Payment protectionDetails
- Revisions within the package are free.
- If you do not respond within 3 days of delivery, the work is accepted automatically.
The money is reserved when you pay and released only once you accept the work.
Example result
eBook excerpt: "The Balcony Harvest" gardening guide
Table of contents
- Why a balcony is enough
- Reading your light: sun hours and wind
- Containers, soil and drainage
- Twelve crops that earn their space
- Watering without worry
- Feeding plants the simple way
- Pests, problems and quick fixes
- Your first season, week by week
- Workbook: plan your own balcony
Chapter 2. Reading your light: sun hours and wind
When I started teaching, the first question everyone asked was "What should I plant?" I always answered with another question: "How much sun do you get?" Nearly every failed balcony garden I have seen failed for the same reason. The plants were fine. The light was wrong.
Count your sun hours
Pick a clear day and check your balcony every hour from morning to evening. Note when direct sunlight touches the spot where your pots will stand, not just the railing. Add the hours up.
| Sun hours | What grows well |
|---|---|
| 6 or more | Tomatoes, peppers, beans, courgettes |
| 4–6 | Lettuce, spinach, peas, herbs like parsley and mint |
| 2–4 | Salad leaves, chives, rocket |
| Under 2 | Microgreens and sprouts indoors |
One of my students, Martin, was sure his east-facing balcony was "sunny". After a day with a notebook, he counted three and a half hours. He swapped his tomato plans for lettuce and rocket and harvested every week from May to October.
Don't forget the wind
Above the third floor, wind can matter as much as sun. Tall plants snap, soil dries twice as fast and leaves get scorched. Watch for these signs:
- pots drying out by midday even after morning watering;
- leaves with brown, papery edges;
- stems leaning in one direction.
If you notice them, group pots together, put the tallest plants against the wall and add a simple windbreak such as bamboo screening on the railing.
Try it now
Before you read Chapter 3, fill in the sun map on page 41 of the workbook. You will use it to choose your containers.
Client: Rosa Delgado, a community gardening teacher. Goal: a 9,500-word how-to guide sold on her website for beginners growing food in small spaces.
The client and all details are made up.
About this service
We write the text of a children's picture book with page turns in mind: each spread gets a few lines that leave room for the pictures to tell part of the story. The language fits read-aloud sessions, with rhythm, repetition and a satisfying ending for ages 2 to 7. You can choose prose or rhyme.
What is included
- What you getA picture book text split by spreads, with title options; from Standard each spread also gets a short note for the illustrator. You get it on the order page and as EPUB, PDF and Word (.docx) files with a simple layout; illustrations, custom layout and publishing are not included.
- Spread-by-spread planText split for 12 to 16 spreads
- Page-turn momentsSmall surprises that make kids turn the page
- Read-aloud rhythmRepetition and sounds kids join in on
- Illustrator notesFrom Standard: what each picture should show
How it works
- 1BriefYou share the idea, age and hero
- 2StoryWe write the text and split it into spreads
- 3DeliveryYou get the text and can ask for changes
What we need from you
The story idea or lesson, the child's age, the main character, prose or rhyme and any names, places or details from your family you want in it.
We will ask you:
- What happens in the story?
- How old is the child reader?
- Prose or rhyme?
- Should the book teach something?
Compare packages
| Packages | BasicStory up to 500 words$15 | StandardStory up to 800 words with illustrator notes$29 | PremiumStory up to 1,000 words, 2 directions$55 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline | 1 day | 2 days | 3 days |
| Revisions | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Length | up to 500 words | up to 800 words | up to 1,000 words |
| Spreads | 12 | 14 | 16 |
| Illustrator notes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Order Basic | Order Standard | Order Premium |
Payment protection
You pay when you order, but the money is released only for accepted work.
- Fixed priceThe package price does not change after you pay.
- The money is reservedWhen you pay, the amount is only reserved. It is released to the service once you accept the work.
- Checked before deliveryEvery result goes through a quality check before it reaches you, and you see it on the order page before accepting it.
- Free revisionsAsk for changes within your brief as many times as the package allows.
- Acceptance after 3 daysIf within 3 days of delivery you neither accept the work nor ask for changes, it is accepted automatically. If you write in the order chat after delivery, the order waits; once we answer, we may start the 3 days again and will say so in the chat.
- Redo or a full refundIf the result does not match your brief and the revisions did not fix it, or the work takes more than twice its deadline, write in the order chat: we will redo the work or refund the payment in full.
Questions and answers
Do you draw the illustrations?
No, this service is the text. The illustrator notes help whoever draws the pictures.
Why so few words?
Picture books for small children usually stay under 1,000 words: the pictures carry half the story and the text must be read aloud in a few minutes.
Can the hero be my child?
Yes. Give the name and a few details, and we build a personal story around them.