What Do I Say To Me... at 13: The Wisdom of 1000 Everyday People offers the most interesting 1000 replies from people of all ages, professions and 50 countries to the questions: “If you could go back in time and give the 13 year old version of yourself one piece of inspirational advice that would make that 13 year old’s life better, what would it be? And why?” It can be thought of as a combination of Chicken Soup for the Soul and Dr. Phil McGraw’s Life Strategies.
Thirteen is the first pivotal juncture in a person’s life. It is the age when a child becomes a teenager, when many cultures consider kids adults, and when the human body floods itself with hormones. Every thirteen year old becomes overly sensitive to perceived critiques and anxious about their place in their community. The results of these pressures are confusion and questions. For most of us, the result of these experiences is also lingering mental anguish. What Do I Say To Me... at 13: The Wisdom of 1000 Everyday People appeases that angst.
The website adviceforyourself.com was created as a research tool to gather the advice and experiences of people around the world. When reviewing the submissions, the emotions and regret associated with that troubling age became evident. Through those submissions, it became clear to me how much people want to talk about the things they would change. People want to look back at their experiences and see what they could have done better. They want to see how their experiences compare to others. They want some type of balm for their aged scars. And they want to feel that they have gotten smarter. What Do I Say To Me... at 13: The Wisdom of 1000 Everyday People offers adult readers a welcome chance to re-examine their lives.
What Do I Say… also offers the unending market of 13 year olds something unprecedented. Teenagers are infamous for their seeming reluctance to take advice and their abhorrence for being told what to do. What Do I Say … doesn’t tell kids what to do or offer advice from atop a pedestal. It shares, in soft, regretful tones, the things that would have changed the lives of others if only they had been told.
Every teenager is trying to figure out who he or she is and what he or she will become.
Teenagers want to make informed decisions. My market research has shown that if they could ask advice secretly they would. Teenagers are always trying to figure out how to get girls, attract boys, deal with parents or handle school. What Do I Say To Me... at 13: The Wisdom of 1000 Everyday People offers the type of advice that teenagers are clamoring for and presents it in a way that they will listen to.
I am a produced screenwriter. I am a promo writer/producer by trade. For two years I wrote and produced promos for Disney Channel. Disney Channel’s key demographic is 9 to 15. For those years, it was my job to effectively market movies and TV shows to 13 year olds. Writing and producing promos for Disney Channel seasoned me in writing for the 13 year old national market.
Along with my practical experience, I am gaining name recognition with adviceforyourself.com. While featuring adviceforyourself.com, usatoday.com mentioned my name in conjunction with the website. Consequently, so have other websites around the world.
In conclusion, my job experience marketing to kids, my research through adviceforyourself.com, and my growing name recognition make me uniquely qualified to write this book.