Fiction Books About Home Schoolers

The goal of this blog is to encourage more writers to write more fiction books about home schoolers for home school children to read.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Vote and List Your Favorite Homeschool Fiction Books

Goodreads has a page where you can vote for and list additional fiction books about homeschoolers.  Here is the link:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/20248.Homeschool_Fiction_the_great_cliched_and_rotten_

Also, there is a whole website dedictated to home school literature:

http://www.homeschoolliterature.com/?

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

REPORT: HOMESCHOOLING GROWING SEVEN TIMES FASTER THAN PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT

Brietbart is reporting an expected surge in homeschoolers.  This is another reason there is an incredible opportunity for fiction books with homeschoolers as the main characters.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/06/07/Report-Growth-in-Homeschooling-Outpacing-Public-Schools

Friday, April 5, 2013

Wright on Time Series

There are currently four books in this series targeted to homeschoolers of elementary school age.

You can find out more at http://www.wrightontimebooks.com/. The book is available in print form as well as Kindle.

My homeschool children are older, but this could be a good series for younger children.

Monday, April 1, 2013

The Lost Da Vincis - Brush Up Your Shakespeare

In The Lost Da Vincis, there is a scene where a bunch of homeschool families get together in a Shakespeare Showdown where troupes of homeschoolers present Shakespeare. Two of our main characters sing a parody song of Cole Porter's Brush Up Your Shakespeare from the Broadway musical Kiss Me Kate with a homeschool twist.

Brush Up Your Shakespeare

Parents today who care a pip,
Go for classical scholarship.
So to win their hearts one must quote (with ease).
DeTocqueville and Euripides.

One must know Homer and, b'lieve me, you.
Martin Luther... and Montesque!
Unless you know Bastiat, Dickens and Locke.
Mummy and daddy will call you a flop.

But the scholar of them all
Who will start 'em simply ravin'.
Is the scholar people call.
The bard of Stratford-on-Avon!


-refrain-
Brush up your Shakespeare.
Start quoting him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare.
And your parents you will wow.

Just declaim a few lines from "Othella".
And they'll think you're a heckuva fella.
If your mom says your room is a big mess.
Tell her, “Hey, it’s because of the Tempest!”

If she gripes when the plates you aren’t washing...
What are plates? "Much Ado About Nashing!"
Brush up your Shakespeare.
And they'll all kowtow.

-refrain-
Brush up your Shakespeare.
Start quoting him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare.
And your parents you will wow.

When your mom says your school is unfinished,
Try a line out of “Merchant of Venished.”
Quoting Shylock remember to tell her,
”I am not bound to please thee with answers.”

When you dad says your spelling is unfit,
You can say that you spell “As You Like It!"
Brush up your Shakespeare.
And they'll all kowtow.

-refrain-
Brush up your Shakespeare.
Start quoting him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare.
And your parents you will wow.

If you can't cook a waffle or omlet.
Tell them neither could Falstaff or Homlet.
Just speak with Iambic pentameter.
And they’ll think you’re a pro not an amateur.

When your mom’s mad and you need to please her,
Do a passage from Julius Caesar!"
Brush up your Shakespeare.
And they'll all kowtow.

-refrain-
Brush up your Shakespeare.
Start quoting him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare.
And your parents you will wow.

If your parents are grumblers and swearers,
Cause your math is a “Comedy of Errors,”
If your future they hazard to foretell,
Just remind them that "All's Well That Ends Well!"

If they say that you’re much too young to date,
You remind them of “Romeo and Juliate!”
Brush up your Shakespeare.
And they'll all kowtow.

-refrain-
Brush up your Shakespeare.
Start quoting him now.
Brush up your Shakespeare.
And your parents you will wow.

If your writing will sure make your dad scream,
Cover up with "A Midsummer Night's Dream.”
If you can’t get your science or French right,
Do a soliloquy scene from "Twelfth Night."

When you don’t do your chores they get huffy.
Simply play on and "Lay on, Macduffy!"
Brush up your Shakespeare.
And they'll all kowtow.


Monday, March 25, 2013

King of Trees Series

William D. Burt has written a Christian based series of YA fantasy novels with a target audience of home schoolers.  You can read more about it at Amazon: The King of Trees.



He has also developed a companion Activity Book that homeschoolers can use as a study guide. It's filled with fun activities as well as chapter-by-chapter discussion questions and an answer key.  For more details see: www.greencloaks.com.

Sonrise Stable - Home School Series

Glad to see others making an effort to provide stories about home schoolers for home schoolers.

Vicki Watson has written a series of four books about home schoolers with horses.  Sounds like a fun combination.  What kid doesn't want a horse? I am reminded of a Patrick McManus story where he remembers as a young boy wanting a pony for Christmas.  His family was too poor to even consider such a gift, so he had to be satisfied with riding the neighbors pigs.

Book 1: Rosie and Scamper

Any you can find out more about Vicki Watson's books at sonrisestable.com

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Starting Your Home School Adventurers Book

This blog is an open invitation for writers to add to a series of adventure books about home schooled children. The target audience is young readers and families that like to read books out loud.  In the year 2013, I recommend going the self published route, at least to begin with. Finding a traditional publisher is becoming less and less relevant. Here are some of the problems you will have to deal with to get a traditional publisher to consider your work.

1. You will need a literary agent. Without a literary agent, it is very hard for your book to get the attention of a publisher. Finding a literary agent that is in tune with the home school culture is just as hard. If you read the education background and past clients of most agents, you will most likely find her (or less likely him) to be a liberal progressive.  Liberal progressive and home schooling are usually not closely associated. Most agents just don't get home schooling and don't see it worth the time to promote such books to equally liberal publishers.

