Bryce Westervelt's Blog, page 2

100 Days of Penguin No. 17: Magic Beans

Let me let you in on a secret – I have a near endless supply of magic beans.  Not really, but I do have an awesome, awesome wife who brings me magic beans.

M&M’s mean – crunch time for Bryce!

That’s right.  I got the last book (Penguins, Penguins All Around) done thanks in large part to my addiction to the magic children’s book power provided M&M’s.   Yep, that’s right!  Lisa bought me two bags as I hit crunch time and they helped push me over the finish line.

So here we are again.   A first draft of the Halloween book done (just some minor tweaks to go) and a mountain of illustrations to complete.   And when I say mountain – I mean Everest!

If you have read the books, the illustrations have become increasingly complex as I build confidence in both my drawing by my tracing and converting the sketches digitally.    I drew some pretty cool architecture in Italy in book 3.   I drew about 8 different types of penguins in book 4.

This book is different.  Let me just say this is by far the most imaginative book of the five.   Thank goodness then, that Lisa just bought me two more bags of M&Ms (Mars Chocolate – call me; we’ll talk).

I have my stash of magic beans – let the drawing commence!

100 days of Penguin 15: More questions than answers

Hello Day 15!    There is a ton going on in Pomodoro Penguin land – and a lot of decisions to make about the direction that I am heading.

Hmmmm

First of all, I am thrilled with the release of the new book.   I have even heard from a couple of fans that they are really excited about the 5th book thanks to the special teaser at the end of Penguins, Penguins All Around.

Today marked the third of our weekly worksheets over at PomodoroPenguin.com.  Today was a special word scramble using vocabulary from the new book.   I have a few touch-ups to do to the coloring page and it will be ready for Friday.   It is a special image from the book, but you have to wait until Friday to find out which one.

Yesterday I spent a couple hours in the afternoon playing around with four different pieces of software, some of the book, and a fun script as I made a 54 second video trailer.  Enjoy:

So, all of that sounds good, right?!?  I bet you are wondering what is up with the title of the blog.   To be honest, it has everything to do with print.

I decided months ago that I needed to get a book or books into physical formats sooner rather than later.   The question was how best to go about that.   I think I have finally come to the conclusion that I need to run some sort of Kickstarter project to get the funding I need to get the books into print.

For those of you who don’t know.  I funded the recording of this CD with a Kickstarter project a couple of years ago.

So, the questions are starting to mount and the begin and end with a budget.   Here are my considerations:

Hardcover, paperback or both (and how much this will add to the cost of the project)
One book, two books, or all four.
Whether to try to do the layout design myself or get some help.
What should the timeline for the fundraiser and the finished project be?

To be honest, I am leaning toward doing all four – in paperback.  I am thinking of running the funding campaign before the holidays and then having the books available in print by March (the first anniversary of the digital release of book 1).

Obviously if I do the layout/design work myself there is the cost of the software and the learning curve to getting the layout right.  If I find a way to outsource the layout, how much will this push up the production cost of getting the book(s) into print?

Should I just do books 1 or 1 and 4 first then add the others later?

What should the donation tiers look like?  What is fair to ask people to pay to get a first-edition signed book and to be a part of the official Pomodoro Penguin launch?

There have been plenty of people who have asked in passing whether or not the book will be in print soon.    I think this may be the best way to make this actually happen in a decent time frame… while still churning out the next books in the series digitally and building a core audience.

So, there are a lot of questions to be answered.  I would love to hear your thoughts either here on the blog or over on Facebook.  Let me know what you think about all of this.

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100 Days of Penguin – 14: New Release, New Milestone

Hi everyone.   I took a couple of days off from the blog, but not certainly not from Pomodoro Penguin.  I released the brand new Adventures of Pomodoro Penguin book: Penguins, Penguins All Around.  If you haven’t snagged your copy yet, it is only $0.99 at Amazon… which is a steal.  I can’t guarantee when the price will go up and – though I have it in the KDP select program – it may never go “FREE.”

I am really excited and proud of this fourth book. It is a new concept that I hope to use again in some of the future books – a book within a book.   So, now I have a magic globe to take us places and “books” to teach us “things.”  These are two awesome vehicles/formulas to create stories around.

So, yesterday didn’t just mark the release of a new book, but it also marked two other special milestones for Pomodoro Penguin.   September 23 was the 200th day since the release of the first book.   Who would have thought, right?   Yesterday I also sold my 250th ebook.

Penguins, Penguins All Around is now available for your Kindle, iPad, and Android tablet.

