Everyone Has a Book in Them

It’s been said that everyone has a book in them. Not literally of course. That would be grossly uncomfortable. Suffice it to say that we’re all filled with stories or life experiences that could or should be translated into book form.

Take me for instance. Many years before the international acclaim of my first book, Alive and Kickin’:  Sideways Views From an Upright Guy, my wife had convinced me to record some of the bedtime stories I had been telling our two daughters on a nightly basis. These stories were made up whimsical tales utilizing characters they were familiar with such as friends, relatives, pets or dolls and stuffed animals from their rooms. It was a challenge to create nightly adventures that would gently hold their interest while often times trying to weave in some type of life lesson. I don’t proclaim to be Barbara Park (Junie B. Jones), Laura Numeroff (If You Give a Pig a Pancake) or Ian Falconer (Olivia the Pig series), but Hannah and Claire seemed to enjoy my stories as they drifted off to sleep.

The point is, once I purged them onto the computer, I never did anything with these brilliantly crafted pieces of my soul, until now. With the help of Eric Johnson at Alive Book Publishing, I plan to put together a book entitled, Would Someone Please Tell Me a Story, a collection of bedtime stories from a real life dad. I may never sell one copy, but I’ll be able to leave the book to my daughters hoping one day they’ll read our stories to their children/my grandchildren just in case I’m not around to do it myself. Don’t feel embarrassed if you’re starting to tear up as you read this article, I have a tendency to tap into people’s emotions pretty easily.

A Trip to the Big City

In a quaint little house in the suburbs, there lived two sisters, Carly and Libby. Carly was 10 years old and Libby, 8. The sisters loved to play together, read books to each other and go to the movies. Cary and Libby also liked their visits to the big city. Once every three or four months, Carly, Libby and their parents, take a 45 minute drive to the big city to shop, see shows, eat at new restaurants and explore the various districts that make up the metropolis. Mom and Dad call it cultural, but Carly and Libby just call it fun.

For their visits to the big city, the girl’s always dress nicely, do their hair and they each are allowed to bring one doll. Their favorite thing to do in the big city is to walk the busy streets. They love to buy inexpensive jewelry from the street vendors; they feed the pigeons in the park and they meet interesting people everywhere they go.

On one recent trip to the big city, Carly and her Mother were sitting at an outdoor café while Libby and their father were inside ordering lunch. Off in the distance, Carly noticed a young girl about her age, sitting with an elderly woman on a bench across the plaza. Carly smiled at the girl and although the girl looked sad, she did smile back. Carly noticed that the girl had worn and ragged clothes, smudges of dirt on her cheeks and her shoes were almost worn out.

Carly asked her Mother why the girl looked so unhappy. When Libby and their father joined Carly and their mom for lunch, the girls’ parents explained that some people in the city were homeless. Carly and Libby were unaware that some kids didn’t have homes to live in, food to eat or nice clothes to wear. They both felt very lucky and at the same time compassionate for the other children.

Carly asked her parents if she could walk over and talk with the little girl on the bench. Her parents said yes and kept a close eye on her as she walked across the plaza. Carly introduced herself and gave her doll to the girl. The girl was so surprised she started to cry. The elderly woman, the girl’s grandmother, told Carly her granddaughter never had a doll. Carly had a warm feeling in her heart knowing she had done something special. When she returned to Libby and her parents, she explained what had transpired. Her parents were very proud of their daughter. Later that day, Libby gave her doll to a baby in a stroller.

From that point forward, whenever the family went to the big city, the girls always brought a toy, stuffed animal, sweater or jacket and some food to give to one of the homeless families. The girls loved their trips to the big city.

What sets ALIVE apart as a publishing company? ALIVE is a local publishing company enabled with the tools and expertise to effectively position, market, and advertise your book using a vast array of media. While the basic essentials of book publishing are certainly important, they comprise just one dimension of what ALIVE Media accomplishes. Their publishing foundation is based upon something quite different from that of other book publishers. Their experience is based upon not only books, but eight years’ experience publishing a monthly lifestyle magazine. The ALIVE Team knows what it takes to market and actually sell editorial products because they’ve been doing it successfully, every month for over eight years. When it comes to marketing, public relations, and advertising, they’re not “middle men,” like most publishers—they actually own the tools of production and have the hands-on experience required to create and conduct a successful public relations and marketing campaign for your book.

Moo, I’ll Take Care of You

On a big farm, in the middle of California’s Central Valley, there lived a big, beautiful Jersey milking cow named Kaye. Over the years, Kaye had birthed a great many calves all of whom had grown-up to be fine cows. As Kaye grew older, she missed taking care of little ones so she started mothering any stray animal that found their way to her farm.

