"I have a dream to create an organization with a message of love that celebrates the magic of childhood."
Arlo Jared Lorenz
Arlo Jared Lorenz
I’m super excited to announce the new release of Bumble the Yeti, The Power of Yet! I know that as a child I didn’t always give 100% to every task. I feel that that I’m now making up for lost time and lost opportunities. I wrote Bumble the Yeti for my inner child, as a reminder to always do my best and try my hardest. I now know, that I will eventually perfect it, even if it’s not easy YET. This is the power of YET!
Bumble the Yeti is a small Yeti who is expected to work with the big Yetis. He’s having a hard time with it, and doesn’t feel like he can do anything right. His Papa sits him down over dinner and tells him a story about Yet, the greatest Yeti. He points out that is Bumble keeps working at it, he may not get is just YET, but he will get it. Bumble takes this advice to heart and continues to get better, leading the Yetis. This is a story about how a positive can do attitude, and a willingness to always try produces improvement and opportunity. Bumble the Yeti is now available for purchase at: https://feltitinmyheartpress.weebly.com/#/ Much Love, Arlo #Feltitinmyheart #Sendthelove #Payloveforward #Givelove #Payitforward #Bekind #Helpothers
0 Comments
Sales in July were a little slow, I only have two sold copies to give, one Duck Duck Grey Duck and one My Little Luminaire. With that said, I’m able to give 20 additional copies due to a generous donation provided by a supporter of the business. A big thank you shout out to Denise for your support! Every dollar provided in donation goes to the donation of books, therefor we are giving a total of 22 books this month!
I’m still trying to form distribution relationships with businesses, and it’s with great joy that I inform you that I’ve built a giving relationship with Habitat for Humanity here in the Phoenix Metro area. My books will be given to children of families who are receiving housing assistance through Habitat for Humanity. This is such a blessing! I’m so pleased that the books given through a supporter donation are going to such a great cause. I'm filling out the order with multiple copies of each of my books. If you are interested in donating, please visit our website at; https://feltitinmyheartpress.weebly.com/wholesale--donations.html#/ Please nominate using the website! Thank you in advance and much love, Arlo #Feltitinmyheart #Sendthelove #Payloveforward #Givelove #Payitforward #Bekind #Helpothers FeltIt InMyHeart Press was given a suggestion from someone who has supported me in all of my endeavors. That suggestion was to create readings of my books that kids could read along with. This was the beginning of the concept that I’m calling FeltIt InMyHeart Read with me. I’ve recently built the page on the website, and opened up a YouTube channel with the first release; The Lonely Bench. I’ll create a video for each of my books on the ‘buy one, give one’ platform. The reason is simple, we are here to defeat illiteracy. What better way to defeat illiteracy than giving children the opportunity to read with me? Take a look, subscribe and pick up a copy for your kiddo. If you do, I’ll give a copy to another kiddo that needs a book. Together, we will take one small step towards defeating illiteracy. With much love, I appreciate your support! Arlo #Feltitinmyheart #Sendthelove #Payloveforward #Givelove #Payitforward June was an exciting month! I’ve tinkered a lot with the website, and expanded my distribution model. Due to these efforts I have 20 copies to give away this month. My Little Luminaire has become our best seller since release and we are donating 10 copies. Duck Duck Grey Duck, and The Lonely Bench have each sold 5 copies.
Firstly I updated the website (https://feltitinmyheartpress.weebly.com/#/) to include a shop. I’m fulfilling orders, additionally I’m signing all books ordered on the website through August 1st. Second I’m tinkering with a direct sales method.
So we have books to give! I never expected this to be the difficult part of the business, but there’s an old way of doing things here that’s hard to break through. The organizations that you naturally think about giving to are established within a system that makes donation difficult. The standard protocol for book donation is for Not for Profit organizations to take in monitory donations, buy books from the largest player on the block, and then give them away or shelve them. There’s a logistical accounting piece, and bar code concern that makes taking in free books difficult. When I approach these organizations, they either deny the donation of (free/unpaid) books, or they request quantities that we are not able to meet. I plan on building to a point where I can give on a massive scale, but we just can’t do that now. So, let’s focus on a grass roots effort! I’m again going to ask for suggestions. This month I’m again supporting Christian Family Care as a Phoenix based partner. I absolutely love that they use my books in a gift basket for adoptive families. For future giving I just made a contact with Habitat for Humanity, so I’m excited about that. I’m trying to expand giving relationships with additional local partners like Boys and Girls club, Toys for Tots and the YMCA, however Covid 19 has effected the distribution channels with those entities. Here are a couple of other thoughts. We need to be a bit creative as we grow.
