Thank you for visiting this web page.  I realize that your time is valuable, and I appreciate your investing your  time reading this material.  By way of introduction, my

name is Alan H. Jordan. I’m an author and I also am a principal in LB Creative, LLC Press, a small publishing
company that competes by selling books, e-books, audio books (CDs and .mp3 files) and physical bookmarks that convey your story.

The back cover (or an audio message) motivates people to buy the
book.   The back cover (or audio message or bookmark) also encourages
other donations to your cause, long after the fund raising drive is
over.

If you are searching for an exciting enjoyable fund raiser that can easily raise $1,000 for you, and has the potential to raise much more?

When your organization sells 100 copies of this book you can make $9 on each one + $1 or more in extra income each, and raise $1,000 in a couple of weeks.

Plus, you can solicit regular donations on the back cover of the book, and make money for years to come.

100 copies is not hard to sell because:

• The back cover of this book is specifically designed to promote your organization or a specific campaign, event or cause with which you’re involved.  When people read this, they are very likely to buy a copy of the book for their children, or to give to grandchildren, nephews, nieces, friends, family, and co-workers as a gift.  Many people will buy two copies.
• We provide a series of press releases and design a web page that will help you to sell many books to people who you don’t know, but can reach out to by asking for support through personal emails from your organization’s members or your students and their parents.
• In addition to getting 100 copies of the book, you also get a bonus of 5 copies of a Teacher’s edition that includes a CD that reads the book in three languages (English, Spanish and Italian) two-pages-at-a-time, the way a child reads. These can be used to help children get excited about telling people about the book.
• We will show you how to do this fundraiser in conjunction with other fund raisers, like auctions, and raise considerably more money.
• People can continue to order the book from your website long after your sales campaign has stopped.  Every sale, every donation will be found money.

Your investment is $1,100.  Further purchases of the book, in larger quantities, cost less per book, so you make more.

Let’s examine how you might help an elementary school to raise funds.  A typical elementary school has between 200 and 500 students.  Most of those children enjoy a good picture book like my book, The Monster on Top of the Bed, and they are excited about sharing the book with other people.  If asked, children will happily spend five minutes telling an adult or another child why they like the the book.  Assume that one of your neighbor’s children came to your door, and hands you a form to buy popcorn and a book.  The child says, “My school is raising money to remodel the nurse’s office.  Would you like to buy a some popcorn or a book.?” How do you react?

You’re familiar with popcorn, but not with the book.  The front cover is interesting, and you turn over to the back cover.  There’s a picture of the school nurse, and something like this:

Our school needs to raise $8,000 to remodel the Nurses’ office. This book is a part of that fund-raising effort.  We decided to ask students, and their parents to sell it because children really like it, it helps them to banish the fear of monsters, it helps children make friends because children who read it discover that friendship conquers fear, and because the characters convey the Golden Rule.  For every book sold, the school makes $10.00.

This book has some special features that may not be obvious.

• You can go the the website, http://www.MonBed.com, click on the listen tab and do a free download 98 .mp3 files that feature six different readers, who read the story in English, Spanish and Italian.  This encourages literacy.

• Children are encouraged to draw their own illustrations for the book, and to give them to their teachers.  Our teachers will scan the pictures into a special e-book version.  Children who submit a picture will receive a free copy of the e-book that that reads the story while displaying pictures. This encourages drawing, and builds self esteem.
• You get a free flavored popcorn with each book.

If a child is showing you this book, ask her or him if he has read it, and why they like it.  The answers are likely to warm your heart.  Please consider buying The Monster on Top of the Bed for your children, or as a gift.

How would you react?  If you could afford it, and if the child went on for three or four minutes explaining why they loved the book, would you buy a copy?  If not, might you buy a couple of packages of popcorn for $2 each?  Let’s look at the math.

