MP man launches publishing company, writes books inspired by grandchildren

Mt. Pleasant resident Patrick McCabe's ambition to write books for his grandchildren became a more serious operation when he decided to self-publish - and create his own publishing company in the process.

After retiring in 2016, McCabe thought it would be neat to create a storybook for his oldest grandson Liam. Today, that storybook, 'Liam and the Squirrels,” has sold over 250 copies and is projected to have 600 more copies sold in 2019.

'I've always had a really vivid imagination, and I love to write,” McCabe said. 'The whole idea would be that it was special and personal for the kids to have a book their grandpa wrote and that their uncle illustrated.”

McCabe said that it's wonderful when family and friends say, 'That's a cute book,” but one of the reasons he wanted to publish it as professionally as possible was to get validation from the industry.

Every day for a month, McCabe went to a bookstore and browsed the children's books, taking note of every detail from page numbers, word count, color and size.

One of the first pieces of advice McCabe came across while writing his book was that children's books should have a moral. But McCabe said that 'Liam and The Squirrels” was never designed to teach a lesson.

'What's the moral in ‘The Cat in The Hat?” McCabe questioned. '(‘Liam and The Squirrels') was designed to be a goofy, fun book people could read to their children. Forget about plot. It's intended to make kids laugh.”

From the book, McCabe along with his sons Ryan McCabe and Jonathan McCabe and his son-in-law Brad Merkel created 3 Putt Press, a publishing company based out of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

'It's a family venture,” McCabe said. 'None of us will ever draw a salary off the publishing company, but we hope the value of the company increases.”

McCabe's book is the adventure of Grandpa and Liam as they encounter a family of squirrels. It starts off with Curly the Pig 'wandering” in from a farm animal book and staying to see how the story ends.

Curly the Pig doesn't exactly fit in with the rest of the book, McCabe admits. When the book was about 75 percent done, Ryan became overwhelmed as the illustrator and needed to take some time off. McCabe said they would wait for him to finish the illustrations but asked for some barnyard animals as an example first.

'So, I ended up with this picture and I thought, ‘What am I going to do with that?' McCabe said. 'It ended up that that's what a lot of people's favorite part is.”

The idea for the book came from McCabe spending time with his grandson Liam.

McCabe would take Liam out in the stroller around their neighborhood and they both became fascinated with squirrels. McCabe would joke with Liam telling him to wait while he ran to catch a squirrel.

Even today, now six-year-old Liam tells his grandfather, 'We've got to get out there and see if the squirrels are out.”

Some of McCabe's best customers so far have been high-end automobile dealers, he said. A Mercedes-Benz dealership in Charleston, S.C. was one of his first sales. A Lexus dealership in north Kansas City, Mo. also carries a few copies of his book.

McCabe's second book, 'There's A Bug In My Bed,” is expected to be released this summer.

'There's A Bug In My Bed” was written for his second-oldest grandchild, Lily.

'Lily is my glam girl,” McCabe said. 'She loves to dress up in princess gowns all the time. She's extroverted and bursting with personality. One of the things that's fun to do (in her book) is make her character exaggerated.”

McCabe has also started working on his book for his granddaughter Isabelle, who he said is more quiet and subdued compared to her sister Lily. Her story line still is being developed.

While McCabe is proud of his first book and excited about the prospect of the books to come, he said 'this isn't ‘War and Peace.'”

'Let's face it, we're talking about an encounter a grandson and his grandfather have with squirrels,” McCabe said with a laugh. 'It's fun to do this, but it isn't like writing a novel. I'm not operating under any aspirations of becoming a prominent author.”

'Liam and The Squirrels” is available for purchase at Main Street Frame and Art, Drug Town or on their website at threeputtpress.com.

For every copy sold in 2019, $1 will go to Iowa Wesleyan University.