Don’t feel limited to those selections if you have a specific need. Please let us know! Thank you for your help! Let’s defeat illiteracy! Much Love, Arlo #Feltitinmyheart #Sendthelove #Payloveforward #Givelove #Payitforward There’s no bad time to invest in yourself! Covid 19 made me realize this as I lost my contract a couple of months back. As a result my little book business has received some long overdue attention. One of those investments was a Shop for my books on FeltItInMyHeart.com. Due to the launch of my shop, I needed to invest in books to be able to fill orders. These are those books!
Here’s the deal! Until August 1st every book that is sold through FeltItInMyHeart.com will be signed prior to ship! I can make no promises that it will increase the value of the book over time, but for cover price you will receive a signed copy. This also funds a give one copy that is given in support of literacy to a program supporting at risk children. I prefer delivering those by hand and when I do I sign those as well. Imagine the smiles created by your small purchase for the children you give to. Imagine the potential downline, and impact made. It can take one book with a loving message in the right hands at the right time to change the world. Let’s change the world together, and YES I’m signing books! This deal is good only for purchases though my website shop until August 1st. Thank you in advance! Much Love, Arlo #Feltitinmyheart Hello all,
With the launch of My Little Luminaire this last month FeltIt InMyHeart Press had a good month for sales. In conjunction with some slower months since February I had 16 copies to give away (4 Duck Duck Grey Duck, 4 The Lonely Bench, and 8 My Little Luminaire). I took my children as a bit of a field trip, but so that they could see the benefit that my books provide. They are almost as excited as I am to give away books, and this sparked a fantastic conversation about why gift giving is more fun, than receiving. Giving is my favorite part of the project. I’m super proud to provide books to Christian Family Care of Phoenix. They put together gift baskets for new adoption families. My books are provided within these baskets to the adopted children. This is the type of blessing that I want to be part of. What’s better than providing a message of love to the families, and adopted children on this very special day. I signed them as well, so I hope that they may be a keepsake for the children and families. I’m all caught up on my giving for the moment. This is nice. Speaking of real time giving. I’ve opened up a store on my website to make this possible for the long term. Amazon pays out sales on the 60th day from the end of the month. This is the source of my gifting policy. As such, I’ve opened up a shop on my website that pays nearly real time. This means that I can operate the gifting program real time as well without the need for personal loans into the business. Please support our little shop in this way by ordering on site. Thank you all for your love and support. Arlo #Feltitinmyheart One of the questions I get from kids is: "How do you write a book?". This is why it's a difficult question. Editing is such a substantial process. Even with the children's books which are much easier, I write the concept, run through it about 20 times to get it close. I then run that writing through my professional editor. I then make changes upon suggestions provided, and it goes through edit again. Usually I'm good to go on the base doc at that point, but you need to get an edited doc, so you have to repeat edit as many times as needed. Then you have to establish a story board. This is a general rubric for illustration that serves as a guideline. It's mostly initial thoughts on imagery although I've always left room for artistic interpretation. The books turn out much better if you don't stifle creativity at any point. I also find that it helps to have inspiration images to submit along with the vision. You submit this all to the Illustrator. In the case be of My Little Luminaire we've gone through 7 image edits prior to Layout, and one since. Each one requires a mock up and feedback cycle to get the imagery writing and storyboard to align. After illustration it goes to layout to get it into book format. After layout you need to get a proof copy. I find that we miss stuff in digital format but in print imperfections in imagery and story line are magnified. With My Little Luminaire there we character inconsistencies such as a slightly shrunken arm on page 15. Then you go through more image edit, more layout, and another proof copy. That's where we are at now with My Little Luminaire. Repeat as necessary (More money, more time). So it's a really big question. The process takes 4-6 months for a ready children's book and there's little you can do to shorten the process or cut costs. It basically a large scale project management roll when you are a subcontracting author. This is why publishers are so expensive. With all that said I'll be releasing my third children's book in just over one year, in a couple of weeks. I'm getting better at it, super proud of My Little Luminaire. Thank you for all your support ❤️😉 Much love, Arlo #Feltitinmyheart |
AuthorI'm writing for the love of writing and the joy it brings. I figure I can defeat illiteracy if I publish in a socially equitable way. To do this I give away one book, for every one purchased to an organization that supports at risk youth. |