Book Marketing Partnership: A Fish Art Contest & GONE FISHING A Novel In Verse

Note: Today’s post is a double-dip article.1^st dip: To share a non-traditional way that I'm marketing my book. 2^nd dip: To draw attention to a really neat children’s art/writing contest. Here goes:

One of my roles as an author, I think, is to find unique and interesting ways to connect people to my book. In the spirit of that thought, I want to share with you one of the more interesting and unusual ways that I’m trying to do that.

A while back I learned about a non-profit organization called Wildlife Forever. They are based in Minnesota, and each year they sponsor an event called STATE FISH ART CONTEST. It’s a neat event where school age children K-12 illustrate a fish of their choice from a list of the “state fish.” (Link info is below.) Having written a book called GONE FISHING, this contest intrigued me, so I set out to learn more and see if there was a way to become involved.

What I learned is that this is a wonderful program that engages children in learning about the habitat and needs of fish through a contest. The children research and study their chosen fish, create their art and a short write-up about that fish, and an adult helps them submit their creation to be judged. There are many winners in each age bracket, and those winners are invited to the STATE FISH ART EXPO.

I just love that this conservation group has found a way to connect children to nature and I am delighted that they have invited me to partner with them in the contest and participate with them at the expo! For the contest, I developed a few tips for writing the fish essay. They posted the tips on their website, gave me credit, mentioned my book, and posted a link to my website. This coming July, I will be at the GO FISH EDUCATION CENTER in Perry, Georgia where I’ll lead nature writing workshops with the winning students, and the GO FISH gift shop will offer GONE FISHING for sale. It’s a nice partnership that we’ve developed, and I'm excited that I'll get to see the artwork, read the essays, and meet some of the talented students when I'm in Georgia.   

Before the Expo, though, comes the Contest. Right now, the good people at Wildlife Forever are busy accepting entries. There is still time – the contest runs through March 31, 2013. If you have children in your lives, whether you are a parent or grandparent, a teacher or educator, or someone who loves nature and is in a position to share that with children, this contest might be of interest. (Educators, take note: There is an Educator of the Year award, and past winners have not all been art teachers! For states where common core state standards are used, the SFA site offers ideas for how you might be able to use the essay portion of the contest to observe some of the standards.) 

Here are a few links if you’d like to explore further.

STATE FISH ART CONTEST HOME PAGE 

TAMERA'S ESSAY WRITING TIPS 

STATE FISH ART AND COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD 

GO FISH EDUCATION CENTER

If you and/or your illustrating/writing children make it to Georgia in July –I'll be there, so find me and say "hello!"

If you are an author or illustrator, what creative ideas do you have for partnerships in marketing your book?

01/22/2013

THE POET’S PALETTE: Back to Poetry Basics

Yesterday for Verseday #3, Gabrielle Prendergast highlighted the poetic forms that she used when she wrote her forthcoming verse novel, AUDACIOUS.It got my attention because I LOVE using forms when I write poetry, and I used many forms in my own forthcoming novel in verse.

One of the best surprises of using poetry forms in my work was that it gave me an opportunity to intensely study poetry, to understand poetry’s fundamentals, and to even discuss some of those basics in a section of end matter. It’s an example of how my writing ended up educating me.

After months of diving the depths of the ocean that is poetry, I came away with this thought: Any poetry form that has ever existed would not be if it weren’t for rhyme, rhythm, stanzas, and/or poetry techniques. (Maybe this is common knowledge among poets, but for me, it was my poetry eureka moment.) I think that every poem – from the simplest nursery rhyme to the most complex Shakespearean play, owes its existence to some combination of these four humble poetry basics. Even free verse (which isn’t really free) has evolved from these poetry fundamentals.

Stated another way: Writing in verse without using different combinations of these basics would be like an artist trying to paint without red, blue, yellow, or black & white. What does that leave? Nothing. As I understand color, every shade is an outgrowth of these primary colors, and black & white create tonal differences. The same holds true for poetry - without rhyme, rhythm, stanzas, and poetry techniques, poets have nothing – no way to make poetry. (Not even free verse, which, remember – if it is truly free verse poetry – is not free.) With these essentials, though, poets have a palette that allows every poetic color available in order to create the richest, most diverse poetry paintings in any form they care to follow or can imagine.

