Final Freeeee Webcast Reminder: tomorrow at noon/9 Pacific

The fourth and final free webcast in the Social Media and the Book Industry series that Mark Blevis and I have been offering is tomorrow (Thursday) at 12 noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific. This week's topic is social media success stories (in terms of books and book promotions, that is!).

You can find all the information about the series here. Or you can click here to register. "See" you there!

September's Carnival is Up!

The September Carnival of Children's Literature is up and ready for ya. It's chock full, once again. It's hosted over at Susan Taylor Brown's blog, so once you're done with the carnival, I think you should poke around there, too, because you'll find a lot of great stuff.

I'm gonna find me some kettle corn and have some fun reading. See you there?

It's Library Season!

In the middle of last school year, I attempted to go into retirement as a volunteer librarian. I succeeded for a while, but... well... I'm baaaaaaaaaack. It's unlikely I'll ever put in as many hours in the job as I once did (and as it needs), but budgets being what they are, the gig is gonna remain a volunteer position for some time. This year, there should be plenty of help, however. Or so I hope!

The year started off we me needing a short, simple, fun book, and I grabbed John Stadler's Wilson and Miss Lovely (thanks, Amanda!). It started the year off with as a rousing success.

This being Banned Book Week, I've got some ideas for a read-aloud... though I'll be driven by quality, not by whether a book's been challenged or not.

It's good to be back in swing!

Issues. There are issues.

Yes, it's true - there are issues in the world, and those of us who write for children are faced with wondering how (or sometimes if) we should address them. And which issues, as you can't address them all.

Luckily, many smart minds think about this... and I can link you into a couple conversations with the idea that maybe you'll add your voice, too. Or at least enjoy the thinking!

To start with, over at Chasing Ray, Collen has put up part 7 of her What a Girl Wants series. This post is called Because We Are Not All Rich Girls. It's thought provoking and full of great comments already.

Over at author Mitali Perkin's blog, she approaches a related issue in a post about Consumerism and the YA Novel. Mitali's blog is full or wonderful posts about many topics, by the way, including many about race and culture and writing.

Banned Book Week beings on Saturday... and recently, New York Times bestselling YA author Ellen Hopkins found her books pulled from a school and her school visit canceled. You can read about the situation on her blog, starting here. In a touch of irony, Ellen had penned a poem for Banned Book Week called Manifesto.

There are so many more issues out there we should all be thinking about... and I hope one of these three resonates enough with you to get you to share your thoughts, too.

Webinar Reminder

Tomorrow (Thursday) is part three in the Social Media and the Book Industry series that Mark Blevis and I are doing. This one is all about engaging with social media communities. It's at noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific.

You can get all the information about the series here.

Or you can just click on this registration link.

Hope to "see" you there!

Shel Silverstein and Piles of Books

Betsy Bird, aka Fuse #8, has a great post up at her blog at School Library Journal today featuring, among other things, a video of Shel Silverstein on the Johnny Cash show!

The title of the post alone, taken from the video, should get you over there: Sometimes he shaves his head and wears a beard. Sometimes he shaves his beard and wears his head.

And I also want to shoot you over to The Happy Accident, where I have a post up featuring 14 pictures of people's To-Be-Read piles. If you've got a pile, you might feel better seeing some of these. Or worse, I suppose. I felt better, though, and a real sense of camraderie, too.

A Poetry Window

For Poetry Friday this week (with the links rounded up at Becky's Book Blog), I want to send you to the Poets' Window to take a look at 7 Deadly Sins written by Fassbinder... and all in Fib form.

While the site (and these poems) aren't geared towards kids I love the site's inspiration - poems displayed in the window of a charity bookstore in London - and also, I admit, love seeing how people continue to play with Fibs.

Hope you're all have a lovely Friday, a Happy New Year (if it applies!) and have a good weekend, to boot.

A Webcast Reminder and a Possibly Useful Link

I wanted to plug the (freeeeee) webcasts I'm doing with Mark Blevis (of Just One More Book and much more) since the next one is tomorrow (noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific). This webcast is all about Twitter and the book industry... and I hope folks will find it useful.

Here's the link to all the information about the series and the way to register.

I also went to send you off to an interesting article at Mashable called HOW TO: Write a Novel Using the Web. There are some great resources within the article that I think are useful whether you use them as part of a bigger "write using the web" strategy or not!

What do you think? Any of the links in that article seem helpful to you?

The 3rd Kidlitosphere Conference - You Really Should Go

The 3rd Kidlitosphere Conference is fast approaching - it's October 17th in Washington D.C., and you can check the information about it here. The reduced hotel rate at the Sheraton ends on Wednesday (NOTE: it's been extended!), so now is really the time to make your reservations. And why should you go?

