KidzTales - KIDLIT AND MORE!

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.
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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.

10 WAYS TO SUPPORT INDIE AUTHORS

7/8/2019

I think it's support authors. Not only traditionally published authors but indie authors, too. How do you do this? Well, I found an article today about it, by Joe Walker. This article can apply to children's authors as well as authors for adults! Click here to read this informative article.

Why Do You Need An Editor?

7/2/2019

So you have your book written, made your book dummy and proofread it. Not to mention rewritten it! It's ready for a publisher. Or is it? Have you had it edited? You should. No manuscript should be sent to a publisher until it's polished as well as it can be.

The reason for this is that you show that you care about your work. It gives the publisher a great impression of you and increases your chances of being published. It shows that you care enough to send your very best writing. In short, you're putting your best foot forward.

Of course, you can just write something and submit it. But did you check if you showed, not told? Have you replaced the 'to-be' verbs with action? Did you write tight? Even if you did all that and more, you should still hire an editor.

I can hear you thinking, "Why should I hire an editor when publishers will assign me one?" We all, as authors, tend to fall in love with our words. An editor will catch those errors. Also, if you've decided on self-publishing, there is no publisher. Besides, as I said in the first paragraph, you want to put your best foot forward. This is like a job interview. The boss isn't going to hire an unknowledgeable and unkept looking person. On the same lines, a publisher isn't going to accept an error-ridden manuscript.

Where do you find an editor? Well, you can do a search on Google or your favorite search engine, You could even go to places like KidLit 411 or SCBWI to see what they have to offer. Or you can ask other authors in your writing group. This is also a great resource! They'll have great suggestions.

On that note, I'd like to offer my own suggestion. Janice Spina is great and her prices are very reasonable. For more information on Janice, just click on her name. This takes you to her website.

Coralie The Cotton Candy Angel

6/10/2019

Title: Coralie: The Cotton Candy Angel
Author and Illustrator: Julie Hanson
Publisher: Candy Bay Publishing (October 16, 2018)
ISBN 13: 9781732663305
ASIN: B07J6SVD9R

This is the story of Coralie, a young Angel who desperately wants to earn her wings. She performs several of heavens chores, but for one reason or another, finds she isn't any good at them. One day she looks down from heaven and what does she see? She sees a stranger walking away with her best friend, Emily. Oh, no! Quickly, Coralie comes up with a plan and springs into action to help her friend. Will she be able to help her friend? Will Coralie find a job to do that will help her earn her wings?
This adorable picture book should be in every child's home library. I believe that Coralie: The Cotton Candy Angel should be in Sunday School libraries, too. Coralie comes in hardback, paperback or kindle. The story focused on Coralie, trying to earn her wings in heaven but also teaches about stranger danger.
To buy this for your your home library, go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble.