Sunday, April 20, 2008

Books by Kids!

Kids writing a book?

You would be amazed. I have come across a great number of children who write better than most adults.

Kids, teens, tweens are some of the most prolific and imaginative writers on the planet. Many Teachers who have to read their writing might disagree, but what we're finding is that creative writing is being taught 'old school' and it doesn't help kids.

The reason is, creative writing for many children is no fun. They hit writer's block fast and hard.

At KidBookInk we have learned how to make writing fun for kids. All you have to do is start by asking them questions about their story, and let them fill in the blanks. Teachers drone on and on about plot, theme, character etc., but kids can't 'see' the outcome so it isn't fun.

This is why we invented StoryBoard4Kidz. You can take a tour at: http://kidbook.storyright.com/. This easy to use tool is now endorsed by The Center for Leadership in Education, http://www.centerforleadership.org/ , as part of their Universal Design for Learning initiatives.

Once children get going, they don't want to stop. Many of our younger writers sit with Mom, Dad, or Grandma, Grandpa and work on their story together.

StoryBoard4Kidz actually helps prove children who use this tool improve their writing. When the story is downloaded into Microsoft Word, from StoryBoard4Kidz, MS Word measures the lexicon of the writing and measures it. As the story evolves, you can see the lexicon scores improve!

We use StoryBoard4Kidz with our authors to help them quickly finish up their book. Since it was originally designed for NaNoWriMo, writers find it fast and easy to use, along with being a powerful organizer. Those with special needs can use Voice and Speech Recognition tools with it, and Autistic children will enjoy its ability to draw them into a conversation.

As a publisher we are continually amazed by the incredible talent of children. We also see how easy it is to lose a child to video games. We hope you will contact us and let us read what your child has to say!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Creative Writing for Kids

Creative writing for kids is the dirty little secret in the educational goals of this country. Fewer children are writing at all levels.

The NEA recently released a report on reading in schools. It bemoaned the lack of reading in schools by kids as they get older. More interesting, was the complaint filed in their report by prospective employers. That complaint was that today's High School graduates don't write well.

Current graduates do not express themselves well on paper. One of the major reasons is that schools don't focus on writing, and especially writing creatively.

As publishers of works by children, my partner and I have discovered, there is a ton of talent out there. The problem is keeping kids interested in writing, and showing them early in life, that writing can be a very rewarding career.

If you have a child who enjoys writing, give our subscription on-line creative writing engine StoryBoard4Kidz a try. It's only $20.00 a year. Click here for a free 14 day trial.

If you have a child who would be interested in publishing their work for sale, we'd love to hear from you. In my next post, I'll address several great sites for kids.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Why aren't my books selling?

Is a question that a publisher hears all the time.

Or I get,

I'm looking for someone to:

publish my book;
pick up my art;
carry my music;
show my film....

Sound familiar?

If it does, I have answers. It all starts with a plan.

Write me.

Have a great Monday.

Dave & the Team at KidBookInk

http://www.kidbookink.com/
888-WRT-1NOW

Friday, July 6, 2007

Permission to Self....

What does success at KidBookInk look like?

Well, Fifth in from the left, front row is a young lady named Hannah. The stage she is singing from is the Opera House in Sydney Australia.

She didn't write a best seller, but she did write a plan. Her plan got her where she wanted to be!

Sydney!

She raised nearly all of the $4,500.00 she needed to go -- herself,-- at the age of 11, in less than 6 months. Did she have some help? Sure she did. But, she had a plan, and she put in the time and effort to make it a reality.

Virtually all of us have something we want to do, but we don't give ourselves permission to do it. KidBookInk is designed to allow kids, and adults, to give themselves permission to get out of our own way, and go do what we dream about, or believe in.

Writing, Art, Music, Invention, and Video are tough. All of it is taught, but nobody teaches you how to feed yourself from it. Honestly, it's not difficult, but one has to put some effort into it.

Hannah gets told all the time, she'll be the next American Idol. Frankly, I'm not sure she's interested. She loves to sing, and perform. Her next 'goal' is to sing the National Anthem at Jacob's Field in Cleveland. She has auditioned. She's waiting for the word to go. She's given herself 'permission' to try. How many of us haven't? Or worse, won't.

One of my blog comments asks, "Does this really work?" I can honestly say, yes it does, but only if you do too. I'll help you, and that's part of the difference. Support.

Get out there and live your dream today. Whatever it is. Come here and share it with us. Share your frustrations too.

Dave and the Team at KidBookInk.
http://www.kidbookink.com/

Thursday, July 5, 2007

So you like to write?

Hey Gang, I had to start someplace. I'm Dave.

I'm a publisher who wants to encourage kids to become authors. Real authors. I love hearing what kids have to say. I think a lot of other people in the world do too.

I'll be writing here regularly on the topic. I've put my money where my mouth is. I built a site devoted to incubating young writers, artists, musicians, inventors, and videographers. My team and I work with kids to develop their works into marketable products, and provide and entire support system to help them get their works into the market place.

Recently, my daughter Hannah used my plan to raise nearly $5000.00 to go with her choir to Australia and sing at the Sydney Opera House! She had a plan, followed it, and in less than 8 months had all the money she needed!

You can do it too. I'm here to motivate you along. Adults can chime in too.

Sincerely,

Dave Van Horn
Co-Founder
KidBookInk LLC
888-WRT-1NOW