Tag Archives: writers groups

Writing Quality Children’s Books

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“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”~ B.B. King 

Attention children’s book authors, illustrators and publishers! There is an organization that offers consultation and critique of unpublished manuscripts to help you publish a quality finished product. The American Children’s Book Society fulfills their mission to help produce and market “superior and meaningful children’s books.”  Their services include:

  • Critique program
  • Book Review program
  • “A” Rating program
  • Consulting and Coaching 

By working with the American Children’s Book Society, Inc.  http://www.americanchildrensbooksociety.com/  your book will be reviewed for quality content, perhaps giving you an inroad to selling to schools and libraries. Because your book has been critiqued by the American Book Society, you will also have the advantage of entering your book into the annual “Scooter Awards” and the possibility of earning an “A” rank in their rating program. 

The panel of judges on the American Children’s Book Society, Inc. looks for compliance with all CPSIA regulations and rules including quality of design, suitability of content, presentation and pricing for retail markets. For all first-time authors/publishers who are unfamiliar with standards in children’s book compliance, this organization provides excellent services and gives you the tools to provide a quality children’s book to the industry.

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Change of Scenery

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“Leadership is much more an art, a belief, a condition of the heart, than a set of things to do.” ~ Max Dupree 

Last night, I was busy getting ready to head out by 6 am today for the Colorado Independent Publishing Association “College.” www.cipabooks.com. I was focused on getting the vendor exhibit materials ready for what promises to be a very educational and fulfilling event. Limited by time, I made an executive decision that today, the blog will be brief.

I may be napping on the blogosphere today, but I will be prowling around talking about my passion at the CIPA publishing conference instead. I hope to see many of you independent publishers at the event. Join in on our roundtable discussion between 12:00 am – 12:30pm today. The topic will be The Basics of Selling and Marketing Books on the World-Wide Web and why e-marketing is essential to e-commerce. I look forward to networking and meeting you!

 As usual, I will also be on the hunt for valuable information to bring back to our loyal readers of All Things Fulfilling. I’ll see what I can find. Perhaps I will return with information about new book releases, independent publishing success stories, and new vendor services available to you as an independent publisher. 

Check back on Monday! Have a fulfilling weekend. I know I will. I look forward to a change in scenery!

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Yankee Writers Gathering!

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“If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”~  Thomas Edison

 New Englanders are hearty souls! I can attest to that after having lived in the State of Vermont for 35 years!  On March 25th and March 26th there will be a gathering of New England Writers focused on how to “Survive and Thrive” as independent publishers. The New England Publishing Conference will be held at Chapel Hill-Chauncey Hall School in Waltham, Massachusetts. 

Veteran publishers, industry experts and vendors to the independent publishing industry will be on hand fulfilling the need for knowledge for those who are starting out in book publishing. Book promotion and selling through e-marketing and other channels such as libraries, book fairs, bookstores and to non-profit organizations will be topics of discussion, too. 

Cevin Bryerman from Publishers Weekly Magazine www.publishersweekly.com will address the crowd. Don’t miss out on that! Cevin always has a lot of interesting things to share about the industry. There will be workshops focusing on e-books, blog writing, e-marketing, and other information on the business of publishing both domestically and globally. Another important speaker, Tim Brookes from Champlain College www.champlain.edu will be speaking about Publishing in the 21st Century – The Campus Revolution. The keynote speech will be given by publisher David R. Godine www.godine.com. 

For more information on this important educational conference, please visit www.ipne.org. For questions, e-mail talktous@ipne.org. There are special conference lodging rates at the Holiday Inn Express in Waltham, MA. Make your reservation now, so you can take advantage of this block of rooms set aside for the IPNE Publishing Conference. 

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Connecting with your Creativity

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“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” ~ Edward deBono 

Abraham Maslow, founder of humanistic psychology said that “creativity is a characteristic given to all human beings at birth.” How many of us tap into our innate gift of creativity as we go about our daily life?  For those who work in careers involving the Arts, using one’s own God-given creativity is naturally incorporated into every day life. For others, it takes consciously finding ways to live life inspired. All of us have a different interpretation of what living an inspired life means. 

In essence, Maslow’s theory says that once our psychological needs for safety, love and affection and esteem are satisfied, then we as human beings are freed to travel down the path of toward self-actualization. We can begin fulfilling our need to create and do what it is we were born to do, if our basic needs have been met. For more information on the Maslow theory, please visit http://bit.ly/X2iQX. 

