15-year old author

[DallasCrilley]

Hello, everyone! My name is Dallas Crilley, and I'm 15-years old. Over the summer I realized that I was sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing, and it occurred to me that most of the kids my age were probably doing the same thing.

That got me thinking -- I wanted money, but it seemed to me that I'd have to wait until I was 16 to do anything. Then I had a revelation: why do I have to wait until I'm 16? I figured that there has to have been other kids that made money before this number. So I went to Google and started looking around.

Sure enough, I was right -- there are tons of kids who have made money by following their dreams while they were still teens. Knowing a good idea for a book when I saw one, I decided it was time to stop kidding around (pun intended).

So, writing a chapter a day, I finished in a month, and Kidpreneur: Genius Ways for Kids to Pay For College was born. Currently my book is self published -- I just printed up 100 copies to give to all the people featured in the book, teachers, and some more to sell at $20.00 a piece (it costs $10.00 a copy at Kinko's, so it's not really an outrageous price).

Hopefully this is allowed. I wouldn't say that I'm advertising, but I just wanted people interested in kidpreneurs to hear a fresh new story and to get your opinions on it.

Check out my website, kidpreneurclub.com, for more information and a sample chapter.

[richkid]

sounds like a great product, you should turn it into an ebook and try and sell it on amazon, and that lulu.com (i think)

maybe create a blog as well to promote your book, and entrepeneurialism in kids.

[DallasCrilley]

sounds like a great product, you should turn it into an ebook and try and sell it on amazon, and that lulu.com (i think)

maybe create a blog as well to promote your book, and entrepeneurialism in kids.

Lulu looks like a great site -- cheaper than Kinko's as well. Thanks for the input.

[richkid]

thats no problem!

[Young Spark]

^^ I agree, and maybe you could start an affiliate program. Pay people 10% of each completed sale. If you charge $20 for the eBook (if you make it an eBook) then you pay $2.00 each time a affiliate sells your book.

Either way, good start....

[businessportfolio]

How can you sell a book on entrepreneurship when writing the book itself was your first experience of entrepreneurship? I'd assume it's full of wishy-washy motivation tips, but fails fatally to get down to any real point. Am I right?

[usakos]

i just appreciate anyone, and everyone, especially you, at your age trying to do something good and different, whether you make money from it or not, it's about your passion and your motivation, that instead of sitting around playing video games all summer, you've decided to do something different and better.

No matter what happened, you're doing the right thing. It's not always about money, especially when you start out, it's about building your portfolio and your resume that counts. Keep on doing what you're doing, I am just incredible happy that at your age, you've decided to write, just imagine 3 years from now where you will be if you keep on exploring unique opportunities, just like what you've done. I hope one day I see you on top. I haven't read your book and haven't checked out your site yet, but I will later, but i just wanted to write this quick to congratulate you. Good luck, and don't give up.

[mnt11592]

The book seems pretty good. Convert the whole book into a pdf and sell it on ebay and clickbank. I wouldnt expect a lot of sales considering your audience is going to be teens without a credit card or paypal, but theres ways around that if your not 18. Sell it for 9.99 online considering it wont cost you a dime except for listing fees.

Good Luck,
Matt

[richkid]

The book seems pretty good. Convert the whole book into a pdf and sell it on ebay and clickbank. I wouldnt expect a lot of sales considering your audience is going to be teens without a credit card or paypal, but theres ways around that if your not 18. Sell it for 9.99 online considering it wont cost you a dime except for listing fees.

Good Luck,
Matt

i agree sell it for less in PDF format. a lot of people are selling reports on digital point forum for $7-10 dollars, and making a fair bit of money. Might be worth a go.

[DallasCrilley]

How can you sell a book on entrepreneurship when writing the book itself was your first experience of entrepreneurship? I'd assume it's full of wishy-washy motivation tips, but fails fatally to get down to any real point. Am I right?

I can sell a book on entrepreneurship because it's not about me or my business ventures personally, I found stories of kids who did make money from their entrepreneurship and told them in a way that kids can understand and find interesting.

Thanks for all the ideas. I thought about what you said mnt, and I think that my audience would be kids and teenagers, but not necessarily the people who will buy it. Wouldn't the people who buy the book be parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who have a child in their life who isn't going anywhere?

Once again, thanks for the support, everyone. Whatever happens, I still figure that I'm learning valuable life lessons that'll be useful to me later.

[David Rocci]

Do you have to be 18 to have a paypal account? I thought you only needed a checking account... and you don't need to be 18 to get a checking account.

I definitely think Dallas should have some form of electronic payment option available on his website. Worst case scenario, have your dad open a separate checking account that you have access to and setup the paypal with his name and that separate account.

-dr

[ProLogic]

I'm 16 and have a paypal account. I use my savings account with it.

[EzMac]

I'm 15 as well, and I think your product is great. I think you should really target an audience around your age at least, if not more than, an older age group. I know it's something I'd enjoy reading.

[zoobie]

At 15, you're doing really great! Best of luck to you. Hope things continue to do well.

[Young Spark]

Did you ever think of copyrighting? If not, you better do it quick before someone steals your stuff.