Because, if you are someone who blogs about children's literature, be you author, illustrator, editor, agent, librarian, parent, reviewer, fan, or whomever, you will be among your people - learning more than you expect, creating and cementing friendships and relationships that (at least for me) enrich life, and understanding how we collectively and individually can help ourselves and children's literature via what we do online. Plus there'll probably be cookies!

Not enough? Why not read what Betsy (aka Fuse#8), Jen, Colleen, Sarah, Pam (aka MotherReader), Jules and Eisha and Lee Wind have to say about the Conference (and why you should go).

This Morning I E-mailed My Manuscript Out - a poem for writers

THIS MORNING I E-MAILED MY MANUSCRIPT OUT
by
Gregory K.

This morning, I e-mailed my manuscript out –
Clicked send then I let out a huge, happy shout.
Now that it’s gone, there’s so much I can do:
Like speak to my friends and my family, too!
I’ll do all the dishes. I’ll sweep all the floors.
I’ll visit that place that they call “the outdoors.”
I’ll catch up on reading. A movie sounds good.
I’ll clean off my desktop to check if it’s wood.
I’ll cut back on coffee and eat some real meals.
I’ll see if my legs like how exercise feels.
I do hope I hear ‘bout my manuscript soon,
But I won’t check my inbox... at least until noon.


Elaine has the Poetry Friday Roundup over at the Wild Rose Reader today. It's well worth checking out, as is her blog itself.

If you want to get all my poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

The Attack of the Spammmmmers

Every now and then, I get a rash of spam comments here at GottaBook. If you've ever left a comment here, you'd know that you actually have to type in a verification word, so these spammers have a real person working for 'em.

What amuses me is that the comments they leave are so... uh... not sounding like people this way might talk ever link here maybe... that I cannot figure out how they expect me not to notice and delete.

I'm sure over the 3 1/2 years here, some comments have gotten through, but still.

Ah well, onward! And if you see a spam comment... don't click on the links :-)

#kidlitchat (again!)

Tonight is #kidlitchat on Twitter (9 Eastern/6 Pacific), and if you aren't already joining us there, I highly encourage you to come check it out. Yes, you've probably missed this week, but we're there every week. It's quickly become a highlight for me, and I'd love to see more of y'all there.

If you're wondering what twitter chats are and how they possibly work, Debbie Ridpath Ohi has a great article about them on her Inkygirl.com blog. I highly recommend reading it before jumping in.

Also, I've been saving the transcripts of prior chats. Take a read to see just how much fun they are!

Hope to see you there!

Poetry and Fires

It has been a smoky, hot week here in Los Angeles. I'm lucky not to be affected directly by the flames, though thinking of all the folks I know (and all the people I don't know) who have been impacted still takes up mental space. Ash, unfortunately, takes up lung space, too.

I mention this here on Poetry Friday because I want to send you off GottaBook to read my friend Sara Wilson Etienne's blog entry No One May Ever Have the Same Knowledge Again.

To me, her piece is poetic, in the best sense of the word (a sentiment I see is echoed in the comments there!), even though it's prose. As a bonus,it also talks about one of my favorite, quirky places in Los Angeles: the Museum of Jurassic Technology! I think you'll enjoy the post, so I hope you'll go check it out.

Afterwards, why not head over to Kelly Herold's Crossover blog and check out the Poetry Friday roundup? You might even want to take a gander at all the posts. After all, no one may ever have the same post list again....

Announcing a Free Web Series on Social Media and the Book Industry

I am excited to tell you about a series of free webcasts that Mark Blevis and I will be offering come September.

The series is called How social media can help you sell books: Guidance for the book publishing industry and its stakeholders.

I like Mark's description of what we're offering: a series of FREE webcasts that will give book publishers, publicists, authors, illustrators and enthusiasts social media savvy for outreach and promotion.

In short, each installment will have a different focus and seek to answer the question "Yeah, but how does this help me sell books?"

Here's a brief rundown of the four sessions (with a handy link so you can register now):

September 10 – Finding the Conversation: Who’s talking about you and what they're saying

Understanding search and alerts to monitor the digital conversation. This session will focus on effective use of Google with references to Technorati, Twitter and IceRocket... and, yes, talking about how this can help you sell books.

September 17 – Twitter: More than “What are you doing?”

Exploring why to use Twitter, how to engage and craft your message, how to use hash tags plus a few "aha!" Twitter stories.

September 24 – Bloggers/Podcasters are People, Too: Engaging with the social media community

Ideas and recommendations for meeting, relating to and collaborating with the social media community.

October 1 – Remarkable Uses of the Internet to Promote Books (and the People Behind Them)

Interesting and successful examples of effective book promotion in the digital age.

You can click here to register for the free sessions. And I hope to "see" you there!