Welcome friend! Today, I am collaborating with Betsy Miller who has been a frequent guest on my blog for some years now. 🙂 Betsy is an author and technical writer. She mainly writes children’s health resources for families. Every once in a while she writes a story or two just for fun. Betsy is one of the co-founders of Thinking Ink Press—a  small publisher based on the San Francisco Bay Area. She introduced me to one of my favorite books – Your Writing Matters. She has also shared her wealth of knowledge about crowdfunding in publishing and coauthoring and collaborating on the blog. Today we are talking about her latest editorial project, Clubfoot Connections: Stories, Essays, and Poetry from the Clubfoot Community..
When a baby is born with clubfoot, the foot is turned inward and down. A doctor gradually realigns the baby’s foot using the Ponseti method. The baby wears long leg casts during this process, and then wears a clubfoot brace to hold the corrected alignment. Most kids with clubfoot wear a brace at night until they are four or five years old. The press recently published the nonfiction anthology, Clubfoot Connections: Stories, Essays, and Poetry from the Clubfoot Community. I do not know a lot about clubfoot and took this opportunity to learn from Betsy and hear her experiences of working on this book.Â
The Story Behind the Book, Clubfoot Connections
By Betsy Miller
A few years ago, I was brainstorming and sharing ideas for clubfoot books with some clubfoot moms. That might seem a little weird since I’d already written two clubfoot books. The Parents’ Guide to Clubfoot explains clubfoot and guides the reader through the Ponseti method, which is the recommended treatment. The picture book Hip, Hop, Hooray for Brooklynn! celebrates the joy of movement while encouraging brace wear. I believe that different books can offer different kinds of support. I had ideas for several other projects, but before I start on a book about a children’s health topic, I talk to parents to find out what they would find helpful. I like to write useful things—it makes me happy and motivates me to know that a book will have a purpose and that reading it might make someone’s life a little better.
As I was bouncing around ideas for books, the one that got an enthusiastic response was a clubfoot anthology—a book that would include the personal experiences of people in the clubfoot community. This wouldn’t be a book that explains clubfoot treatment; it would be more about the experience of getting through it. I started putting out feelers for who might be interested in writing about their experiences. Kate E. came through with a piece right away, but I wasn’t sure about the best method of outreach to get enough additional writers for a book.
As the world moved into the pandemic, Nicole from Clubfoot CARES and I looked into setting up some remote writing events. We thought it might inspire people to write if they hadn’t tried before. She contacted the Shut Up & Write! organization about hosting an online group, but it wasn’t accepting new writing group leaders at that time. This project went on hold. In the meantime, I focused on creating and publishing a guided journal called Beyond Boots ‘n’ Bars, and a coloring book for kids with characters from the Hip, Hop, Hooray for Brooklynn! picture book.
When I saw that Maureen Hoff had written her book Clubfoot Chronicles, it was the first book I knew of that was based on the personal experience of a clubfoot mom. I really like her book because it captures her life and inner feelings—almost in real time. Not many people can write that much while they’re going through the experience, and if you wait a few years and then try to write about it, most people don’t remember the details. It’s an amazing snapshot—like a self-created documentary in book form.
I connected with Maureen and we started to get to know each other. She had me as a guest on her Clubfoot Mom podcast, which was fun. Somewhere along the line, I mentioned the clubfoot anthology idea, and she showed a lot of interest. It’s similar to what she does on her podcast because it showcases the voices of individuals who have direct experience with clubfoot on a personal level, though she has also had guests on the podcast who are doctors and healthcare workers. I don’t even remember asking Maureen if she would be willing to work with me on this project, but I must have because she agreed!
The next thing that happened is I presented the idea for this book to the members of Thinking Ink Press. This is a small publishing company I cofounded and one of the things we publish is clubfoot books. Before we commit to publishing a book, we review the idea as a group. We don’t automatically publish every manuscript or book idea that is submitted to our press. In this case, everyone agreed this project was a good idea.
We had a Zoom meeting for Maureen to meet the press members and talk about the project. Because Maureen and I would be developing this book together, we would be coeditors. We figured out pretty early on that Maureen could focus on outreach and inclusion, because she talks to people about clubfoot all the time. Meanwhile, I wrote the call for submissions and would focus on editing the individual pieces in the book, the sequence of pieces in the book, and some of the publishing-related tasks. Maureen and I made a great team because our strengths and skills complement each other so well. We were super happy with all the submissions we received and were able to include all of them in this book. Working on this project has been a joy. I hope you enjoy reading these heartfelt stories from this wonderful collection of writers!
The above article makes ‘The Story Behind the Story’ introduction to Clubfoot Connections: Stories, Essays, and Poetry from the Clubfoot Community. Learn more about the book on Amazon and Goodreads.
Connect with Betsy on her website and Twitter. You can to opt in to her Thinking Ink Press email list here or follow Thinking Ink Press on Twitter for updates. Find more information about co-editor, Maureen Hoff, here and Clubfoot CARES here.
Cover Photo by Felipe Correia on Unsplash
Great to hear about this collaborative project. I’m about to start working on a collaborative anthology, too, and appreciate the case study. Plus the book sounds really interesting. Thanks Kriti and Betsy.