Thursday, May 24, 2012

10-9-8-7-6-5... Launching a brand-new ebook!

I've been working on a secret project. And now it's no secret anymore. I am proud and pleased and thrilled and [insert all manner of adjectives] to announce the launch of a brand-new anthology. An ebook anthology. An anthology of pieces by 32 Australian parenting bloggers.

Seriously. The excitement!

Things They Didn't Tell You About Parenting ($4.99, buy it here) came from a late-night idea, some late-night emails, and many more late nights of writing and editing and Skyping and pleading and cajoling. It came from a desire to help one Australian mum help 12 orphaned Indonesian girls to enjoy a better life, and to help many others to acquire an education. All proceeds from the book go to Foundation18, established by humanitarian Cate Bolt, whose passion and drive and sheer bloodymindedness are second to none.

One thing about Cate is that she makes you think. She's all over injustice and getting involved and making a difference. She's not averse to making people uncomfortable about their own comfortable lives, if it helps her to help others.

She made me think about what I could do.

It's easy to have an idea. Not so easy to bring it to fruition. "An ebook would be good," I thought.

Next thought: "I have no idea how to make an ebook."

Fortunately, I knew someone who did. So I called Tracy and Mal at Ebooks Need Editors and, just like that, the ball was rolling. It picked up momentum as soon as we approached our wonderful, talented bloggers - every email we sent out ("Er, we're thinking of doing this... will you write something for us?") was met with a resounding YES. And soon the pieces came flooding in.

Mrs Woog wrote about raising an individual.

Naomi from Seven Cherubs wrote about how she's not the parent she thought she would be.

Kerri Sackville wrote about the crushing responsibility of being a mother.

Eden wrote about the best and worst day of her life.

Maxabella wrote about Smacking (because she does love a good argument).

Chantelle from FatMumSlim wrote about the anxiety that comes with overwhelming love.

Carol Duncan wrote about handling the stiff questions.

Lori from Random Ramblings of a Stay at Home Mum wrote about unexpectedly becoming a single parent.

An Idle Dad drew clever lines between conversations about colic and conversations about potholes. 

Jo McComiskey from Beautiful South created a cover image to sum it all up.

And that's just a sample. Some of the pieces made us laugh. Some of them made us want to cry. And some of them gave us those goosebumps you get when the writing creeps under your skin.

Some are voices that you will know. Some will be new. And when the inimitable Wendy Harmer added her voice to our mix, writing the foreword for our book... well, picture me dancing around my study.

I am so proud to be part of this wonderful anthology. I am so proud of the wonderful team of editors and bloggers who banded together to write a terrific book and raise money for Foundation 18.

Just... proud.

You can learn more about Things They Didn't Tell About Parenting and buy it here for $4.99. Please do!

28 comments:

  1. Yippeee! What a wonderful collaboration and such a worthy cause! I'm leaving my comment short so that I can buy the e-book straight away before being distracted by mummy-duties! Congrats! xxx

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  2. Just fabulous, Al! Bravo to everyone involved. What an excellent cause. J x

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  3. Well done. What a fabulous idea and a great cause too! And oh my, what an awesome teaser this post is to make me want to buy a copy! Congrats to you all. x

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  4. Congratulations, what a fabulous idea, fabulous cause and fabulous group of writers in one place!

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  5. Honestly, I am beside myself for you, for all of you. For having an idea, for bringing it to fruition, for scoring some of my fave writers EVER.

    I have no words. But luckily I had my credit card...best $4.99 I will ever spend!

    LEGENDS!

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  6. Looks fantastic (but won't download onto my ipad :()

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  7. Thanks everyone! Jule will look into why it doesn't like your iPad. Will ask Tracy to respond to your comment here.

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  8. Fantastic! I need something to read tonight!

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  9. Hi Jule,
    Trying to work out what the issue might be for you. Could you email me on ttdtyap@thingstheydidnttellyou.com, so we can see what the problem is? Thanks!

    And everyone else – thank you SO much for your support. Hope you love it as much as we do! :) x

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  10. What an amazing thing to have done. Just bought. Can't wait to get it and start reading x

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  11. Nice work Al. Congrats on bringing it to fruition. Nic x

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  12. I love that you managed to convince 32 bloggers to do this. I love that you spent the time to make it happen. I love that Tracy & Mal put in the hours to make it do that technical stuff. I love the people that did the design and made it pretty. I love that you roped in Wendy for the foreward. I love that you muscled in on people for publicity.

    But most of all I love that I made you think. I love that when you thought you thought hard enough to do and not give up when it got hard. Because I'm only one person and I think the greatest thing I can probably ever achieve is getting into heads so far they have no choice but to act. Only then do I feel like I've done my job.

    56 beautiful children (and quite possibly a few more now) salute you.

    Yours in bloodymindedness,
    C

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  13. Amazing women. Amazing love. I'm sure an amazing read.

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  14. That's so very, very exciting! Yah for you and all of those talented bloggy writers. What a great cause too, Allison. x

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  15. It is a very fine book indeed.

    You have done an amazing job, Al. x

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  16. That is FABULOUS! Congratulations. Can't wait to read it (and, when I inevitably fall in love with it, to then recommend it to all my friends!).

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  17. Fantastic effort Big sis. It is a wonderful achievement and a very worthy cause. x

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  18. It sounds wonderful, a fab idea and congratulations! Heading over to grab my copy now!

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  19. It sounds like an interesting read..buuut, I really don't need it. I hope you manage to raise lots of money for Foundation 18 though.

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    1. Thanks River - I know it's not your demographic! But thanks for sharing in my news!

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  20. What a fantastic project to have completed. You should be proud.

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  21. What a brilliant idea! Love the blog, popped in via BYOBH. Will be back soon!

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  22. Hats off to you for loads of hard work. May it sell a gazillion copies, for such a worthy cause. Not to mention, a good read too.

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  23. What an amazing achievment. Will spread the word about your ebook! You rock

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  24. Congratulations. A fantastic idea for a great cause.

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  25. The book sounds amazing! And thanks for highlighting the contributors, I've bookmarked your post to visit them all later! Now, where is my kindle...

    XxX
    PS Found u via BYOBH

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Thanks for popping by the Fibro. I love to hear from you!

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