Concept

As a child, I always enjoyed reading Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Books.  There was something so exciting about the fact that the story was seemingly developing based on what I chose.  It gave me a chance to make a decision at an age when it wasn’t always possible.  Although the process of writing a book is a challenging experience, it provides an outlet for children and adults alike to express their ideas in writing and art.

Goal of the Living Book Project

The aim is to design a system that allows children to experience the process of writing and illustrating a book, and seeing it unfold before their eyes.  They will have a chance to “choose the adventure” and direction of the story.  The incentive of this form of art is the work itself, a platform which shares the art and words with the community.  The concept of a living book stems from the idea of telling a collective story, which embraces solidarity and emboldens creativity.

Timing

There is no start date or end date.  We anticipate that the project will gain traction when the school year begins.  However, we invite children to submit their writing anytime.  We know that this is an exciting opportunity to become a published author and illustrator.  We are happy to collaborate with schools who would like to support this  contest, nationally and internationally.

Children will become authors or illustrators!

More details about the Living Book Project:

1. 1. The book will occur in real-time and be posted on the Your Health Forum site.
   2. Dr. Christopher Cirino will edit and publish the work with 10 authors and 10 illustrators.
   3. The product of the contest will be a published middle reader (approximately 4,000 to 6,000 words) E-book and Paperback book.

Photo by Marius Venter on Pexels.com

For Young Writers

Process for Writing Submission

1. Sections will include Introduction, then approximately 9 more chapters.
2. Each section will be voted upon and then become posted here on the Your Health Forum Blog.
3. The writer will submit a Chapter directly based on the accepted previous Chapter.
4. Each submission will be approximately 250-750 words
5. Once at least 5 submissions have been received and 3 weeks has passed (depending on amount of entrees interested), voting will commence.
6. The section will be chosen by amount of votes and final decision by Dr.Cirino, as the editor.
7. The writer will receive a prize of $25 for the writing submission.
8. Over time, as each chapter will become chosen and solidified, writers can then begin the following section, etc.

An example of a writing section can be found here.

For Young Illustrators

Process for Illustrations

1. Art will capture an event that has been described in the respective section.
2. There will be a total of 10 pieces of art accepted for the book, one for each chapter.
3. All color art should have certain specifications in order to create unity for the editing process, if possible: illustrations should be scanned as 300 dpi with 1/8th inch bleed on the outside edges. For color:  CMYK is best, RGB is second best.
4. Intended size of the book is 8.5 in x 11 in
5. If the art is unable to be scanned, the artist will be asked to mail it to YHF address.
6. The artist is not required to completely fulfill the same style of the previous artist
7. Artists can begin illustrating a chapter once the writing of that section has been accepted and posted online.
8. Art will be voted on and selection will be based on votes and decision of the editor, Dr. Cirino.
9. The selected Artist will receive a prize of $25 for the illustration in this section