To some 250 might seem like a lot, to others, 250 will look laughable.   To me, it is extremely exciting.  Let me explain.

I have done little to no marketing of the books, I have no physical copies (yet), and I am a complete unknown writer with little to no “platform.”     I am doing all of this on the fly.  I just started a website, Facebook page, and newsletter mailing list for Pomodoro (please visit and subscribe to all three… today is a good time to get on the Penguin Train – as my mother says).

So, let me just say that the awesome friends, family, fans, and complete strangers who have taken a chance on Pomodoro from the start are my heroes.   The support for my little red, pasta-loving friend has been overwhelming.

To me, the first 250 sales are actually the icing on the virtual cake.   It has bought me time to build the mechanism to deliver fun, educational, and “wholesome” entertainment to the most important of us all… our children.

So, enjoy Penguins, Penguins, All Around – and if you haven’t, join in the penguin party.

******

Let me know what you think.   Leave a comment or drop me a line via the feedback form below.  I would love to hear from you.

Singer, Bryce Westervelt is the creator, author and illustrator of the Adventures of Pomodoro Penguin children’s book series.

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100 days of Penguin Nos. 9 and 10: Crunch Time

Ladies, gentlemen, and fine feathered friends.  It is crunch time.    Let me start with a quote from Walt Disney:

It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.

Six or eight months ago, I for one would have never thought I would have a children’s book available on Amazon, yet alone be days away from a fourth.

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Thursday was national “Talk Like a Pirate” day. Pomodoro celebrated as best he could.

Do you know what?   Mr. Disney is right… it is fun to do the impossible.    Just this weekend I have to put the finishing touches on Penguins, Penguins All Around,  make edits to the first three books to reflect the fourth, finish drawing the “sneak preview” of book 5, promote a Facebook event for the book launch.  Make sure that next week’s freebies (books, worksheets, coloring pages) are all set up.

The task seems impossible – and it would be – save for one thing.

I am actually loving what I am doing.

I think that is the key to all  of this.  I love making kids smile (and adults too).  I love drawing.   I really do love teaching without “preaching.”  And do you know what the best part of this is?   I am getting better and better at this.

So, it is time to get back to work – enjoying what I’m doing.    I hope that you have as wonderful, busy, productive, and fun weekend as mine is setting up to be.

100 days of Penguin days 7 and 8 – No rest for the Penguin

No rest for the penguin!  Today is “hump day” and already I am off to a blazing fast start.  I set out to get the 2nd Pomodoro Penguin’s Worksheet Wednesday up and running and that was complete by 10 this morning. 

This is what happens when a Penguin meets a Procrastinator.

Now having accomplished that bit of business.  I need to get back to drawings and layout of book 4 so that it is complete on time.   Yesterday, I was less successful as I played with Pomodoro Penguin memes (and one Opera Gobbler meme that poked fun at Miss Kansas and her attempt at singing opera.  I found it humorous that a turkey – since she is an avid hunter and great with bow and arrow -would offer her voice lessons.)  

I posted it (for about a half hour) and then took it down.   Funny? Yes.   Sending a good message to kids to pick on Miss Kansas?  Probably not.

So, what have I learned about my “Worksheet Wednesday” prep?   For one, I can actually do a good chunk of it ahead of time.  For example:

I can design the worksheet days/weeks in advance.
I can load the sheet into my Amazon cloud storage account whenever I want
I can use the bit.ly link shortener to track my link.
I can compose the email to subscribers in advance so I just hit send on the day of.
I can also compose the blog post as a draft and then hit send at the same time I send out the email blast. 

This just leaves me having to do a couple of things the day of the “new” worksheet or coloring page.  I have to update the archive, post the sheet to TeachersPayTeachers, and share the pages on social media like Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.      

It also allows me time to get a second set of eyes on stuff, as I sent out my email blast with a typo in the FIRST SENTENCE.   This never fails, even after reading the darned thing 5 times and emailing “test” copies to myself a couple times. 

Oh well…live and learn.  The next one will be better.    

100 Days of Penguin No. 6: Nuts and Bolts

Not much new news here.   I spent the day today trying to get a mailing list issue solved. (I think I have a solution for now).   I planned and plotted out the next 6 days… now I just need to execute.  And the big news of the day:

Today we set a date for the release of Pomodoro Penguin: Penguins, Penguin All Around.    It will be available in digital form on Monday, September 23rd.    There will be more information forthcoming in the next couple of days.   I plan to make next Monday and Tuesday Penguin-palooza….

Coming soon to a Kindle (or iPad or Android tablet) near you!

