Why I'm discounting and giving away my book!
A story from my daughter to help other families…
I originally made up the story of The Squirrel’s Tail to cheer up my daughter when she was going through a really hard time, after several surgeries on her hip as a toddler. You can read more about that time here. After writing down the story and reading it in my daughter’s school, I decided to publish it as a book because I hope and believe it can help other children and parents dealing with sickness and recovery.
It was never about the money
I have a confession to make: I’m not actually a full-time author. I make a good living from my work as a consultant in the area of sustainability and never hoped to make money from the book. I would love people to buy it but, even more than that, I always wanted it to reach as many families as possible, so they can share a moment of hope and joy in difficult times. I want it to help parents and teachers talk to children about difficult topics, such as pain, recovery and being different, in a way that’s accessible to them. As a parent, I found there were many children’s books about hospital visits, but not that many about dealing with recovery and accepting your differences post-sickness.
Giving away the book to less fortunate children
I know that some people can’t afford or don’t have access to books and have therefore decided to give a significant number of copies to charity to promote reading. Over the past 8 months, I have donated books to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital (where my daughter had her surgery - and they even have a Squirrel ward!) and Make It Shine (a Special Education Needs charity in Yorkshire). I also raised £250 for the wonderful STEPS Worldwide (an amazing charity for children with hip problems which helped us a great deal) through my Bright Week campaign. I’m now really excited to be donating 250 more copies to Book Aid, a wonderful charity that gives the gift of books to those truly in need. It feels totally surreal to think that children and school libraries in The Gambia, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and Liberia will now have The Squirrel’s Tail!
Making it more accessible…
Though I want the book to reach as many people as possible, I refuse to sell it on Amazon. When I initially set the price, I compared it to similar full-colour hardbacks and £11.99 seemed reasonable. But since I am an unknown author and many people are not used to buying books from independent websites, I realised it might seem expensive. So, to help make it more accessible and to encourage as many people as possible to get a copy of The Squirrel’s Tail, I have decided to discount it permanently to £9.99.
*** The Squirrel’s Tail now only £9.99 in selected bookshops and online ***
If you are a charity which would benefit from receiving a copy of my book, please get in touch with me today!