If you are a person whose career does not involve the Arts, March is Crafting Month, and it is the perfect time to explore new ways of incorporating more creativity into your life for personal fulfillment. Craft a unique and creative piece of Art through the written word. Writing poetry, essays, old-fashioned love letters, short stories, haiku or full length books will get your imagination and your brain working in innovative ways. There is no cost to that and anyone in this age of independent publishing can be a published author!  Join a local writing group, to enjoy the camaraderie of others whose spirits also soar when putting pen to paper. 

Let March be the month to rebuild your life creatively.Find  a new hobby and live a life inspired. It will provide you with hours of entertainment and personal satisfaction, too.

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Writers, Rev Your Engines!

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“The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes. “ ~André Gide 

If you have a spark of an idea for a book and wish to rev up your knowledge on how to go about independently publishing, the Colorado Independent Publishers Association College is the place to be.  For those who are entrenched in the independent publishing scene, everyone knows what the arrival of March means. It means the Colorado Independent Publishers Association College is coming up. The hosts of the “College” The Colorado Independent Publishers Association http://bit.ly/hFVW1A  is one of the largest and most active independent publishing trade associations in the United States. 

This year, CIPA’s Publishing “College” is scheduled for March 18th and 19th and CIPA does a great job of fulfilling the need for educational opportunity for beginning and experienced independent publishers. They even have a program called YAL – Young Authors League, designed to get kids inspired to write and become published at a young age. 

Exhibitors will be present at the March 19 publishing college event. Consultants on internet selling (e-commerce) and internet marketing (e-marketing) will be on hand. Other providers such as book printers, editors, cover designers, graphic designers and video book trailer specialists will be available at the CIPA College to answer questions about their products and services. There are on-going educational seminars throughout the weekend. It is a great time to network with other independent publishers to learn how they are publishing as a means for personal fulfillment and for sharing ideas, wisdom, knowledge and expertise with others.

 Check out http://bit.ly/hFVW1A for full details of the event or go to the Colorado Independent Publishers Association Facebook page http://on.fb.me/hZjR1T for additional information.

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Have you Launched your Kite?

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“Success is focusing the full power of all you are on what you have a burning desire to achieve.” ~ Wilfred Peterson 

It is March 1st, and when I think of March, I think of my childhood days of growing up in the Mid-Atlantic section of the East Coast of the United States. March always still had a real chill in the air. Getting outside and flying kites in the stiff March winds always resulted in letting the kite go because my hands were too cold to continue to hold onto the string. When I finally released the kite, I found it fulfilling to dream about whether my kite was going to land in a country and climate much different than my own. 

Yesterday, I began to think about the analogy between finding fulfillment in building and flying kites and using blogging as a powerful internet marketing tool. When you build a blog site you want it to be a reflection of your own creativity, just like when you are hand crafting a kite. Create a blog site unique to your own interests and what it is you are trying to convey. The graphics must be attractive to the eye and the content needs to be catchy and of interest to the reader, otherwise, what is the point? 

Learning what content to use when attaching tails to your blog site is what will make it soar in cyberspace. There is a methodology and science behind e-marketing campaigns. You want to make sure you direct your “kite”, as best you can, to where you want it to land – in countries and climates that are rich with qualified leads. 

If you are inexperienced at setting up an attractive blog site and at the new science of blog writing, seek help from an e-marketing professional who understands the dynamics behind e-marketing for independent publishers. http://bit.ly/gDGQN8.  It will make a difference in how successful you are at attracting regular readers and fans to your site and where your “kite” lands on the world-wide-web.

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Wanderlust

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 “After all these years…It’s better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe.” ~ Sophia Loren

Is it really half way through February? Already? It has been a very, very busy past several weeks filled with treks for this family of three. In my travels, I was accompanied by a group of writers, some from the Steamboat Writers Group http://bit.ly/gHUxik  and others from varied walks of life.  They joined me in exploring possibilities in this New Year of moving in a positive direction for:

  • personal fulfillment
  • career advancement
  • increased visibility for themselves and their businesses all through the power of e-commerce and e-marketing.

 I am pleased to report some have already begun to fulfill their dreams of writing their stories.

My husband was the most adventuresome. He trekked across 9 time zones and 18,000 miles into unknown territory and back! He was recruited to the coaching staff to lead team USA Alpine Skiers to the World University Games in Erzurum, Turkey. The athletes, six women and six men returned home to the U.S.A. with an unprecedented number of medals – 5 gold and 2 silver and lots of stories to tell of a country they had known nothing about. What a fulfilling trip for a coach who has been involved with training and educating athletes for so many years. 