100 D of P: I got a fun gift

Welcome to day five of 100 Days of Penguin.  Not too much going on today on the Pomodoro Penguin land.   It is Sunday, after all, and there was plenty of other “work” to be done.  Between my church gig singing, a trip to the mall to try and find a gown for my wife’s upcoming orchestra concert and being home to say goodbye to the last two “rescue kitties,” thing were eventful.

My first ever penguin gift…. this special (and red) iPhone case.

Still, yesterday, my wife did present me with a rather fun gift…. a red penguin iPhone 5 case.  I still think that Pomodoro is cuter.

Busy day tomorrow with continued illustrations for book 4 and the first “Meet the Character Monday” at PomodoroPenguin.com.    Should be a great start to the week.

 

100 D of P, Day 4: Promotions, Colorado Floods, and a Review

Today is day 4 of my 100 Days of Penguin challenge.    I have been plenty busy working on book No. 4 which is only about 7-10 days away from being complete, setting up a big promotion for book 3 (which I will have more details about as the days get closer) and playing with my coloring sheets and some other random drawings for the Pomodoro Penguin Facebook page.

Stay safe and dry friends dealing with the Colorado floods.

Busy isn’t even the half of it.  The thing is, when you love what you are doing – you don’t mind putting in a ton of hours (and drinking a ton of coffee).    Probably the biggest issue I have at the moment is staying organized doing all of this work by myself.

I did pay to outsource some of the promotional grunt work last night.  This will be a test to see how much of a return on my investment that is.   Clearly, the time savings and the ability to cast a wider net may be worth the very small cost.

Yesterday, I played around with doing some non-book related cartoons.   One I drew was in honor of the fine people of Colorado who are dealing with rain, floods, mudslides, etc.

This morning I also noticed that “Pomodoro Penguin Makes a Friend” got another awesome review:

Very sweet story with a positive subliminal message behind it. I love this for my two daughters. Such an adorable friendly story

Who knew that there were “subliminal messages” in the Pomodoro Penguin books!?!  I think that what she is getting at is that there are plenty of teachable moments and an overall moral to the story – without beating you (or your kids) over the head with it.   I have tried to make sure the book doesn’t come off as preachy.    From the look of things  - I succeeded with this mother!

 

 

100 Days of Penguin, Day 3: Go Boldly Where No Penguin Has Gone Before

Today, I go boldly where no penguin has gone before.   

Well, that isn’t exactly the truth.   Today I just go boldly into the land of Free coloring pages for the kids.   (Go click the link, get your free coloring page and then come back and join us – I’ll wait)

Okay, welcome back.  Things are busy around here in Penguinland.   Today I continue illustrations for the next book.   I am trying to incorporate all 17 different types of penguins in the next book (18 if you count little red penguins that don’t exist in the real world, but they exist in my world).

I am also trying out different delivery systems for my coloring sheets and plan to incorporate a way to make sure you get your pages every week via email (seems to be  the easiest things to set up).

So, I will keep this short, because day #3 is a busy one!    

100 Days of Penguin, Day 2: Speed bump, what speed bump?

Sometimes there are speed bumps in the road.  This week’s speed bump came in the form of a check engine light.  Just as I was excited to tell my wife that I was going “All Penguin, All the Time,” she came in from teaching to announce that there was a problem with the car.

This moose need ears. He will be puce in Pomodoro Penguin book No. 5 The Halloween Costume Conundrum.

Stuff like this happens.  You deal with it and you move on. Clearly, this is a huge inconvenience both timing and financially, but the more quickly we get the car fixed (hopefully it is something minor) the more quickly we can move forward.

Needless to say, that news took the wind out of my sails last night.    Adding to it, my Rays came back last night only to suffer yet another crushing, 10th inning meltdown at the hands of the Red Sox.

Last night was, in a word, sucko.

Well… what does 100 Days of Penguin, day 2 have in store?  Having created coloring pages for “Coloring Page Fridays” for both tomorrow and next Friday, as well as a cute little maze for next week’s “Worksheet Wednesday,” I am ahead of the game.  I only have two more to make for the remainder of September.

Today I need to continue to illustrate “Penguins, Penguins All Around.”   It is safe to say that I am about 24 hours or so away from having those drawings completed.   Next is the task of laying out the book and doing a final edit.

I’m making no guarantees, but it looks like this will take up the majority of the next few days wrapping up book four.  This is good, because book #5 is halfway written and needs to be completed soon if it is going to get out in time for Halloween.

On a side note, I leave you with the sketch of a Moose, who will become a minor character in the Pomodoro Penguin series starting in book five.  He is the mailman!  (Note to self… give the moose ears!)