My Very Own Brain Burp...

Yeesh I'm tired. How about you?

Got a headache. My computer is just about to crash again and I just got to relive my brain burp. Yes. That's right. My brain burped very appropriately on the Katie Davis podcast show, Brain Burps About Books, and I have listened to my own personal disaster two whole times now because my husband wanted to listen... and then listen again. 

Now, am I eternally grateful to have been featured on Katie Davis's show with amazing authors and other figures in the children's literature world? Heck yes!

Would I take the opportunity to do a do-over in 1/8th of a second...you betcha!

What have I learned from this experience other than our fellow human beings are extremely giving and patient (aka Saint Katie Davis)?

Well, that I need to constantly have an idea of what I am trying to sell to the world...my books. In case you missed it, which you quite possibly could have if you coughed or took a potty break, it went something like this:

Saint Katie Davis: So what kind of books do you write?

Little Me: Uhhhh...ummm..I have like tons of manuscripts. Picture books, fiction and a couple non-fiction.  Uhhh...I also have a middle grade idea. Oh and I have business cards, etc, etc.

NEED I SUBJECT YOU TO MORE?

Next time, if I am ever asked about my writing again I shall whip up something like this....

FANTASY INTERVIEWER: So what kind of books do you write?

LITTLE FANTASY ME: Well, Mr. Duchovny (I did say this was a fantasy, right?), I would say that my manuscripts, which are mostly intended for picture books, could be described as bridge-theme books. In my writing, I seek to build bridges, between people divided, those who sit on one edge of a perspective, hoping to connect them with those who sit on the opposing end. Most tend to be centered around social justice issues, homelessness, poverty, gender and racial equality. Although, I have been known to dabble in writing terrifically witty, lyrical books about the struggles of young homo-sapiens, attempting to understand the complexities of  the planet they inhabit, otherwise known as Earth.

WARNING: END OF FANTASY, BACK TO REALITY

If you did miss it, you really should listen to the entire podcast because it is just filled with valuable information on how to promote your book. (You can listen to the episode by clicking here.) I learned SO much. In case you are wondering what NOT to do in an interview, you can listen to the podcast's grand finale guest, moi! (I am on right after Dan Santat!!! OMG!)

I don't know about you, but this week was extremely EXHAUSTING.

Besides doing things like calling poison control because my toddler decided to eat wall spackle for dessert, I have been involved in quite a few projects that make me feel writery.


1. Brain burpy podcast interview and participating in Katie Davis's blog tour, promoting her new book, How to Promote Your Children's Book: Tips, Tricks and Secrets to Creating a Bestseller

2. Finalizing two critique groups' details (including being assigned my new nickname, Bananabeth by Angela Dahle...love it!)

3. Contacting authors to beg them to share their banana peel slips...Anyone, Mr. Santat, Ms. Crum? (Cue pin drop sound effect)

4. Communicating with an amazing artist friend, Seth Ahonen (et al.) for the design of my very own blog banner...eeek!) Isn't his art beautiful?

(Check out his AugustEve store here!)

5. Contacting my dream non-fiction subject for possible interview (aka...running into amazing rock star in club's bathroom and asking her for an interview for children's PB biography...she agreed! Double eeek!)

6. Drawing a name from my smelly hat for the book giveaway...Come on down Penny Parker Klosterman! Woo hoo! (Thank all of you so much for promoting Banana Peel Thursdays.)

7. Submitted three stories to Rate  Your Story. This free site allows your work to be submitted and rated by published authors who volunteer for the good of the cause. Love this site. I can't believe it's free. Such a smart idea.

8. Preparing for this week's Banana Peel Thursday with Natasha Yim! You HAVE to read her encounters with banana peels. I learned SO much. Wow. She is a trooper and an inspiration. I can't wait to share her story.

After such a week, I am feeling slightly sentimental and just want to say thanks.

Thanks for reading this. Thanks for returning especially if you have listened to my squeaky-voiced, uninformative interview.

I have met an amazing community of writers over the past couple of months and am so grateful for your support and inspiration. =)

Make sure to stop back by tomorrow for Natasha Yim's amazing Banana Peel Thursday story!

Banana Peelin' with Katie Davis

So talk about luck...Somehow the universe worked it's magic and had me email the author Katie Davis at the time she was scheduling her blog tour. (I also might be included in one of her podcasts!) Before we hear this children's literature expert describe a couple of her own banana peely moments, I would like to expand upon what I mentioned in yesterday's post...the book giveaway!

So...I have a proposition for you. I know what you're thinking, and no. Not a government proposition like making chocolate it's own food group, to be recommended by high-up officials for daily consumption. Actually, this proposition is more of a contest. (Although just as sweet!)

