December 13, 2022
Updated over 1 year ago
Have you ever wanted to write a book?
Below I explain how I accidentally wrote a book in just 1 day...you can do the same!
Previously, I published 6 books which are on Amazon...the first one took me over two years. The subsequent books took 4-6 months each, and in a surprising turn of events, I created my 7th book in an afternoon. An afternoon? Yes. That's correct. I published a Swahili children's book from start to finish in about 6 hours.
How did I decide to write a book in Swahili?
In part because of my tangential involvement with a school in Tanzania I decided to learn Swahili. Several months in, I casually noticed that the word "water" rhymed with "I need" or "I do not need." A lightbulb went off and I decided to challenge myself to create a children's story in Swahili that rhymes, or at the very least I used the excuse of "making a children's book" to continue to practice the new vocabulary words that I was learning.
The book I wrote, Hatuhitaji Maji translates to "We don't need water," and it's intended for Swahili speaking children (and English speaking Swahili learners), since it introduces basic vocabulary words and concepts of self-reliance obtained through education.
I began working on this book not considering AI or Generative Image tools at all. I first didn't think I would finish, but the concept just came together quickly. Once done writing, I figured I might hire an illustrator OR use stock images, and honestly, I didn't even know if I could justify spending money on hiring an illustrator...I wanted to, but that would cost what? $5,000 or more?
Did I have an expectation that I might sell my book to children? No.
Did I have an expectation that I would let people download my book for free? Yes, of course, since here at Maktaba we are all about free books.
At this point, I had been using DuoLingo for several months (learning Swahili) and I was very keen on putting into use the Swahili words that I had learned. As I put together a story with words that I DID know, I realized that I had yet to be introduced to numbers...so I incorporated them in the story.
I didn't have an agenda, a purpose to the book and I definitely put no thought into marketing it. The basic point of writing a children's book was to use some verbs, some different tenses, some numbers, etc... and to continue my process of learning Swahili.
In summary...I published my 7th book and am now convinced that writing a children's book is one of the most motivating activities one could do while learning a new language. Kids in Tanzania are learning basic vocabulary...and myself, as an adult learner of Swahili, am ALSO learning basic vocabulary...what fun! We can connect here at Maktaba and discuss my book, other people's books, or we can even explore the idea about the relevancy of books in general. Are people still reading?
In all seriousness, here at Maktaba we love books. With that said, we have expressed concern that it might be a lot easier to market a website that focuses on entertainment that is more modern. Ultimately, we continue to be enthusiastic about reading as an empowering educational activity, and thus I would love to encourage others to read books, discuss books and even MAKE books...I thoroughly enjoyed writing this book for children.
You can download my book here, it's free, and it's also worth noting that the book has some pretty cool illustrations which were created using Dalle-2 from OpenAI, Canva stock photos, Stable Diffusion, and I'm proud (I guess) that I discovered all these gems MANY months before generative AI tools like Lensa, Dalle-2 or ChatGPT blew up and became all the rage.
I thought about announcing my process months ago to get press, but I kinda wrote the book for myself...and to share with my nieces.
Lastly, it's worth noting that I DID NOT use any AI to write the story, but I've recently heard that people are using ChatGPT, Alexa tools and other AI generators to do everything from illustrations to plot construction. What a time to be alive ;) ("2 minute paper reference, lol)
Are you interested in writing a children's book? Or any thoughts on this project? I look forward to your feedback.
Below I explain how I accidentally wrote a book in just 1 day...you can do the same!
Previously, I published 6 books which are on Amazon...the first one took me over two years. The subsequent books took 4-6 months each, and in a surprising turn of events, I created my 7th book in an afternoon. An afternoon? Yes. That's correct. I published a Swahili children's book from start to finish in about 6 hours.
How did I decide to write a book in Swahili?
In part because of my tangential involvement with a school in Tanzania I decided to learn Swahili. Several months in, I casually noticed that the word "water" rhymed with "I need" or "I do not need." A lightbulb went off and I decided to challenge myself to create a children's story in Swahili that rhymes, or at the very least I used the excuse of "making a children's book" to continue to practice the new vocabulary words that I was learning.
The book I wrote, Hatuhitaji Maji translates to "We don't need water," and it's intended for Swahili speaking children (and English speaking Swahili learners), since it introduces basic vocabulary words and concepts of self-reliance obtained through education.
I began working on this book not considering AI or Generative Image tools at all. I first didn't think I would finish, but the concept just came together quickly. Once done writing, I figured I might hire an illustrator OR use stock images, and honestly, I didn't even know if I could justify spending money on hiring an illustrator...I wanted to, but that would cost what? $5,000 or more?
Did I have an expectation that I might sell my book to children? No.
Did I have an expectation that I would let people download my book for free? Yes, of course, since here at Maktaba we are all about free books.
At this point, I had been using DuoLingo for several months (learning Swahili) and I was very keen on putting into use the Swahili words that I had learned. As I put together a story with words that I DID know, I realized that I had yet to be introduced to numbers...so I incorporated them in the story.
I didn't have an agenda, a purpose to the book and I definitely put no thought into marketing it. The basic point of writing a children's book was to use some verbs, some different tenses, some numbers, etc... and to continue my process of learning Swahili.
In summary...I published my 7th book and am now convinced that writing a children's book is one of the most motivating activities one could do while learning a new language. Kids in Tanzania are learning basic vocabulary...and myself, as an adult learner of Swahili, am ALSO learning basic vocabulary...what fun! We can connect here at Maktaba and discuss my book, other people's books, or we can even explore the idea about the relevancy of books in general. Are people still reading?
In all seriousness, here at Maktaba we love books. With that said, we have expressed concern that it might be a lot easier to market a website that focuses on entertainment that is more modern. Ultimately, we continue to be enthusiastic about reading as an empowering educational activity, and thus I would love to encourage others to read books, discuss books and even MAKE books...I thoroughly enjoyed writing this book for children.
You can download my book here, it's free, and it's also worth noting that the book has some pretty cool illustrations which were created using Dalle-2 from OpenAI, Canva stock photos, Stable Diffusion, and I'm proud (I guess) that I discovered all these gems MANY months before generative AI tools like Lensa, Dalle-2 or ChatGPT blew up and became all the rage.
I thought about announcing my process months ago to get press, but I kinda wrote the book for myself...and to share with my nieces.
Lastly, it's worth noting that I DID NOT use any AI to write the story, but I've recently heard that people are using ChatGPT, Alexa tools and other AI generators to do everything from illustrations to plot construction. What a time to be alive ;) ("2 minute paper reference, lol)
Are you interested in writing a children's book? Or any thoughts on this project? I look forward to your feedback.
