About Maggie Jamerson:
Hi! I'm Maggie Jamerson. I have been a teacher for 20+ years in public schools, inner city schools and private schools in the Memphis, TN area. I started my own tutoring business, Remarkable Readers, in June 2021. We are licensed teachers and guarantee our students will improve at least 4-6 months in reading or math in just 8 weeks. I am releasing my first book in July of 2024 called, Only Oliver. It's a tale of a boy who thinks he's alone in his reading struggles. But is that true? Drawing from my 20+ years as an educator, I recognized the necessity for a children’s book that narrates a child’s reading challenges and emotions from a classroom perspective. This book incorporates phonics, evidence-based teaching methods, and engaging activities to help children (and parents) grasp the significance and complexity of mastering reading in today's world.
What inspires you to write?
My students inspire me to write! I want to teach kids outside of my classroom walls and one way to that is to write a book.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Robert Frost
Katheryn Stockett
C.S. Lewis
E. B. White
Eric Carle
Brad Montague
Tell us about your writing process.
My passion is teaching! When a child understands the lesson you are teaching, that light bulb moment is everything to me. My writing process starts with something a child learns. I like to write by hand at first and put all of the details on paper. Then as I continue to think about the idea and develop a plot and characters. I move my notes to the computer and begin typing specifics. I am not an illustrator but I love to write the details of what I want the scene to look like, the race of the characters, the clothes each character wears and how the classroom is decorated. Editing and revising is the hardest part for me. I want to keep everything. I struggle to find what needs to be scrapped or reworded. I like to ask other people to read my rough draft and give me feedback early so I can take time to really think and develop my story to another level. Once the text is exactly the way I want it, then I hire an illustrator. We work together for the next 3-4 months developing the actual book page by page. As changes are made and finalized, then the illustrator sends me the correct files I need to print and post on social media. Setting the release date and promoting pre-orders are my last steps.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I don't talk to my characters but I create the dialogue by using what some of my students actually say and how students talk to each other.
What advice would you give other writers?
Don't assume your readers know! The more details and description you add to your writing, the better it will be.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I worked with an author coach from At Home Author. Since I already had a business, it was better for me to self publish, however, I would not have known to do that without At Home Author. They have helped me step by step.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I love that it is getting easier to self publish. I think we can really encourage kids to write and publish their writing in ways we could have never done 20 yrs. ago. I am also very concerned about books being published by AI. I want to know human thoughts and emotions when I read. I hope there will be legislation in the works to keep writing authentic.
What genres do you write?: Children
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Maggie Jamerson Home Page Link
Your Social Media Links
Facebook
LinkedIn
Instagram
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