• Assume that 200 children sell 3 copies each and that their parents also sell 3 copies each.  That’s 1,200 copies.
• Assume that the book and the porncorn together cost $11.
• Assume that the book sells for $20.
• $20 – $11 = $9 profit from selling a book and chocolate bar.
• 1,200 x $9 = $10,800 raised, doing something that’s fun.

But, it doesn’t stop there.  Suppose you also placed a request for donations on the back of the book.  Perhaps some parents would later mail in donations.  In fact, you might even get donations years later because books, unlike popcorn or chocolate bars, have a long shelf life and are given to other children.

Also, it’s possible to work with the publisher to set up a special web page where people from around the world can buy the book.  This means you can send an e-mail out to different people and raise money for the school, or you could distribute press releases, and get orders from people whom you’ve never met.

Finally, it’s possible to sell popcorn, chocolate bars, cookies, or hard candies to those who don’t buy the book and make money from that too.

In other words, you can raise a lot of money, using a product that excites children, and helps them to prosper.  For more information call me at (775) 453-6636, or fill out the form at the bottom of this web page.

Shelly: Alan, as you can tell from reading my review of  The Monster on Top of the Bed, we really liked it. Can you tell our readers, what inspired you to write it?

Alan: Certainly, Shelly.  First, let me say that I am delighted that you have taken the time to write a review my book, and to interview me.  I truly enjoy Write for a Reader, and it is my pleasure to be a part of your site.

To answer your question, I don’t expect to die anytime soon, but I am at the age where I know it is possible to die.  My daughter is a married grown woman, but she and her husband have not yet started a family.  The Monster on Top of the Bed was written to pass on some of my strongest values to my future grandchildren, in the event that I should die before they are born or before they are old enough to remember me should I die.

Shelly: Before this interview, you mentioned that you consciously created this book to empower schools and libraries to raise money.  Can you explain how an author goes about doing something like that?

Alan: Frankly, Shelly, an author can’t do that, at least with a major publisher.  I had a number of business books published before, this book, and I knew that if I went to a publisher and explained that I wanted to create a book that broke the standard rules of publishing, they would not be interested.  I made the decision to independently publish the book, and create a variety of formats that are not commercially viable for a mainstream publisher, but that made the book very valuable for teaching, motivating children to read, write and draw and also help schools and libraries raise money.

Shelly: Independently publish.  Does that mean self publishing?

Alan: Yes, and no.  It’s a form of self publishing, but it goes far beyond that.  As an independent publisher, I hired the artist, editors, artwork editors, translators, performance artists to record the story in different languages, sound editors, voice editors, and the list goes on.  Over 100 people, including children who had an opportunity to review the book before it was written, were involved in producing the final versions and the various formats of the book.

Shelly: That’s interesting.  What kind of formats, and how do they relate to inspiring children to learn?

Alan: The CD/Book format is one example.  It reads the book in English, Spanish and Italian, there’s a page-turning sound whenever the end of a page is reached.  That’s not all that unusual, but the standard methodology is to go into a studio and record.  I wanted to show children that it’s possible to accomplish their dreams through collaboration, so I engaged readers from around the world to record the story.  There are two readers who read it in English, two who read it in Spanish and one who reads it in Italian.  Children love to listen to the different versions, and they will spend hours discussing which is their favorite reader, and why.

Shelly: Can you explain to our readers how they might approach a school or library, and help them to raise tens-of-thousands of dollars?

Alan: Certainly.  I know that in this economy saying it’s easy to raise $10,000 or $20,000 for a school or library sounds like hype, but it’s not.  Let’s take a typical school in Cleveland, OH as an example According to LocalSchoolDirectory.com Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School enrolls 408 preschool and elementary school students from grades PK-8. It is located in Cleveland, OH, which is a highly populated city with a median household income of $25,928. This school is part of the Cleveland Municipal City School District, which has a total student enrollment of 53,741.  You know the quality of The Monster on Top of the Bed because of Kelli’s review.  Do you think that 100 of those children might like the book?

