ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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I am a writer and publisher of children's books, a father of twelve, and a grandfather of 41. I've been honing my storytelling craft since 1976 when as a teenager I tackled a job nobody else in our little church wanted: the junior highers. I've been telling stories to kids ever since, and never cease to be amazed at the power of a well told story to influence young lives.
After twenty years of speaking to children and youth, I turned from the microphone to the written page to reach the hearts of kids. In 1998 I resigned from my pastoral position to pursue a publishing dream. To initially support the family, Jan and I opened Storybook Meadow Daycare, a licensed childcare center in our home. Jan, already a busy mom and portrait artist, carried the heaviest share of the load, while my responsibilities included a daily story time, all while juggling deadlines as I wrote Sunday School curriculum for a Christian publishing company. In the summer of 2000 I wrote and Jan illustrated our first children's book, self-publishing it under the name of Storybook Meadow Publishing. Since then, 25 more of our titles have made it into print through four different publishing companies. I've been privileged to speak to tens of thousands of children in hundreds of schools, and thousands of parents in conferences, churches, libraries and other venues. Jan and I have been married for nearly 48 years and live in Traverse City, Michigan, where our twelve children and their families all still live nearby. We have been blessed with 41 grandchildren, and for years have hosted a regular "Story Time with Grandpa Bower" in our studios. |
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In Gary's words...
"As far back as I can remember, books have drawn me like a moth to a porch light. While stories of Dick and Jane taught me to read, it was the fascinating characters of such creative minds as Dr. Seuss and P.D. Eastman that taught me to LOVE to read. And since my parents always made sure I had plenty of books to stick my nose in, I was a strong reader before I ever set foot in a classroom. "My elementary years were filled with juvenile mystery series ('Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators' was a favorite). I started developing simple story lines and drawings to create my own comic strips, mostly about super heroes. By junior high I had shifted my attention to historical fiction (lots of westerns) and fantasy (like 'The Chronicles of Narnia' by C.S.Lewis). My mind was always coming up with ideas for plots and characters, but I never had the patience or courage to take them the next step by attempting to write an entire story, unless I had to for an assignment. Too much work; it was far easier to hitch a ride on someone else's imagination. |
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"In the late 1970s through the 1980s, I was a children's pastor, which forced me to apply a bit of discipline to my creativity. I wrote short plays, skits for puppet theater, and all kinds of stories that I told to the kids. One day in 1990, a parent suggested that I submit one of my stories to a publisher. The suggestion flattered me, so I typed it up and stuck it in an envelope addressed to a Christian publisher. Then I slapped a 25¢ stamp on it, dropped it in the mail, and forgot about it. I was floored when I received a reply a few weeks later offering me $40 for the one-time rights to run it in their Sunday School paper. I had became a published author in my very first attempt.
"My confidence soared. I sent out more manuscripts, but no replies came. Disappointed, I pressed harder. Then rejection letters began to straggle in, and I began to wonder which was worse, being ignored or being rejected. As my rejection file continues to grow (I've had manuscripts rejected every year for twenty years!), it always reminds me that the publishing business is not for the faint of heart. |
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"After a year of writing Bible curriculum for another Christian publisher, I stuck my toe in the waters of self-publishing. It made sense, since I had a background in commercial printing and I was married to a talented artist. My first picture book, Tessa's Treasures, came out in November of 2000 with solid initial success, as my first print run of 3,000 books sold out in four weeks. Again my confidence spiked, so I foolishly re-ordered 10,000 more books which arrived in January... definitely NOT the best time to sell picture books! A hard lesson learned.
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Two of my twenty-six grandchildren.
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"Since then I have been privileged to work with several traditional Christian publishing houses — which means they took ALL the financial risk. In other words, I paid them nothing; they paid me. About half of my books (12) have been published via this route, and each experience has been a real blessing and a joy. From time to time I still sense the Lord nudging me to write a certain book and self-publish it, and so I do. I feel blessed to see the publishing world from both sides.
"Two major forces that influence my writing are:
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