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Summer Book Marketing Fun! Learning as I Go

Being an elementary school teacher means having just enough time during the year to:

1. Feed and clothe my children and myself

2. Do my job

Now that summer vacation has finally come to Brooklyn, (I know, in most other parts of the country it started in early June and even May) I am finally able to give some attention to my sweet first published picture book, A Most Unusual Day.  For example, when my book was released back in April, I was too busy gathering data for report cards and working on a million projects for our bird study to actually organize a book launch party. Now I have a date and location for my better-late-than-never book launch party.  It will be at the adorable Stories Bookshop and Storytelling Lab in Brooklyn on September 14 at 7 pm.  Come on down!

Now the summer is spread before me like a handmade quilt of possibilities to promote my book.  I am a complete newbie at this book marketing.  I mean, that’s not totally true.  I used to work as a marketing assistant at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.  This was pre-social networking.  So, we sent out author photos (it was also pre-digital photography,) forwarded letters from kids to authors and illustrators and set up author visits to schools.  I remember I also had to read Publishers Weekly and Kirkus to scan for reviews.  I loved doing that. Oh, and I sent out a lot of complimentary copies of books to people who asked for them.  None of this taught me much about marketing my own book.

One little thing I have learned to do, is go into book stores, find my book, and offer to sign it for them.  It is such a thrill to see my name on a book, on a bookshelf, in a book store.  I wish everyone could have that feeling.

I’m trying to set up a little book tour during my summer travels.  I find it tricky to navigate the world of book stores and events emails and publicists.  I mean, it is funny to re-read this as I write.  Me?  I find it tricky to navigate the world of bookstores?  The world of bookstores is my favorite world.  Matched only by the world of libraries.  Oye!  That reminds me.  I need to make some cute bookmarks to pass out at these events.  And buy an airplane cookie cutter, so I can make airplane cookies — airplanes make important cameos in my book.

I will learn as I go.  The most important thing is that I let lots of people know about Caroline and her day.  Once I get the dates for my book tour, I will let you all know.  Right now, I have one venue — I’ll be at Annie’s Book Stop of Worchester on August 25 from 1-3 pm.

Enough rambling.  I have work to do.  And I also need to spend some time working on writing a new book or two.  See you at an event soon, I hope.  (Cross your fingers for me.)

 

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Author Visits 101

Ok.  I am going to admit right here right now that I don’t know anything about being a children’s book author.  That’s not true.  I know how to write books.  I like writing books. Writing is so cozy.  It feels just right to be curled up with a pen and a journal and my own head, writing a story or a poem.  Just right.

The part I don’t know anything about is the showing-the-world-I-wrote-a-book part.  For example, my wonderful brother made this website.  He knows I have to show the world I wrote a book.  He told me to write posts on the website.

I don’t know what to write.

I teach elementary school.  My favorite things to teach are writing and science.  When my students don’t know what to write, I tell them to write about how hard it is to come up with an idea to write.  Boom.  Instant idea.

I do, however, have an idea for this post.  I swear.

When one doesn’t know how to do something, one must teach one’s self.  I need to go to some author visits.  Luckily, since I am a teacher with two kids of my own, and a writer, and a New Yorker, I tend to feel like a busy person.  When my school had an author come to visit, I felt like the master of the universe!  I can do it all.

On Monday, the lovely Anica Mrose Ricci, author of the Anna, Banana series and The Teacher’s Pet came to my school for a visit.  Here are some things I learned:

  1. Cross your fingers that your mom saved everything you ever wrote as a child, because — oh, boy.  It is super cute to put your second-grade writing up on the smartboard in front of second graders when you are a published author.
  2. Cross your fingers that your mom or dad took lots of pictures of you reading and writing when you were a little kid.  Extra super cuteness.
  3. Make a connection between things that you like and things that you write.
  4. Talk about the publishing process.  Let them know that you don’t draw the pictures (if you didn’t, which I don’t) and you don’t know how to bind a book.  But that you did have cute little back-and-forths with the illustrator.
  5. Ask the illustrator to share some of their process illustrations with you.
  6. Wear something cute and quirky.

That’s what I have learned so far.  Thanks, Anica, for the lesson.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go call my mom about some photos.