Table of Contents
Finished!
The Story Farm is published! I finally took Lynn’s advice to “stop tweaking it.” It seemed that over the last week, after I got my first proof copies, I kept seeing little things that I thought had to be changed. Well, on an early morning this week, while I was still in bed, I got the final piece, the part that was bugging me about the book, the single paragraph that said the last thing that I wanted to say.
I got up about 5AM, made an editorial correction I had seen the night before, and wrote a new last paragraph in the Introduction.
However, it didn’t fit with the thoughts of the Intro, so I moved it to the Preface. But it didn’t fit in the thoughts or the page space of the Preface. I realized that this last paragraph best fit in the first page of the book, the Dedication. Once I included it with the Dedication note to our children and grandchildren, I knew I was done.
Later that morning I submitted the manuscript to KDP. By bedtime that night I had also submitted the file for the Kindle ebook. The paperback went live on Amazon yesterday, the Kindle version is live for pre-order and will download on your device on April 2nd.
It’s a bathroom book
Some people may not like this crude idea, but I often tell people that I consider The Story Farm a “bathroom book”. The chapters are short, mostly between 1000 and 2000 words, which is a four-to-ten-minute read. In other words, you can read a chapter in one sitting.
Here’s a fact about my parents’ house that’s not in the book: when they designed the upstairs bathroom, my dad had the builder insert a book niche in the wall by the toilet. It always had a selection of magazines (especially “Reader’s Digest”) and novels. We grew up reading on the toilet. So I am hopeful and proud that my book about the lessons from their farm is going to end up in a lot of bathrooms.
The last paragraph
I know what you’re wondering: What was that magical last paragraph? It was the answer to a question that no one asked, but I had to answer for my family, because it was personal. I struggled with this emotion while writing each story and I wanted to address it somewhere in the book. It points to the heart of our relationships with our parents.
Because I know you want to see it, the full dedication is below. The second paragraph is the clincher for The Story Farm.
Dedicated to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of August and Elaine Wickert, and the generations to follow. May this book remind you of your heritage and may your heritage guide you in your future.
I used “Augie” and “Elaine” in this book to help tell their stories, but I was never comfortable calling my parents by their first names. While they were living, and now that they are gone, they have always been “Dad” and “Mom”. I hope they will always be “Grandpa” and “Grandma” to you.
Buy The Story Farm
I am sure you will like this book. Give it to your family for Easter. If you’re unsure whether you will enjoy this book, go to the book’s page on Amazon, choose the Look Inside feature on the paperback page and read the first chapter, “The Story Table”.
If nothing else, buy it for bathroom reading. You can get the Kindle version for your phone or Kindle fire.
Thank you.
By His calling, in His strength,
Dean
