In advance of next week’s Florida Educational Technology Conference in Orlando, educational media and software publisher FableVision Learning announced that it will partner with Lulu Jr., the children’s publishing division of web-based self-publishing pioneer Lulu, to encourage children to write their own books. Together the two are developing an online book publishing platform for children in grades K-8, called My Awesome Publishing Company, which enables children to create POD copies of their work.

The platform, which is available on a subscription basis, is designed for mobile and desktop accessibility. It is intended to counteract a recent U.S. DOE National Assessment of Education Progress Writing Assessment that found that only 24% of students write at a “proficient” level in grades 8-12. It also offers teachers a way to deliver Common Core ELA writing standards in time for the 2015-16 academic year. The official launch of My Awesome Publishing Company will be June.

FableVision cofounder and children’s author-illustrator Peter H. Reynolds will host the platform. It features a workshop with warm-up activities, a studio with tools to write and illustrate a book, a library to store books that kids create, and a book fair for selling books for “Awesome Dollars,” which can be traded in for books for the school library.

“While folks tussle over the name and definition of writing standards, my work is focused [on] a mission to encourage creativity and self-expression for all ages, which is why I’m so excited to connect the dot with Lulu,” said Reynolds in a release.

“Educators, their students, and kids everywhere deserve more engaging tools to nurture writing of all kinds. And the good news is that publishing is an almost magical invitation to get kids writing,” added Lulu founder Bob Young. “Holding a book in your hands with your name printed on it is really exciting.”