Knitters of the World, Unite and Write

Ever since this blog began, I’ve commented often on how knitting saved my life, how with a simple teddy bear I pulled myself out of homelessness. And in the time I have written this blog, I have received a number of emails from people sharing their own experiences about how knitting changed their lives for the better, or saved them from bitterness, or brought them to a place of selflessness that we all can only hope to achieve at some point.

All of those stories need to be shared in a bigger way, a more collective way, because I realize more and more every day that although I might inspire people to share their stories, it is YOU that have inspired me to keep going, to never look back, to do some benefit with these talents of mine, and make them meaningful. You have kept my soul alive all this time, you’ve kept these hands working hard with either a quick click of my needles, or the fast tapping at this keyboard.

I wanted to write a book about these stories….and then I realized, no no no…..My next book has to be, HAS TO BE, OUR book. We’ve gotten this far together and there is no way that I could even conceive of moving forward without all of us being involved. So, you and I are both going to write the next book.

Here’s how this works. Send me your stories to madmanknitting@gmail.com. We’ll read over them and select 10 to 15 of the most moving, or most poignant. Not the 10 to 15 best. This is not a competition. I’d like the book to about 300 pages. I’ll collect those stories into an anthology, a collection of essays with an emphasis on how knitting made your life better, or bettered the lives of others. I really want them to be optimistic and hopeful. I want these stories to inspire people outside this blog on how you can use your hands, your talents, your crafts to make the world a much better place. Or how your soul flourished when you realized your knitting made you softer, kinder, more patient.

And here’s the cool part. You get paid. Lulu will distribute the royalties from all sales, so they won’t come to me first and I dole them out. No. At the end of the month, all authors involved are distributed their own payments from sales made through all the major distribution channels, including kindle sales. We all get the same equal amount cut to us on the same day, directly from the distributor. You get a direct deposit, or a check. Either way, everyone receives equal amounts paid by the distributor.

I don’t have a title for the collection yet. Again, that’s something WE would all come to an agreement on. Because this is OUR book. OUR story……

Let’s go! Get to writing those emails! Go! GO! I’m looking at a print date somewhere near the end of June! Why so fast, you ask? Because I’m inspired to let the rest of the world know about the people that saved me.

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