KidzTales - KIDLIT AND MORE!

Writing A Fractured Fairy Tale

5/18/2020

So you were reading a book of fairy tales and had a fantastic idea for a story! You'd like to take the basic premise of the story but what then? Would you like to change the POV? Would you like to make it silly? Would you like to change the character/setting/time? All of these are great ideas, but how do you do this?

Fear no more, T.P. Jagger has kindly granted his permission to show his videos. Here's one that shows exactly how to write your fractured fairytale.

Another Good One!

4/20/2020

Hi Everyone,
How're you doing with your self isolation and social distancing? Speaking for myself, I seem to be having a bit of a problem. I've been blocked by this Covid situation. Not only blocked but I feel absolutley stopped! Well, this is a blog for another time. I really have a treat for you today! This is shared with permission.

I'm handing the reins over to Jon and Laura Bard again today. They will share a video with you about "How Children's Book Publishers Work."

Keep on writing!

https://writeforkids.org/blog/2019/11/how-to-publish-a-childrens-book-part-2-learn-how-childrens-book-publishers-work/

Reconnect Webinar

4/7/2020

Shared with permission from Jon and Laura Bard of the CBI Clubhouse

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

I've got something really special for you - a free webinar hosted by the inimitable Alice Kuipers, author of Polly Diamond and The Magic Book and Life on the Refrigerator Door. It happens tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, and it will really help you right now.

It's called Connecting With Your Creativity.

During these unsettling times, figuring out how to make time to write, what to write, and how to focus as a writer is difficult.
Join Alice for this free webinar just for you: we'll talk about ways to make slivers of time for storytelling, even as we're maybe working while caring for children or loved ones, or just trying to figure out our new normals.
We'll share how to get words onto the page, and how to write through this strange, uncertain period of our collective history.
This isn't a sales webinar - it's a gift from Alice and all of us here at Children's Book Insider to help you take a deep breath, settle in and reconnect with your creative muse. Because that's where the joy is.

It's totally free, but you will need to register to reserve a space (and to assure you get the replay link if you can't make it live).

Here's where to register:

https://writeforkids.org/get-creative

If you can't make it live, go ahead and register and we'll send you the replay link on Thursday.

And by the way - we're having another Kidlit Distancing Social on Thursday evening. This week, we'll piggyback off of Alice's class and talk about finding the inspiration to develop memorable story ideas. Stay tune for more on that....

All the best,

Jon Bard

An Insiders Look At Publishing

3/23/2020

.This week, I thought I'd hand 'KidLit and More' over to Jon and Laura Bard from the Children's Book Insider. This is a fantastic resource for writing for children and you won't regret signing up for this at all. It's an ongoing complete writing for children's course! Check it out!

Okay. Now that you know who Jon and Laura are, I'll explain what they've brought you. Today is part I of a three part video series explaining how children's publishing works.

Part I of this series is titled 'How to Publish a Children's Book, Part I - Understanding Children's Book Categories. You'll find it here.

A Two-fer!

3/9/2020

TITLE: Step Into Your Power: Lessons for Life (© 2019)
AUTHOR: Laura Lynn Doyle
PUBLISHER: Desire For Higher
FORMATS: Paperback, Kindle
PRICE: Paperback - $12.95, Kindle Unlimited – Free
ISBN: 9781733384667
ASIN: B083XJN7X5
LCCN: 2019919078

Step Into Your Power: Lessons for Life is the latest self-help book from Laura Lynn Boyle. I'm this 50-page book for young adults you'll find several ways to help yourself. It teaches you that you can boost your self-esteem by doing affirmations and keeping a gratitude journal. Also, it shows you how meditation will help you.

The author’s website shows you more information about helping yourself! That information is listed in the book.

Where can I get this book, you ask? You can get it in several places. It's on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
________________________________

TITLE: My Child, As you Grow Older (© 2018)
AUTHOR: Laura Doyle
ILLUSTRATOR: Toby Mikle
PUBLISHER: Desire For Higher FORMAT: Hardback, Paperback, Kindle
FORMATS: Hardback, paperback, Kindle
PRICES: Hardback-$24.95, Paperback-13.18, Kindle-$5.99, Kindle Unlimited-Free
ISBN: 9781944733620
ASIN: B079VXK41Y

My Child, As You Grow Older, is a wonderful picture book for your younger children. The illustrator by Toby Mikle enhances the text with his brilliant watercolor paintings.

This is a must have for your home library. In this book, Laura Doyle points out in gentle rhyming sentences how a child will face many challenges during their life. She gives several different examples and shows that what's right for a friend might not be right for them. All the while, the author encourages the child to keep following their own path in life.

If you'd like a copy of My Child, As You Grow Older, just go to her website. You can also find the hardback and paperback here on Amazon as well as Barnes and Noble.
The Kindle version can be found on Amazon here.

The Latest and What's This? A Brand New Contest!

1/11/2020

Hi everybody,
Well, I've had a setback that every writer dreads. I don't care if the author writes for children or adults, it's dreaded. That's the setback. Yep! It hit me this year.

