Part Two of our feature on published teenage authors at Xulon Press.
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Lauren Lotter
Stats: 18-year-old homeschooled student in Michigan
Book: Rustlers and the Texas Trail – book one of the Christian Cowgirl Adventure series, a book series focused on combining love of western culture with biblical values.
Xulon Editor Blair Townley: What is the storyline for Rustlers and the Texas Trail, and how did you come up with the idea?
Lauren Lotter: The story follows a young girl named Amy and the different adventures that she encounters. It also teaches life lessons with biblical principles that are contained in a fun and exciting historical story.I always loved horses and western stories, but I was having trouble finding exciting and thrilling stories that had a strong Christian standpoint.
BT: Describe the writing routine that you created for writing your book, and what you experienced during the self-publishing process.
LL: I didn’t plan ahead on where the story was going to end up, so I picked the name and let the story flow out. It took thirteen months for the first draft and went through ten revisions. There were times where I had all sorts of ideas and had to decide where to put them in the story; and then there were times when I needed to work on this, but couldn’t come up with anything. There were definite moments of writer’s block. I had other books I was working along with this book, but this series seemed to be one that I really felt comfortable with. I felt a little overwhelmed putting all the pieces together for publishing, but I had a lot of people helping me along the way, as well as the Xulon staff. It was definitely a good experience and I learned a lot of lessons from it.
BT: How will you be promoting your book, and what do you hope readers gain from the series?
LL: It feels strange being a published author, but growing up I always looked at book covers with the author’s name on them. It is different now seeing my name on a cover. I will be promoting the book on my family’s auction website, which gets about one million page views a month, and I have my own website also, www.heritageliterature.com. I’m already editing the rough draft of the second book in the series, which I hope to publish next spring, and am halfway through the rough draft of the third book. I do want to keep writing seriously and hope young girls read the books, giving them something to enjoy but taking something good away from it.
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Samuel Yuen
Stats: 16-year-old homeschooled student in New York
Book: The Galactic Defenders: The Financial Campaign – an adventure novel about five superhero siblings who help save a kidnapped man while learning valuable lessons about finance.
Blair Townley: How did the idea for a young adult superhero book with finance come about?
Samuel Yuen: I wanted to write this book to help kids learn about finance and how to handle their money, such as their allowances, which my family used to teach about in our church. The superhero aspect of the book is to provide kids a good story to enjoy as they learn about finance. It took me about two to three months to write the book and two to three months to publish through Xulon Press.
BT: What did you do to prepare the book for publication, and how was the publishing process?
SY: I loved writing this book, and my family has been very supportive. My siblings are in the target market that I’m trying to reach [ages 8-13], so I used their help to develop the characters. They liked the action scenes and getting to know some of the characters, determining which ones they related to personally. The publishing process was a learning experience, as I learned about marketing and advertising for my book, along with how to look professional, with business cards and a website, for trade shows or interviews. I’m hoping to publish more books in this Galactic Defenders series, with each book teaching a different moral like teamwork and respect for others.
BT: Have you realized you are a published author? What experiences have you had promoting your book?
SY: It feels unbelievable sometimes to think I am a published author, and I love telling people that I have written a book. It feels great to know that I am making a difference in another child’s life through this book. I’ve promoted the book on www.christianreading.com/syuen, the website of my company, His Kids Enterprises, that I started with my parents. I even spoke at an entrepreneur class for the Financial and Business Education for Teens event at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. I also have done some book signings at conventions and church. My mom always told me not to put all my eggs in one basket, so writing is one of my main goals, besides running my company and possibly playing tennis professionally. I would like to continue the series to show how the children grow up, and maybe write some books breaking down my favorite books of the Bible.
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These teenage authors prove that you are not too young to start living your dream of becoming a published writer. If you have had a lifelong dream to write a book, but don’t feel you can, view these adolescent writers as inspirations to bring that memoir, novel or educational book into reality.
Ms. Townleys article was well received. We enjoy seeing the imagination and ability of younger children: along with the ability to transform that imagination into the printed word. I applaud your efforts to spotlight and bring out the talent and abilities of these young adults.