No, no — there’s NOT a lot of money in selling history comic books. It’s a niche business. I had good friends this summer brainstorm with me ways I could be the next “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” But I’m not just doing comix — I am committed to doing comix that boost reading and a love for American history. I can’t jump to a superhero book or a pure comedy comic because I actually care about my content.
So testimonials keep me going between bank deposits. I hope it’s fun for you to see different testimonials pop up in those explosions on the right side of my web pages; my webmaster Brian Korte has done a fantastic job making those work. But more and more testimonials to Chester Comix are popping up elsewhere — such as the website for the Homeschool Buyers Co-op.
The Co-op has sold my books for two years now and was the push behind the publication of my Homeschool All-Stars hardcover comic last holiday season. Its community has been great to me. Seeing all that warm feedback gathered in one spot is humbling. And reinforcing. I’ve never had time or resources to do a proper study to measure the impact of my books in the classroom, but I’ve had so many teachers and parents and kids say the same specific things that I know the books work for reluctant readers.
My favorites in a beautiful list:
“My boys, 9 and 12, enjoyed reading it. It’s funny and the author inserts other characters with side comments that my boys find hilarious. As for me, I love that it is historically accurate and entertaining at the same time. It brings history to life! What a rare find.”
“They have all the flavor of comic books (colorful and funny), but they are also chock full of historical information. When we get into historical discussions, my kids will say, “No, remember it was the…” and they really remember the facts as well as the fun!”
“As a historian, I’m always on the lookout for things that might make my kids like history. I was reluctant to try these unseen, but am so glad I did. I figured these might be useful when my boys got older, but at 3.5 and 7, they’re both completely in love with the Chester Comix series. There must be something seriously compelling in the art, because I can’t imagine the three-year-old is understanding a word I read him of the ideas behind the Constitution! But for less abstract ideas, they really can absorb something even at this young age. Nothing warms a historian mom’s heart like hearing kids discuss Rosa Parks or argue about the Mayflower. We hope the author will do many more! We bought a second set to give away.”
This entry was posted on Thursday, September 16th, 2010 at 7:06 am and is filed under Author's Purpose, History Teacher, literacy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
