WE’RE LOOKING FOR TALENT
If you’ve ever dreamed of helping create a novel, this project is perfect for you. L&D Publishing’s award-winning author of the popular Triumph To Tragedy Series, Daniel J.D. Bayard, is looking for young adults (ages 12-17) to collaborate and contribute to his upcoming series titled ADVENTURES OF THE INDIANTOWN COUSINS. The first book, Zapped To The Past, is ready for your review and feedback to help make it the best it can be!
PROFILE OF IDEAL CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS
3.0 or Higher GPA or Equivalent
Provide the names of 3 books you have read in the past 12 months
Provide a Book Report on any book you’ve read
Obtain required parental permission to participate.
HOW YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE
Read the Book’s Manuscript
Answer survey questions about the book
Provide recommendations for improvement
Commit to a deadline of March 31, 2026
YOUR REWARDS
Signed first edition book from the Author
Your name will be recognized in the book’s credits as a “Collaborator” (optional by your request)
Invitation to contribute chapter ideas for the 2nd and 3rd books of the series and listed as “Contributor”.
READING TIMES
PER SCHOLAR WITHIN*
Total words in book: 62,670
6th-8th Grade reading rates:
11, 12, 13, 14 years old
Slowest reading time: 150 Words per minute
or 9,000 Words Per Hour, which equates to .
7 hours total reading time.
Highschool
14, 15, 16, 17, 18 years old
Fastest reading time: 300 Words per minute
or 18,000 Words Per Hour, which equates to
3-1/2 hours total reading time.
Average Reading Time: 5 Hours
Scholar Within is a research-based, brain-based reading and spelling program, featuring multi-sensory (visual, auditory, tactile-kinesthetic) activities based on the Orton-Gillingham method
FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW
ABOUT THE STORY
A pulse-pounding story of adventure, friendship, discovery, and bravery, set in a fast-paced tale of kids trapped in the annals of time.
Six adventurous cousins stumble into a time machine and are zapped from the year 2030 onto the island of Tortuga in 1706. Captured by pirates, their 21st‑century skills become their only currency.
Teaming up with local Tortugan kids, they hatch a daring escape that begins with the theft of a pirate ship—and a hidden treasure that’s about more than gold: a tattered map to the legendary fortune of the pirate Daniel Montbars - The Extermator, buried on Saint Barthelemy.
This discovery ignites a perilous Caribbean quest, from furious chases and hurricanes to island‑hopping journeys and sea battles across colonies and cultures, all in search of a way home.
Two worlds collide as the time‑twisted crew joins forces with their 18th‑century counterparts. Comic negotiations ensue—and the voyage becomes a test of wit, courage, cultural empathy, and a 300‑year gap in understanding, all while running from the likes of Montbars, Blackbeard, Emmanuel Wynn, and other ruthless pirates of the day.
Along the way, they encounter a Maroon colony made up of runaway African, Taino indians, and European indentured slaves, a tribe descended from Queen Anacaona, and bear witness to the brutal truth of colonial life—and to the universal longing for freedom and a way home.
