WHO Gail Condon is a former nurse and the author behind the hit personalised children’s books, Writing for Tiny.
Gail and her daughter Rosie
WHAT Writing for Tiny books are personalised hand-crafted books for children under the age of ten, designed to help parents and children communicate about things they may find hard to talk about. The books cover topics like moving schools, going to the hospital, or dealing with long-term illnesses like cancer.
The drawings were to combat children’s frustration at Our Lady’s Hospital Crumlin, and to help the kids to open up. “I worked in the burn unit, and you can go through some terrible times in the burn recovery process, and it can be long if it’s a bad burn,” Gail explains.
“I used my drawings as a nurse. I would use them to distract children from what they were going through, or to explain their condition to them and to their siblings. I also wanted to open up the communication channels between children and their parents and to just get them talking,” Gail told us. “The books are old fashioned, they’re hardback and each one is hand-stitched. They’re almost Beatrix Potter-style keepsakes, not just flimsy books that you’ll throw away.”
The illustration concepts are Gail’s own: “The Writing for Tiny style – the big eyes and style of illustrations are all my own, from drawings I used to do for my Grandad when I was a kid. Then I took Jenny on about three months ago, and she illustrates as well,” Gail explains.
The best thing about the books is how much they can be personalised, so they allow for varying family types, not just the typical nuclear family. You may omit the dad or mum for example for a single parent family. Grandparents, pets and siblings can be added. You also choose skin tone and hair colour, hair style and outfits. The books are as individual as your child. “That’s what we’re all about, catering for every type of family,” Gail confirms, “our mission is never to exclude.”
Each book is hand-stiched by Gail and Jenny, her Graphic Designer, “We were taught by Tom Duffy, the oldest family bookbinding business in Ireland. It adds value to the product,” says Gail.
THE TIPPING POINT Gail gradually evolved her idea and went from drawing simple pictures to designing booklets for the children she wanted to communicate to. A decision to go back to University and pursue her studies in Speech and Language Therapy saw Gail get the break she needed to make Writing for Tiny into something more.
“I went back to Trinity to study, and ended up getting into a business incubator called ‘Launch Box’ and that’s where Writing for Tiny started to gain momentum. It evolved from eBooks into print books. We started with eBooks, with seven titles, now we’re converting them all into printed books,” she confirms. The business is now part of the AIB Start-Up Academy along with ten other start-ups.
ADVICE FOR OTHER MUMPRENEURS? “I think the best piece of advice I could give to other mums would be just to keep going, even if you have doubts or are wondering how you can do it all. Don’t think just because you’re a mum you can’t do it all because you can, as clichéd as that sounds. Don’t let anyone else’s doubts affect you, and people will have doubts,” Gail confirms, “today I had a pitch via webcam, and I had a picture of Rosie behind the laptop to make eye contact with, just to give me some extra strength.”
WHAT NEXT? “We’re hoping to have at least ten more titles out this year, and they’ll include starting school, the death of a pet and just celebrating a child in general,” says Gail.
The new baby book has just been launched, in four different versions: new baby, not knowing the gender, knowing the gender and new baby twins. A lot of people have told me that couples with another child will find out the gender because it helps the child understand the concept better.
The concepts are all about keeping up with milestones and changes in a child’s life. The next book will be about separation and divorce, a tough one. Sadly, it’s the one that people have been requesting the most.
WHERE The books can be ordered in three easy steps online for €25 each and for every printed book, you get an EBook too.
For more from Gail, check out her daily musings this week as the HerFamily.ie Guest Blogger with lots of funny anecdotes about being a mumpreneur and juggling it all.
