We'd love your helpgetting the word out!
Making anything visible in this world requires help! This page has resources to help you do just that, including really simple things to do.
If you are able to share, if you can fill out the form letting us know what you did, that helps us! Anything, from a social media mention or share, to a full on interview with Mark, or dedicated email to any list you have, all of it is welcome and celebrated.
What's on this page:
We’ve created this page to make sharing the book as easy as possible. We have sample blurbs, the book description, Mark’s bio and photo, as well as potential interview questions.
The basics:
In case you haven’t supported a book launch before, some of the basics are:
Date of release is October 3, 2023.
We’re trying to get as many pre-orders as possible by that date, and, of course, orders on that date. It’s also helpful for us to have folks sign-up to download the excerpt. This allows us to have direct email contact (we won’t be spamming and emailing your people too much!) with anyone interested.
Please link all mentions of the book to this website:
https://heartcenteredbusinessbook.com
Thank you again for being willing to support getting this book out into the world. It means so much to us here at Heart of Business.
A description of the book:
In Heart-Centered Business: Healing from toxic business culture so your small business can thrive, Sufi spiritual business teacher Mark Silver, M.Div. speaks to those who hate the toxic way business has developed, and want an approach to business that is as nourishing as it is powerful.
The effects of global business have brought devastation and injustice that no one wants. Instead, we yearn for beauty and real vibrancy in the world around us, and healthy heart-centered business must be part of the healing.
This book is a guide to doing business, your business, in a truly spirit-centered way. We need to, and can, realize the truth that every act of business can be an act of love.
Sample blurbs for social media:
Mark Silver’s book, Heart Centered Business: Healing from toxic business culture so your small business can thrive, brings a surprising mix of healing and practical help. https://heartcenteredbusinessbook.com
Often spirituality and business mixed together can be a real mess. Mark has done something really different, powerful and grounded, with this book. If you’re in business, please get a copy: https://heartcenteredbusinessbook.com
Often concerns around justice and care and love are at odds with the world of business. Mark Silver has written a book of beauty, insight, practical help and real healing for anyone in business who also cares about our communities, and the world at large. I highly recommend you at least go download the excerpt, but you can also just jump in and buy the book. You’ll also see words from real luminaries in business, spirituality and in social justice who have high praise for this work. https://heartcenteredbusinessbook.com
Mark Silver's bio:
Since 1999, Mark Silver, M.Div., has worked with heart-centered entrepreneurs to help them realize that every act of business can be an act of love. Mark is one of the pioneers in integrating real spirituality with the nitty-gritty of small business, he founded Heart of Business, Inc in 2001. A designated Master Teacher within his Sufi lineage, he has received his Masters of Divinity.
As a coach, teacher and spiritual healer, he has facilitated thousands of individual sessions with entrepreneurs and has led hundreds of classes, seminars, groups and retreats. His weekly writings and teachings are followed by thousands of people around the globe.
A fourth generation entrepreneur, prior to Heart of Business Mark ran a distribution business, turned around a struggling non-profit magazine, and worked as a paramedic in the San Francisco Bay Area.
More about Mark:
I was a punk in the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene in the mid-1980s, which was my introduction to activism and challenging authority. A little too young, I missed seeing Minor Threat, but saw Fugazi, among many others.
I came out as bisexual in 1988, and have been in queer community of all kinds since then. I’ve been connected to folks in the trans community since the 1990s. I was the managing editor for Anything That Moves, a non profit magazine about bisexuality.
I’m also in a committed marriage with my wife Holly Glaser, since 1999. We’ve been in committed relationship since 1994. We have twin teenage sons.
Holly was my first teacher and mentor in spirituality and in teaching groups. She has been a major part of Heart of Business since the beginner, and was the first, and most significant editor for the book.
We never intended to fall into typical gender roles. Her journey with chronic illness meant that I had to take the more central role in Heart of Business, especially while our kids were young.
I started as a volunteer EMT in Maryland at the end of high school, and worked part time as an EMT through college. After graduating with a degree in English literature, I decided to go to paramedic school rather than graduate school.
I worked as a paramedic in the San Francisco Bay Area for eight years. I was an ACLS, PALS and PHTLS instructor, a Field Training Officer, and a preceptor for trainee paramedics.
I’m a hobby-level woodworker, and love making things that are both beautiful and useful… which is in line with the work I do in business.
I started studied Sufism starting in 2000, and took shahada in 2003. I still consider myself very strongly connected to my Jewish roots, and have had a healing journey within myself between Judaism and Islam.
Similarly, I love to cook, bake, can food, and garden. I bake most of the bread for our family, and recently canned a year’s worth of pickles from our cucumber plants.
Our family lives on 15 acres in central Pennsylvania, that we are slowly turning into a permaculture food forest, with the intention of being part of food security within this watershed.
Interview questions:
Here are sample interview questions. Mark has been interviewed hundreds of times over the last twenty years, in all sorts of contexts, and he’s comfortable going wherever you want to go as an interviewer.
- How can you do ethical and spiritually grounded marketing practices in today’s world?
- You say the true role of marketing is not attraction. What is it then?
- How can we heal from toxic business tactics that are all too common these days, and create a thriving business?
- Many small business owners seem to brag incessantly about their business. How can we stand strongly in what we do without feeling like we’re begging and bragging?
- What are the signs that it’s time to make the leap and go full time into our business? When should you make that leap and when should you hold back and not jump?
- Many want to have accessible pricing so they can help as many people as possible, but simple “sliding scale” can bankrupt a business. What are the elements of a successful “pay what you want” approach?
- How can you spot scammers and avoid spending way too much on business coaching. What are the most common manipulative sales techniques, and can you give us clarity about what is “ethical pricing” in business development?
- In Heart Centered Business you talk about trusting yourself in your own business. What do you mean by this, and what does it mean to listen deeply to everything?
- What kind of illusions and fantasies keep people from creating a thriving business?
- What are the nitty gritty details of building a business. Is it possible for these things to be heart-centered too?
- Many entrepreneurs and small business owners need to build a bigger social media following. Is there a heart centered way to do this well?
- It’s hard to believe there is wisdom in our money struggles. Will you shed some light on this please?
- You say in the beginning of the book, “If you have any negative feelings about business, you should.” What do you mean? Is business bad?
- You say that you want us to heal from toxic business culture. Why is business culture so toxic, and how can we heal from it?
- Many small business owners avoid aspects of their business, like marketing, or financial systems, because they feel gross or unapproachable to them. How do you recommend business owners approach these difficult areas of business?
- There are many small business owners who love the thing they do in the business itself, but don’t like doing the business aspect. What do you say to them about this split?
- Where can someone pick up a copy of Heart Centered Business?