Be That Spark
To Those who need a little Spark, a hand up, a break, a chance – may you find your way and do great things.
And So The Story Begins
I was surrounded by storytellers growing up in my little fishing community of Flatrock, Newfoundland. I wanted to learn more about the world, the places, the people they spoke of. When our kids were small, we read the classics to them and I began adding my own stories to the mix. The audience for these stories grew to include a wider circle of kids. I truly enjoyed their reaction (like my own reaction as I listened to my father and grandfather). Every story had a lesson and I felt good about sharing it with my audience.
Over time my audience disappeared as they grew up, but I continued to create my stories and characters mostly for my own enjoyment. Then it happened, about 5 years ago I had this story called “A Little Spark”. I started to make the time to work on it, to write it down and occasionally share it with some folks around me.
It evolved to a point a few years later when I decided to pursue it with the same energy and focus I had I given to other aspects of my life.
Over the past few years ago I decided to go all in and with the help of some incredible people, here we are. One of the first things I did was to create my own little company called Zuroam Media. This was important to me because it made things real and provided a focus.
“All in” you say, well, I decided to leave my job as an executive in a large technology company to focus all my time and effort to bring “Spark” to life. There were a number of people, who will remain unnamed, who were “somewhat” surprised (shocked a better word) but they felt my passion and they were intrigued by the story and the vision.
We believe that children’s literature is a powerful force to shape and nurture the minds of tomorrow’s leaders. The combination of a great story, beautiful illustrations, rich characters combined with music can truly engage young minds. It can inspire young audiences in a way that will help them develop critical thinking skills and to
Be That Spark
Over the coming months I will share with you what I have learned along the way and update you on the progress towards the launch – first you need to review our website Be That Spark. There you can get a feel for the “Be That Spark” theme and the book “A Little Spark”. – the book trailer, the music, a sample of the audiobook, some early reviews and much more.
A Little Spark
When the survival of their hometown is threatened, two unlikely comrades join forces on a quest to defeat a dangerous enemy and bring back the only one who can save them all.
This Blog – “The Be That Spark Blog” is part Journal, part “How To” and part “How Not To”. I will introduce you to some truly amazing people who have helped me along the way and have contributed to this effort: from the story and editing, to the design of the book, the creation of the music, the launch on social media. Then, most importantly to the parents, grandparents and kids who allowed me to share the story with them and have provided incredible feedback to help shape this project.
Over the coming months we will launch on social media and kick-off our PR campaign along with a million other things that I will share with you as we go along.
In subsequent Blog posts I plan to cover a range of topics, including:
- Be That Spark – the lessons of “Be That Spark” and how they relate to how we live our lives and the lives of our children.
- The power of reading aloud combined with music– discussion of how reading aloud with a touch of music helps the development of young minds.
- The Power of Music – music plays a central part of the book. Our experience and many sources of research show how music can make a difference.
- A Grandfather’s View – a guest blogger (Bob J) will provides his perspective of a Little Spark – he has been involved as an “engaged” participant for the past 2 years.
- The Teacher and the classroom – as part of the our journey “A Little Spark” was used a pilot project for a grade Grade 1 class – a program to help teachers re-enforce good character traits.
- Being Ned Newf - Being a friend and what it means from the perspective of the lovable character of Ned Newf.
- Understanding Your Audience – The Kids Test – how we engaged with the ‘target” audience to refine the “book” experience – the learnings that helped shape our effort.
- What I learned about publishing a Children’s Book – I will share my experience with everything for picking an illustrator, to working (or not working) with publishers, to figuring out where to get a book printed, to getting my book distributed and everything in between.
We are officially four months from launch on Oct 1st – the hardcover book, eBook, audiobook, the album and our YouTube channel.
And So the Journey continues – Welcome aboard.
Chris Parsons
When the survival of their hometown is threatened, two unlikely comrades join forces on a quest to defeat a dangerous enemy and bring back the only one who can save them all.