Danika Dinsmore's Blog, page 13

Show Us Your Faerie Wings Book Giveaway Contest!

(If you are here for the first time, Welcome! I also blog at The Accidental Novelist)

In celebration of the launch of the NEW Indie Debut Website I'm holding a contest. I'm also secretly telling you (shhhhh!) that even though my official release date isn't until March 1 . . . my publisher starts selling copies of the wide launch edition of Brigitta of the White Forest TODAY!

The other day a friend called and asked what I was doing. "Drawing faerie wings," I said.

I don't know why she thought that was funny, I consider it a very important part of my job as Chronicler of the White Forest Faerie Tales.

I'm no visual artist (if you want visual art, see Julie Fain, who did my cover art). My wings are for my own reference, so I can keep all my faerie destiny markings straight.

See, when a faerie comes of age in the White Forest (known as "The Change"), she or he is "destiny-marked" with the symbol of their Life's Task. Brigitta doesn't have hers yet (and those of you who know what her markings are later – Shush!). She's a bit nervous, and wouldn't you be!?! I mean, what if you got marked as an accountant and you wanted to be a skydiver?

The destiny markings, however, are smarter than that. They are in tune with your heart's desire. You may deny your heart's desire, you may be afraid of the power of your true gifts, but the Truth of you is the Truth of you and its magic is in everything.

As Michael Meade says, "We enter the world gifted and aimed."

For this contest, be brave! Tell or show us what your destiny markings are. What's your hearts' desire?

You can write it in words, send us to an image, link to your own blog where you've really thought about it. I'm open to the way you do it.

For each comment or link or other I'll put your name in the hat for the drawing. Also, if you comment on the Indie Debut website, I'll put your name in again.

You can win an autographed copy of either the First Fan Edition or a copy of the wide release edition which just came out today.

And if you don't win here, there's a drawing on GoodReads as well and you have THREE chances to win!

I'll keep the contest running until my birthday (Feb 17) and DRAW the name on Friday, Feb 18.

New Indie Debut OPEN HOUSE: Friday, February 11

Indie Debut is a collective of children's authors who have debuted their books with small/indie presses.

We're moving over to a new space and are having an Open House on FRIDAY, FEB 11.

We launched 9 books last year and we will continue to debut indie children's authors in 2011.

Now that some of us have gone through the process of launching a book – and LEARNING a great deal from it – we would like to offer our tips, stories, and research to those looking to publish in the small/indie press market.

Events during the Open House include games, contests, discussions, and celebrations. Opportunities to win SWAG (including signed books) abound!  Don't miss out.

I will have a FAERIE WING contest here at The White Forest for an opportunity to win a signed book (choice of First Fan or Regular Editions).

The OH (MG/YA) Canada! Reading Challenge

Canadian author's books, that is. Anyone can read them.

Librarian and book enthusiast (wait, isn't that redundant?) Deb Marshall is hosting a "reading challenge." Reading challenges have become quite popular in the blog-o-sphere. Deb's challenge is to specifically read middle grade / young adult books by Canadian authors (and Canadian resident authors, such as myself. although I feel pretty Canadian at this point).

I'm honoured to be on the list!

Other authors on the list include:

Joelle Anthony-Restoring Harmony

Helene Boudreau-Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings
Leslie Carmichael Amulet of Amon-Ra

Denise Jaden Losing Faith
Terry Lynn Johnson-Dog Sled Dreams
Jan Markley Megabyte Mysteries Series





Looks like I'm in Good Company. Go, Canada!
There will be author interviews and book giveaways along the way. Check in with Deb's challenge here.

Happy Holidays from the White Forest!

For obvious reasons the faeries of The White Forest don't celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or any other of our earth-bound holidays. They do, however, respect the need for festivals and celebrations. They believe in sacred frivolity.

The White Forest faeries actually spend a great deal of time celebrating. They celebrate the transition of the seasons, they celebrate whenever any faerie's destiny-markings are revealed, and they celebrate all the harvests, big and small.

The most important White Forest festival is the annual Festival of the Elements (during the transition from the grow season to the green season).  This three-day festival reveals the new arts, crafts, inventions, and magic from each of the elemental realms. More importantly, it is the time of renewal for the Hourglass of Protection.  The High Priestess and Council of Elders must perform the rituals in the exact manner to oversee this event.  Once the Hourglass has been renewed, the festivities proceed on a grand scale!

Other major festivals include the Twilight Festival, when the green season transitions into the gray season, and the Grand Masquerade, when the gray season transitions into the grow season.  Each elemental realm and village-nest also has its own celebrations.  As a matter of fact, it is difficult to find a day in the White Forest where there is not some sort of celebration going on somewhere.

So you don't miss out on anything, the White Forest residents recommend you celebrate each and every day of this next year.

