If You're Interested In Books For Boys

If you have an interest in books for boys, make sure to get a copy of the August 6, 2007 issue of Time Magazine. It has a cover story, THE MYTH ABOUT BOYS. It contains an article, The Boys Are All Right, by David Von Drehle. He suggests that maybe boys are doing better now because we’re paying more attention to them. And that our worries about them may actually be paying off.

I would expand on this to say that writing action-adventures and mysteries, especially for boys, is also something that will pay off.

About six years ago, I sensed the need for more books for boys. It’s true, as the article points out, that boys are much the same today as they’ve always been. Boys crave adventure, they love a challenge, and they live for excitement. All of these elements, and more, are carefully woven into every book I write for boys.

Since life moves in cycles, I’m looking forward to connecting with publishers who understand this principle and choose to publish the kinds of books that boys will read.

My first 7 books have already provided some of the marketing data that a publisher might need in order to make an informed decision. Nearly 50 pages of, often enthusiastic, reviews are available at http://maxbookreviews.blogspot.com/

The May/June issue of Homeschooling Today Magazine (late, but just out last week) contains a two-page, four-color feature article about my books in which two boys, ages 10 and 12, provide the reviews.

THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS has been a best seller for several months. All it tells us is that boys are different and we need to feed that difference. My published books, and the 28 additional completed manuscripts, also feed this difference.

It is critical to understand that boys are consumed today with TV, computers, video games, and other pursuits, because these things reach out and grab their attention. Because of the way they are constructed, my action-adventure & mystery books for boys do the same thing in print. And we all know the incredible value that comes from getting boys to read.

When it comes to reading, boys want something different. My books for boys are intended to provide that difference.

After all…I was a boy once myself. In addition, I grew up hating to read. Now I write books for boys that I would have enjoyed as a boy, and girls love them too.

Author web site http://www.maxbooks.9k.com/Reviews http://maxbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Now, from an author who hated to read...comes books kids hate to put down.

Books for boys that are different

Different? Different how?

Most publishers are still looking for books that will sell primarily to girls. Why is this? It’s because girls are traditionally more avid readers than boys.

But will boys read books if they are written primarily for them. The answer is, YES.

My background is in the production of dramatic films, video programs, and television commercials. This gives me a visual background that I, in turn, bring to the pages of my action-adventures and mysteries.

I’m a guy, so I know that what a guy wants in a book is action and adventure. Don’t bore me with a lot of facts and endless details. That’s the way I approach each new story.

The challenge is in finding publishers who are ready for something new. Not only am I not writing for girls, I don’t write in a traditional series either. Each of my 35 manuscripts have completely different characters, settings, and plots. And it’s the readers and their parents who have appreciated this. You can find nearly 50 pages of reviews at http://maxbookreviews.blogspot.com/

I am only one voice, but isn’t it time for something fresh and new relative to books for boys? I think THE DANGEROUYS BOOK FOR BOYS did an excellent job in demonstrating how and why boys are different. Right now the book is # 11 on Amazon. It stands to reason that what boys want in their own books is something different as well.

Kids tell me that reading one of my books is like being in an exciting or scary movie.

Max

Author's web site http://www.maxbooks.9k.com/
Reviews http://maxbookreviews.blogspot.com/

How To Choose Books For Boys

(This photo is from one of my many school visits each year)



Every year, something like 200,000 new books are published. In 5 short years, that's a million new books!

While it’s true that most of these are not books for boys, it is still a difficult task to wade through all that are available, in order to find something that will interest your young reader.
One of the best ways to make your selection is by reading what others have said about a book.

In the case of my books for boys, you can do this by going to amazon.com. There you’ll read a handful of reviews for each of my books. You can compare reviews for other books in this same way.

As you search deeper, you are likely going to find other, independent comments for titles that interest you. But this process, going title by title on the Internet, takes time.

Or, to make it even more simple, I’ve assembled nearly 50 pages of reviews for you, all in one place, about my books for boys. This link takes you to my Review Blog: http://maxbookreviews.blogspot.com/

If you’re looking for books for boys, books that will capture the imagination and hold the interest of boys, then you’ve come to the right place. Books for boys are the only I write. My action-adventures and mysteries have resulted in stacks of letter and emails from teachers, parents, and children, both boys and girls.

Max Elliot Anderson
Author

Author web site: http://www.maxbooks.9k.com/

Now, from an author who hated to read...comes books kids hate to put down.

Boys and the Boy Crisis

The following entry comes from a newsletter by Glenn Sacks. My books for boys are being promoted with fliers that are included in the registration packets at the Boys and the Boy Crisis conference this weekend in Washington, DC. Anyone who is concerned about books for boys, and who lives close to DC, might want to attend.

