Dreamers Into Doers -- marthastewart.com

Thanks for your support! Grateful to be Doer of the Week!

What a great community this is! I am thrilled to be the Doer of the Week, particularly to be listed among the dedicated members of this group. Without a doubt, the thread that runs through the messages of these innovators is that of having a mission, devising a plan, and activating that plan. It’s great to see the various manners in which we each create and implement our action plan. And yes, revise said plan. As with you all, mine has been an eventful road to travel – and continues to be. Beginning with an idea then putting it in motion is not always glamorous. In my case, it was rarely glamorous. Unless glamour means skipping countless nights’ sleep, anguishing over malfunctioning equipment, agonizing when those inevitable imperfect books crop up, and in the early years, printing, binding, and packing up books in my basement at 3 a.m. (with 4 dogs, 3 cats, 2 children, and a 100 year old house to keep a step ahead of.) As the company grew and we exchanged the old country home for an office in Manhattan, and a manufacturer and distributor, many of those challenges have been resolved -- but new ones are always lurking. Yet when you have a goal that drives you, one you believe in, you tend to overlook the inconveniences – even the smiley faces that your 3-year-old draws on the outgoing cartons of books.

When I decided to begin republishing juvenile girls’ fiction, my psychologist colleagues looked at me quizzically with, “you’re going to do what?” But I knew that the idea was good; I knew that it was important. Most would agree that what we do in our youth has far reaching effects not only on our youth but throughout our adulthood. It only makes sense that the books from our tween and teen years would help create and mold who we are and who we become. An equally thrilling aspect of bringing back old favorite books is placing their replicas in the hands of those who already know and love them. These special people are our authors’ advocates and marketers. They help spread the news.

After ten years of republishing books, it just never gets old. I suspect that the optimism within the books has played a feature role in keeping my spirits high. I would guess that the members of Dreamers into Doers could attest that focusing on the positive is far more energizing than making a list of the bad things that happened that day. If your driving force can be “what went right today?” then you are more likely to be strengthened that day, and the next. We certainly never have to search for the problems – they have a way of surfacing just fine on their own. They simply have to be assessed, categorized, and broken into smaller pieces so that they are easier to decipher and conquer. A little humor can certainly help too. I’ve learned that from our authors. They really did have it right.

Tags: barton, beany, boylston, canfield, cascade, dore, du, fiction, girls, helen

Comment by Jolene /Planners on October 29, 2009 at 7:22am: Bring on the era Image Cascade Publishing!

Congrats from a fellow devotee and lover of the by-gone era!

Best Regards Forever and the '40s!

Creating Quite The Stir Event Planners/Quite The Stir Bungalow

target="_blank">http://quitethestirbungalowandbreakfast.blogspot.com/

Comment by Lisa Umansky on October 29, 2009 at 7:47am: Congratulations and continued sucess! Great idea.
I remember enjoying a book from my elementary school library titled "Fifteen", it must have published in the 50's...although my daughters certainly have a much larger selection of current books to read, I do remember enjoying those "older" publications way back then.
Enjoy the spotlight!

Comment by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia on October 29, 2009 at 8:56am: Congrats Joy! It was so fun to write about you and your book business! - Alexis T. from Dreamers into Doers

Comment by Mary S on October 29, 2009 at 2:32pm: Congrats Joy on being Doer of the Week! I am so in awe in reading what you have accomplished. Your idea was quite totally "out of the box" to bring back to life some wonderful classic series books that I remember so well like the Sue Barton series and pretty much all of the Rosamond Du Jardin books. I used to carry a grocery bag full of them home from my many library visits back in the 60's. The values and morals of the stories in those books are priceless.

Comment by Karen Keller-Eyer on October 29, 2009 at 4:09pm: Congratulations on having a wonderful idea and making the dream happen. Just reading your unique story makes me want to read every book! How persistent you must have been to achieve your goal to republish books worth reading!
Karen

Comment by Kathy Hamrick on October 29, 2009 at 7:25pm: Joy, Until this moment, (DID of the week) I had no idea you existed or your books. You have sold me on your publications as I have (2) granddaughters who I buy books for every occasion. I, when I am not sirring my salsa pots, am an avid reader and member of serveral book clubs. Also, in one of my previous lives; I was librarian for 4 years in my home town. I feel such a connection to books and would trade our screen TV for a kindle anyday! Of course, my husband would object --teehee!
Last item, I can't recall seeing any comments or messages from you since I have been a member? I say this because there was a member a few weeks ago who needed help in getting her children's books to a publisher. Does anyone else remember this message? We try to help each other as much as we can so maybe you can connect with this other DID and provide assistance?
Kathy Hamrick,Owner~Good Golly Ms. Molly's LLC

Comment by Image Cascade Publishing on October 29, 2009 at 11:58pm: I really appreciate your warm comments! It's wonderful to hear how important books are to the members of this community. I well remember bringing home a huge stack of books from the library each week during the hot summers in the 1970s. Little did I know that I would never stop reading those books! I would love to talk with the DID author. There are so many opportunities for writers to produce their works and have a hand in marketing them as well. And Lisa, I believe that you may be thinking of Beverly Cleary's Fifteen. (Jane Purdy is the main character.) HarperCollins reprinted some of Ms. Cleary's books a few years ago, so they are thankfully still fairly prevalent!

Comment by Image Cascade Publishing on November 3, 2009 at 12:21am: It’s been great to hear from so many of you – I really appreciate your posted comments and e-mails. It’s wonderful to know that many of you grew up reading our authors’ series (I think there are quite a few Beany Malone readers, Tobey Heydon, Pam & Penny Howard, the Sue Barton nursing series…) I hope that I responded to everyone’s questions regarding the nature of our books. (If I missed any, please let me know!) Most of the young heroines in our books are positive, goal-directed people with some kind of a plan. It only makes sense that a dreamer & doer might have read about a dreamer & doer in her youth! Thank you, again, for your great comments and thoughts about other books from the 1940s & 1950s to republish!

Comment by Image Cascade Publishing on November 4, 2009 at 2:44am: It has been remarkable to hear from so many people who grew up reading "malt shop romance novels." It's always fun to hear, "I thought I was the only one!" I am also thrilled to hear from nurses who report that the Sue Barton nursing series inspired them to pursue the health profession. I recently spoke with a doctor who read the Sue Barton series as a teen -- she professes that the character and storylines influenced her decision to join the medical profession, so too did one of her colleagues after reading the series by Helen Dore Boylston. Interestingly, they each read the books in Australia in the early 1980s -- long after the books' original publications in the 1930s/1940s. Every "testimonial" that I hear is yet another reminder of the importance and far reaching influence of children's and teen's literature.

Comment by Image Cascade Publishing on November 5, 2009 at 1:44pm: I've received more great questions regarding the age range appropriateness for our authors' books and series. Though I suppose reading is a fairly subjective, case-by-case affair, generally the Image Cascade Publishing Malt Shop Romance Novels are enjoyed by tweens and teens as well as by women who enjoy nostalgic fiction (1930s to 1960s) of this genre. Great news, too, is that we will soon be releasing a 10 Book Series that is, indeed, written with the younger reader in mind -- an age range of approximately 7 to 11+. This series features a young girl who moves to a new neighborhood/new city, encountering all of the insecurities and fears that one would imagine a new little girl to feel. As she blossoms and expands her friendships by pushing her slightly timid limits, the reader identifies with and embraces the ups and downs of witnessing a "friend" growing up. I will be sure to announce the release of this new series when it occurs. And if you have any questions about this or any of our other series, please let me know and I will be happy to help!

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