Shelly: Absolutely.  I think you’d find at least 100 of the children who adored the book.

Alan: Let’s suppose that the school wants to remodel their nurse’s office, and they need about $8,000 to do that, but it’s not in the budget.   Suppose that the school bought some copies of the book, and on the back cover was a full explanation of why they want to raise money, along with a picture of the school nurse.  Let’s say that 100 children, take a copy of the book around to their family, friends and neighbors, and they say how much they like the book.  How many copies do you think that they could sell?

Shelly: Well, children really like the book, and their parents would help out too—take the book to work, and it’s possible that some parents might put it up on their website and take order.  Some might sell 1 or 2, some 25 or 30;  maybe an average of ten books per child.

Alan: Now suppose that you also added something else while you were selling the book.  Say, a chocolate bar that sells for $2.  Suppose you gave people a chocolate bar with every book that they bought, and suppose the chocolate bars cost you $1 each.  10 books times $9 profit each = $90.  But some people would just buy a chocolate bar, and some people might buy several books or several chocolate bars.  So you might make an extra $10.  That’s $100.00  Multiply that by 100 children and you have $10,000.00. That more than pays for the remodel, and . . .

Shelly: . . . and since there are 400 students in the school, it might easily raise $20,000 or more.

Alan: Right, that’s because the book has been designed to help out with fund raising, and because it’s a great book that kids love, and get excited about talking about.

Shelly: I can see a 5-year old being much more excited about having their school raise money by selling The Monster on Top of the Bed than by selling candy.

Alan: Candy has its place.  It’s a proven fundraiser, but this is something different, something unique, and it’s the first of several books that we’re making available with this program.  For example, there’s a book of poetry coming out that kids will love, and another book of poetry that’s geared to older children.

Shelly: What does it cost a school to do this?

Alan: The books cost between $5.00 when you buy 40,000 or more and $15 each when you buy ten of them.  A quantity of 1,000 costs $10. They sell for $20.

Shelly: Even a small school can easily raise $10,000!

Alan: Yes!  You’ve got the idea.

Shelly: Suppose a school wanted to start out with an order of 100 books, and then buy 1,000 books after they see that they sell the first 100?

Alan: 100 books costs $12.00 each.  So they would make a little less than $800 when they sold them because the school also pays for shipping.

Shelly: How does someone go about getting the books?

Alan: They can go to this web page and fill out the form, http://monbed30.max-opp.com/sponsored-editions/fun-fund-raiser-for-schools-libraries/, or they can call me at (775) 453-6636. I’m in the Pacific time zone. If I’m not in, leave me a voice mail.  I’m frequently in meetings, or speaking.  It may take me a little time to get back to them, but I will.

Shelly: Alan, I’m really excited about this opportunity.  In an era when schools and libraries are being forced to close, this is great news. Thanks for sharing with our readers.

Alan: Shelly, it’s my pleasure, truly.

The Magic Mantra

Blip, Blop, Bloop and monsters are gone. Well, they’re not gone, scary monsters are converted into friends. The Monster on Top of the Bed gives children the magic words, the special mantra, to banish monsters whenever they want. More than that, The Monster on Top of the Bed gives children who are not afraid of monsters, the knowledge they need to prevent monsters from robbing them (and you) of their precious sleep.

I know of no other book that banishes fear of monsters while it encourages children to:

• Write, by providing a copy of the book where a child (or siblings, or a class of children) can write their own story on pages that have the artwork, and then listing themselves as co-authors on the title page.
• Read, and foster the appreciation of language and culture, by providing the book performed by six readers in three languages, with page turning sounds.  You can download the .mp3 files for free from the “Listen” tab.
• Draw, and encourage older and younger children to work together, by making a multi-media edition available where a child, sibling or a class of children can draw illustrations and upload them to an e-book whether their drawings are displayed while the story is read.
• Develop acting skills by taking advance of the Playscript version

The various editions of the book keep children entertained for hours, and make it easy for parents, grandparents to spend quality time with children, and save money.  For less than the cost of going to a movie, buying soda, popcorn and candy, you can purchase the book and enjoy many hours together. There’s even an optional weekly e-mail that will provide activities that will continually entertain and delight children.  It comes free, with the Value Bundle.