First Fan Edition Selling Out

Attention White Forest Fans!

The limited First Fan Edition of Brigitta of the White Forest will no longer be available after March 1, 2011, or earlier if it sells out before that! We are certainly running low on copies.

On March 1, 2011 the new edition of Brigitta of the White Forest will be released, distributed by Green Leaf Book Group, and available for order in most bookstores.

What does having a First Fan edition mean?

The First Fan Edition is guaranteed to be hand-stamped and signed by the author, it is a limited (small) run, and each has a number in the back that allows the book owner to join the 1,000 Fan Club for free. The 1,000 Fan Club will have a private e-newsletter, private access to certain fan pages, and members will receive early and discount offers on White Forest merchandise. It will officially launch in early 2011 before the release of the new edition.

To purchase a copy of the First Fan Edition, visit EN THEOS PRESS

Lori Calabrese on Bugs, Books, and Blog Tours

Fellow Indie Debut author Lori Calabrese recently launched her first children's book The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade. A humorous story told in rhyme about a boy, Matt, who pries a bug off the grill of his dad's car and wants to enter it in his school's "Bug-a-Fair" (love it!). Then he catches another bug, a cold bug. Matt's mom wants him to stay home, but how can he when it's fair day! When she relents, it leads to one hilarious day.

Recommended for grades 1-3, and especially for kids who think bugs are cool. Lori also provides several educational tools on her website for teachers and parents.

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First off, Lori, congratulations on your book launch! I hope the book is generating a lot of buzz (okay, I'm SURE I'm not the only one to come up with that pun).

LOL. Thanks so much for having me, Danika. Hopefully The Bug that Plagued the Entire Third Grade is creating a buzz! One of the great things about writing a bug book is all the creative ways you can get the word out!

I'm sure! Bugs can lead to all kinds of fun activities and lessons, as well. I'm sure it will be a popular book with elementary school teachers. So, how is your blog tour going? Or your launch in general? Any delicious moments?

The first blog tour went great. It was fun to buzz by fellow Indie-Debut member blogs, share how The Bug came about, read what everyone thought about the book, and we had some fun giveaways. I really enjoyed doing the guest posts and we had some great ones—talking about the current picture book problem, POD publishing, and the positives to group marketing. I'm grateful to everyone who left comments and participated in the discussion.

My second blog tour kicks off the first week of November, so I'm sure we'll have some delicious moments from that one as well. You can find the schedule at my website: http://loricalabrese.com/newsandevent... and I hope to see some familiar faces! The launch in general has been a little crazy. I knew things would heat up when the book came out, but no matter how prepared and organized an author is, I'm convinced the list of to-dos can be difficult to tame.

I hear you. Publishing the book is the easy part! It's everything that follows that's the challenge.

I'm loving every minute of it, though, and I'm especially looking forward to my virtual book launch party that kicks off this Monday at http://thebugbooklaunch.blogspot.com and lasts all week. There's lots of fun stuff planned from giveaways, reading deleted stanzas from the book, seeing how I draw inspiration while writing, games, quizzes, crafts and did I mention giveaways?

Make sure you announce your giveaway on GoodReads.com. They have a group that is solely about giveaways.

Indie Debut is all about the promotion of debut authors from small presses. I was speaking with a retired children's book publisher the other day and we agreed that the growing number of self-published books and emerging small presses, coupled with inexpensive marketing tools, makes it difficult to get "heard." What advice would you give to new authors about getting your book (and your face) seen?

It really is a time when the book publishing world in general is being shaken up, some good, some bad. Due to the tough competition with the big publishers, we have seen the number of self-published and small-press authors rise. Frankly, I love to see opportunities like these available for writers to see their work in print, but since these authors don't have the big marketing machine behind them, it can be difficult to get "heard." That's where authors need to get those creative juices flowing and think outside the box!

I always say as authors, we're not just marketing our books, we're also marketing our brand, which is us the writer. That's why we need to get that website and blog going early and start networking with fellow writers and hopefully, your target audience. When your book does come out, hopefully you'll have established a platform and can take advantage of inexpensive marketing tools such as a blog tour, e-mail marketing, newsletters, social media, reaching out to indie bookstores, attending festivals and events, and holding school and library visits. The list goes on and don't be afraid to come up with your own ideas.

Have you had to make adjustments as you learned along the way?

This whole publication journey has been one big learning experience. For an author, it's not just about the writing. There's so much more involved and aspects such as marketing and speaking engagements are a business in itself. I'm always looking for tips and tricks of the trade that will make the journey a lot easier, but I've definitely learned that you have to be flexible and open to new ideas.

