In Canada, grade school students submit original works for something called "Young Authors". Now, I don't know that it's a country-wide competition and, honestly, I don't even know who judges it or exactly how it works. However, I, in grades 6-8, was involved in said competition at Prince Andrew Public School in LaSalle, Ontario, Canada. My 8th grade year, I decided to come up with something simple; something short on wording and long on what I, a future recipient of a Bachelor of Fine Arts, though was the most fun part, the illustration. It was then that Molly and Frederick were born.
Fast forward to my senior year of high school where I was bussed to a neighboring school with a few other students to take additional art classes. Along comes an assignment that sounded very familiar, write and illustrate your own book. Well, being one who believes in economy of effort (you might call it lazy, eh, potato, potato) I blew the dust off Molly and Frederick, gave them a polish, and churned out a new and improved version of the book that won me the title of Young Author in my 8th grade class.
A few months ago, I was cleaning out my art things in the shed and came across the high school version of Molly and Frederick. I was pleasantly surprised at how cute and fun it was. I brought it inside and slipped it into AC's bookshelf unbeknownst to her. That night, I whipped it out and read it to her at bedtime. I know she was only 2 at the time, but I still wanted her honest opinion. She was a little ambivalent about it, so, I put it back on the shelf and forgot about it, really.
The other night she pulled it out at bedtime and said, "Read me this one, Mommy. I like this book." Surprised, I read it to her. Apparently, she has been pulling it out and reading it herself for some time as she seemed pretty darned familiar with it. She has been asking for it every night since. This got me thinking, if she likes it so much, would other kids? Could this idea, the fruit of a 13 year old's imagination, really be worthy of publication? Like I said, it's a relatively simple concept with a lot of room for growth. Could I actually MAKE MONEY off this thing??? Honestly, I'd love to. Not because I'm have a burning desire to write children's books, but because it would be an awesome way for me, a stay at home mom, to help make money for my family. The authors of Skippy John Jones and Charlie and Lola had to start somewhere too, right? Now the only obstacle is figuring out how to get from a good idea to a finished product... Any ideas?
Until then,
AC 'n' Rory's Mom
Do you have any good ideas that could end up making you money? Don't be too specific, they're YOUR ideas, keep them that way!
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