11 Year Old Writes Book, Parents Poorer

Minneapolis-St. Paul’s WCCO-TV reports ” An 11-year-old Farmington boy has written, illustrated and published his first children’s book.” Ben Heckmann, a fifth grader, has inked the first book in a planned series, Velvet Black: The Incredible Tale of Four Rock Stars. The book follows the life of a lonely young boy who picks up a guitar and ultimately, along with his four new-found buddies, becomes a rock star on MTV.

The book was published by an outfit called KidPub Press, a membership site ($12.95 a year) which, according to their website, was “created in 1995 as a safe, fun place for kids to improve their writing skills by sharing their stories, poems, reviews and other creative writing with a worldwide audience.”

It is also a digital vanity press for children. So, now for the kids who have everything, they’re something else â€”publishing. The KidPub site explains that the book you publish with them will be available for sale on Amazon and KidPub.com, royalties are paid quarterly and royalites are 25% of the retail price, “quite high for the publishing world!” Hope Ben Heckman’s folks ran a quick P&L before commiting to that series idea though….

One of the many services KidPub offers its young authors is a “press release announcing your book sent to hundreds of newspapers and magazines.” Which, evidently, worked like a charm on that slow news day in the Twin Cities.

Valerie Merians is the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.

http://www.kidpub.com Perry Donham

Disclosure: I’m the President of KidPub Press. I think that the P&L is looking pretty good for Ben’s planned series…the first book has in two weeks sold well over 200 copies, and the author, Ben Heckmann, has done half a dozen interviews a couple of book signings, and at least one reading.

What’s important is that Ben Heckmann, now 11, has a feeling of pride and self-confidence that he’s going to carry with him well into his high school and college years. At KidPub Press we want kids to help kids accomplish something big…and for an 11 or 12 year old, finishing a book and getting it published is a huge event in their lives. When they see their book on its own page at Amazon, it’s an indescribable feeling of satisfaction.

We’re not out to create child-author superstars. We’re out to help kids understand that they have a voice, too, and that their creativity is something to nurture.
http://www.kidpub.com Perry Donham

Disclosure: I’m the President of KidPub Press. I think that the P&L is looking pretty good for Ben’s planned series…the first book has in two weeks sold well over 200 copies, and the author, Ben Heckmann, has done half a dozen interviews a couple of book signings, and at least one reading.

What’s important is that Ben Heckmann, now 11, has a feeling of pride and self-confidence that he’s going to carry with him well into his high school and college years. At KidPub Press we want kids to help kids accomplish something big…and for an 11 or 12 year old, finishing a book and getting it published is a huge event in their lives. When they see their book on its own page at Amazon, it’s an indescribable feeling of satisfaction.

We’re not out to create child-author superstars. We’re out to help kids understand that they have a voice, too, and that their creativity is something to nurture.

Melville House Books

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April 27, 2009