You've really embraced social media and have an enviable ability to navigate it. Does this come naturally? Did you have a mentor or specific resources? Who taught you to create websites? (Lori is our webmaster over at Indie Debut 2010)

Thanks so much, Danika. I always like to say that my master plan to take over the world is coming to fruition! I like to think that some of my television production experience has helped in the marketing department, but when it came time to embrace social media, I just took lots and lots and lots of time to figure it all out. And there's A LOT to figure out. I didn't have a mentor, it's just been me spending lots of time (did I say lots of time?) setting up my blog, learning Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc…

You just have to take one day at a time, and set a new task to conquer each day. It can be overwhelming, but if you take it step by step, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Do you have a typical writing day or ritual? How do you get yourself to the page?

Lori Calabrese and typical do NOT belong in the same sentence! I wish I was a methodical writer who had a dedicated time to write, but none of my days are typical. Frankly, I love that though. It keeps me on my toes. With a 5 year old and 3 year old at home, I just never know what I'm in store for, so when I have time to write, I write. As simple as that. Usually it's in the morning and at night when everyone's asleep, but if there's ever an opening, I use it to squeeze in whatever I can.

What are you currently working on?

Besides marketing The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade, I'm in the process of submitting my latest picture book manuscript and middle grade novel to agents. I'm also finishing up my second novel, which I find myself totally immersed in. Although they're both contemporary sports novels, the second is completely different than my first, but it's been so much fun to see it take on a life of its own. But that's the life of a writer, right?

For not having a typical writing schedule, you sure manage to get a lot of writing done. I'm having trouble focusing on my editing my 2nd novel with all the marketing to-do. Thanks for taking time out of that writing schedule to visit my site.

Thanks for having me, Danika. It's been a blast and I hope to see everyone on Monday at my virtual book launch party. Everyone's invited.

Have a great time touring your book.

Lori Calabrese is an award-winning children's author. Her first picture book, The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade, was awarded DFP's Best Children's Book Award. She writes for various children's magazines, is the National Children's Books Examiner at Examiner.com and enjoys sharing her passion for children's books at festivals, schools and events. Visit her website to learn more, www.loricalabrese.com.

Indie Debut Spotlight: Lori Calabrese on Oct 15th

Lori Calabrese, award winning author and Indie Debut co-creator, will have a guest appearance at The White Forest on Friday, Oct 15th.

Lori's debut book The Bug That Plagued the Entire 3rd Grade received the 2009 DFP Awards: Best Children's Book.

Lori is an accomplished television producer, writes for several children's magazines, and is the National Children's Book Examiner on Examiner.com.

Join us later this week to find out more about Lori, her book, and her career working as a children's author.

Imaginary Worlds Tour: Fall 2010 and Spring 2011

The Imaginary Worlds Tour machine is cranking back up again!

This November and December we'll be spending our time locally, from Vancouver down to Seattle.

In Spring 2011, to coincide with our March distributor's launch, we'll be in California for 3 weeks. We'll start off in the Los Angeles area, then stop in Thousand Oaks and move up to Ventura. Following that will be a trip to the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento.

Stay tuned for tour stops and details to be posted on the Imaginary Worlds Tour page.

If you've read the book and become a fan, please post a review on Amazon.com and/or Goodreads! We'd sure appreciate it.

The Indie Debut Swag Bag on The Write Game!

Five Indie Debut authors are interviewed on The Write Game!

Respond to the interview, add a splash of social media, and WIN a Big Bag O' Swag from Indie Debut including:

A copy of Brigitta of the White Forest

A copy of The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade

A tote bag for The Golden Pathway (I am so addicted to tote bags)

Magnets with cover art from Connection and its sequel Filtration System

Fabulous end of the summer fun for lovers of children's lit.

An Evening at the Lyceum

Have I told you how much I love Christianne's Lyceum? Every city should have one. It's a place for inspiration and discovery through literature for children of all ages.

It's a warm space to have a book launch and to participate in author discussions at their book clubs. Last month I was the "official book" for their 3 & 4th graders' Book Burglars Book Club. Christianne and program assistant (and poet extraordinairre) Laura Farina provided all the fun. I just had to show up, answer questions, eat strawberries, and play White Forest pictionary.

Christianne holds the whiteboard during White Forest Pictionary

The Lyceum folks supplied us with these nifty crossword puzzles . . . well, they actually gave us blank versions which we had to fill in. Yes, including me.

There were two answers I couldn't figure out! But, Christianne said not to worry – most authors can't finish the crossword puzzles for their own books.

The Crown Jewel of the evening was this whimsical poem (below) co-created by everyone there.  The amazing Lauren asked all of us questions about the book then typed up our answers (in a special Lauren-esque kind of way) . I had two kids sign it, in case they get famous some day. Gotta think ahead to my retirement.

And with these precocious ones, I'd say there's a pretty good chance they're going somewhere! They were mighty  clever.