At Work With: The Kids At Our House publishing
By Libby Barsky
Special to
The Jewish State
How would you describe your business?
"We are authors who write children's
books illustrated by my wife, Kim, who is also an artist. We decided to self-publish our work after working as
freelance writers while working full-time for the publishing house Macmillan, and in 2001, started Kids at Our House.
It is the umbrella - and a clearing agent - under which we issue our work including music," said Danny Adlerman,
musician and writer.
"I am also a musician writing rock and roll music for 20 years. I came out with an
album... A few years ago, I made my first CD, 'One Size Fits All,' for children, with Jim Babjak of the Smithereens.
He encouraged me to be a musician. It won the Children's Music Web Award - the only national award that is voted on
by kids themselves.
Through word of mouth, we have been sought out in different parts of the country, where we give conferences to
teachers and librarians, and readings in classrooms. We've been to Massachusetts and South Carolina, and everywhere
in between. We've been to California and Hawaii too. We were in Michigan in March, and will be going back to Michigan
three more times before the end of the year. Most recently, we were in Mary Ann Peterson's kindergarten class at Ben
Franklin School in Edison, June 7. We like to be here in New Jersey because we have a family (Rachelle, 15, Joshua,
12, and Maxx, 8). For children in preschool and kindergarten, we present more of a sing-along. With older students,
(up to sixth grade) we introduce concepts of how the books are made."
What makes your business special?
"What makes it special is the people we are. Ours isn't a corporate mentality. We don't ask ourselves what will
sell. What goes into our books is us. If there is something that makes us smile, that we think is a great idea and
unadulterated fun, we publish it. We put ourselves on the line for every product we do.
"Our emphasis is to make the book fun. We feel if the books are fun you can't stop kids from learning. The material is
lending itself to wanting to be read. Children can't put this book down because it's so much fun.
"Although our books haven't been intentionally geared to the educational market, through school librarians and
teachers our books have become known and are used extensively in schools."
What goals do you have for the
business?
"To continue to grow and to reach more children through our books and music. People are finding out
about us through word of mouth and through our Web presence on such sites as America Writes for Kids, a site that
features every state, and under New Jersey we are listed.
"One of the things that we do is to integrate nature
and art, because kids are three-dimensional artists. We are able to integrate nature, art, and music into literacy,
and on top of that, both of us have technical knowledge of publishing, so we can bring in book sheets,
transparencies from the book manufacturing process .... We can also sing and show our work along the way. It's
comprehensive and low-tech. We don't need PowerPoint or a slide show. Everything is hands-on and interactive. It is very accessible, and it strikes a chord with people."
How has your business changed?
"Initially we started out just freelancing under the penname of Kin Eagle while we were both working for Macmillan. We were first published by a small press called Whispering Coyote Press. Then Charlesbridge, a publisher from Boston, bought out Whispering Coyote Press and purchased the rights to our books, continuing to publish the books of author Kin Eagle.
"In 2001, we started self- publishing when we put out my first music CD. After 9/11, we wanted to do something. That was the impetus for our first self-published book called 'Songs for America's Children.' We asked kids across the country to draw pictures of what America meant to them. So we got illustrations from kids across the country --from Florida to Hawaii and Maine and Washington. Some of the pictures were patriotic with flags, some were about family events ... every one had a different feel. We matched the children's pictures to lyrics from patriotic songs, made a book, and published it. The money it made was given to World Hunger Year, a charity established by Harry Chapin in 1975.
"The book went over so well that I thought ... If we could get our books out the way we got this book out, we should self-publish. There was no reason why we couldn't. It made us feel empowered and free to publish whatever we wanted to publish. Before publishing 'Songs for America 's Children,' if the publisher had rejected the manuscript, it would go out to someone else or it wasn't going to be a book. Now if we have an idea we believe strongly in, we publish through Kids at Our House."
What was your most important deal?
"Being recognized by the New Jersey Association of School Librarians. They have asked us to come to their conferences many times. They honored Kim's book 'Africa Calling, Nighttime Falling' with their biggest honor, naming the book as the pick of the decade. The librarians conferences are low-profile, and most people aren't aware of them, but when you make an appearance at one school they tell all their librarian or teacher friends and then they look at our web site and give us a call. We also have been asked to come to the fall NJEA conference to conduct a workshop for kindergarten teachers.
"As a result of the librarians and teacher's interest, we have some following. We don't have the same as Maurice Sendak, but we have a loyal enough following to make us secure."
What changes do you expect in your business in the next 10 years?
"I wish I could see the future. The changes will depend on our own vision, on what we believe should be out there. One thing we will never do is to put out something because we think there is a market for it. We have never put out anything because we think that item could be sold to a certain market. That would be disingenuous."
What is the most important thing you've learned in your business?
"That life is a gift - and that you do what you can using your gift to produce work that is pure.
"We want to try to leave behind what will make the world a better place than how we found it. It's not about us--it's about what we can do. It's personalizing what President John Kennedy said: 'Don't ask what country can do for you what you can do for your country.'"
What advice would you give to someone considering your line of work?
"If you want to be a successful children's book author today, I'd say the road to being published is to become a celebrity first as a newscaster or a movie star. If you can do that, then you can write a celebrity book and it will be published.
"If you want to be a writer, you have just got to write. I've been writing since the time I knew how. Then you have to ask yourself the tough question: is this something I want to make my life?"
Is there anything else you would rather be doing?
"No. I feel I'm really lucky because there are not many people who know what they were meant to do." 