Max Elliot Anderson
Author of books for boys

Boys and the Boy Crisis--Third National Men's Equality Congress, July 13-14 in Washington, DC
Boys and the Boy Crisis, the Third National Men's Equality Congress, will be held July 13-14 in Washington, DC. The speakers list is great--perhaps the best I've ever seen at a conference. Speakers include:
1) Matt O'Connor--leader of the English fathers' group Fathers 4 Justice. O'Connor has done more than anybody to raise awareness of the terrible social problem of children being separated from their fathers after divorce or separation.
2) Christina Hoff Sommers--author of the books The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men and Who Stole Feminism?. In The War Against Boys, Sommers asserts, "It's a bad time to be a boy in America," and takes a hard look at the boy crisis and the misguided policies which have helped create it. Who Stole Feminism? is a devastating expose of the way feminists have disseminated misinformation about men and gender issues via the media and academia, and helped poison our popular culture against men.
3) Warren Farrell--the intellectual wellspring of the men's movement, and the author of Father & Child Reunion, the Myth of Male Power, and others. Farrell is also an expert on shared parenting--to watch Warren speak, click on Warren Farrell's Case for Shared Parenting (Video).
4) Paul Nathanson and Katherine Young, co-authors of Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture and Legalizing Misandry: From Public Shame to Systemic Discrimination Against Men.
5) Stephen Baskerville--president of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children and author of the soon-to-be released book Taken into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family.
6) Glenn Sacks--men's and fathers' issues columnist, commentator, talk show host and blogger.
To register for the conference, click here.
There will also be three 2+ hour pre-conference workshops, one conducted by Matt O'Connor, one by Warren Farrell, and one by Glenn Sacks. The workshops will start Friday morning and conclude prior to the conference opening that evening.
These workshops will allow the speakers to go into greater detail and allow participants to spend more time with our speakers. The pricing for early registrants will be $33 for each workshop. Attending these workshops is extra and separate from the conference. People can choose to go to none, one, two or all three.
To sign up for 'early bird' prices for these workshops and/or to register for the conference, click here.
The mover and shaker behind these conferences is Tom Golden, LCSW, a Washington, DC-area men's activist. Golden does an excellent job--both of the previous conferences he's held were well-attended and well-organized.

Additional information about Max Elliot Anderson

Author web site: http://www.maxbooks.9k.com
Reviews http://www.maxbookreviews.blogspot.com
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/06/prweb532684.htm

The Greatest Compliment

I write books for boys.

That is the purpose behind this blog. In recent weeks, THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS has probably done more for my cause than anything else. It has caused people to realize that boys, and their interests, are simply different from girls. Not better, not worse, just different.

This has been the premise that started me down the road as an author of books for boys back in late 2001. My action-adventures and mysteries are designed to pull them in, hook them, and not let go until the story is finished.

Now, you might think that the greatest compliment I could imagine might come from a prestigious magazine, newspaper, or powerful organization. Those are nice, but there is one that goes even higher.

There is nothing like receiving a note or email from a young reader, especially a boy who didn’t like to read, telling me that one of my books was the first he’d ever read all the way through. Parents tell me this as well. I’ve even had wives say something like, “After my son got so excited over your book, my husband, unbeknownst to me, picked up the book, to see what all the fuss was about. He told me it was the first book he’d ever read all the way through too.”

I’ve found it interesting to see how some of my most important review and interview opportunities have come about. In several cases, the editor has had a son who wasn’t very excited about reading. That son became sort of the gatekeeper in deciding if there was any value to what I had written. It’s never happened where one of those boys held his nose and said the book, no matter which of my titles he chose, was no good. Quite the contrary, several have asked to see all 7 of the published books, after reading the first. And each of my books have completely different characters, setting, and plot.

Earlier this year, I signed with an agent. He is diligently searching for the best fit between my books and publishers who have come to see that there is a vast market for action-adventures and mysteries written especially for boys 8 and up.

July is a big month for my work.

A feature article has been written in a prominent homeschool magazine. The most enjoyable aspect of this was that two boys read all of my books and wrote their reviews. Great!

Another review is scheduled for a newspaper chain with papers in several states.

My agent will be meeting with a number of acquisition editors at one of the largest book trade shows in the country. With 28 finished manuscripts for boys, we’re hopeful to begin making some of those connections.

I was invited to supply fliers for the registration packets at the Boys and the Boy Crisis conference in Washington DC July 13 – 14.

If you’d like to read a just released interview: http://storiesforchildren.tripod.com/id139.html
This is a current press release on PRWeb that connects my adventures to THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/06/prweb532684.htm
Author web site: http://www.maxbooks.9k.com

Now, from an author who hated to read...comes books kids hate to put down.