If you, YOUR NAME HERE, promote Banana Peel Thursdays in any of the two ways listed below, you will be entered to win a free, downloadable version of Katie Davis's new book, How to Promote Your Children's Book: Tips, Tricks, and Secrets to Create a Bestseller!

This could be yours...

Here are the two ways you can promote my Banana Peel Thursday series:

1. Add the glorious Banana Peel Thursday badge (created by the talented Heather Newman), to your  blog sidebar, with it linked back to my page.

2. Promote Banana Peel Thursdays to your writer friends via your blog or a Facebook shout out, describing in your own words what the heck Banana Peel Thursdays are all about!=) (Please mention we are currently accepting banana peel slips from authors of all shapes and sizes and DO NOT discriminate on the basis of  preference for popcorn over chocolate, although I might have to give you a funny look.)

If you should choose to do one of the above options, your name will be entered once in to my magic hat, (which thankfully you are not here to smell). You will have one chance to win our author's new book. As an added bonus, you'll officially go down as being great in my book.

If you are a super star and decide to do BOTH options because you are just wonderful like that, then your name will be entered TWO times into the magic smelly hat. (And I might mention your name in the dedication of my fist book to be released sometime in the 22nd century... hopefully.)

To enter, please just leave a comment after this post letting me know what you have done by this Sunday. =) Thanks so much and con suerte (good luck)!

The smelly hat, the smelly hat, it reeks like this, it reeks like that.
It sits atop my head and stinks, so much so, I dare not breathe!
(Sad tribute to Mem Fox. I love you Mem.=))

So without further ado, I would like to present to you the banana peel slips of Katie Davis!

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I have been known to use banana peels as stepping stones. So take this from a banana peel expert, before you can avoid mistakes, you have to know how to make them. Here is your tutorial.

How to Make At Least Two Huge Mistakes

1.   Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

Case Study: When Little Chicken's Big Day debuted, I built a big marketing campaign, details of which are in How to Promote Your Children's Book: Tips, Tricks, and Secrets to Create a Bestseller. One part of it was a sweepstakes. I spent an inordinate amount of time on this thing, creating art for every week, designing different fun challenges for entrants, and thinking up truly awesome and unique prizes. The first week was great! I even made a funny video pulling the names out of a hat to announce the winner.

Result: The work to advantage ratio was not good. By week two my audience was not interested in investing the time on my oh-so-clever challenges and frankly, I was exhausted with the whole thing by that point.

Next move: Sure I'd be humiliated or chastised for abandoning it, I fretted. I finally decided to just end the thing. No announcement. Just stopped. And you know what? No one even noticed.

Lesson: Have giveaways but let your blog hosts benefit: they get comments from participants and all they have to do is pull a name out of a hat!

2.    Have a Launch Party That Costs You A Lot of Money, Time and Effort to Plan

Case Study: For Little Chicken's Big Day I spent lots of time organizing a pre-Easter launch party at a great indy book store. I bought a pile of craft supplies for kids to make chicken related art, made chick related food centerpieces (Peeps, anyone?), and gathered donated door prizes from local merchants, giving them promotion on the invitation cards I had printed and set out all around town.

Result: I had a blast celebrating the debut of this book with the family and friends who came out on that unseasonably cold and horribly rainy day. I think one person who was not related to me showed up. I had expected selling tons, stacks and bookshelves full of books as I had in years past at launch parties.

Next move: To celebrate the next children's book launch, (and you should always celebrate that), I'll gather those I love and raise a glass. I'll also arrange traditional signings at the book stores, avoiding the extra work - for the employees and myself - that a party requires.

Lesson: Plan a much sleeker, less costly, and definitely easier launch effort - as long as you have a crack team of blog tour hosts like mine! So thanks, Elizabeth, for having me here and making this launch an un-banana peel moment!

 

Watch This Silly Katie Davis Video!

Learn from Katie and support her by following the author on her blog tour! Here is a list of where and when she will be featured:

Blog Tour Schedule:

Feb 1 - E is for Book

Feb 2 - Banana Peel Thursday

Feb 3 - Creative Spaces

Feb 6 - DearEditor.com

Feb 7 - Writing With a Broken Tusk

Feb 8 - Shutta Crum

Feb 9 - McBookWords

Feb 10 - Kerem Erkan

Feb 16 -Elizabeth O. Dulemba

Feb 17 - Fiction Notes

March 1 - 12x12 in 2012

March 2 - Christine Fonseca, Author

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I really just don't know what to say except for thank you SO much Katie for taking the time to participate in Banana Peel Thursday and for offering a book for the giveaway!  Good luck in the rest of your blog tour!  

(P.S. Thank you universe!)