One cloudy day, a baby duck showed up on the farm. The duckling had become separated from her flock and was all alone on the farm. Kaye watched as the duckling wandered around the barnyard for a few days trying to find someplace to fit in until Kaye moseyed over to say hello. The little yellowed feathered bird looked up at the enormous bovine and said the only thing that came to mind, “Quack”. Kaye gave the adorable little quacker a sniff, smiled and responded simply by saying, “Moo, I’ll take care of you” and from that day forward Kaye watched over the duck as if she was one of her very own calves. She rustled up grain for the foul to eat, gathered lose down feathers to build a bed and learned all types of duck games to play. Kaye was the only mother the duck ever knew or needed.

Several years later, a gray and white Tabby kitten showed up on the farm scared and lonely. None of the other barn animals knew where the kitten had come from or what had become of its mother. Kaye could see that the kitten’s coat needed cleaning and in one lick of her enormous tongue the kitten was clean and shiny. As the kitten purred with delight, Kaye sniffed the little ball of fur and said, “Moo, I’ll take care of you.” Kaye found the kitten milk to drink, yarn to chase and a warm safe place to sleep. Kaye was a perfect mother to the baby cat.

Life on farm was good, however there were never any children at the farm until one day when the farmer and his wife brought home a little girl about four or five years old. Kaye kept a watchful eye on the adventurous newcomer to the farm whenever she ventured outside to play or explore. Ultimately, the toddler found Kaye or Kaye found the toddler. Regardless, Kaye nuzzled the freckled face mop top and thought, “Moo, I’ll take care of you.” The farmer and his wife were wonderful parents and they raised an exceptional girl, but Kaye liked to think she helped too.

Sadly, Kaye passed on several years after the girl left for college. Once the farmer’s daughter became a woman, she married and had a child of her own. Not surprisingly, the new mother’s first instinct was to look deeply into her baby’s eyes and say, “Moo, I’ll take care of you.”

ALIVE’s Basic Publishing Service Package includes concept & content advisory, interior page layout using author-provided, camera-ready pages or a ABP standard template (up to 300 pages), Custom cover design including up to two stock, Images (at least three spec design options), ISBN, Bar Code, Library of Congress filings, Price point survey & determination , Up to 20 copies of your book, Listing in Ingram Advance Catalog, sent to booksellers & libraries worldwide (approximately four months after production), Submission of your book for Printing on Demand (POD) production, Online POD distribution is accessed through over 30,000 wholesalers, retailers and book sellers in over 100 countries. This provides maximum exposure in the marketplace. Books are normally printed and ready for shipment in less than 24 hours after an order is placed. Online United States distribution companies include: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Espresso, Book Machine, NACSCORP, Ingram and Baker & Taylor. Online United Kingdom distribution companies include: Amazon UK, Adlibris, Bertram’s, Blackwell, Book Depository, Coutts, Gardner’s, Mallory Intl., Paperback Shop, Eden Interactive Limited., Aphrohead and IBS-STL UK. *20 copies provided for B&W paperback. Number of included books will be less with hardcover, color or custom sized book. Additionally, Display advertising in ALIVE Magazine, Feature articles, book reviews & author interviews. Online advertising on the high traffic ALIVE website, TV commercials on Comcast cable channels like CNN, MSNBC & dozens more. Complete website design; shopping cart enabled. Video production and QR Codes & Microsoft Tags on Facebook & Twitter pages.

The Zoo

Hannah and Claire loved to visit the zoo, it was their favorite of many things they could do.
It has been a few months since their last big zoo trip, but they remembered one monkey who loved to do flips.
So Hannah asked Mom and Claire talked to Dad, they begged and they pleaded, it sounded so sad
Yet having nice parents who enjoyed a good time, Mom and Dad liked their idea, said it sounded just fine.
So early that Sunday, they loaded the car, they sang silly songs though the drive wasn’t real far
Once they arrived for their day full of fun, the girls spotted some hippos enjoying the sun
The lions they roared and the camels were snacking, joeys were in pouches the kangaroos moms were packing.
Claire talked to zebras and Hannah to bears, mom whistled to parrots while dad stood and stared.
The girls laughed super loud seeing a monkey wear pants and they were truly amazed watching walruses dance.
At the end of the day, as they all headed home, Claire wore on her head antlers made of soft foam. Hannah sported a trunk that hung from her nose and once in the car their eyes started to close.
Mom said to Dad, “our girl’s sure love the zoo” and Dad nodded his head and responded, “yea, they sure do!”

ALIVE’S Public Relations includes press releases and follow-ups to local, regional and/or national media, Representation, pitches and follow-ups to local bookstores and other venues for readings and signing events, Radio and/or TV interviews locally and nationwide, Guest appearance on Robin Fahr’s Conversations TV Show, Interview coaching for talk show appearances on TV and radio, Production of video or audio session for distribution to TV and radio stations.

If you have ever considered writing a book, there is no better time than the present. Let Eric and his staff assist you, like I did and will again. There might also be an Alive and Kickin’ Volume II sometime in the future. That’s a promise not a threat.