Two years after I had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s
disease, I was sitting in my small office around three o’clock
in the morning, reflecting on my newest little
granddaughter. Then I started thinking about my two
grandmas. I don’t know why, but I vividly remembered
details about them, like their hair and their voices. They
were just the most wonderful women. I picked up a pen and
I started to write. All the words came in rhyme and before
I knew it, I had written my first book. It was called
I Wanna Go to Grandma’s House and it is about a young
granddaughter who describes a fun-filled day with her
grandmother. I wrote ten stories in eight weeks––it was
like my brain was electric. One part of my brain was
deteriorating, but the other part of my brain had gone off.
My daughters and my three daughters-in-law all work in
education. They read the stories I had written and said,
“Mom, these are really good! You’ve got to get these
published.” So I sent the first manuscript of I Wanna Go to
Grandma’s House to 54 publishing companies. I was
rejected 54 times. I remember one rejection in particular that
stated I needed more of a plot––that I needed to develop a
story with problems. I decided not to follow their advice, and
instead I kept the story upbeat, fun and sentimental with a
concentration on the simple things in life. It is our bestseller.
I don’t know if it was because I was aware that I had a
deteriorating neurological disease or if it was because I was
turning 50, but for some reason I didn’t care about the
rejections. I wasn’t scared. I decided, “You know what?
I’ll do it myself.” So I started my own company called
My Grandma and Me Publishers. I knew nothing about
publishing. I took that first year and spent over 12 to 14
hours a day just educating myself, getting books produced,
and calling all over the United States. The first book was
extremely well received and we sold 5,000 books in nine
weeks. I got the books into the schools and things just
snowballed from there. I wrote additional titles for the
Grandma series and in less than three years 35,000 books
have been sold. Had I not had Parkinson’s, I doubt this
would have happened.
Janet Sinke, Author and Publisher http://www.mygrandmaandme.com
Reprinted with permission