The Monster on Top of the Bed is a “Next Generation” product that children can enjoy totally different way, some of which are not even books.

The Golden Rule

The words, “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you,” are never said in the book, but your children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, students–anyone who emulates the “Golden-Rule behavior” that Suzy and Karrit model will discover a way to make friends. Bye-bye loneliness!

A Love of Language and the Beauty of Different Cultures

In the process, children develop a love of learning and language. That’s because The Monster on Top of the Bed is a book that you can read, your kids can read, or six different people can read for you, and those six different people are just waiting for you to download mp3s of them reading the story. In fact, you can download the readings right now and play them for your children on an iPod, computer or .mp3 player without ever buying the book.

Delight your child, or your class, and get them the big book and small booklet and CD. There are slight differences between the editions, and children love to go through and find those differences. They consider it a challenge, in the same way that they consider a puzzle a challenge.

The primary motivation for me to write The Monster on Top of the Bed was to have a way to pass on my most cherished values to my yet to be conceived grandchildren.  As my hair turned from brown to gray, and finally to silver I began to realize that I was mortal. I wanted to make certain that any future grandchildren would understand three lessons:  (1) Following the golden rule makes it easy to feel good about yourself and to make friends; (2) Friendship trumps fear; and (3) Believing in yourself makes even the most difficult tasks possible.

As an experienced author, I knew that I couldn’t just say those things in a book.  “Boring!” would be the response.  The messages had to emerge from the story.  Children had to be able to discover them.  I also knew that the story had to have a problem, a relatively way for a child to take action to resolve that problem, and be entertaining.  Finally, I knew that I wanted to make as many children happy with the story as possible, not a simple task since what makes one child sad can make another child happy.

I considering writing a book an opportunity to relate, not tell a story. I choose to relate the story in different ways, ways that make it particularly attractive for telling by grandparents.  Hop on over and view the video of the book—it’s free. Watch for these elements:

• A story that is easy to almost memorize – you can look at the Italian ice-cream parlor artwork by Maneula Pentangelo and recall most of the story without reading. This is on purpose, because one of my goals is to motivate children to write their own story.  That’s why we have an edition of the book that includes the major artwork only, without the words.  I pictured myself, sitting down reading and re-reading the story with my grandchildren, and then challenging them to write their own version of the story.  I pictured the child excitedly writing their version of the story, and then putting their name on the front cover of the book as co-author.  Can you picture yourself doing this for your grandchildren?
• “Do unto others as you would want others to do unto you,” is the desired behavior that is modeled by the characters. The Golden Rule is never mentioned. Children don’t like to be taught, they love to discover.  They get it.  Want proof? Watch the story with your grandchildren, and then ask them something like, “What did Suzy do to make it easy for Karrit to be her friend?”
• Captivating artwork that appeals equally to both boys and girls. The artist and I spent two years tweaking everything from the colors used in the characters to the Kung-Fu ponytail that makes Karrit very appealing to boys, as well as girls.
• Discussion Questions – They’re built right into the book, at the end.  This feature makes it easy to spend quality time discussing the key lessons of the book with children.
• A CD (or free .mp3 file download) of the book in different languages, so that children are exposed to different languages and cultures.  Children will listen to the same page in different languages, many times.  Grandparents enjoy having fun discussions with their grandchildren after asking a question like, “which reader did you like best?” or “what did you think of the story in Spanish?  Was it as much fun as English?”

