Free LIZZIE AND LOU SEAL ebook August 30 - September 5 by Patricia Keeler

LIZZIE AND LOU SEAL is FREE as an ebook 

August 30, 2017 to September 5, 2017

It's the end of summer and Lizzie has to go back to school, so I decided to give as many summer Lizzie ebooks away as possible! Oh, snap.

Here's what's real. I've been looking for new ways to market LIZZIE AND LOU SEAL since there are so few independent bookstores promoting new books. I had heard about BookBub being a marketing service, so when I attended Book Expo America I sat in on BookBub's workshop. I was suspicious, as no business outside the publishing house markets your book for free . . .

As an author/illustrator, this is what (I think) I've learned. Readers of ebooks sign up with BookBub for free at BookBub.com. BookBub has a group of authors. BookBub sends emails to their readers each week presenting selected ebooks from their authors which are free or really cheap.

How do you become a BookBub author? First, you have to apply to be listed as one of BookBub authors. That's free. It can be a self-published book. For picture books, I understand you need more than 20 good reviews on Amazon or Goodreads to be accepted. I suspect they check to see how many social media followers you have too, but I don't know that.

Here is the link:  www.bookbub.com/launch

I applied and was accepted. Author/illustrators then want to apply for a Featured Deal. A Featured Deal costs $80.00. The tricky bit is that your publishing house must agree to make your ebook free or really cheap on the week that BookBub offers you.

©pkeeler 2017

If your publishing house agrees, that week your ebook Featured Deal will be offered to everyone that has subscribed to Children's Books on BookBub. That includes subscribers in the United Kingdom, Canada, India and Australia. Your free/cheap ebook will be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Google and Kobo.

When I was at Book Expo America, I talked to Sky Pony's marketing manager and a representative from BookBub about getting a Featured Deal. Everybody seemed fine with the idea. I applied for a Featured Deal and was accepted. I paid my $80.00 to BookBub.

BookBub has millions of subscribers, but the children's category is still getting going. I'm not sure how many children's books readers or authors BookBub has. I know there are some great picture books on BookBub like Lisa Falkenstern's gorgeous book STEAMPUNK ABC!

©pkeeler 2017

From what I understand, BookBub Featured Deals increase hard cover sales. That may be because ebooks featured through BookBub deals give readers more exposure to an author/illustrator's work. It may be that readers like to see the entire book before they buy it in hardcover, like in bookstores. I've started downloading any free BookBub picture ebooks that look interesting just to browse through them.

I don't know how BookBub makes their money. Eighty dollars doesn't seem like much. Also, I don't know how to determine a BookBub Featured Deals impact on sales. I'm not even sure my Featured Deal will really happen. Here's hoping. . . 

Here's a YouTube desktop interview by Orna Ross from the Alliance of Independent Authors with Katie Donelan from BookBub.  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtyhCFMJhhQ

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represented by Liza Royce Agency www.lizaroyce.com

 

Child (Literature) Support by Jason Kirschner

So.  You’ve got a book coming out.  Or maybe your friend does.  Or your critique partner? Or maybe it's your social media pal that you’ve never met in person but you feel like if you lived closer that you’d BFFs forever and hang out all the time. (Odds are that if it's the last one, you've got a problem — but that’s another blog.) What are some of the ways you can support that book to give it it’s best shot at sales success? 

I’ve been thinking about this recently.  I had a book out last year and, while it sold some copies, it didn’t break any records if you know what I mean.  Now I’ve got some friends (yes—I have friends. You're jerks for thinking I didn’t.) who have books that have been recently released and I want to support them.  These friends include fellow D2PB bloggers Barbara DiLorenzo and Patrica Keeler.  (See — they’re friends!) I’m trying to take what I learned from my first book release and apply those lessons to them.   This list is, by no means, exhaustive.  I’m sure there are things I’ve forgotten or things I just haven’t figured out yet but here’s what I’ve got:

1)Buy the book. 
DO IT (if you can)!  I try to support all my friends in their endeavors.  Which also means I end up buying a bunch of books.  I will say, sometimes my wife looks at me funny (not ha-ha funny) when I’m making a huge book purchase —mainly because we’ve run out of room to put them.  If that’s something you're not able to do, go grab it from the library and read it over and be proud of your friend’s accomplishment.

2)Talk to the library.

Pretend those are books in her hands instead of shampoo.

If you are at the library and you don’t see your friend’s book, you march right over to the children’s librarian and you ask who’s in charge of ordering books.  You tell them kindly, but forcibly, to order your friend’s amazing book and put it on their shelves! You’d be surprised at how many librarians would love to hear a good recommendation for an addition to their collection.  And they talk to each other— so maybe your librarian will talk to another librarian about the book. They’ll tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends.  It’s like that shampoo commercial from the 70’s. You’ll be doing a public service by getting a good book out there for all to read.  You’re a hero now. Happy?

