The Venerable and the New...

This week the wonderful Beverley Cleary celebrated 94 years on this earth. 

In a School Library Journal Interview she reflected on her career and how she got started. (for those of you who need a little memory jogging...Ramona Quimby...Henry, Beezus, Ribsy, Ralph...)

When Beverly got started in 1950...books for kids were just moving out of the earnest educational tomes to teach the little savages into fun pacy romps that reflected the child’s world and were entertaining.

I wroteHenry Huggins (HarperCollins, 1950) because when I was a children’s librarian, there was almost nothing contemporary for boys. A little boy changed my life when he said, “Where are the books about kids like us?” All my books are still in print. 

Thanks Beverly for picking up your pen to fill the gap.

So 60 years into the future...this week the i-Pad launched and Publishers Weekly immediately picked up that 6 of the top 10 iPad apps downloaded were children’s books. This will be the game changer for children’s publishing. The most popular of the apps downloaded were picture books!

On launch day last Saturday, Apple sold more than 300,000 iPads—and users downloaded more than one million apps and more than 250,000 ebooks from the iBookstore. Parents immediately started snapping up picture book apps from Apple's online store. In fact, children's stories held six of the top 10 paid iPad book-app sales spots as of press time. Typical prices for children's book apps range anywhere from $2.99 for The Cat in the Hat to $9.99 for Miss Spider's Tea Party.

Here is a little video showing how Alice looks on the iPad.

On the marketing front Thomas McMahon of Online Marketing Blog has a great post on how to promote new blogs which can be used for other social media sites.

Darcy Pattison has a brilliant post on ten social media goals for author promotion here is number three...(It was hard to choose which one to give you a taster they are all so good.)

Long-term relationships versus short-term profits
This is an easy one for authors. We want long-term relationships with people who are interested in the stories we write, the passions that fill our days and our books. Those relationships may result in sales; but we also care about deep conversations about our passions, speaking engagements, connecting with kids, learning more about our craft and so on. Relationships – YOU – are important to me!

There is a UK website Smories offering a chance to authors to send in their up to 750 word stories for selection to be filmed and made into a downloadable app...The top five voted on by kids win substantial money and you keep all the rights. Open to submission by email from all English speaking countries.

Over at Casey McCormicks blog there is a big discussion about YA needing a love interest...and how much of a love interest should there be? and What about Boys YA? Do they care? Will they be turned off or on....Lots of comments and juicy discussion.

Over on Craicerplus (my amplify page.)

There is a link to an article on Wuthering Heights and the Twilight effect.

There is a link to brilliant (must read) article on pitching from Alan Rinzler.

And a link to an article on BlogTalkRadio. How to turn your blog into a radio station for free.

So reflecting on the last 60 years and looking forward to the next 60 years in children’s publishing...

Anyone got any thoughts as to what the child’s book will look like then?

maureen

P.S. Last week was my two year blogging anniversary....who’d a thought...Cheers Fifi.

Using Twitter

Today is Twitter Thursday. Yes this blog post has Twitter as the main theme. 

I was sceptical about Twitter but I am beginning to change my mind. If you regard Twitter as a tool and use it as such then it can be a very useful tool in the marketing tool box.

I use Twitter to find information to share with you...tricky huh. I follow leaders in the fields that I am interested in. They tweet their blog post titles and if I see anything of interest I go and have a look.

My own blog posts get posted to Twitter for my followers. Anything that goes up on my Amplify page also gets posted to Twitter.

I don’t use Twitter to talk about myself or what I’m doing...I find Twitter streams on professional sites can be full of silly minutiae of some people’s lives and that detracts from the professional image that these sites want to portray. If you have a personal blog then it is appropriate to put a twitter stream in there.

So from the Twitter feed today....

Tony Eldridge of Blogmarketing tips for authors has an interview with Melissa Giovagnoli where she shares 3 internet marketing tips. and it is no surprise that Melissa mentions Twitter and what you can do with it.

 Now Tony is the Twitter King and he has previously posted a great article from Penny Sansevieri which had a huge list of twitter tips for author marketing.

Margaret Atwood is a fan of Twitter and she recently wrote a very funny article for the Guardian newspaper about how she came to be involved...of course there are a few digs at her publishers on why she chose to do her own website. Margaret is all about communication.

So what's it all about, this Twitter? Is it signalling, like telegraphs? Is it Zen poetry? Is it jokes scribbled on the washroom wall? Is it John Hearts Mary carved on a tree? Let's just say it's communication, and communication is something human beings like to do.

Gail Carson Levine author of numerous best selling children’s books has a great  blog which I pop in to from time to time...this week she is looking at ideas and where they come from if you are stuck.

I found this a great read and very pertinent to me as I am writing a chapter for a fun project that several writers are involved with...It is just early stages but the possibilities of sending characters on a wild goose chase and also authors as they have to follow on in their own chapters is irresistible and Gail’s blog post fits right into this spirit.

People have built on stories forever. Shakespeare did it. The playwright George Bernard Shaw did it. I do it (to put myself in exalted company) when I adapt fairy tales for my own use.

Over on my Amplify page there is a link to an article about using book trailers to grab agents attention.

A link to a report on a Publishers Weekly panel where they looked at what teens are reading now...fat vampires?

And a link to a comprehensive article on the recent Bologna book fair - what publishers want and what is selling.

Spinning Gold News...Adele Broadbent is launching her book (which was picked up at the Spinning Gold conference) next month.

Tonight Mandy Hager, who launched her first book in her trilogy, The Crossing, at Spinning Gold, launches the second book at The Children’s Book Shop Kilbirnie Wellington.

And in pure gossip Spinning Gold number 2 may be held in Auckland...

Just finally Justine Larbalesteir is having a moment about why reviewers are saying a book obviously set in NZ is Australian and rightly so...the comments are interesting and thought provoking...my favourite was the comment that had one poor US citizen confused -isn’t New Zealand Middle Earth ?

maureen
pic is alien twitter bird...yes i know geek strikes again