Sydney Hughes, music theater senior, wrote and published a juvenile fiction fairytale book.
The book, Thalia and the Wish: The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, was published last fall but recently became popular due to enlarged distribution channels.
“People here just found out about it, and they keep asking me why I didn’t tell them before,” Hughes said. “It didn’t really come up in conversation. I thought it would sound vain to bring it up out of the blue.”
Thalia and the Wish is a story about a young fairy who goes on a quest to break a spell and save herself. Along the way, she encounters new experiences and people (like “Cinderella”) who help her learn that love conquers fear, and anyone can change the world with the right amount of brains and determination.
Hughes came up with the fairytale’s premise in ninth grade, while telling stories to her younger sisters. She said she always enjoyed reading fairytale books, especially stories written by Gale Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted. She also followed Levine’s blog posts and would often write comments and ideas, to which Levine would respond.
“Levine really helped me solidify my ideas,” Hughes said. “In one prompt, she asked about a fairytale that needed more elaboration, and I asked why the fairy godmother was such a huge part of Cinderella, when we don’t actually know anything about her.”
Levine quoted this particular online discussion in her book, Writer to Writer, which describes interactions with writers and fans. In the book, Levine refers to Hughes by her middle school online username, “TheUnsocializedHomeschooler.”
In her Western Literature class at OCU, Hughes was given a fairytale writing assignment that required her to create a twist on a fairytale. She revived her previous idea about the fairy godmother. After writing the paper, Hughes decided to expand the story into a full book, dedicating it to her sister, Hannah, as a birthday gift.
“I chose to publish it through CreateSpace, an independent, Amazon-owned company because it gave me the most control over how the book turned out,” Hughes said.
The book’s distribution channels enlarged last month, making the book available in more locations. Thalia and the Wish is available in print from Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and various local bookstores for $7-$9.99. Kindle also sells an eBook version for $4.99, and Hughes said she is working to make it into an audiobook that will play the story in her voice.
Hughes receives royalties from the book, but the amount varies, depending on the distributer. She can buy copies for herself for the printing price of $1.20 per copy, and she usually gets a few dollars in royalties every time someone buys a book.
“I get $3-$4 per book if people buy it from Amazon or a big distributer, but the amount decreases when stores go through more steps to get it on their shelves,” she said. “A random bookstore in England actually sold a few copies. I got $1.75 per copy from that.”
Hughes’s story has 62 pages, with no illustrations other than the cover, which features a picture of a fairy that Hughes drew. She does not know how many total copies have sold, but last month, she saw a quote saying she sold 50 books, she said.
“I think people think it’s a bigger deal than it is, but I’ve learned to be proud that I took something that only existed in my mind and put it out there,” Hughes said. “We always deal with negative feelings and doubt, but you have to be brave enough to claim what you do and put yourself out in the world.”
Thalia and the Wish has two reviews on Barnes & Noble’s website, both with five-star ratings. One reviewer was initially skeptical but said she enjoyed the story.
“My daughter is not a huge reader, so we read it together, and it was a very charming story,” posted KatherineHolmes21. “It was engaging, and not as predictable as you might have expected, given it’s a ‘retelling’ of Cinderella. The characters are well-thought out and realistic, especially for a juvenile fantasy novel.”
Hughes said she has ideas for juvenile fiction and adult novels, but she plans to wait until after graduation to publish anything. She does not plan to write a sequel to Thalia and the Wish.
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