Write your own book.

It has already been done

Tayden wrote a book. Now it sits on a shelf.

Tayden Franklin, published author, holding his book

Tayden Franklin is a homeschooled student who wrote his own short story, created the cover and the artwork inside it, and published it as a real paperback on Amazon. It is the kind of book you can hold in your hands, hand to your grandma, and put on a shelf.

He did not wait until he was grown up. He started with a story he wanted to tell, learned how a book is put together, typed it out, fixed it up, designed a cover, and finished it. Every step he took is taught on this page and built into the Studio, so your child can do the same thing.

His book: They Were Always There, a science fiction short story. "They live next door. They wear our faces. They've been here all along."

From the back cover: We always thought we were alone. We were wrong. In a quiet suburb, something is not right. People are acting off. Neighbors vanish without a trace, and strange figures watch from the shadows. He is searching for answers that could change everything, but the truth he uncovers is older, darker, and far more terrifying than he could have imagined. Some doors should stay closed. Some things should stay in the dark. But they have been here all along.

The Kindle edition of They Were Always There is on Amazon now, under Tayden's own name. You can get it there, or buy the eBook right here from Psalms Paper Co.:

Get it on Amazon, Kindle $2.99

Buy the eBook here, $2.99

Instant EPUB download after checkout. Opens in Apple Books, Kobo, and most reader apps.

Start with the lessons

The full cover, back and front, created by Tayden

Lesson one

How a book is built

Open any real book and you will find the same pages in the same order, every time. That order is called the anatomy of a book. Tap each page name to see what goes on it, with a filled-in example from a pretend book called Pepper Runs Away.

Lesson two

How popular books are sectioned

Nearly every story you have ever loved follows the same shape. Writers call it the Story Mountain. Your story climbs up one side as the trouble grows, reaches the top at the biggest moment, and comes down the other side to a satisfying end. Tap each stop on the mountain to learn what happens there.

The same mountain, in three acts

Grown-up writers talk about three acts. It is the same mountain with different names. Act One is the beginning: the setup and the moment trouble arrives. Act Two is the long middle: the rising action, the tries and failures, and the climax at the top. Act Three is the end: the falling action and the final page. If you can climb the mountain, you already understand the three acts.

Why chapters end on a hook

Pick up any chapter book kids love and read the last line of a chapter. It almost never ends with everything calm and finished. It ends with a question, a strange sound, a surprise, or a decision, something that makes turning the page feel necessary. That is called a hook, and it is a kindness to your reader: it pulls them happily into the next chapter. Try ending your chapters with lines like these:

• Then, from somewhere far below, he heard barking.
• The footprints were not Pepper's. They were much, much bigger.
• Josiah took a deep breath, and opened the old well house door.

Scenes and chapters

A scene is one piece of action in one place: breakfast in the kitchen, the search at the creek, the climb down the bank. A chapter is a bundle of one to three scenes that belong together. Start a new chapter when the place changes, when time jumps, or right after a hook lands. Short chapters are not a weakness. For young readers, short chapters feel like downhill running.

Patterns by kind of story

Different kinds of stories climb the same mountain, but each kind has its own habits. Learn the habits of the kind you want to write.

A worked example: the whole mountain in one story

Here is Pepper Runs Away, our pretend lost-dog adventure, mapped onto the mountain. Notice how each stop does its own job.

1. Setup. Josiah and Pepper live on a small farm. Pepper knows the yard, the porch, and every visitor by smell. The gate latch is old, and Dad keeps meaning to fix it.
2. Rising Action. The gate swings open and Pepper chases a squirrel into the woods. Josiah searches the creek and the old barn. He finds her collar by the well house, and dark storm clouds roll in.
3. Climax. Josiah hears barking from inside the old well house as the storm breaks. Getting to her means climbing down a steep, slippery bank in the rain, and he has to decide to do it.
4. Falling Action. Josiah reaches Pepper, wraps her in his jacket, and carries her home through the rain. Mom dries them both off, and Dad fixes the latch that very night.
5. Ending. Every morning after, Josiah checks the latch twice. Pepper still watches squirrels, but from her side of the fence. Some gates are meant to stay shut, and some friends are worth any storm.

Lesson three

Be creative: finding your story

Nobody writes a book by waiting to feel inspired. Writers use tools. Here are five of the best ones. Try the Story Spark machine first: it mixes a hero, a place, a problem, and a twist into a story idea you can start today.

Lesson four

Short story or a whole book?

Books come in sizes, and every size is a real book. A finished short story beats a half-finished giant every time, because finishing teaches you the whole craft: beginning, middle, end, editing, cover, and all.

For parents

How publishing works

Here is the honest, whole process, the same steps Tayden's family used. There is no cost to use the Studio, and no cost to open a KDP account. The only money a family ever spends is on printed proof copies, which are optional but wise.

1. Write. Your child writes the book in the Studio, a little at a time. The writing stays saved on your own device.
2. Edit. Read the book out loud together. The Studio's Check step flags spelling, punctuation, and grammar items to look at, and your child decides what to fix.
3. Cover and artwork. Design the front and back cover in the Studio, and add drawings where they belong in the chapters.
4. Format. The Studio's Finish step lays the book out at real paperback size and makes print-ready files: the interior PDF and the cover images.
5. Submit for approval. Send the finished book to Psalms Paper Co. Approved books go on the Young Authors Shelf, and the author earns a printable Published Young Author certificate.
6. A parent opens an Amazon KDP account. Kindle Direct Publishing is free, and the account must belong to an adult. This is always the parent's step, never the child's.
7. Upload and proof. Upload the interior PDF and the cover, set your price, and order one paperback proof copy to hold in your hands.
8. Publish. Fix anything the proof shows, then publish. Your child's book is for sale on Amazon, and your family keeps your own account and your own royalties. We never touch them.