Giving Back with The Written Word

September 2025

Since I was a youngster, community service has always been important to me.

Over the years, I've served families in crisis by volunteering with the American Red Cross. I served nature and, specifically, our local waterways, volunteering with the Rouge River Clean Up project. I've served children by volunteering with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H programs, and comunity Youth Theatre programs. I've supported animals by volunteering with Best Friends Animal Society at adoption events. I've trick or treated for UNICEF, I've walked for Musclar Dystrophy and Breast Cancer Awareness, and I've shelved books at my local Library. I've donated time at local Military recruitment centers, and I've volunteered my services for several charitable Silent Auctions.

When I left the corporate world and became immersed in books and writing full-time, I wanted to find a way to incorporate my love of storytelling with the responsibility I felt to give back to my community. Not all acts of service, I reasoned, need to be physical in nature... picking up trash or giving blood. Sometimes, they can be creative, as well. I also wanted to find a way to specifically serve the Indie Author Community, my family by choice.

In 2014, while working with another imprint, I fleshed out an idea of compiling anthologies - collections of stories and poetry - as a way to give back. As I envisioned it, these books would serve in layers, not just a one-to-one moment of kindness... but a small community, serving charities, as they served the larger community, as we all moved toward making the world a better place. I knew the end results wouldn't be monumental in financial scope. But perhaps I could help to create the effect of touching the surface of a pond whose ripples would influence the goal of generating kindness for the greater good.

The first of these books was Write To Woof. This anthology contained stories and poetry in honor of our canine companions, and the proceeds from book sales served dogs at a Michigan no-kill animal shelter, Almost Home. The second book in the project was Write To Meow, because the shelter was full of cats, too.

I initially imagined that two books was where this project would end. But after seeing the tremendous support and the pile of donated works from writers from all over the world, more books emerged. Our series of nine anthologies supported the important work of even more charities:

• The Wounded Warriors Project

• NEXT - a Michigan Senior Services Center

• Seaholm High School

• The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund

• Leader Dogs For The Blind

• Carkenord Elementary School

• The World Literacy Foundation

• Detroit Dog Rescue

• The Elephant Sanctuary

All of these organizations do incredible work to support people and animals with specific needs. The success of these books reminded me that I am part of a community of souls who agree that giving back to the world is important. Their generosity made me want to find a way to also give back to them.

So, I also compiled and edited anthologies that directly served the writers who volunteered their stories and poems with Legends, a series of six literary journals that gave writers an opportunity to have their work published, some for the very first time. These books served to help new authors build their marketing platforms and introduce their work to readers who perhaps, may have never discovered them. I was honored to help authors promote their writing careers as a small Thank You for donating their stories and poems to serve charity.

Some years later, when I decided to go out on my own and build an independent editorial and author coaching business, I felt a strong calling to continue this community service work. I've always believed gratitude for life is best expressed by helping others. From my work on the other anthologies, I knew there were writers in the world, and especially in the Indie Author Community, who felt the same way. So, I encouraged my actions to follow my intention and again, with the help of some remarkable writers from all over the world, I manifested nine more wonderful books.

The first, Simple Things, was published during COVID, and focused attention on the importance of gratitude during a difficult time in America - and around the globe. Since that first book in 2021, with the help of 144 Indie Authors, I have created nine more anthologies, resulting in publishing 388 stories and poems. You can see covers and find links to all of the books near the bottom of the page, HERE.

Together, we've served The World Literacy Foundation and The Haley Sue Foundation with creativity, respect, and perspectives unique in today's society.

It has been a privilege to be part of a program that allows writers to bravely share their Sacred Texts, and open a window to their imagination with the world as they serve the good works of these outstanding charities. Together, we have celebrated the courage to bear our souls on the page. We've reinforced the importance of parable not only in teaching but also as a necessary form of entertainment. We've expanded our community, lending strength to one another to follow our passion for storytelling. I am tremdously proud of all we've accomoplished together, and I am grateful beyond measure, for all the writers who have helped create these books.

But now, it's time to move on.

The Community Service Anthology project was spectaular, not only for the creativity we enjoyed, but also for the positive effect these books had on others. However, the program will end with the tenth edition, and the current call for submissions in our Flash Fiction Challenge, at the end of this year. The final book's submission deadline is December 31, 2025, and the intended release date is sometime around January 15, 2026. After that, we'll set this project aside and develop something new. If you are interested in joining in this final anthology project, you can find all the details on the Pages Promotions website, HERE.

So, What's Next?

I have several fun ideas noodling around in my head about how I might give back next, while still working with the Indie Author Community. Some are designed for individual writers, others are designed with small groups of writers in mind... and I've come up with a few interesting, larger projects that might require all of us to work together.

I'm also researching different charities that might benefit from these new endeavors. While the organizations we've donated to so far are awesome, and they do incredible work to support the community, I think it's time to reach out and make an impact in new ways, with organizations we haven't served yet. My hope is that for each charity we serve, we will help to expand awareness for the work they do.

I'm not sure where my community service efforts will take me in 2026, but when I announce my plan, if it's something you'd like to be a part of, I'd love to have your support. Regardless of what charities I select, or the modality I choose, you can be certain that storytelling will be a central theme in any upcoming project. I can't imagine a more impactful way to reach the hearts and minds of the people of our world. I know that whatever we create will make a difference.

I Believe in The Power of The Pen!