North Woods Poachers
By: Max Elliot Anderson
Copyright: Baker Trittin Press
ISBN: 0-9729256-8-6
Price: $10.95
Format: paperback
Genre/age group/type of publication: Tweens 8 – 13, especially boys
The Washburn families have been coming to the same cabins, on the same lake, catching the same fish, for about as long as Andy can remember. And he's sick of it. This summer would be different he decided. Only he never imagined how different. The story is filled with excitement, danger, humor, and drama. In the end, Andy learns the concepts of family tradition, that God loves justice while He hates injustice, and it is important to follow the rules. Readers will enjoy the gigantic, jet-powered floatplane, computers, home made radio transmitter, and naturally, no one will ever forget Big Wally. He’s a fish of course.
Author of Books for Reluctant Readers
Max Elliot Anderson
Blog Address: http://booksandboys.blogspot.com
Website Address: http://www.maxbooks.9k.com
Email:
mander8813 AT aol DOT com
Max Elliot Anderson grew up as a struggling, reluctant reader. Using his extensive experience in the production of motion pictures, videos, and television commercials, he brings the same visual excitement and heart-pounding action to his adventure and mystery stories, written especially for tween boys. Both boys and girls have reported that reading one of his books is like being in an exciting movie.
Max Elliot Anderson Interview
Aday: What can you tell us about your publisher, Baker Trittin Press?
Max : This is a small publisher that actually formed six years ago in order to publish my first books. Since then they have branched out into publishing other authors. Most recently they began a contest for high school students and have published some of those manuscripts.
Aday: How does your book get promoted? Publisher? You?
Max : The publisher travels to Christian school conventions and homeschool conferences. Initially they attempted to work with Christian bookstores, but we all know what’s been happening with reductions in that market. In addition, my books are distributed by Baker & Taylor, they’re available on places like Amazon, and the publisher maintains their own site for selling books.
But all of my professional life has been involved in the production of films, client video programs, and television commercials. This has required the knowledge of marketing and promotion principles that have proven extremely helpful with my books. When I began writing, I also started working on my platform. This included writing articles, short stories, developing media relationships, assembling email lists, and offering myself as a speaker about the importance of boys and reading.
There wouldn’t be time of space to go into all of that here, but authors today are required to take a strong position as marketers in the current publishing structure.
Aday: Can you describe your methods for marketing your book?
Max : Probably the strongest areas are in education. There is a growing following with homeschoolers, librarians, teachers, and parents. So I key into those people and markets. In early October, I had an article published in Knowonder Magazine. The title is, Help for Struggling, Reluctant Readers. Since then, I’ve had over a dozen requests for permission to reprint the article, and many more direct requests for it when I offered the article on my blog.
Speaking of my blog, Books For Boys http://booksandboys.blogspot.com consistently ranks # 1 on Google, when people are searching under that subject. As a result, other publishers are discovering the blog and asking me to review or announce their books. The most recent review was for a book from Scholastic, and I have two more to do for Peachtree publishing.
So my approach to marketing includes any and all openings or opportunities to let the widest possible audience know that my books are available.
Aday: I see you have a niche as a boy-friendly reluctant reader author. What steps other than the types of books you’ve written did/do you take to achieve that?
Max : This began with extensive research into what kinds of books were available and where the potential markets were. When I discovered that there was a tremendous gap in the area of books for boys, and for struggling & reluctant readers, I saw a perfect match. That’s because I had grown up hating to read.
Since I grew up as a struggling, reluctant reader, it gave me an understanding of the reasons for this. Once a few of my manuscripts were completed, I asked people on some of my social networking sites if their sons had this same problem. If they did, would they like to try some of my stories to see if they helped. And boy did they ever. The emails I received gave me profound encouragement to move forward with my plans.
My work in film production has included many dramatic films for children. I discovered that boys would not watch a girl’s story, but girls would watch one that featured boys. That’s the same template I chose for my own books.
Boys like humor, danger, action, adventure, and a lot going on. They don’t like endless details or large blocks of type on a page. Reluctant readers may be easily distracted, so my books have shorter sentences, easier words, and move a rapid pace. Most of the stories include a boy involved in an incredible adventure, or one who solves a mystery, along with his friends, and they become heroes.
Now, kids tell me that reading one of my books is like being in an exciting or scary movie.
Aday: On your website you say you prefer reading nights, where parents attend with their children. Why?
Max : My schools program includes the extensive use of music and sound effects. That’s because I use some of these same tools to set the stage, in my mind, for the various scenes I’m writing. On reading nights, I’m able to share these same concepts with parents. Once they see how different my approach is to storytelling, they tend to buy a lot of books for their children. When an author can make that kind of a connection, it sets the stage for interest in additional books as they are published.
Aday: Do you actively market “reading nights” and school visits? How do you spread the word?
Max : I’ve developed a mailing list of regional and area schools, and send periodic emails and snail mail promotion to them. Here’s a link to one of those promotion pages which appears on my author’s web site http://www.maxbooks.9k.com/whats_new.html
Because I’ve been doing this for a while, word of mouth has also become a factor.
Aday: Do your visits take place in places other than schools? Can you name a few?
Max : Because my audience is primarily tween students, I focus on the schools where they are. In addition, I’ve made myself available to homeschool situations, and have spoken to educators at the university level, including PhDs. Just this past Saturday, I had the opportunity to speak with adults who work with children. Many of them bought books, and several bought copies of all six that I had with me. I’ve offered to speak in libraries, but none have taken me up on that yet. I’m also available for radio interviews.
And interviews like yours provide an additional opportunity to “speak” to a wider audience.
Aday: What’s the key to appealing to reluctant readers?
Max : Working on the principle that it takes one to know one, I believe is the key in my case. When I began writing, I focused my attention on just one reluctant reader boy. After completing a total of thirty-five manuscripts for this audience, I discovered that I’m actually writing to myself. If I wrote the kinds of books that I would have enjoyed as a child, it stands to reason that others will like them too.
Aday: As a child you were a reluctant reader. Are you today? What were your favorite books and/or authors and why?
Max : I still find it difficult to read for enjoyment. My preference would always be to watch something than to read about it. I’m a visual learner in that sense. It might be hard for others to understand, and it isn’t because I wrote any of them, but I can easily enjoy reading one of my manuscripts. In fact, when I read them, it’s as if I’m reading something for the first time. My mind doesn’t make the connection that I had anything to do with it. In my writing, as well as the scripts that I write for my video clients, I always do a role reversal and try to become the recipient of what is written, not the author of it.
One book I read recently was The Alchemist. What I liked about it was that it was also written in the storyteller form that I try to achieve. I’m half-way through reading Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. I especially like this book because it speaks to the troubles that men face in becoming men. One of the hopes I have had for my writing has been to set the stage for boys where they can learn some of the principles they’ll need as men.
Aday: Thanks for taking the time to share with us about reluctant readers and your books. It’s appreciated.
Max : Thank you for the opportunity. There is nothing more important that giving kids a love for reading. After all, readers are the leaders that other follow.
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