Day Five: Learning Book Publishing
Day 5 of the Skills2Stars Summer Academy took our young writers beyond writing and editing their stories and opened their minds to something many of them had probably never considered: the skills behind a book can also become skills that create opportunities and income.
Something beautiful has been unfolding through our book writing and publishing sessions.
What started with young participants learning how to develop their ideas and put their stories on paper has gradually become a journey into understanding the entire world behind creating a book.
Award-winning book publisher and founder of The Publishing Pad Inc., Chisom Ezeh, joined our participants for a hands-on Book Publishing Workshop, introducing them to the different skills and opportunities that exist within the publishing industry.
And one of the biggest lessons of the day was simple:
You do not have to become an author to build a career with books.
Students learning the basics of book publishing
There Is More to a Book Than Writing
When we pick up a finished book, we often only see the author's name on the cover.
But what happens between an author's first idea and the finished book sitting on a shelf?
There is writing.
There is editing.
There is proofreading.
There is formatting.
There is cover design.
There is ghostwriting.
There is publishing.
There is marketing.
And behind every one of these processes is a skill someone can learn, develop and eventually monetize.
Chisom opened the minds of our participants to these possibilities, helping them understand that the publishing industry is much bigger than simply writing a book.
For young people who are still discovering their interests and abilities, this was an important lesson. You may love books without wanting to become an author. You may discover that your strength is helping someone else make their writing better. You might enjoy designing beautiful book covers, formatting manuscripts or helping an author move their work from an idea to a published book.
There are many ways to find your place within an industry.
Student reading her first draft
From Editing Books to Becoming a Publisher
Chisom made the lesson even more relatable by sharing her own journey into publishing.
She explained:
“I was just editing clients' books at first without wanting to go into full-scale publishing, but when I saw that many of my clients were in need of my book editing, formatting, design and publishing skills, I decided to go into publishing full time.”
What started as one skill eventually revealed a much bigger opportunity.
And that is exactly the kind of story we want Skills2Stars participants to hear.
Sometimes you do not know where a skill will take you when you first begin learning it.
You simply start.
You practice.
You become better.
You solve a problem for someone.
Then one opportunity introduces you to another.
Chisom's story showed our participants that careers and businesses do not always begin with a perfect plan. Sometimes they grow because you become good at something, people begin to need what you can do, and you recognize the opportunity in front of you.
They Wrote. They Edited. They Reviewed. They Learned.
The workshop was also practical.
Participants continued working on the books they had started during the previous book writing workshop. But this time, they were introduced to what happens after a story has been written.
They exchanged their work and edited one another's books, experiencing part of the editorial process themselves.
They had to read someone else's work carefully.
They had to notice what could be improved.
They had to give feedback.
And they had to receive feedback on their own writing.
Through this experience, participants began understanding that writing the first draft is only the beginning.
A great idea still needs to be refined, edited, formatted, designed and prepared before it becomes the finished book a reader eventually holds.
Chisom helping out a student
From One Skill to Endless Possibilities
This session captured one of the biggest reasons Skills2Stars Foundation exists.
We believe Every Child Deserves a Skill, but we also want young people to understand what can become possible when they take that skill seriously.
A child who learns photography today may become a photographer, but they could also become a filmmaker, creative director or entrepreneur.
A young person learning book writing may become an author, but they could also become an editor, ghostwriter, designer, formatter, publisher or communications professional.
One skill can become the doorway to another.
And another.
And another.
We do not know where every participant sitting in these workshops will eventually end up, and that is the beauty of introducing them to these possibilities early.
Our responsibility is not to decide their futures for them. It is to show them that they have options.
Imagine If They Start Now
Perhaps the most exciting part of watching these young people learn is realizing how much time they have ahead of them.
They are being introduced as teenagers to skills and possibilities that many adults only discover much later in life.
Imagine what happens when a young person begins writing at 12.
Imagine what happens when they understand editing at 13.
Imagine learning about freelancing, publishing, design and entrepreneurship at 14 or 15.
Imagine what becomes possible when they have years to practice, fail, learn, improve and discover which part of the process they love most.
That is the advantage of starting early.
At Skills2Stars, we are not asking every participant to have their entire future figured out.
We are simply giving them the exposure, mentorship and opportunity to discover what might be possible.
Because sometimes all it takes is meeting one mentor, entering one room or learning one skill for a young person to realize:
“I could do this too.”
Thank you, Chisom Ezeh, for bringing your years of experience into the Skills2Stars classroom and showing our participants that the journey from an idea to a manuscript, from a manuscript to a published book, and from a skill to an income-generating opportunity is within their reach.
These may be young writers today.
Tomorrow, we could be looking at authors, editors, ghostwriters, designers, entrepreneurs and the founders of the next generation of publishing companies.
One skill. Endless possibilities.
