Windows to theTeenage Soul

A Los Gatos High School English 9H Ebook Project

in Conjunction with Smashwords and the Los Gatos Library

Of course, it all started with our English 9H Poetry Unit … and the writing of lots of poems! Students had to decide on one to submit, then we did a process of peer editing.

Looking at Love

Complicated - by Felicia Tang

Love is About Perspective - by Jadon Jin

A School Girl’s Unrequited Love - by Alex P.

What is Love? - by Rishav Ghosh

Heartbroken but Not Defeated - by Niki Surma

Love Is - by Sanna Hakkarainen

Everything and More - by Emily Vindasius

Love - by Sydney Miller

True Love – by Joey Garber

Food – Amanda Nguyen

Love is a Withering Flower – by Shirin Belgal

Sleep Deprived – by Nell Murray

Mother – Han Nguyen

Silhouette – Anonymous

Nature in a Glimpse

Alone – Gautam P.

Life is Like an Apple – Arjun Natarajan

Standing Tall – Colby Matthiasson

At One With Nature – Sophia Grant-Counard

Seasons – Conor Quigley

Puerto Rico – Lisa Swartz

In da Club – Rahul Keswani

As the Clouds Turn Gray – Nicole Dal Cielo

Celestial – Rebekah W.

My Favorite Place – Renee Nash

Why? – Anonymous

The Mighty Mountains – Sara Deck

Hey Mr. Polar Bear – Michael Hand

Beneath the Darkness – Athena Newell

In early April, Smashwords CEO (and LGHS Grad) Mark Coker visited the English 9H classes to speak about the benefits of Self-Publishing and how he got started with Ebooks.

Ebooks published at Smashwords

1406,000

28,800

92,000

191,000

276,000

Source: Association of American Publishers, publishers.org. 2012-13 Smashwords estimate

Mark returned to talk about “Best Practices” for Ebook Publishing Success

One of our first tasks was to decide on a title, a theme to tie the book together, and a Front Cover design to go with it.

A Poem for Our Generation: 2010’s Kidby Danika Lyle

Why, yes, I am indeed a 2010’s kid.What does that entail, you ask? So glad you did.

Gone are your days of Barbie dolls and baseball bats;I’d rather stay inside, unless there is an app for that.

I’m into more mature things that may pack a shock;Learn more at my twitter @coolkid_ontheblock.

But we aren’t all that different, both happy and smiley;I, too, look up to that pop star named Miley.

Oh, but Hannah Montana has taken a fall;I look up to the twerking one on the wrecking ball.

I’m told I need sunlight and “real life friends,”But I’ve got 1,000 on Facebook, #InternetNeverEnds.

I may not watch “High School Musical” where you got your kicks,But I have my own love, and its name is Netflix.

Though you may find my childhood sad, a shame, or a lie,To me it’s still magic, and it came with Wi-Fi!

Los Gatos Town Librarian Henry Bankhead secured a grant that allowed for the purchase of two portable computer labs – so the Ipads and MacBook Pro temporarily moved in!

Smashwords Marketing Manage Jim Azevedo met with the Marketing & Publicity Team to give them some tips on publicity and writing a press release.

The project teams began meeting to brainstorm tasks they would need to complete and decide how to divide up the work. We decided on five teams: Layout/Design, Editing, Art/Photography, Marketing/Publicity, and Event Planning.

Event Planning Team Layout/Design Team

The Editing Team began compiling all of the poems and reading through them for any spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors, as well as formatting them properly.

The Layout & Design Team worked to create sections to group all of the poems into similar topics, then decided on formatting styles and created a Table of Contents.

The Marketing/Publicity Team began writing press releases and contacting new agencies, as well as launched a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter.

The Art & Photography Team began taking photos and creating artwork to go with the various sections we decided upon for the poetry anthology.

Here you can see some of the Sectional Artwork team members created …

And here’s some more artwork …

The Event Planning team sent out Evites and Jooners donation requests, visited the LG Library to check out facilities options, then planned the Book Launch Party.

Our Press ReleaseHigh School Freshmen Collaborate with Ebook Distributor Smashwords to Create and Publish Ebook Anthology

- Innovative Class Project to Help Finance 2017 Senior Prom

 

Los Gatos, CA – April 29, 2014 -- Los Gatos High School English 9 Honors students are collaborating with the Los Gatos Library and Smashwords, the world’s largest distributor of self-published books, to create and publish what they believe to be the first self-produced ebook by a high school class. 

 

Written by more than 120 freshman English students at Los Gatos High School, Windows to the Teenage Soul will be an electronic poetry anthology available worldwide on numerous websites through Smashwords, including Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, KOBO, and Apple’s iBook store.  Proceeds from the book’s sale will be used as a fundraiser for the LGHS Class of 2017 to help pay for future events such as the senior prom.

 

LGHS English Teacher Tonya McQuade decided to tackle the project after meeting with Los Gatos Town Librarian Henry Bankhead, who was looking for ways to promote authorship in the community when he teamed up earlier with Smashwords.  “Unlike the self-publishing of the past, when an author would pay to have an unsuccessful book printed, ebook self-publishing offers a new way for authors to get their books out to a worldwide audience that is thirsty for content,” Bankhead explained.

 

After a meeting with Smashwords CEO Mark Coker, an LGHS graduate who founded Smashwords in 2008, McQuade was eager to get started.  “It is my goal every year to help my students discover the joy, beauty, and expressiveness of poetry,” she said. “Now, for the first time, they get to share that with a bigger audience.”

After many hours of work, and lots of drafts sent back and forth between students, team members, teachers, and Mark Coker at Smashwords, we finally uploaded our document!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/431588

And it became available for preorder at:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/x/id871049021

AND we hit the Top Fifty Poetry Ebook Bestsellers!

http://www.popvortex.com/books/charts/poetry-ebooks.php

And today … we hit #1!

Notice the Top Left!

Smashwords Distribution Network

Our Book Launch Party at the Library

More than 150 students, parents, and community members attended … the largest number for a library event this year!

Our Leadership Team!