About the book
How To Attract A Dragon: A story about shining light on full journeys.
At the edge of a village, a dragon shop has everything a dragon could want, but no dragons ever visit. When Mina offers to help, she paints a sign, spreads the word, and bakes peppery buns. Far away, a dragon who cannot breathe fire follows the irresistible scent. A helpful hedgehog, a clear sign, and a villager each guide him one step closer to the shop.
How To Attract A Dragon is a warm illustrated story about persistence, problem-solving, and the many small signals that shape a journey. Children can enjoy Mina's adventure, while grown-ups will recognize a playful lesson about marketing attribution: no single touchpoint deserves all the credit. Created by Mada Seghete, co-founder and CMO of Upside, this book turns the customer journey into a charming tale for marketers, founders, families, and curious readers.
- Author
- Mada Seghete
- Publisher
- Upside
- Language
- English
- Audience
- Marketers, founders, families, and curious readers
- Reading age
- 5–9 years
- Pages
- 44
- Themes
- B2B attribution, last-touch attribution, unseen marketing work, persistence, problem-solving
What the story is really about
How To Attract A Dragon is a story about B2B attribution. A Shopkeeper has everything a dragon might need, and no dragons. Mina does the unseen work. When pipeline walks in, everyone thanks the last person they can see.
Dragon is pipeline. Mina is the marketer whose poster, referrals, and pepper buns never show up as the opportunity source. The villager is last-touch attribution: easy to observe, standing in the doorway, happy to take the thank-you.
Uppy walks Mina back through the clues until the full journey is visible. That is forensic attribution: reconstruct what happened from the evidence, then decide what to do next. Mada Seghete wrote it after years as a CMO watching demand-creating work disappear from the report.
Editions
Paperback
- ISBN-13
- 979-8171045555
- ASIN
- B0HJCJGRBH
- Published
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 8 × 10 inches
About the author
Mada Seghete is co-founder and CMO of Upside. She wrote How To Attract A Dragon after years watching demand-creating work disappear from the report.
Questions
- Who is How To Attract A Dragon for?
- Marketers, founders, families, and curious readers. Children can follow Mina's adventure; adults will recognize a lesson about marketing attribution. The paperback listing gives a reading age of 5–9.
- What formats is the book available in?
- Read it free on this page. Buy the paperback (ISBN 979-8171045555) or the Kindle edition (ASIN B0HHYBG5ZH) on Amazon. You can also request a print copy.
- What themes does the story cover?
- Persistence, problem-solving, and the many small signals that shape a journey. Read as a B2B story, it is about last-touch attribution: the villager in the doorway gets the thank-you, while Mina's unseen work is what actually brought the dragon.
- Where can I get How To Attract A Dragon?
- Read the illustrated edition here. The paperback and Kindle listings are on Amazon. If you want a physical copy from Upside, use the print-copy request form on this page.
Keep reading
Read the story as text
For all those who do unseen work and the journey to bring light to their impact.
At the edge of the village stood a beautiful dragon shop. It sold horn hats, wing wax, claw clippers, and very peppery buns. It had everything a dragon might need.
The Shopkeeper sat sadly in the doorway. "I have the best dragon products, but no dragons ever come."
Mina walked home from school and saw the sad Shopkeeper. "I can help." "Can you bring me one dragon?" "I can try!" said Mina.
Mina got to work. First she painted a poster and planted it where the road divided.
That night she called to all the animals: "IF YOU SEE A DRAGON, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!"
Bird heard her. Fox heard her. Hedgehog heard her. Snake heard her. "Which word?" asked Bird. "Dragon shop," said Mina.
"Dragons love pepper buns," said Mina. "Everyone knows that."
She baked them so peppery, even the smoke sneezed. Their smell floated across the village. Mina waited. No dragon came. "Not yet," said Mina.
On a hill not too far away lived a dragon who couldn't breathe fire. He tried every day.
Until one day he lifted his nose. "Mmmmmm... bbbbbb... buns!!!!" he said, and followed the smell toward the village.
Dragon followed the smoke. He did not watch the road. He tripped over a root. BOINK. He was fine. His head had a bump.
"That bump needs a hat," said Hedgehog. "I want a bun," said Dragon. "The Dragon Shop has both. Mina told me." Hedgehog pointed toward the village.
At the fork, Dragon stopped. "Village? Castle? Swamp? Cave?" Then he saw Mina's poster. "That way," said Dragon. His pawprints turned toward the village.
In the village, Dragon stopped again. "Which one is the Dragon Shop?" A villager pointed across the square. "I'll take you."
"A dragon!" cried the Shopkeeper. "Thank you, villager!" she said.
Dragon had never seen a pepper bun. He ate one. Then another. His nose began to tickle. For the first time in a long time, Dragon breathed fire.
That evening, Mina sat behind the shop. "I suppose my work did nothing," she said.
Uppy, the fairy, landed beside her. "The villager's direction was easy to see. But was it what really brought Dragon?" "I don't know," said Mina. "I'll show you," said Uppy.
"The smell started Dragon towards the village, and the hedgehog you recruited told him about the shop. These pawprints turn at your sign. And the villager just helped with the final step."
No one clue held the whole story. Together, they showed Dragon's journey.
The next day, Dragon bought the largest horn hat and seven pepper buns.
"Mina," said the Shopkeeper, "your efforts actually did work." The Shopkeeper gave Mina gold coins and a rust-red shop key, and asked her to be her apprentice.
The next morning, Mina arrived to work early. By air.