Julie Thompson (pseudonym, "Marie Lopez") didn't like to study Spanish in school. But, she plugged away at it anyway, never dreaming that she would spend the rest of her life speaking, writing, reading and teaching it! She interrupted her college studies to begin volunteer work, working with English and Spanish speakers, and hasn't stopped yet. When she moved to South America, she added yet another language to the list: Ecuadorian Quichua. Currently she is the owner of ESEN Translation Services, a minority/woman owned small business, offering language services in English, Spanish and Ecuadorian Quichua. These including translation, interpretation, proofreading, transcription, editing and language learning.
She has been a literacy and language instruction volunteer in South America since she moved there in 1989. In 2011, she published the book, "Wanna Go Where?", a guide into planning for a move abroad. Her e-guide, "Learning a Second Language" was published in 2015. And now, she's working on a series of children's stories, based on her aunt's two Russian Blue cats, the objective of this book proposal.
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Two adopted Russian Blue cats, a loving couple to take care of them...what could go wrong?
Share Post on X Threads LinkedIn EmbedChildren Fiction preschoolers/first-time readers | |
1,000 words | |
75% complete | |
1 publisher interested |
When my aunt's long-time feline companion, The Baby (yes, the "t" in "The" is
supposed to be capitalized), passed away, the loss left my aunt bereft. It took her some time to accept it. But, when she did, she decided to once again adopt a cat. So, she first adopted a Russian Blue cat by the name of Olivia, who was raised in a veterinarian's office. When she took Olivia home, the young cat seemed so lonely that my aunt decided to get her a Russian Blue companion, which turned out to be Miles, or, as he became known, The Mush.
It was that combination of names that first struck me:
Olivia and The Mush. The phrase has a certain musical rhythm to it, at least to my ear. And, then I began to hear the adventures about Olivia and the Mush, adventures that I think adults would enjoy reading to the children in their care, and that beginning readers would like to read for themselves.
The
Olivia and the Mush series, as a children's book, whether in toddler or beginning reader format, will consist of illustrated books, 32 pages in length. Each book could be considered as a chapter, so no table of contents would be necessary.
Example:
1. Olivia and The Mush
2. Olivia and The Mush - Olivia Likes Flowers, and The Mush Likes Hats
2. Olivia and The Mush: The Mush Gets Lost
3. Olivia and The Mush: Olivia Goes to the Vet
There are two avenues of interest that I would like to pursue with
Olivia and The Mush. Firstly, I would like to have the series translated into Canadian French, Latin American Spanish, German and Japanese; I have my own translators available for this. Secondly, I am thinking of developing this series into a travelogue for South America, to begin with. Families travel and move abroad more than ever before, and if children could learn a little about the country that they're going to travel to by having a book read to them and seeing the illustrations, or reading it themselves, it might aid in their adjustment.
The best audience for the
Olivia and The Mush will be toddlers and beginning readers. Those families with cats will enjoy this series, perhaps personally having had some of the same experiences as Olivia and The Mush will experience.
On Amazon.com, a search under the phrase "cat books for children" shows a total of 41, 278 results. When the search is narrowed to "cat books for children", using the filter "Baby to 2 [years]", the total is 1377 results. The 3-5 year range shows a total of 8,250 books for sale.
And, what about an actual experience? An illustrator interested in working on the series told me that her two-year-old daughter sleeps with 8 stuffed cats! Therefore the
Olivia and The Mush series should be of interest to a good-sized audience, especially those parents and children who have cats as pets.
My marketing plan outline includes:
a. An author page on Amazon.com
b. Periodic updates on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
c. Promotional items, such as a variety of digital presentations (audiobook, animated ppt presentation), posters, etc.
1. The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires (No. 1 best seller in Children's Pet Books)
This is a book about a girl (unnamed) and her best friend, her dog. The plot deals with how the girl learns how to react to obstacles when wanting to create something.
2. What Pet Should I Get?, by Dr. Seuss ( New York Times No. 1 bestseller)
This book shows just how hard it can be for a child to choose a pet.
3. Take the Dog Out!, by Lynne Dempsey (Readers' Favorite 2014 Gold Medal Winner, an International Book Awards Finalist, a USA Best Book Awards Finalist, a Book Readers Appreciation Group Medallion Honoree, and a Global Ebook Award Nominee)
This book shows the dire consequences that result when a family is just too busy to take their pet dog for his walk.
4, The Pete the Cat series, by James Dean (#1 Best Seller)
This series deals with what appears to be a Blue Russian cat, that has many adventures. His friends are all animals, and they take the place of human actors, in that they do what humans would do.
5. The Fluffy the Kitten series, by Uncle Amon
This series is about a kitten who learns about life along with her friend Philippo. (Philippo is not immediately described as being a human or an animal, although the context of the stories seems to indicate that he is a human.)
The Olivia and The Mush series will relate the interaction between two Russian Blue cats with different personalities, and their new owners, a caring married couple. It will show how these two cats adjust to life in their own home, in contrast to living in an animal shelter. However, the cats will not speak; the reader will use the text and illustrations in order to understand how the cats feel in certain situations. My research seems to indicate that among Amazon's 100 best sellers, there aren't many, if any, children's books about having two cats, much less two Russian Blue cats.
Agora Publishing
Agora Publishing is a Canada-based not-for-profit organization, founded in 1997 with the aim of making book publishing accessible to all writers across Canada and internationally. Hybrid publisher All categories Worldwide |
It's time for an update on Olivia and The Mush!
First of all, Olivia and The Mush has undergone some changes since I originally published …
I thought I had sent out an update a couple of weeks ago; sorry about that!
Actually, it's been rather difficult for me to concentrate …