I had my second Hungle Bungle Jungle book finished, polished and even was sent off to the editor! Then life got in the way. It snuck in there and did it's thing to me big time!

I was hoping to have my second HBJ story published through KDP last October. But noooo. It didn't happen. No way, nada. What did happen was that I wound up contacting my illustrator saying that we have to put it off for a year. Luckily, she was very understanding about it. Life, huh?

I promised you info on a brand spankin' new contest? It’s the LaViness short story contest. For more information go to the contest owners page at http://www.jespiddlin.com/writingcontest/index.html

GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND KEEP ON WRITING!

ON MARKETING, PART II

9/30/2019

Welcome back to read my second installment of On Marketing. I hope this series helps you on your writing journey. If you haven’t read Part I, you can read it here.

First, I have to say that I apologize for not posting this the week after part I, as promised. I have no excuse except that life got in the way. Thanks for understanding!

This week I’m bringing you low-cost book promotion sites that will help. First of all, you should start a newsletter. I’m in the process of creating one myself! I’m using Mailchimp because it’s free and reliable. Here is my list of other sites to promote your book.

LOW-COST PROMOTION SITES
Reedsy (sign up for the newsletter while you’re there)
BMI Books
WordLikes
Olto Books
Books WiFi
Writers Support
Boescify
Creative Designers and Writers
Best Reads Best Reads is the only free book marketing Android and IOS app. You can download the app at the previous link.

Like last week, this list is probably incomplete. If you know of other sites that will help promote your book, please share them in the comments!

See you next time and don't forget to keep on writing!

On Marketing - Part I

8/19/2019

Hi! I thought that I’d share some places on the internet that I’ve found. I think these places are helpful in promoting your book, but nothing can replace getting out there and doing book readings or signings. That’s where I get most of my sales!

I mentioned writing posts about my adventures in marketing for you to my friend, author Marilyn L. Rice . I told her how I was planning to share some marketing links, groups and books that I’ve found with you. Immediately, Marilyn said that she’d give me some links that she’s found, for this article. I should confess, that writing these articles has helped me quite a bit!

Well, this article has turned into articles. It’s going to be a four-part series! It will be divided into sections: Part I (this one) will be Facebook groups that’ll let you promote. Part II will be low cost promotion sites you can use. Part III will be other social media sites that have promotion groups in them. Last of all Part IV will be promotion books.
So, with much ado here are the Facebook groups that will let you promote, from Marilyn and myself to you! Some of these groups accept all genres and some are focused for children’s writing. Just do a search on Facebook for them.

FACEBOOK GROUPS

<Kindle Book Promotion> Authors, Writers & Bloggers
Creative Designers and Writers: Authors, Artists, Book and Painting Promotion
Book Reviews and Promotion
Kindle/Book Club
Children’s Books
Children’s Books and Illustrators
Authors, Artists, Book and Art Promotion
Children’s Book Authors --- Supporting Each Other
Self-Publishing and Book Marketing (this is a good marketing group!)
Writer’s and Reader’s Unite
Promote Your Book For Free
Internet Marketing for Children’s Authors and Books
Promote Your Amazon Children’s Books Here
Indie Authors Library Group
Children’s Books, Welcome Writer’s and Illustrators
Real Fast Book Marketing
Kindle Book Club and Indie Book Promotion
Promoting Books For Kids
Indie Books Promotion!
Promote Your Children and Teen Books
Authors Promote Your Books
Free Promotion of Books & Authors, Book Reviews & Beta Reading
Free Author’s Book Promotion
Kindle Authors and Readers Network (this link takes you to several different Kindle groups)
Kindle Readers and Kindle Writers
Kindle Readers and Authors

By no means is this list complete. You’ll probably find some groups that Marilyn and I missed. If you do, please share them with us in the comments! Remember to check the group’s rules before you post! Until then, keep on writing!

LaViness Short Story Writing Contest

7/29/2019

I'm proud to announce the first annual short story writing contest from my author friend, Renee' LaViness.

The entry fee for this contest is low and the prize money depends on how many short stories you enter.

For full details, go here.

TIME FOR SLEEP, PETE

7/22/2019

TITLE: TIME FOR SLEEP, PETE
AUTHOR: Gabbi Browne
ILLUSTRATOR: Anthony Mauro
PUBLISHER: White Bird Publications
ISBN: 9781633633759
LCCN: 2019930003

Everyone is asleep in the house. Or are they? Time For Sleep, Pete a darling tale of a small child who doesn’t want to go to bed. He gives his parents reasons to get up over nine times. He gives reasons such as, “I have to feed the hippo, I have to give the zebras a treat or I have to comb the lion’s mane.” What other reasons does he come up with?

The author has captured a child not wanting to go to bed perfectly!

The illustrations in Time For Sleep, Pete are actually paintings done by Anthony Mauro. He has captured the imagination of a child perfectly in these drawings.

Time For Sleep, Pete comes in two formats: Kindle and in hardback versions. They’d make a fine addition to any home library!

To purchase your copy, go here.