What's on your poet's palette these days? A big dollop of rhythm and rhyme? A bold dash of stanzas and techniques? A touch of free verse? Which basics are you using to paint your amazing poetry? 

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Poetry Friday is at Violet Nesdoly's

Verse Day is at Gabrielle’s versenovels.com

1/18/2013 

Book Marketing: CONFESSIONS OF A TWITTERPHOBE

Since today is the 14th, I'm writing at Smack Dab In The Middle, a middle grade authors' blog that I recently joined. Our January theme is book marketing, and the topic I chose is Twitter. Here is an excerpt from my post: 

"I put up every barrier I could think of. Some of my best arguments: What good would Twitter do me? I'm an author with no books out yet. Who would follow me, who would I possibly follow? Wasn't it a social network that would steal my time? What would I tweet? What about privacy? I stopped short of whimpering; “but I don’t want to,” although I did think it. Emotionally, this felt like the eve of my first day of junior high – I was petrified..."

I welcome you to read the rest of the story at SMACK DAB BLOG

  

01/14/2013

VERSEDAY #2 Gabrielle Prendergast talks to Leslea Newman

This year I’m participating in a group blog called VerseDay, which was conceived of by author Gabrielle Prendergast. It’s a yearlong celebration of all things verse, with a different blogger writing about some aspect of verse each Thursday. I signed up for two turns – one in April and the other in October. This week’s post is presented by VerseDay founder, Gabrielle, and can be found on her website Angelhorn : http://wp.me/p1NlZX-Ga

Here’s a short excerpt:

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“Some Writer’s Resolutions Inspired by Verse Novelist Leslea Newman"

For my first VerseDay post I want to share what I learned and resolved after chatting with poet Lesléa Newman.

When I chatted with Lesléa Newman earlier this week about her magnificent verse novel OCTOBER MOURNING:A Song for Matthew Shepard, I was interested to learn that she didn't write the poems that make up this extraordinary book in order.

GabrielleSaraP: OCTOBER MOURNING is both a verse novel and a collection of poetry which would appeal to fans of both forms. Any comments?

Lesleanewman: I really thought of it as a collection of themed poems, as opposed to a verse novel…”

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If Verseday sounds interesting to you, there is still time and room for you to participate. Head over to the VerseDay page on the Verse Novels website: http://versenovels.com/verseday-2013/

01/10/2013

Book Review: 45 POUNDS (MORE OR LESS) by K.A. Barson

45 POUNDS (MORE OR LESS) by K.A. Barson

• Young Adult Contemporary
• Arriving July 11, 2013 from Viking (Penguin)
• Available for preorder wherever books are sold.

In this first person narrative, KA Barson delivers a sassy, upbeat, contemporary look at the life of a teenage girl who has struggled with weight for most of her young life and would like to lose 45 pounds before being a bridesmaid at her aunt’s wedding. In this personal account, the main character, Ann, is sharp-witted, strong, and self-deprecating, yet is often hurt by her seemingly perfect, yet clueless mom. In using this point of view, Barson succeeds in helping the reader understand how a person carrying extra weight might feel a constant physical and mental fatigue – from trying on clothes, to feeling judged for every bite of food she puts in her mouth. There are many cringe-worthy moments, yet thankfully, Barson includes humorous relief through Ann’s twin four-year-old siblings and her off beat grandma.

This is an underdog story that had me rooting for the main character’s success. As the layers peel back, though, there is much more to this story than weight loss. It looks at complex attitudes toward food, conformity to a perceived norm, what it means to be healthy, the unintended ripple effect that adult behavior can have on children who are watching their every move, and it reframes ‘perfect.’ It also touches on toxic vs. healthy relationships, discrimination and bullying, and taking responsibility for ones own thoughts and behaviors. And it is written with humor and grace. 

While there is a bit of mature language, (it’s not overdone) I think this book could be read and enjoyed by teen girls as their focus on body image and place in the world intensifies. On another level, I could see mothers and daughters reading this book together, and using it as a kick-start for a discussion on healthy lifestyle and strong relationships.

My Goodreads Rating: 5 stars out of 5 

Note to writers: I think that 45 POUNDS (MORE OR LESS) is an excellent example of how an author uses voice to build character, and how humor can be used to balance an intense subject.

01/09/2013