Being a Grown-Up is Available!

Wondering where you can get a copy of Being a Grown-Up: A User's Manual for the Real World? Check out the following links!

Paperback, .mobi, and .epub versions are available directly from us by ordering from our Big Cartel page! We ship worldwide.

If you don't like using your credit card online or have other concerns with online shopping, ask your local Chapters, Indigo, Coles, etc., to bring the book into your location! You can also order online through Chapters.

And we have the .epub, .mobi, as well as other eBook options available through Smashwords!

Get your copy today!

Launch!

Fundraising!

Hi, folks!

We've launched a fundraising campaign to gear up production for the book. You should check us out on IndieGoGo! If you can contribute, that's great! If you can't, we understand, but you can still help by sharing the link! Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, whatever - if you've got an Internet home, tell 'em about us!

And share if you contribute, too! The more we can get the word out, the more successful the fundraiser will be, and the more successful our book launch will be.

Thanks!

Ayla

Stay Tuned for Updates!

Hey folks! Kat and I are busy trying to juggle our full-time day jobs and the details of this book, but stay tuned for news shortly! Check us out on Facebook and follow us here to keep in the loop!

Ayla

Submissions are Closed

I'm excited to announce that the submissions for Being a Grown Up: A User's Manual for the Real World are now closed!

I want to extend a big thank you to everyone who submitted either Words of Wisdom, an essay, or poetry. Thank you so much for taking the time to write something in contribution to this project.

My Co-Editor and I will be taking the month of May to go through the submissions and reply to each person who submitted something. Every person who submitted something for the book will be hearing back by May 31st.

Keep an eye out here and on our Facebook group for updates about the book's progress!

Thank you again for being a part of this!

Sincerely,
Ayla McKay

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Have you ever wished you'd had an instruction manual for navigating adulthood? Or at least some sort of guide that could have given you some idea about what to do when situations arise in which you have to act like an adult: paying your rent on time, finding a “real” job, dealing with parents, making yourself happy. You know, all those things that everybody else around you seems to have figured out while you're still wondering where your cheat sheet is.

Well, we don't have that guide book for you. But we're looking to make it a reality – with your help. We are now accepting submissions for Being a Grownup: A User's Manual for the Real World. We are looking for contributions of personal essays and words of wisdom. If you're interested, please read on for our submission guidelines.

What We Are Looking For

 

Essays

• Original work only.
• On any topic you think pertains to guiding someone through some aspect of adult life. These are personal essays, not academic papers. Draw from your own experiences and share what you've learned!
• Minimum 500 words – Maximum 5,000 words
• Typed in a .doc file, double spaced, in 12pt, Times New Roman font.
• We will certainly accept submissions from non-Canadians, but we do expect Canadian English standards to be followed (e.g. “colour” not “color”).

Words of Wisdom

• One – two sentence pieces of advice that you have found invaluable and would like to pass on. These can be submitted as a .txt file attachment.

Deadlines

Submissions will be accepted between February 1^st, 2013 and April 30^th, 2013. All submissions will be responded to, whether accepted or declined, by May 31^st.

Please e-mail your submissions as an attachment with a cover letter including your name, e-mail address, title of your submission, and a short bio (no longer than 250 words). We look forward to your submissions!

Send your submissions to: beingagrownupbook@gmail.com

Starting the Process!

So, we're all sitting here, with jobs and bills and obligations and wants and needs and no idea what the hell to do about it all.

Nobody gave us an instruction manual.  For some of us, our parents prepared us as best as they could and we're doing what we can with the tools they gave us.  Some of us had less guidance and are doing the best we can with the tools we've scrounged.

In any case, being a grown up isn't easy.  It would be nice to have some instructions, wouldn't it?

Out of such a desire, a collaborative project was borne - a collection of personal stories, advice, lessons, and activities that might just give a little relief to the confusion and frustration that comes with being an adult.

Being a Grown Up: A User's Manual for the Real World is a collaborative project that is in it's natal stages.  If you're interested in getting involved, you can contact us the following ways:

e-mail (c/o Ayla McKay): beingagrownupbook@gmail.com
twitter: @aylamonic

Subscribe to this blog for more information and updates as we get the process underway.

Good luck on your journeys,
Ayla