Here is the latest cover for Merlin's Magic!

Summer Sale includes FREE BOOKS

Hello everyone.  It is time for the Smashwords.com Summer book sale.  And,
in celebration of that occassion, I am putting my latest book of adventures for
boys on sale for:  FREE!

That's right.  You can go to Smashwords.com and download a copy of
The Mystery of Merlin's Magic for FREE!  And, yes, this book is filled with
adventure and mystery.  It is the prequel for the Jeep Muldoon series.

My Dyslexic Son Graduates Valedictorian of His High School Class

Speaker: Granath Musson, valedictorian

What the speaker said: Musson told the story about how he couldn’t read or write when he first started school and was diagnosed with dyslexia. But he overcame that to eventually go on to become valedictorian.

“Anything is possible. Play the cards you are dealt.”

Read more: Mount Airy News - Surry Central Class of 2011 graduated Friday night

More info on Fonts for Dyslexia

I just came across this excellent article about fonts for those with sight
difficulties.  It is entitled Minding Your P's and Q's.

Matt

http://community.cognibeat.com/2011/mindingyourpsandqs/

Typefaces and Fonts for people with reading problems

Since Boys are much more likely to suffer from vision issues, it is important that books
aimed at boys should be formatted with the clearest and easiest to read fonts.

The following link discusses the pros and cons of different fonts.
Unfortunately, there is no clear consensus as to which is best.  So,
you are going to have to experiment with your own styles.

http://haze-dweller.blogspot.com/2009/11/typefaces-fonts-for-people-with-reading.html

Thanks.

Matt

Books for Boys - links to cottage industry publishers of Boy's Books

There are some great books for boys being published out there. But, you've got to hunt to find them.

Here are some links to books for boys.


BOOKS FOR BOYS
http://www.booksforboys.com/

This site has been going strong since 2003. They publish
a number of interesting authors.

GUYS READ
http://www.guysread.com/

Describe themselves as 'a web-based literacy program for boys. Our mission is to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers."


Books and Boys
http://booksandboys.blogspot.com/

Max Elliot Anderson is the author behind this site.
He saw a need for mystery and adventure books for boys,
and he had done his best to address it.


Purple House Press
http://www.purplehousepress.com/

The good folks at PHP were discouraged that they could
not find their favorite childhood books for their own kids.
Since they were out of print, PHP reprinted them!

All four Mad Scientiest's Club adventures are available here.
Anyone remember, The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek?

Now, if only they would reprint the Mushroom Planet adventures.


Speaking of the Mad Scientist's Club - my novel The Mystery of
Merlin's Magic was called - 'the Mad Scientist's Club for a new
generation!' It is available from Smashwords.com for just 99 cents.


Matt

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/55179

Boys don't read, Except when they do.

"The 2010 Kid and Family Reading Report, sponsored by Scholastic, found that regardless of race, geography or socioeconomic status, boys were lagging far behind girls in reading outside of school assignments. Only 39 percent of boys rated reading outside of class as important, while 62 percent of girls said it was "extremely or very important." A 2005 NEA study by Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky found that between 1980 and 2004, the gender gap in reading between boys and girls had grown so wide that the authors determined it had become a "marker of gender identity." Again: Boys don't read."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-london/boys-dont-read-except-whe_b_859449.html

Charles London discusses how boys avoid reading and how publishers are reluctant to even publish books for boys.  (Maybe the fact that children's publishers are overwhelmingly female has something to do with it?)

Matt