Know any princesses?

I had intended on posting once a week, but I’ve found something that I want to share with you today. Most little girls have dreams of becoming princesses, but I never did. Ballrooms and dancing were never my idea of fun.  Sword fighting pirates and finding dinosaurs is what I dreamed of each night. And Ninja Turtles. However, I’ve always loved reading stories about princesses having adventures and finding their one true love. I’ve also always been a big fan of fables. I have to admit, I was completely against the idea of having a Twitter account. When all of my friends would say, “Oh you should get a twitter account,” I was much like the princess in the story I’m about to share with you and would most likely say, “Not today. Perhaps tomorrow,” or something similar to that.  I knew they’d grow tired of asking or forget. I am glad I gave in and finally got one (thank you, Writing Children’s Books for Dummies) because I have made some new friends and found some interesting, useful information, as well as some really good books. My favorite find so far and the reason for this post is a book called The Princess Fables. It is a book full of charming, relatable stories for little girls. There is a really sweet story behind the book. The author, Marc Clark, wrote the stories in the book for his daughter and you can read all about it here. I read about the book on twitter, checked it out on Amazon, and decided it would be a perfect gift for my nieces (my favorite little princesses). It’s in my cart as we speak. This was before I had read the free story, The Princess Who Always Said, “Not Today” and fell in love with it.  Now I can’t wait to check out on Amazon and I’ll probably add an extra copy for myself. 🙂 If you have a little princess or if you are a little princess, this book is worth checking out. Read the free story here. Y’all have a great day!

The Forgotten

Well, y’all, I found this post that I forgot to publish back in February! Thought I’d go ahead and share it anyway. 😀

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans. –John Lennon

Despite my best intentions, there just isn’t enough time in a day! I haven’t had as much time for blogging, but I’ve had so many wonderful, fun experiences to enrich and inspire my writing and I suppose that makes up for it.  I hope you all have had a great start to the new year. As you may already know, the publication process has begun for The Magic Telescope. I’m expecting the edits from my publisher soon and I’ll have one week to get any desired changes back to them, before we begin work on the layout and illustrations. I’m very happy that Tate Publishing allows their authors to have a say in what the illustrations look like. I once read most publishers don’t allow the author to have a say in the illustrations or the cover. I don’t know if that is true, but I was so relieved that it was not the case with Tate. I’m looking forward to see what my editor has to say. I will keep you updated. Almost too good to be true that I’m finally getting one of my books published! It couldn’t have happened without my wonderful family and friends that love and support me. I realize that getting published is just the beginning. I have to grow an audience and hope the book sells, but I’ll think about that part when I come to it. Can’t wait to see it on bookshelves 😀

I still want to self-publish a book, too some day. I recently met a local self-published  author who has published two of her books so far (I’ve read them both) and is doing quite well. She is working on a third book.  I’m waiting to hear back from her on whether or not she’d like to do an interview and give us the 411 on how to self-publish successfully. If you’re a zombie fan, you will love her books. Her name is Laura A. Hansen. Here’s her website: http://www.cruiseoftheundead.com/ Y’all should check it out.

Getting Out There

It’s been a while. I haven’t  stopped writing, I’ve just had set backs. And in the meantime I’ve been reading lots. My most recent read, Writing Children’s Books for Dummies, is a treasure trove of useful information. What I love about it is that you don’t have to start at the beginning. You can pick whichever topic appeals to you and dive right in, which is what I did. I skipped on over to the section about creating your social media presence.  They recommended having a blog (check), Facebook account (check), a Twitter account, a YouTube account, a Pinterest account, and a JacketFlap account. I’ve been working on acquiring each of these that I didn’t already have. Besides these accounts, I personally recommend having a Good Reads account, an Authonomy account, and (if you’re an indy author) a Smashwords account. It takes work to keep all of these accounts up, but it’s necessary in order to let the public know about you and your books. If you google children’s book blogs (or other social media account that you will be making) you will get lots of good ideas for your own. Pay attention to the ones that are listed first or that have the most visitors.

I’ve realized I have way too many obligations and in order to be the best I can be at all I do, I have to start cutting back. I’m a wife, mother of two, writer, and I have a small business from my home. These are the things that I have to focus on and I have to let go of the rest.

 

So my advice to you is prioritize, keep writing, and get out there! 😀