Authorship Empowers Writer to Share a Story About Dignity
Celebrating a Universal Message, Changing Lives
School children across the country are getting ready for what are arguably some of the most anticipated times in their lives—for some, very good times and, for others, very tumultuous times. For the children who endure constant teasing and bullying at school, even getting out of bed in the morning can be daunting. One doesn’t have to be well versed in educational psychology to know that learning cannot effectively happen within the constraints of an emotionally-charged, fearful environment. Stephanie Heuer understands the pain of that type of humiliation. As an educator, she sees the short- and long-term emotional and physical effects of bullying on individuals and classroom culture.
As a member of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS), Heuer is committed to breaking the harmful cycles of humiliation and rankism (abuse of power, based on rank). She believes preservation of human dignity starts by teaching our children both how to acknowledge when they’ve been abused and how to recognize when they abuse others. When the story idea for her book, I Feel Like Nobody When… I Feel Like Somebody When… (AuthorHouse, 2005), came to her, she knew it would be mind-opening and a “template for change” among children, parents and educators alike.
Starting a New Journey
When Heuer returned to the classroom, she began to collect anonymous and voluntary statements from her students (in second through fifth grades) that finished the phrases, “I feel like nobody when…” and, “I feel like somebody when…” As she sifted through 350 candid responses, she then understood how critical her project was and how important it would be to get the message out to others. This message could not be held up by rejection letters or bureaucratic red tape.
When the manuscript was complete, Heuer knew that publishing the book on her own was the more timely and controlled route to take. She searched the Internet for self-publishers and came up with a few companies to interview, one of which was AuthorHouse. At the end of her decision-making process, Heuer says she felt that AuthorHouse was, by far, the most responsive and she was automatically made to feel like an author by an inherent level of respect established by her publishing team. “I really feel like my team knew what they were doing when the helped me create my book,” she says.
Experiencing Success
When I Fell Like Nobody When… I Feel Like Somebody When… became available for sale last September, Heuer knew her life would change as she started to let her colleagues know about her work. The book is currently being used in classrooms across the country and has been tagged for cataloging by renowned LIFESKILLS™ thematic instructors, Kovalik & Associates. Heuer’s next stop with her book will be at the United Nations University of Peace meeting in September. Even with all her success to date, she says that, “My greatest accomplishment is simply teaching kids how to be better world citizens and, having my book in print helps authenticate a very important message.”
Heuer markets her book specifically to the audiences she has defined and believes that knowing her niche is what keeps her efforts focused. She has spent the entire first year sending letters, giving complimentary books and talking about her message largely at the grassroots level. Heuer has been careful not to get discouraged or overwhelmed with the process by anticipating the derivatives of the media buzz she is creating with her work. Perhaps more important are the derivatives of the lives Heuer is helping to change—one school, one classroom, one child at a time.
