more extreme and actively harass different groups in society. A section in the upcoming Anger management book by Nurse Dorothea will need to have a section on how to manage other people’s anger toward yourself.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
I was being interviewed about the Nurse Florence® series and was asked when I would create the mental health series due to my background in psychiatric nursing. One of my illustrators proved her dedication to the company by drawing many drawings a day for a year so I decided it was time to assign her to her own series in order to keep characters consistent. We started publishing Nurse Dorothea in May 2024. Also, there continues to be societal events of shootings and rampage that gives evidence for the need of addressing mental health throughout society so that maybe these events will stop. If all people reach out for mental health help when they need it, maybe they won’t escalate to violence.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
We have created a 501(c)(3) non-profit called Endower to help with this project. People can donate money which will be tax-deductible so that we can get free copies of the series into libraries around the world. We just need funding now from people like you. Visit www.Endower.us for more info.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why.
First, book marketing is the hardest part of writing a book. Do something everyday towards your goal of marketing a book to the public. Never give up. Persistence is key.
Second, stay true to yourself since there will be many things in life to disturb your equilibrium. Integrity first. Return to your baseline and add improvements to yourself so that you come through challenges a better and more adaptable person.
Third, believe in yourself. Once you have achieved the education you need, go forward and thrive.
Fourth, celebrate all the small successes. The large successes take time to achieve so have pleasure in the small achievements.
Fifth, teamwork makes the dream work. Be open to help offered by others and ask for help when it is needed.
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
Persistence is the major key to a success mindset. Merriam-Webster defines persisting as to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition, importunity, or warning. Persistence is a skill that can be developed, and it should be used generously while helping society achieve its goals. Dow Creative Enterprises® holds the trademark Help Civilization Reach Its Potential®. Let us all join in this effort to help all societies achieve the best version of themselves and together we will increase our civilization’s synergy manyfold.
Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Contact me about any investment you might make into my company so that together, we can Help Civilization Reach Its Potential® and reach a type of immortality, [email protected]
How can our readers follow you on social media?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dow-6303571b/
Facebook Nurse Florence: https://www.facebook.com/NurseFlorenceFacebook
Facebook Nurse Dorothea: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095060389625
For all our company’s products, visit www.DowCreativeEnterprises.com
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
The Nurse Dorothea Series: Michael Dow’s Big Idea That Might Change The World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.