write/read/teach LOCAL

With the holidays fast approaching, I’m seeing the occasional meme on Facebook urging shoppers to support artisans and small business owners instead of patronizing big-box chain stores. Books are a great gift if you have readers in your life, and I would encourage shoppers to “buy local” when it comes to literature as well. I often say that I’m all about “artisanal pickles”–I want to operate on a small scale and realize that means my books will only reach a local market. But that’s ok with me! I was in a chocolate shop last week and saw they had a whole section for chocolate produced here in Brooklyn. Those bars were pricey but at least you know you’re supporting local creators. I wish bookstores would have a comparable section for local indie authors. Today I got a nice email from a 3rd grade teacher I met last year; he has a classroom library and I’m proud to say that my books have their own bin! The kids are completing a unit on book reviews and apparently one student is stuck on a particular book of mine:

“Your books are very popular! I’ll be sure to share ___’s review of Max Loves Muñecas when he finishes. He borrowed the book the first week of school and has been re-reading it over and over again ever since.”

Sometimes I look at my first self-published kids books and cringe; I wish I’d known then what I know now, but I wasn’t confident when it came to art direction and let slide some things that really should have been fixed. But you know what? It doesn’t matter because at least one boy has found value in one of those books. I had Max Loves Muñecas translated into Spanish last summer and will try to get that edition out by the end of the year. Last Xmas I rushed to have copies of An Angel for Mariqua for the family holiday party at Rikers Island; this year I hope to send bilingual and Spanish language books to the children from Central America who are shamefully still in detention here in the US. Billie’s Blues is almost ready to go to print and I’m hoping to have the bilingual English/Spanish edition of Let the Faithful Come ready by the end of the month, too. None of my books is perfect, but perfection isn’t my goal. I’m trying to produce books that resonate with the kids in my community. Last week I presented before 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at The Weeksville School and the kids were positively buzzing with excitement when my talk ended and they came up to the stage to see my 18 books. I’m at 18 now! And will hit 20 before the new year begins. Last week I received a set of touching letters from the adjudicated boys I met in AR. So many said Ship of Souls was the first book they ever finished reading, and a few said they identified with D since they’re foster kids, too. I was really struck by how many asked about D’s absent father—at least one boy urged me to give D “someone to lean on.” I NEVER regret self-publishing—never—because my stories wouldn’t be out in the world if I hadn’t taken a deep breath and blown those seeds into the wind…