You don’t need high-technology to enjoy a book, but for grandparents who are tech-savvy there are many formats that children enjoy, such as being able to listen to the book on an iPod while shopping, or the ability to download a multi-media version that works on a computer. As you turn the pages, the book reads the story, and you can even ask your grandchildren to draw their own illustrations, take a digital picture of them and upload their pictures into the e-book.  The book will read the story while their pictures are displayed. They can even e-mail the e-book to friends, family and classmates.  Order the version that best suits your needs.

Multiple formats of a book can inspire children to love to learn in different ways

The opportunity to make children happy comes from many things, but one thing is certain:  What makes one child sad can make another child happy.  That’s one reason why The Monster on Top of the Bed is available in many different formats. A few examples:

• Some children enjoy drawing. They can draw, and have a teacher, parent or sibling upload their drawings into an e-book that they can print out or share with family, friends and classmates by e-mail.   It’s great for their self esteem.
• Some children prefer to write.  A version of the book that features artwork without words is available, and children write their own story in the book.
• Others like to perform.  We have a play script version of the book.

All of these high-tech and low-tech features, and many more are available because children have different emotional intelligences. They are inspired by different things.

Perhaps you’d like to hear an interview with Glenn Hahn, on a radio show.  It’s an interesting 25 minutes. Listen to Alan being interviewed by on The WIFI Tech Show

The author takes the viewer on a tour of the various versions of The Monster on Top of the Bed, including multi-media e-books that allow children, their parents and teachers to upload artwork. He points out how the features of the big book, small booklet, free audio files and even a version that includes only major artwork, allowing a child to write their own story helps children to build self esteem.

Here are some YouTube videos.

Alan Jordan, author of The Monster on Top of the Bed.

I am Alan Jordan, the author, and I am  interested in establishing relationships with companies or non-profit organizations that want to buy the book, possibly customize it, and use it to fund raise or generate referrals.  See Promotional Partnerships and Sponsored Bundles for examples.

I am also interested in partnering with associations and non-profit organizations, approaching print magazines including trade journals and consumer publication such as Parents, Parenting, etc. and working out an arrangement with them where they run advertisements for the book, have the money go to them and place orders where they keep 65%-75% of the gross profit on the sale. I have started to build a series of blog posts where I quote from magazines, and explain how the book ties in with their values.  Example.

How can you help me with this effort?

Comments or questions are welcome.

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This picture and the words below in italics are from Bill Corbett’s blog. My comments are in regular type.

When my first child came along and I didn’t know any better, I made the fatal “dad mistake” when it came to helping her battle the monsters in her bedroom. Unwittingly, I would frequently grab a baseball bat and head into her room in hopes of quelling her cries for help by standing ready to battle the imaginary monsters. As I lay on the floor swinging at those nonexistent creatures, I remember shouting out in a Ray Romano like voice from the television show Everyone Loves Raymond “there, I got all those mean monsters and now they are all gone.” But when I got up off the floor and attempted to kiss her goodnight so I could leave, she would announce that the monsters had escaped my attack and were now hiding somewhere else in the room. Each of my next attacks only led to the monsters mysteriously moving to yet another location when finally, my patience would be tried and I would usually end up snapping at her that the monsters were gone and ordering her to “go to sleep.” She would end up crying and I would end up feeling like badly. I would then try to console her and eventually give in to her pleads of something silly like leaving her light on or letting her stay up later as means to helping both of us feel better.

Empower Your Child to Banish Monsters

What good does it to for a parent to exorcise a monster?  Not much. The child needs to do it. That’s exactly why I’ve written The Monster on Top of the Bed to give a children a way to acknowledge a monster that exists, and to allow the child to feel in control by using a magic mantra

Grandma's Mantra: You're welcome to stay until I say "Nay" . . .

to banish the monster at will, any time.

Understand Your Child’s Fears

The words in italics, below, are comments excerpted from Debby Waldman’s Parents Magazine article, How to Help with Nighttime Fears Green monsters, clowns, or shadows at night — whatever your preschooler’s fears, you can find ways to help ease her anxieties. My comments are in regular type.

