My Son the Author

When Randy was 11, he got grounded from his PS2 and Internet priviledges because his grades were substandard. Thinking he was beating the system, he asked if he could get on the computer because he wanted to write a book. I thought.. sure, if you want to "write a book," knock yourself out. So Randy started writing, and writing and writing. He'd look up from his Word Document every now and then and ask me if he finished the book, if we could publish it. Absolutely! If you write a book, I'll get it published for you. It was a sure thing for me since he never even finished his homework every night.

So imagine my surprise when 2 months before his 13th birthday, he told me he had just finished his book. Of course I was skeptical, but he pulled it up online and sure enough, he had written a 10,700 word action-hero fiction called "The Strike of Lightning."

Needless to say, I had no idea how to get a book published. I did Internet research, found out I had to send out query letters, got a list of Publishing Companies, and sent out over 50 query letters. Of course no one wanted to invest in a pre-teen author, so we set out to self-publish it. I knew it was a very good book for grade school children. Randy had done a fabulous job writing this book

We saved the 799.00 needed to self-pub, and we submitted it the beginning of this month. We received an Editorial Evaluation back last week. THEY LOVE THE STORY, but did not like the poor formatting (my fault), and they told us if we make the corrections necessary, it will make their Editor's Choice Program which gives Randy's book more perks!!

I hired an editor at the University of Illinois where I work to fix my formatting errors, and hopefully it will be ready to resubmit revisions this week. Next they will design a cover for it. Randy has told me in great detail how he wants the cover to look, so the publishing company will draw up drafts for us to approve. Randy's picture, bio and a short book description will be on the back cover. We are all so excited.

So please look for the book. It will be available on www.amazon.com, www.borders.com, or any other book ordering system. It is a book about an action hero named Lightning who fights his archenemy by shooting lightning out of his fingers. It's extremely action packed and kids 9-12yoa will love it. Even I-Universe gave the plot a thumbs up.

Please buy numerous books and give them for gifts! Randy gets 100% of the royalties, and he definitely deserves them.

Signed,

One proud mom