• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

ReimaginePr.com

Brand Storytelling done with purpose

  • Brand Storytelling
    • storytelling techniques
    • why stories matter
    • what is a brand story?
  • Services
    • Purposeful Branding
    • Authentic Storytelling
    • media relations
    • content marketing
    • corporate pr
  • Original TV and Books
  • I Have An Opinion
  • About Us
    • news
    • biographies
    • our values
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy for Website
  • Our Clients
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • PR Agency Advice
  • Podcasts
You are here: Home / News / I Got You A Present

Susan McLennan

I Got You A Present

When Mike was a kid, his mum taught at a nursery school. She would find amazing books and act them out at home before taking in to read to her class.

Watching his mother perform, he thought that being a kids book author must be the most noble profession ever.

When Susan was about 8, she wrote a poem. It read *clears throat:

“Help me find a door
that will lead us out of war
Where men can always be free
Where men can be what they want to be
If you find it, let me know
Cuz that’s where I’ll go
So help me find a door
That can lead us out of war.”

Sheer brilliance, right? No? Just Susan’s mom felt that way?

Huh. Anywho…

Susan was asked to read her poem to a college class who applauded enthusiastically, and she knew right then that writing was the fastest way to fame and fortune…

As Mike and Susan built the company together, even winning a couple of regionally Emmy Awards along the way, one dream had gone unfulfilled for too long, especially for Mike. Upon getting his first rejection letter from the publisher Kids Can Press, he vowed that they would publish him one day.

And so he and Susan wrote their first children’s book, I Got You A Present! It was championed by the late, great, publisher-extraordinaire, Sheila Barry, who loved it but felt her company, Groundwood Books, wasn’t the right place for it.

So Sheila, being one of the most amazing humans you could have ever met, walked it across the street to her competitors, who bought it.

And that’s how our first book ended up being published at Kids Can Press, the same company that rejected Mike more than 20 years ago — and fulfilled a life-long dream.

But it turned out so much better than we hoped, thanks to all the love and attention from our editor, Katie Scott, and our illustrator, the amazing Cale Atkinson.

And what can I say about Lisa Lyons, who is not only one of the country’s finest business leaders, she has also become a good friend.

It takes a community to publish a book, and ours made us so much better.





  • Bio
  • Twitter
  • Latest Posts
Susan McLennan

Susan McLennan

Founder at ReImaginePR
Susan McLennan helps brands become better storytellers both through the media and through direct and digital communications. She is an award-winning communicator with a background in television production who has secured media coverage through some of the top media outlets in the world and created content that has won hearts and changed minds locally, nationally and internationally.
Susan McLennan

@SusanMcLennan

Follow @SusanMcLennan
Susan McLennan

Latest posts by Susan McLennan (see all)

  • 7 Deadly Sins of Brand Storytelling (or why your brand storytelling sucks) - November 17, 2020
  • B2B Brand Storytelling – Using Stories to Engage - November 13, 2020
  • Zoom How to use for Panel Discussions - November 9, 2020
  • Zoom Interview Tips - November 4, 2020

Filed Under: News, Uncategorized

Primary Sidebar

Connect With ReImaginePr

Facebook Twitter youtube RSS

THE ESSENTIAL BRAND STORY CHECKLIST

Get our weekly email and have instant access to The Essential Brand Story Checklist PDF that will instantly jump start your brand storytelling.

Search

Categories

  • Brand Stories to Watch
  • Brand Stories We Love
  • Brand Story Awards
  • Brand Storytelling
  • Campaigns
  • Case Studies
  • Content Marketing
  • Photography
  • Photography & Video
  • Photography Advice
  • Podcasts
  • PR Agency Advice
  • Social Media
  • Storytelling Techniques
  • Thought
  • uncategorized
  • uncategorized

Other Helpful Sites:

  • Convince & Convert
  • The Buyer Persona Institute
  • Content Marketing Institute
  • Public Relations Today
    Storytelling Blogging Real Estate Brand Local More >>

Footer

Address

Blantyre Avenue, Toronto, ON, M1N 2S3

Contact Susan

Susan McLennan
email: susan@reimaginepr.com
office: 416.699.1846
cell: 416.568.5974

Contact Mike

Mike Erskine-Kellie
email: mike@reimaginepr.com
office: 416.694.6355
cell: 416.525.5177