3)Show up. 
If you live locally and can attend a launch party or a book signing, do it.  Your author/illustrator friend will be so pleased that you did. I mean it.  There were people that showed up to some of my events that I hadn’t seen in years and it meant more to me than I know how to communicate.  You do not have to buy a second copy. I promise.  I’ll also add that we’ve all had the book event that no one shows up to and deep down inside, it can be heartbreaking. Don’t do that to your buddy.  Bring your kids. Sometimes, there are even cookies. COOKIES.  Who doesn’t love cookies?

4)Talk it up.
Tell your friends and loved ones and people on the street about this book.  Lend your copy out to friends with kids. Word of mouth really helps with these things and people love a book that they have some connection with — however tenuous it is. 

I can't help it.  That's my face. I was born that way.

5)Talk it up —Internet Style - Part One.
Do post about your pal’s book on social media. Hold up the book and take a picture with it or a shot of your kids reading it.  Or repost a great review from PW or Kirkus.  Don’t cram it down people’s throats.  Sometimes a pic and a blurb are enough.

6)Talk it up - Internet Style - Part Two.
If you've got a blog or access to a blog, do a post about your amigo’s book. It can help.  Most kidlit blogs are great sources of knowledge and can also be a cornerbIock for building great kidlit communities. I will say, however, that sometimes I feel like we’re just selling to ourselves.  I think the things we see again and again on kidlit blogs sometimes have little bearing on what the outside world is seeing. But I digress.

7)Review it.
I actually think this one might be the most important and it probably takes the least amount of time and effort. Go to amazon.com and goodreads.com and any other review site, and review your friend’s book.  Go give them 5 stars and write a nice description of why you love it.  These reviews and rankings can be so important to sales and noticeability.  We can argue over the finer points of these things another time. There are always going to be jerks who write really crappy things and troll a book with 1 star so be the other end of the spectrum and bring the average back up.  It’s emotionally gratifying for your author/illustrator friend to read too.

3 Stars isn't awful. Those are some of my fave bad reviews for Mr. P.

There’s always more you can do but I think that’s a pretty good list to start with. Be proud of you friend.  You all know that making a book is hard.  Spread the word and I’m pretty certain that your friend will do the same for you when your book comes out.  And go support my friends and review Patricia’s Lizzie and Lou Seal and Barbara’s Renato and the Lion.  And if you’ve got another free second, go review Mr. Particular.  It’s never too late.

By day, Jason is an emmy nominated set designer for television, with credits that include Harry, The Meredith Vieira Show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Late Show with David Letterman. By night, Jason is an author and illustrator of children's books. You can find his debut picture book, Mr. Particular: The World's Choosiest Champion on shelves in bookstores everywhere. See Jason's work, both illustrations and set designs,  at www.jasonkirschner.com . Follow him on instagram @jkirsch118. 

What is Book Expo America? by Patricia Keeler

Yay! My picture book, LIZZIE AND LOU SEAL, Sky Pony Press, has just been published. Yep! I'm going to show at Book Expo America to promote it.

Book Expo America, BEA, is the largest annual book trade fair held in the United States. This year, it takes place at the Jacob Javits Convention Center May 31st through June 3rd. Jacob Javits Center is so big it goes from 34th street to 40th street along 11th Avenue in Manhattan.  

Anyone can go to BEA. Last year, in Chicago, about 10,000 librarians, bookstore people, book bloggers, teachers, museum people and people who just love books paid $100.00 or more to attend for three days. People came from every state in the US, plus nearly 70 countries.  

There are large displays by the big publishing houses like HarperCollins and Wiley. The booths are run by the editors and salepeople. It's a monster big show!

HarperCollins Publishers has an entire aisle.

But I find it a most confusing show from the get-go. BEA's website is hard to navigate. It's slow to load, hard to read, and in black and white. The show is so big, I can never find the booth I'm looking for, and the concrete floors are hard to walk on all day. You can't buy any books, although on the afternoon of the last day publishing houses may give away their books so they don't have to pay to ship them back. It can be frowned upon to show editors artwork or a book dummy, as the houses are there to sell books, not buy them.

The worst section at BEA is near the back wall, where a row of lonely home-made authors pay over $1,000 to sit behind a card table with their slight pile of books. I've been to BEA a couple of times and avoided this row of the hoi polloi.  

A tiny section of Book Expo America floor

But this year I'm Hoi Polloi Booth AM34! 

Actually, I'm 'Spot' AM34, because it's 4 feet x 4 feet. Do you realize how small that is?

Why would I do this? Let's go back to the top of this blog where I say 10,000 book buyers! I couldn't go to ten thousand libraries and bookstores in my lifetime if I went every day! And they are all going to be right there, for three days, walking around looking for books for their libraries and bookstores.

I know, I know. They will be looking for major publishing house booths, not mine. So I'm going to set up my easel and sketch librarians and book sellers as children's book characters.

Here's a card I made.

