"With the help of three teachers–Miss Ellis, Mrs. Davis, and Mrs. Bargeloh–two classes began writing their first book." This book is being released this week and a huge success. (See the full story here.)
Unfortunately, if the teachers wanted to tell the story of a cat living inside a school for seven years, it would be very difficult to get published. Why? Here’s a letter from an aspiring teacher-author.
Dear Ms. Bowllan,
I saw your blog, thanks to our amazing librarian, and thought I’d contact you. Kudos on the great, common sense advice and viewpoint that you share. Reading your blogs was a very enjoyable and uplifting experience for me.
I’m a high school English teacher who’s pursuing a career as a young adult author. So far I’ve accumulated quite a few rejection letters, but I’m hanging in there. Last October I was able to secure the representation of an agent named Susan Schulman. Some of Susan’s clients include Louis Sachar (Holes) and Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient). It’s a good thing that I love teaching because having an agent has only helped to obtain rejection letters from people higher up in the publishing food chain. I tell my wife that I haven’t been rejected this much since I was single. But I really want to continue teaching, even if my writing takes off, because it’s so rewarding…plus it’s fun to prove the old "those who can’t, teach" cliché wrong.
I know your blog asked for teacher-writers to send our stuff, but, since I haven’t published anything (other than a short story and a few poems in my college’s anthology), I just thought I’d drop you a line. Hopefully my babbling hasn’t put you to sleep. I just got excited when I saw someone who actually appreciates how difficult it is to write while being a full time teacher.
Thanks for your time!
Sincerely,
Stephen Hines
Thanks Stephen! I will say that it’s shameful that it’s difficult for teachers to become published. Maybe that’s why I haven’t received many emails from teacher-authors. They are certainly in the front lines. I haven’t met a teacher who didn’t have a story to tell…and a good one too. Calling all publishers…GIVE TEACHERS A CHANCE.
Additional resources:
Teachers @ Random
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