Children's Festival of Reading & BOOKMARKS!

Look what I've been busy with...

I finally made bookmarks for my eBook, Casey Chameleon, published by Flying Books, 2012 AND a website (still in a work-in-progress)! I've been thinking about doing this for a while now. I have to thank Donna Martin for giving me the push. More on Donna later. But first, a little about my bookmarks: 

Making the Bookmarks
I went with Gotprint.com from the recommendation of the lovely ladies at the Children's Book Hub.

Here's the lowdown:
Specs: 2 x 8 bookmarks, gloss on both sides, rounded corners, economy shipping
Quantity: 250 bookmarks
Cost: $39.36

Quality: Excellent

I recommend them.  If you are comparison shopping, another company I recommend is Overnight Prints. I requested their free samples and I was impressed. They cost a tad bit more, but they offer sales on occasion and when they do, their prices are comparable. 

As for the design, I recommend Alison K. Hertz. She designed a number of our picture book author's bookmarks and postcards. I happened to design my own before I knew of Alison's services. Since I spent hours on it, I didn't want to throw my hard work away. I think it came out pretty good considering I did it myself. On a writer's budget, sometimes you have to go DIY.

Childlren's Festival of Reading
The Children's Festival of Reading is coming up on May 18, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee and Donna Martin is hosting a booth.  She is offering a free giveaway for the over 15, 000 families that will be attending.  Donna has graciously opened up her project to our writing community to help us promote our books in the hopes of instilling the love for reading. It's a win-win situation! 

"Proceeds from the festival will benefit Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which fights against illiteracy by donating free books every month to children ages NB to 5-years-old."

I couldn't find gummy chameleons so the lizards should suffice

Since I have an eBook, I can only handout autographed bookmarks with a QR code directing readers to my publisher's site. I am in the process of working out a way to offer the eBooks for free for a limited time or quantity.  I'll let you in on the details as soon as I figure it out.   

In the meantime, I am on my way to the post office to mail the bookmarks with gummy treats to Donna. The Children's Festival of Reading is a wonderful event. I wish I could be there.

If you are interested in donating to the festival, visit Donna Martin for more information!

SMILE by Raina Telgemeier: A Book Review & Author Visit

Earlier this year, I picked up a book at my local book store titled, SMILE, by Raina Telgemeier.  At first glance, the standard yellow happy face on the book cover seemed ordinary.  But when I looked closer, the smile was not so traditional.  This particular happy face wore braces!

Raina with some of her characters
 in her book: The real Dr. Dragoni & Jaime

I flipped through the pages of the book and quickly realized that it was a graphic novel.  And who could resist browsing through colorful illustrations.  The familiar scenes caught my attention.  I recognized highway 380, the apartment complex, the view of San Francisco, and the dental building.  "Hey, I work in that building!"  I proudly announced.  I even recognized the dentist and his staff.

SMILE is a true story about Raina's dental fiasco during her preteen years.  But it's more than that.  It's about adolescent life, the problems she faced and the lessons she learned.  Her story is funny and sweet.  Yet is covers some serious issues that teens face like acceptance, love, and friendship.  It is a must read for middle and high schoolers.  Raina's illustrations are wonderful.  She really conveyed the emotions of her characters through their expressions well.

When I heard that Raina planned on visiting her former orthodontist, I just had to be there to meet her.  She was so gracious to do a private book signing.

The advice given to artists/writers is, "Don't quit your day job."  Well, that's why I'm still a dental hygienist working in the dental building of Raina's former orthodontist.  And that's how I got to meet Raina Telgemeier!