2. Publishers are not likely to sign first time authors. Unless you are already a successful author, it is hard to get your book published.  We have all read the stories of successful authors who had their work rejected dozens of  times before finally breaking through. Going this route has a low chance of success.

3. Traditional publishing royalties are 5-10%, so if they sell your book for $10.00, you won't make much more than $0.50. You even have to buy your own book if you want extra copies.

Here are the reasons to go the self publishing route.

1. You keep control of your story and get it to market faster. Instead of spending months or years trying to find a literary agent and publisher, you can get your story to an audience as soon as your story is ready.

2. Self publishing is easy. This a growing and user friendly industry. You will be surprised to learn how easy it is to get your book edited and ready for publication, either in a print version or ebook.

3. Self publishing means you keep 70% of sales revenue, not 5%. Amazon and other ebook channels offer authors ~70% of the revenue.  There are number of ebook millionaires out there. While I am not there yet, my books resulted in a four figure income last year with growth every month.

Home schooling is not cheap. You may not become the home school equivalent of J.K. Rowling, but if you write and publish your home school story, don't be surprised that it will bring you some extra money every month.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Share Your Favorite Homeschool Fiction Books Here

People are emailing me their favorite homeschool fiction book titles.  I will add them to the comments as they come in.  You are also welcome to ad a comment with your favorite homeschool fiction books.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Home School Kids Want Stories About Home Schoolers

All six of my children, going back to the early 1990's, were home schooled. Many of them were avid readers who enjoyed reading stories about children their own age, but because all contemporary children fiction books back then were set in a regular school environment, my children were not able to ready stories that had home schoolers as characters.  This was understandable since home schooling was rarer back then. However, as the years went by and the number of home schoolers grew into the millions, I looked forward to finding fiction books about home schoolers. I found out it was harder to find than a Bible in a public school.

Recognizing an unmet demand, my wife and I wrote The Lost Da Vincis, a story of four home school siblings who "lose" their parents in a science experiment gone wrong.  The book tells the story of how they find their lost parents.

The purpose of this blog is to help readers find fiction books about home schoolers and also to encourage more writers to write books about home schoolers.  With modern publishing resources, it is incredibly easy to find an audience for books about home schoolers.  I welcome writers to consider adding to the Home School Adventurers series so home schoolers have a easy way to find books about home school children.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Vote and List Your Favorite Homeschool Fiction Books

Goodreads has a page where you can vote for and list additional fiction books about homeschoolers.  Here is the link:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/20248.Homeschool_Fiction_the_great_cliched_and_rotten_

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Homeschool Literature: Books Featuring Homeschooling Protagonists

Sara McGrath, a long-time homeschooling mother of three and the author ofUnschooling: A Lifestyle of Learning, blogs about books where Homeschoolers are the main characters.  

 http://suite101.com/article/homeschool-literature-books-featuring-homeschooling-protagonists-a396656

It is good to see authors writing for this group of readers.  If your children are like mine, there need to be many more books in the genre so they can always find new books about other homeschoolers.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Literature and Stories about Homeschoolers

homeschoolliterature.com is a website dedicated to literature and stories about homeschoolers. You can find lists of books with homeschool characters, books written by homeschoolers, even a book club. There is a market for home school fiction and there is room for more books on the subject.  I invite you to make your book about homeschoolers part of the Home School Adventurers series.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Fiction about Homeschooling

http://www.homeschooling-ideas.com has posted a list of fiction books about homeschooling.  You can read this list at http://www.homeschooling-ideas.com/fiction-about-homeschooling.html.  Are there other books about homeschooling that you would add?

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Where Are All the Fiction Books About Homeschoolers?

Where Are All the Fiction Books About Homeschoolers?
Two million home school students want to know.

by Don Milne

It goes without saying that young readers can visit any library or book store and find shelf after shelf of youth literature where they can read books about children in a public school environment.  Homeschoolers make up 5-10 percent of the school age population. So, shouldn't 5-10 percent of the books for young people be about homeschoolers?  It should probably be even higher than this, since homeschoolers as a group are more likely to read more than other children. But if you look at the top 100 children's books on Amazon it is unlikely you will find even one book about homeschoolers.

Why?

The main reason is the gatekeepers that decide which books get published by established publishing companies are not tuned into the home school community.  Look at the background and education of most literary editors and agents and you will see a slant towards liberal and secular world views -- not the mindset of most homeschoolers.

With the rise of ebooks and self-publishing services like lulu, it is now easy to ignore the gatekeepers and bring fiction books about homeschoolers directly to homeschoolers.  It is also more profitable for the authors; instead of traditional royalty rates of 6%, the new channels pay authors 70%.

In an effort to increase the availability of homeschool fiction, I would like to invite writers who want to write stories about homeschoolers to participate in the Home School Adventurers series. Each author who writes a book for the series will have 100% control over the content and profits of his or her book. The only rule is that it be a fiction book with homeschoolers as the main characters. By including many books of this type in the Home School Adventurers series, we will build a brand that readers can come to when they want to read stories about home schoolers.

The first book in the series is one that I wrote with my wife Aneladee.  The name of the book is Home School Adventurers: The Lost Da Vincis. It is the story of four homeschool siblings who are faced with the disappearance of their scientist father as well as their mother and little brother.  With the help of an eccentric uncle and movie star aunt they try to get their family back.

There is a lot of writing talent in the home school community.  Take up the challenge and write the next Home School Adventurers book.