Where Fears Come From Preschoolers cling firmly to their beliefs, so dealing with their fears can take considerable patience. It helps to know that although 3- and 4-year-olds are highly susceptible to scary thoughts, the right response on your part can help them work through their anxiety. A preschooler’s fears stem largely from his active imagination and from the difficulty he has distinguishing fantasy from reality.

I agree, and that’s one reason why The Monster on Top of the Bed is written to help children validate their anxieties. Suzy (the little girl on top of the bed) and Karrit (the little monster under the bed) both feel anxious.  They explain the reasons for the anxieties so that children can relate to them.

Just as he trusts that Santa will visit on Christmas Eve, he may also believe that monsters lurk under the bed.

This is absolutely true.  That’s part of the beauty of childhood.  It would be a shame to to make a child give up their beliefs in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and other wonders.  My book acknowledges that monsters lurk under the bed, validating a child’s belief structures.   however, it does three very important things:  First it gives the child a mantra that they can use anytime they want to banish the monster on demand.  Second, it points out that Suzy might be considered a monster from Karrit’s point of view, which provides empathy.  Also, since Suzy does not think of herself as a monster, she thinks less of the threat of Karrit being a monster. Third, it shows Suzy and Karrit how to become friends, and allows both of the characters to understand that friendship trumps fear.

Three- and 4-year-olds are also making huge cognitive leaps, so they’re more aware of danger. Their growing sense of independence heightens this awareness. “As little kids step away from us, they realize how big the world is and how vulnerable they are,” says Nancy Jordan, a psychotherapist in Bellevue, Washington.  In response, they ricochet from an “I’m a big kid” attitude to one of “Don’t leave me; I’m scared.” “But It’s Real to Me”

By the time she’s 5 or 6, your child will understand more clearly what’s real and what isn’t, and her fears will generally diminish. Until then, you may be tempted to comfort her by stating the obvious — that monsters aren’t real. But this is unlikely to help. No matter how unrealistic your child’s fears may seem to you, they are real to him. “Telling a child that he shouldn’t be afraid doesn’t make him feel brave,” says Marilyn Segal, Ph.D., a developmental psychologist at Nova Southeastern University, in Fort Lauderdale. “It only adds a new fear — that he can’t tell you he’s afraid because you’ll think he’s a baby.” Similarly, teasing and belittling serve only to keep fears hidden. Forcing a child to confront her fears is also unproductive, says Madeleine Nathan, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

There’s no doubt that child feel monsters are real and that they are scared of them.  Once again, it doesn’t help to make them feel they should not be scared. They are.  That’s why I allow them to discover that they can control their fears, and eliminate them through the magic mantra “You’re welcome to stay until I say nay, and then you’ve got to go, and you can’t say no.”

At the same time, she says, letting a child rely on you completely for protection from imaginary terrors won’t help her overcome them. If your 4-year-old fears going to the bathroom alone at night, go with her at first, Dr. Nathan suggests. Over the following few weeks or months, ease yourself out of the picture. Reinforce progress and practice, practice, practice. That’s what Carla Mitchell did when her 3-year-old, Kristen, developed an aversion to costumed characters. “It took a lot of visits to Chuck E. Cheese’s and amusement parks, but each time, seeing the characters got a little easier,” says Mitchell, of Douglasville, Georgia.

The repetition of the story in The Monster on Top of the Bed, coupled with the use of a CD (or free .mp3 files that you can downl0ad) that reads the story in different languages, and helps a child to build their self esteem and appreciate the beauty of different languages and cultures helps to desensitize children’s fears of monsters.  The ability for the child to draw their own pictures of that go to the story, and have a parent upload them into an e-book helps them too feel that they are in control.  Finally, the ability to write their own story using and put the story line into the major artwork only version is designed to provide a powerful way for them to complete the circle of banishing monsters.  View videos.   Read comments.  Read Reviews.  Order.