Stephen King Donates $6,500 To Lewiston School Kids To Publish Books
Some students at Farwell Elementary School in Lewiston are in the process of writing a 290 page manuscript based on their experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. It's all part of the schools "Author Studies Program". Even though some of the students have graduated and moved on to middle school, all of the stories the students have been working on for the past four years, doing things like mapping out the character development, plot, etc., will end up resulting in two books, an original and then, a sequel and of course, a 290-page manuscript.
Now when it comes to writing and publishing a book there are cost considerations to keep in mind so the students started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for publication. They were hoping to raise about $6,500....that is until a Maine author by the name of Stephen King offered to cover all the costs of publishing the books.
According to People Magazine, the book is titled Fletcher McKenzie and the Passage to Whole, a reworked story about a Maine boy from mentor Gary Savage's manuscript to include adventures during the coronavirus pandemic. To give it additional perspective, the students drew from their own pandemic experiences to provide the narrative.
Farwell Principal Amanda Winslow said:
"I'm proud of the students for their accomplishment, as well as the dedication of librarian Kathy Martin and author Gary Savage, who advised the students. The kids talk in the hallway about this, they talk to me about it, they talk to their teachers about what they're doing," Winslow said, "and it's really wonderful to see this much effort and support put behind their writing."
The books are ready for publication, and with the help of King's donation, they'll be sent to a publishing company and available for purchase.