Marketing The Secret Chief
Carla Higdon

THE COMPLETION of the publication of MAPS' first book, The Secret Chief: Conversations with a Pioneer of the Underground Psychedelic Psychotherapy Movement, has been only the first of many steps toward the success of the project as a whole. The next crucial step has been marketing the book in a way that is both diligent and cost effective. Since MAPS has allocated a limited advertising budget of $5,000, it has been necessary to consider carefully how the money is spent.

In addition to placing numerous magazine and Internet advertisements and finding distributors for The Secret Chief, I have been exploring ways to take advantage of the many opportunities for free publicity. One of the best ways to do this is to find occasions for lectures, interviews, and media appearances. So, with this in mind, with the help of a few key individuals, I organized a publicity tour to New York City for Myron Stolaroff, who is, as most of you already know, the author of The Secret Chief.

On the first of his three day visit Mr. Stolaroff was interviewed for two New York cable access television shows: "New Realities" and "A Better World," where he discussed his own experiences with psychedelics, their psychotherapeutic applications, and the work of the much revered therapist, "Jacob," whose methodology is detailed in The Secret Chief. In the remainder of his time in New York, Mr. Stolaroff was interviewed for a feature article by High Times magazine and by The Village Voice, and gave an informal talk to two different groups of MAPS members. Mr. Stolaroff also presented with Richard Yensen, Ph.D., at The Lindesmith Center on the topic of Psychedelic Psychotherapy. Dr. Yensen was a psychedelics researcher at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center from 1972-1976, currently directs the Orenda Institute, and is working with Dr. Donna Dryer to obtain permission to conduct research on the use of LSD in psychotherapy.

It was especially appropriate for the two to appear together because MAPS has pledged the first $10,000 from the sale of the signed limited edition of The Secret Chief to Dr. Yensen's LSD/cancer patient study. These one hundred books have been autographed by Albert Hofmann, Stanislav Grof, Alexander and Ann Shulgin, and Myron Stolaroff, and copies are still available for $250. Sale of the limited edition has already generated $10,000 for the LSD study. As a fundraising instrument they have proven to be very effective. As a collector's item, they will no doubt be cherished by generations to come and can only increase in value.

Financially, the New York tour was a success for MAPS because book sales were sufficient to cover the majority of the expenses and future sales as a result of the interviews are anticipated. Educationally, it was successful due to the variety of media outlets that will report on The Secret Chief. It was also an occasion for MAPS members in the area and myself to meet one another, Myron Stolaroff, and some of the scientists who are striving to conduct psychedelic research.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge those MAPS members who volunteered their time and services to work with me in making each event possible: special thanks to Neal Goldsmith and Deb Boulanger, Andrew Tatarsky, John Niernberger, and Ethan Nadelmann and the staff at the Lindesmith Center. Also, thanks to all the people who showed up in support of our efforts, attendance could not have been better.