I have earring and necklace giveaways. Also, BEA has something I think that is new, and it's really helpful. Guests sign up for your booth on your own BEA site before the show. So far I've had over 50 people signed up, including folks from New York Public Library and Barnes and Noble. One man emailed and said he was looking to buy 5,000 books -- I think he got me mixed up with the real Sky Pony Press booth -- but he's really looking forward to meeting me!

So I'm excited to get the opportunity to present at the same show as the major houses! I could make amazing contacts! I could do amazing sales! 

Or this could be the worst idea I've ever had.

Yikes! I can't step off the mat!

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represented by Liza Royce Agency www.lizaroyce.com

Easy Peasy Photoshop CC Animation - by Patricia Keeler

LIZZIE AND LOU SEAL animation Mike created from my art. ©pkeeler

First, you need to find someone what knows animation. Then you tell them your best jokes

and suggest the thick sliced French toast with orange butter and blueberry syrup.

When they say they don't really have time to teach you how to animate, tell them to just do their best. Offer more syrup.

HOW TO ANIMATE

So here is what I learned in a nutshell and an afternoon. (This was the easy bit I could remember from what Mike explained.)

Trace an object three times-like a butterfly. 

1. Wings up

2. Wings half way up

3. Wings down

4. For 4, use the wings half way up image again. They look the same going down.

Scan each image into Photoshop as usual. 

You have four layers. The two red layers are the same 'wings half way' image. 

(Make sure each image is stacked directly on top of the other or you'll have a drunken butterfly. Which is kind of funny . . .) 

This is the exciting part! Go to Window/Timeline. See the colors on the Timeline? 

They match the colors on Layers.

Click on the right side of each color line and drag each one to the left to make a small box. 

Then drag and drop the other three boxes onto the top line. It looks like this.

Click on the  arrow on the top left, throw your head back and yell, "IT'S ALIVE!" 

and watch the butterfly flap her wings! 

The smaller the boxes, the faster the butterfly will flap her wings. ©pkeeler

I think Photoshop CC Animation creates choppy movements. 
There are better animation programs, but I kind of like the stuttering, 
retro feel of these animations--like a moment from an old silent movie! 

LIZZIE AND LOU SEAL ©pkeeler

Leave a comment letting me know if you would like info on how to save your animation as a GIF and/or post it on social media.

Website: www.patriciakeeler-author-illustrator.com

Facebook:  PatriciaKeelerBooks

Twitter: @patriciakeeler
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represented by Liza Royce Agency www.lizaroyce.com

Encaustic Wax Process - by Patricia Keeler

 
www.patriciakeeler-author-illustrator.com

 ENCAUSTIC WAX PROCESS

©Patricia Keeler 2016/Sky Pony Press

I love texture! I am currently illustrating a book for Sky Pony Press, www.skyponypress.com, called LIZZIE AND LOU SEAL. Lou Seal is a blow-up plastic beach toy. When I saw Denise Fleming's Facebook post on encaustic wax painting, (nobody is better at mixed media than Denise! denisefleming.com) the flat, smooth texture of wax seemed a match for illustrating a plastic blow-up seal.

But to get started, I watched You Tube videos, like "encaustic art lesson 1 - abstract", then went for supplies.




I found case of block wax colors, wax medium (which look like rice) and boards at Blicks in Manhattan. That's when I realized this wasn't going to be an inexpensive process, and buying a lot of boards would mean I'd have to skip buying coffee at Starbucks, so I'm working on 28 lb copy paper.

I made the mistake of buying a steam iron. Then I realized the holes in the bottom of the iron would effect the texture of the wax. So I found a tiny travel iron with a flat bottom. A better suggestion, and a smaller iron, is the Clover Mini Iron. Thanks for the suggestion, Deb!  www.amazon.com/Clover-MCI-900-Mini-Iron/dp/B001CE73F8

Patricia Keeler working with encaustic wax.

I experimented. I began by rubbing the wax block on the iron, then moving the iron across the page. I got flat areas of turquoise wax, although this did make for some interesting background textures. I used this wax image as background in the illustration at top.

But I was trying to develop a representation of a shiny surface, so I began using the clear wax medium.

Top left:  I sprinkled down the clear wax medium.

Top right: I dripped wax onto a sheet of paper. I lightly touched the iron to that sheet to collect the colored wax.

Bottom left: With turquoise wax on the bottom of the iron, I first press down on the dots, then move the iron lightly across the paper.

Bottom right: Wax image of Lou Seal.

I scanned the wax image into Photoshop and worked the other watercolor and photographic images around it.

©Patricia Keeler 2016/Sky Pony Press

Yesterday I tried creating ocean waves using encaustic wax. Love this process!

©Patricia Keeler 2016/Sky Pony Press

My website is:  www.patriciakeeler-author-illustrator.com

Facebook friend me at:  PatriciaKeelerBooks

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represented by Liza Royce Agency www.lizaroyce.com