History

History of My Tree and how it became My Tree Your Impact

I wrote My Tree 25 years ago for college class. My classmate, Joe Foland, illustrated the book and we received an A. After that, the book went into storage and was mostly forgotten. Once in a while I would see it in storage and think about getting it published. I would read it to my children and think about other families reading it together, but I just never had the confidence to get it published. A few years ago, I took the book to school with me where I teach. I read it to a few elementary classes and they loved it. I was told to get it published, but again I let fear of not being good enough stop me. That fear was put to rest last year when I heard an interview with Dallas Jenkins, director of The Chosen. In his interview he was asked about the success of the show and did he think it would be this big of a hit. He explained that he can only provide the two fish and five loaves, a biblical reference from the book of Matthew. I realized at that moment just how true that statement is. We can only do what we can do and leave the rest to God. I knew I wanted to get My Tree published, but I also wanted to make a difference in the world. After a few months of prayer, My Tree Your Impact was imagined. I love being free, using my imagination (Photo to the left is from a Play-Doh play session with my son), and giving my children a safe place to be kids. It was decided that part of every sale of My Tree would support organizations that save children from trafficking and exploitation. Getting the book published is me providing 5 loaves and 2 fish, what God decides to do with it is up to Him. I pray and hope millions of copies are sold and we are able to donate millions of dollars to save children from the evils of this world.

I want to explain why My Tree doesn't look like most children's books you see. Most children's books are smaller in size, have a more polished look, and have an eye-catching cover design. You have to remember that this book was written on an old computer while I was in college and my classmate illustrated it with a pen and crayons. It then spent 25 years going in and out of storage. I could have went through a publisher, but they wanted new images and a new cover. I wanted to give Joe Foland the credit he deserves for illustrating the book, so self-publishing was the only way to go. I did not want to get the book illustrated by anyone else and I wanted to keep all the original artwork. The only edits made involved some touchup coloring with a few crayons. For that reason, the book has a more unpolished appearance, and I love it. I think it makes the book look older, like a Little Bear book. Besides for all that, My Tree looks different because it is different. How many first-time authors set a goal of selling 1 million copies? And how many authors decide to donate half of the proceeds from their first million copies sold and then donate all the proceeds above and beyond 1 million?

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