The culmination of many, many months of planning led our son this week, into the atmosphere of co-hosting an international independent film festival. As Associate Director of the New Mexico International Film Festival, he was fully involved in the minutia of what he loves to do best –watch, discuss, judge and analyze independent films. There were so many logistical details to put into place in arranging a first year event. No blueprints to follow, no tried and true formulas, no maps to lead the way, only a good, hefty dose of energy and willingness to step into the unknown. I am sure he will have his share of tales to tell, too. 

 Each of us has our own interpretation of what brings personal fulfillment to our lives. How about you? Do you ever dare to strike out into territories of the unknown? It is the best way to broaden horizons and bring fulfilling experiences to our lives. What will tomorrow bring?

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Make the Most of your Post

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 “All those moments written or read together take on movement and architecture of the narrative.” ~ Marilyn Hacker

One of the most frequent complaints that I hear about those who have just entered the blogosphere is that their blogs never get read. Thus, frustration sets in, blog postings become infrequent or non-existent at all. Personally, I find blogging to be extremely fulfilling and like last night, I often find myself lying awake plotting and planning my next post. 

Not understanding the why’s, how’s and when’s of blogging can lead to feelings of “What is the point?” So many bloggers unnecessarily give up on their efforts when all it really takes is a little education and a few tweaks to their approach. Folks, remember blogging is not just an exercise in writing! There is a reason and a methodology behind it that needs to be understood and utilized so that you are not just wasting your time.  

Marketing over the internet is a whole new science. Independent publishers, as business owners, need to understand how to reach communities of people who are looking for their products and services. Before you give up, seek the help of an e-marketing professional who understands the science behind marketing through the internet. Often a little coaching is all it takes to fully understand the nuts and bolts behind marketing in this digital age.

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Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Laugh

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“Laughter is the sensation of feeling good all over and showing it principally in one place.”  ~Josh Billings 

The nation and many individual states choose a deserving poet to be honored with the Poet Laureate Award each year. The Vermont Council on the Arts has just announced they will be honoring their very first Cartoonist Laureate on March 10, 2011. http://bit.ly/gftNdx. It is the second state, behind Alaska, to grant this kind of award. Chosen for the child-like intensity to his work, native Vermonter James Kochalka will been given the award. He is the illustrator of the comic strip American Elf and a number of graphic novels. It is not surprising that Vermont has decided to present a deserving funny-man or woman with the Cartoonist Laureate award each year. The state of Vermont has the distinction of  fulfilling the need for a Center for Cartoon Studies. www.cartonstudies.org. 

 I personally love a daily little chuckle but what I really like is to roar out loud until the tears come to my eyes and roll down my cheeks. Everyone knows that a laugh like that can sometimes hurt our bellies, but it is oh so fulfilling and worth it. The best is when I can share that kind of laughter with my twin sister. Wow – can we get going! It is often difficult to stop. Often the humor is only understood by the two of us. Others, they just don’t get it because it can be over the silliest things. In good times and in bad times, who can’t use a little laugh each and every day? It is good for our hearts. This I whole-heartedly believe! To read about a study from the University of Maryland on the health benefits of laughter, please go to http://bit.ly/qTtai. 

Just listening to the news each day and hearing the politicking is enough to make one laugh, no matter what your political persuasion happens to be. Democrats, Republicans and Independents, alike, often resort to child-like behaviors just to get their way. We could probably hold a debate as to whether it is even necessary to have a Cartoonist Laureate award. But there are too many debates already going on in this country, why add one more?

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Wanted: Historical Fiction about Male Writers

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“The thing that’s between us is fascination, and the fascination resides in our being alike.” ~ Marguerite Duras

Last week, I blogged about how fulfilling it has been to learn more about some of the most prominent painters and composers through the medium of historical art fiction. I mentioned that, in my opinion, historical art fiction written for teens and children could be an effective way reach  the younger generation about culture and art. 

Several times over the past year, in my blog writing, I have attempted with some results, to bring men out from hiding by asking “What Do Men like to Write About?”  I really want to know! Can anyone tell me if there any good reads on the market in the genre of historical fiction about prominent male writers of the past? Perhaps if I go about my quest indirectly, the answer will become even more apparent to my question “What do Men like to Write About?” 

Sometimes by going in the backdoor, we can find out a lot about more about people than by going head-strong in first. Writers and business people, male and female, make sure you know how to use today’s newfangled e-marketing for reaching your customers, readers or clients. With a little coaching, http://bit.ly/e75eVS you could reach communities that you had never thought of before and, very well, get results.

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