Entrepreneur of the Week: 14-Year-Old CEO Chental-Song Bembry

Name: Chental-Song Bembry

Age: 14

Hometown: Monmouth Junction, NJ

School: South Brunswick High School

Business: The Honeybunch Kids

Mission: To provide quality literature that entertains and educates children between the ages of 7 and 12. To launch a literacy campaign that will one day change the way children think about reading. To inspire children to set goals for themselves.

When you think of an author, the term entrepreneur doesn’t necessarily come to mind; but more book writers are beginning to realize that being an author takes a certain entrepreneurial spirit if you really want to move volumes. Just ask 14-year-old Chental-Song Bembry, who sold more than 500 books last year and is aiming to double that with the release of her second book this fall.

The teenpreneur has the hustle it takes and attends trade shows, events, conferences, writing camps, and holds book signings at her church to market her book. Bembry, a high school freshman, authored and illustrated The Honeybunch Kids, which follows three African American friends–Desire “Dizzy” Williams, Chauncey a.k.a “Cheeks” and Stewart–through their everyday adventures and the strict scrutiny of their teacher Ms. Hodgebottom. The story also shares funny life lessons that kids identify with. “If I can write a book that kids can relate to, they’ll be more inspired to read.”

Bembry provided these 8 tips on how to publish and promote your book:

Find your ‘Why’: For Bembry, she took queue when she noticed African American children were not performing to their potential in school. “Just because you come from a certain background doesn’t mean that you’re not smart,” says Bembry. “I wanted to encourage them to reach for the sky. If you put effort into your education, you can achieve anything in life.”

Choosing a Publisher: The first step is writing the book. You’ll need to show the publisher and/or literary agent excerpts from your book to be taken seriously. In Bembry’s case, Xlibris, a division of Random House, asked for a minimum of 20 pages. The self-publishing

company doesn’t turn any author away, including teens. You can find an agent to work with by sending a query letter detailing what your book is about and why they should be interested in it. Tell them about the characters, their personalities, and submit pages of your work. Your query letter should be a few paragraphs–brief and straight to the point.

Have Web Presence: Creating your own website is a great because people will really take you seriously. If you have great product but no website to promote your product people will forget about you. I used Godaddy.com because it was most convenient to me at the time. It allows you to choose a template and can add tabs text, and photographs. BE recommends checking out WordPress.com, Intuit’s web building software, and Squarespace. (Tech, June 2011 issue: Building a Better Website)

Throwing down the pitch: When telling someone about your product its really important how you come off during your delivery; it’s the first impression they’ll have of your business so make sure it’s a good one (you’ll generally have a short window of time to explain your business–like 60 seconds). Be sure to include all the key words and phrases such to show how your product is different from everything else in the marketplace and how it will inspire your intended target audience. If allowed, also have props to people can visualize [your product]. Most importantly, speak loud and clear so people can understand what you’re saying. Bembry recently won $10,000 at the BLACK ENTERPRISE Teenpreneur Conference

for her elevator pitch and plans to use the money to enhance her website.

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Network: Attend events, conferences and workshops and tell people about your business. Find other people who are successful in your desired industry and as them how they got started. Most people are generally happy to help.

Educate Yourself: Bembry is a freshman at South Brunswick High School and is currently enrolled in an introduction to business course, where she is learning the tenets of business including finance, economics and what it takes to run a business as well as the different types of legal structures for your business (sole proprietorship, LLC, Partnership). Next year she is registered to take a business-marketing course where she’ll get an in depth look at how to reach your target market and promote your product. If a business track is not available at your school, BE also recommends courses such as Youth About Business at Columbia University in New York, The BLACK ENTERPRISE Annual Teenpreenuer Conference, and the Kidult Youth Leadership Conference just to name a few.

Tap Into Your Network: Bembry sold 500 books in 2010 and hopes to sell double that this year. As a member of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, NJ Bembry’s pastor gave her three book signings and also put her book in the church book store. This proved vital to the overall sales of Bembry’s book, which sold out at all three of her signings. She also capitalized on other events such as college reunions and events that allow vendors to sell their products. “You need to push yourself to get out there. If you don’t no one will notice you. Approach as many people, schools, and events and sell your product.”

Advice to other Teen CEO’s: Think about a problem that you can solve. Think about something that is missing and try to improve it or fill the needs. People are waiting for the next big thing and they’re waiting for somebody to create something so don’t sit around and let someone else create it. Stick to your goal and don’t get sidetracked. Don’t let other people tell you that it can’t become anything because those are the people–they really admire your idea but may not want to say it.