2020: the Year I Started a Publishing Company

Ten years ago, literally, I wrote, "I should write books for children and someone should publish them" right here on this blog.

The funny thing about someone needing to do something is that it never gets done, because everyone assumes that someone else will do it.

Beverly Cleary, perhaps one of the most famous children's authors of the last century, once said, "If you don't see the book you want on the shelf, write it."

So I finally decided to be the somebody who did something about some missing books on my shelf: I am writing them!

During the last 10 years, I've done a lot! I've started an online business, developed several websites/blogs, created thousands of pages of educational resources, earned a MA degree in teaching science, taught science in Texas, decided to homeschool my children, moved to the Washington, D.C. area, and so much more. I have five children now.  I am a very different person today than I was ten years ago.

But a few months ago, something started nagging at me. There was still a hole on my bookshelf where a book that I started over a decade ago should be. So I went back to that manuscript. Honestly, I was a little surprised that I was still able to find it after all these years!  I pulled out my proverbial "red pen" (actually I copied the file into a new Google doc...), and got to work!  That manuscript went from over 1200 words to under 560. No wonder the publishers I sent it to 10 years ago didn't want it!

There is still a huge need for it. I haven't found anything like it in last decade--not in bookstores, science shelves, or (the new and amazing) Amazon! It is a science story that introduces the rock cycle in a playful, silly, and fun way.

I edited more.  I hired someone else to edit even more. I called beta readers.  By the time I finally got the story to a place where it was truly publish-able I realized something: I didn't want to give it away to a publishing house!

So I began a new adventure. I am now the proud owner of a very small publishing company (that has, as of today, not quite published anything)!  My manuscript is now in the hands of a very talented artist (whew, was it ever a lot of work finding and choosing her!), and when she finishes I will begin the final publishing process. My little company will have one title.

Days after I sent my story to my illustrator, my just-turned-7-year old threw a small tantrum because she had read everything that she liked in our house. She refused to read again, unless I found more books for her that she liked. "Well," I wondered, "What are the essentials in a good book for you?"

She gave me quite the list, and I knew there were very few books that existed that met all her criteria. In fact, she had read all the books that I knew of that met her expectations!  I told her I would write her such a book. 

The creation of my next book deserves its own little blog post, so I won't finish that story here tonight...give me a few days.  ;)  The end result is, however, a fantastic little book that truly meets a need: it is a comic-book style entertaining story for early readers.  There isn't really a message, moral, or purpose--besides to provide a fun story for my beginning reader!  And it definitely does that! I actually got two thumbs up and lots of great feedback.  I am currently illustrating this one myself.  The comic-book style illustrations embody an art style that I love and am hoping to strengthen my skills in.  Like I said, I will share more details about that very soon.

The reason I bring up this second project is that it is very likely that it will be done before my first one.  My tiny publishing company doesn't have funds to print both books. In fact, I'm going to do a crowdfunding fundraiser on Kickstarter in May to pay for printing the rock cycle book.  The early reader is probably just going to be available as an ebook and possibly a paperback through Amazon. We will see what the next few weeks and months bring in that department.

So, here's to 2020! Here's to filling the holes in my bookshelf with dreams and ideas that first sprouted ten years ago!  Here's to making big things happen in new ways!!  Here's to writing books!!!