So, I get that question a lot. Why MagicBeans Bookstore? How did you come up with that? So I decided what a great topic for a blog. By no means am I a writer like many of you talented authors on the site and I am sure you will be able to tell without mention by my lack of well... talent but I'm willing to give it a go. And, I am already out of my comfort zone so why not keep going. Right?
Well about two years ago my husband Sol developed a hobby which developed into an obsessive passion, which developed into kind of a second part time career or shall I say endeavor, one that took up much of his time at nights after the kids went to bed and what I thought was supposed to be "our" quiet time together. Yes, you guessed it, this time consuming "hobby" was writing children's books and learning and researching everything in that colorful and imaginative space.
But let me back track a bit, the reason this even all began was only after we had kids (three to be exact, which at times feels like it might as well be ten, but different topic) and reading to them at night became a ritual and something we all looked forward too. My husband has always loved writing and has the "whatever exact thing you need to sit and write for hours at a time" factor. However, writing for children was something completely different. It was harder than it looks. His first book "The Adventures of Pugley Bear, Home Sweet Home" was about a bear that was having trouble sharing the spotlight when his sister was born and all the attention shifted to her. True inspiration and experiences that stem from the birth of my daughter and how my two year old son was telling us to "give her back to the hospital" because he was having a tough time sharing his world.
Seeing all the time and dedication he put into this book and working endless hours with the amazing illustrator Alejandro Echevez to get the pictures to replicate exactly what was in his mind was very inspiring to me, annoying at times for my selfish reasons but ultimately very inspiring. After working long hours at his practice all day (he is an Eye Doctor by day) he would come home and try to promote his book, since he had chosen to self publish it and market it himself. This however was NOT inspiring. It was another full time job and frankly there are not enough hours, nor energy to pile on another job. It was on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and did well but took a ton of effort. We both said there is no way you are the only one struggling with this? There has to be other authors out there that are having the same struggles with getting their book out into the world. And that night MagicBeans Bookstore was born.
We knew that there had to be more to the story, than just promoting children's books. We wanted to create a mission and purpose of why we were doing this, we knew we had to give back in someway to children since they are the true focus and inspiration behind this whole industry (we hope this to be true for every writer and artist), because if you are doing this for the money or any other reason well you might want to rethink another route for yourself. The other motive was that we also wanted to support those authors who spend lots of time and money on getting their book self published and out into the world. It takes a lot of courage and time to actually get a book done in the proper way and we love authors that self publish because they are not binded or carved into this "cookie cutter box" of "children's topics." We love outside the box topics and think they are relevant and important in our world today, and we wanted there to be a place where both creativity, diversity and generosity can be possible.
That being said we are definitely a niche and unique bookstore. We are online and therefore don't inhouse the books, the author provides us the link of where their book is sold and therefore keeps all of their profits. We simply provide the reader/buyer a place where they can go to and see books that are unique and diverse all in one place. It also feels good to know you are buying something that is supporting an independent author and artist and by having that support this allows us in return to help children have access to new and diverse books.
check out our bookstore at www.magicbeansbookstore.com
If you are an author looking to post a blog about your book please email us at magicbeansbookstore@gmail.com
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