Last spring (2013) I was contacted by a Korean publisher, Chungjae Education based in Seoul. They asked me if I was interested in writing 20 short stories (10 fiction and 10 non-fiction) for an English language reader for Grade 2 students. After a few back-and-forth fee negotiations (very cordial) I was given 10 themes and a list of keywords that needed to be included in the stories. Some basic sentence structures and word patterns also were to be included. The themes were part of the curriculum for grade 2 students. Despite some rather awkward communications over basic questions that I had, I was able to get a basic understanding of what the publisher wanted. A fellow writer in the US was helpful to consult with as she was working on books 1 and 3 in the 3-book series.
Anyways, the books arrived in the mail yesterday and I must say that I was surprised at the great quality of the production, superior to that of many books I have published inNorth America. Here are the front and the back soft covers.
The books also include a CD and a workbook which the publisher developed from the stories that I wrote. My friend and partner Reta helped to edit the stories. She is a former primary school teacher and had the Grade 3 voice down very well. We had a lot of fun working on the themed stories for each section.
I would do another one of these assignments in a heartbeat. The next time I might just illustrate it as well.
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