Writing has always come fairly easy to me, and I enjoy doing it. Someday, I hope I can make a dollar or two from my writing. I have written a bunch of children's books, but only have rejection letters to show for it so far.
It is almost impossible to break into this arena unless you are a movie star or a country singer and I am neither! This is what I discovered when I first started looking to publish.
First, the major publishers won't even look at your manuscript unless you have an agent -- sort of like an actor having an agent, I guess. So I started looking for an agent. Well, you can't just hire agents. You have to send them your manuscript and then, if they like it, they will submit it to a publisher. This way, you are able to be rejected by two people rather than one!
So I found a children's book agency on line and sent them one of my favorite stories. It is a story that my dad used to tell me when I was little. He would rather tell stories than read, and that was fine with me.
Anyway, several years ago, I wrote it down so it would not be lost, and I was pretty happy with how it turned out. But, my rejection letter from the agent just said it was "not strong enough."
Really? It's a kid's story! I didn't think "strong" was an adjective you would use to describe a child's book, but I guess I was wrong. I thought about trying to make it "stronger" but decided that I really liked it just the way it was. And I have read it to all my grandkids, and they seemed to enjoy it just as much as any of the store-bought books that I read to them. Some of them even ask for me to tell them the story, so I know they enjoy hearing it.
The other option for publishing is called "self-publishing." This means that you pay a publisher a certain fee to print and market your book -- which, I guess, is not a bad deal if you have an extra 3 to 5 grand lying around and I don't. Not working and going to school full-time has really put the hurt on my bank account. Like really, it killed it. And I am not sure how long it would take to make back that money and begin to turn a profit, so, for now, no publishing for me.
The story I mentioned above was about a family of mice living under a big rock in the middle of a farmer's (my dad's) hay field. Plus, I wrote a sequel to this one about the same mouse family at Christmas time.
I have also written a series of books about my dog Angel (who has since gained her doggy wings), who would sneak out of her back yard and visit all over town, wolfing down treats at every location. She visits her neighborhood, Main Street, the ball park, the school and the farm. She even has a Christmas Eve adventure in Santa's sleigh. She dislikes the UPS man and really likes to have her belly scratched.
I used the names of my family, some neighbors and some actual business people on Main Street (first names only, of course). And I have books about a "bubble tree" and about a little girl who only eats banana Popsicles.
When my dad was a young husband and father, he jumped into a frozen pond wearing only his long johns to save two little girls who had fallen through the ice, thus "Underwear Man" came to be. Then I have some rhyming books about fireflies, farm animals, and the like; and I'm sure I have enough children's poems to fill a book, too. I write a lot.
Of course, I write on my laptop, something for which I am supremely grateful because sometimes my mind gets ahead of my fingers and, if I had to write my thoughts on paper, I would lose half of them before I could get them down.
Many years ago, my mom wrote a children's story about a little squirrel named Sylvester. She did it the hard way: cursive on Big Chief tablet paper. I still have her manuscript tucked away somewhere, so maybe someday my mom and I will both be published.
I have loved books from a very young age and, believe it or not, I remember the first book I ever read. I was in first grade and a sweet, elderly lady gave me a book that was probably on a third- or fourth-grade level. It was titled "Winkie meets the Gypsies." I know this is not politically correct in this day and age, but I loved the book. It was about a little boy, Winkie, who meets a traveling band of "gypsies" and overcomes his prejudices -- the ultimate lesson is learning to love our fellow man. I started on it and, after a couple of weeks, I was able to read the whole first page. I struggled with the book for a couple of months but, before long, I could read the whole thing. I have had a book in my hand ever since. So my love for reading, I guess, led to my love of writing.
And whatever happens, I will keep on writing. It is a dream of mine to publish someday, so I'm not going to give up. And actually having a column published in the paper has been pretty awesome!
So if you have a dream, no matter what it is, don't you give up, either. The harder we have to work for something, the greater value it will have to us in the long run. A dream labored over long will bring all the more satisfaction when it is realized. Who knows, maybe I will be like one of those old, famous artists and my grandkids will be able to reap the fruits of my literary labors. Happy memories, everyone!
Tamela Weeks is a freelance writer in the Gentry area. She may be reached by email at tamela.weeks@ gmail.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 08/06/2014