About Inkless Tales (and now, Inkless Tunes.)
Hi. I'm Elizabeth Williams Bushey, and I created Inkless Tales ten years ago this year - 2010- mostly because my literary agent - a really good one, who represented some heavy hitters - was cross with me for having the NERVE to have babies. (Honestly!)
Who could blame her, really? How could she know I was the kind of person who was THIS driven?
That I was determined to SHOW my daughters, not just TELL them, that a single person, as long as they never gave up, genuinely CAN make a difference in the whole wide world, no matter how small they may feel?
Not only that: I was determined to show every kid I could reach that SO COULD THEY. SO CAN ANYONE, as long as they DON'T GIVE UP.
This is a screenshot from my Google Analytics, a feature web masters can sign up for that tracks how many visitors a web site gets, and where they come from. It offers a map of the planet. Everywhere the map is green, you have visitors; everywhere the map is white, you have none.
Here's what Inkless Tales' Google Analytics "Map Overlay" typically looks like:
You may note that nowhere on the planet do you find any white spots, anywhere.
Literally EVERY spot on the globe visits Inkless Tales.
It's translated - usually by Google, although I speak several languages myself, into between 50 and 100 languages each month.
The site gets about a million hits a month, averaging about 100,000 page views.
That's a lot of company each month. I try to keep the place tidy.
I began the site because at the time, there was nothing else like it on the Web for kids. Nothing that was bona-fide safe. Nothing that wasquality. (I'm a professional writer, and a commercial artist/designer, and I used to be the webmaster for a college, so I know how to build web sites correctly. When the American Library Association called the site "easy to navigate," it was one of the best compliments I'd ever gotten.)
So I began. Although I have experience as a journalist (I used to be a newspaper columnist), and a background in public relations and marketing, I've never done any real selling, PR, or marketing of the site - although for the sake of convenience, there IS a fact sheet here on the site, for anyone interested in making an inquiry.
Still. the site grew, and grew, and grew, until - well, as you can see from the graphic above - it's gotten a global reach.
Wow.
The most I hope now, is to inspire kids - and their parents - to do the same. Find something you love, and feel confident. Never give up. Turns out: one single person can really, truly, make a difference.
As long as they never give up.
Write me anytime - I still answer every letter, and I LOVE mail.
Yours sincerely,
elizabeth
