[Nifty Stuff] Book Cover Cookies

My husband is the best.

The box was marked perishable–always a good sign!

Each cookie is wrapped individually.

So cute!

Not sure why the yellow LEAF CAN BE… title didn’t show up very clearly! But it was still fun to see the gorgeous cover on a cookie.

I was surprised at how well all the details of STAMPEDE came out.

15% of proceeds benefit a cause of your choice–Randy picked education/literacy causes.

My happy plate of cookies.

A box arrived Friday marked “Perishable.” Oh, that can only be good things. Turns out Randy ordered me cookies (cinnamon shortbread!) from Baking for Good, an online bakery that creates treats and donates some proceeds to the cause of your choice. So check out the Snapshot Cookies Randy got me. It was a box of 12, with 4 each of BookSpeak, A Leaf Can Be…, and Stampede. And, just so I could give you a full report, I just ate my first one. Oh. My. God. Cinnamony, crumbly, frosted. What more could you ask for? Writing for kids just got even sweeter! As for Randy, he couldn’t get any sweeter. I am so blessed to have a husband who supports and encourages my children’s writing career in so many creative and appreciated ways.

[Tools I Use] Your Book in 25 Words or Less!

My Writing Book of the Day: How to Query an Agent or Editor (Kindle ebook), by Lisa Bullard and Laura Purdie Salas. Quick quote about writing the hook portion of your query letter: “What I discovered is that you cannot possibly describe an entire book in that amount of time. So don’t even try. Figure out one or two key details that grab a listener’s attention: a surprising fact, an amazing detail, an unexpected character quirk. Tap into your own passion for what you’ve written.” (I’m sharing a favorite writing book every day for a bit in case you need ideas for your holiday gift list–or want to buy a gift for yourself!)

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I’m sharing the above book today because I’ve been surprised at how often I need to use (and still struggle with) the skills of condensing and pitching my manuscripts/books to people. I have an agent, so I don’t write query letters per se very much. But I really end up pitching my manuscripts to her, too. That thing where a writer just sends something “I totally did not intend to be published”–you know, the piece she wrote “just out of frustration, for laughs, and then my agent/editor said, Let’s make this a book!” Yeah, that. That does not happen to me. When I can really capture the essence of my work in an incredibly brief sentence or two in a way that shows why it’s appealing, what it can give the reader, and what makes it unique, I make my agent more excited about a manuscript. I also am learning (slowly) to use that hook when I’m at a conference and am called on to “just say a couple of words about your book.” I have been caught unprepared for this too many times. Sure, I can describe my book. But telling about my book and giving a juicy tidbit that makes the listener eager to go read it are two different things. Recently, in this situation, I said something like,

“BookSpeak is a collection of poems about books and reading, and many of the poems are written in the voices of parts of the books themselves.”

Yawn.

I should have said something along the lines of, “Books have a lot to say, and not just through their written stories. BookSpeak‘s 21 poems celebrate reading and take you behind the scenes to share books’ fears, pet peeves, parties, and adventures.”

That’s not perfect or anything, but it’s definitely better! Whether you use the How to Query book or some other resource, and whether you’re even writing query/cover letters regularly basis, know that the need for understanding the hook of your book and having an elevator speech ready to go extends well beyond just the cover letter. This has been a slow realization for me–hopefully you’ll be better prepared than I was!

Poetry Friday is Here! The Watch That Ends the Night

Poetry Friday is here, and I’m starting off with a quick favor request (ack–that is probably not the proper hostess way to begin!). If you’ve read BookSpeak! Poems About Books, would you be willing to go to its Amazon page and either rate it via stars and/or write a brief review (even just a sentence or two helps)? It’s only got 3 reviews, and more reviews/ratings/Likes help it show up higher in search results. Which means more people would at least see it as a reading possibility. Your honest opinion/feedback is really appreciated. I know life is incredibly busy!

Now, onto the party! I’m excited to share one of the best novels in verse I’ve read in ages: The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic (Candlewick, 2011), by Allan Wolf.

Wow–this is a stunning novel in verse that traces the Titanic voyage through the eyes of 23 people, the ship rat, plus the iceberg that Titanic hit. There are the captain, shipping executives, millionaires, crew members, children, adults, teens, steerage passengers…Many of them have secrets, and we get to see right into their hearts. Some of them surprised me with their callousness, but most surprised me with their bravery and generosity. Even though you start this book knowing the Titanic sinks, you still are caught in its grip because you don’t already know what happens to most of the characters portrayed here. Most of the characters are real people or composites of real people. Excellent end matter lets you know exactly what is fact and what is fiction.

One of my favorite characters is the iceberg. It’s a cold-hearted villain (ha!) and adds so much menace. The first poem in the iceberg’s voice ends:

Since then I’ve traveled southward many weeks,
for now that my emergence is complete,
there is a certain ship I long to meet.

Chills.

Here’s another portion of an iceberg poem:

Could Fate provide a better place to hide?
(See now how Fate is on the Iceberg’s side?)
Titanic will be, too–if all goes well.
Hear how her engines hum across the swells.
See now her razor bow heave into view,
cleaving the sea’s smooth countenance in two.
I see her, too, but she does not see me.
The lookouts on her mast can’t make me out.
We’ve never been so close, my little fish.
Make haste, now. Hurry. Bring their hearts to me.
And do let’s get acquainted as you wish.
Shhh. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick…

There are so many stunning poems in here. Lots of powerful metaphors, great repetition, all while being very accessible and easy to read. My only very occasional gripe was when a rhyme scheme would suddenly seem to appear midway through a poem, or near the end. That would make me stop and go back to see if I missed earlier end rhymes. Usually the answer was no (these poems are free verse, by and large), and I didn’t care for the effect of mixing rhyming verse and free verse within the same poem. This happened in only a tiny portion of the poems, though. Highly recommended–I couldn’t put this book down!

(Review copy from the library)

Please click on Mr. Linky below to leave your links to your Poetry Friday posts and to see the links to visit all the Poetry Friday posts. And of course, please feel free to also leave a comment on the excerpts I’ve shared here from The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic.

Click on Mr. Linky above for the links, but I’ll also be rounding up/categorizing here as I read everyone’s posts throughout the day.

Original Poems (Yay!)

#1 – Vikram Madan is in with a wonderful “villain-elle,” a villanelle from the bad guy’s point of view. And check out his art, too!

#3 – Violet Nesdoly is in with the comforting “Broken Things,” though the art does creep me out a little! Also, Violet has a poem up today on YourDailyPoem.com. Congratulations, Violet!

#4 – Ed DeCaria (of the famous bracketed Poetry Madness event) has a funny shape poem up. C’mon, you KNOW you held your breath through tunnels while chewing gum and being tickled–right?

#8 – Oh, my! Wait until you hear what happens at the “Dragon’s Picnic,” by Renee LaTulippe! Very funny poem, and the cutest dragon art ever.

#9 – Charles Ghigna shares some autumn/Halloween books. Follow the Halloween Night link to see that book on Amazon. Click to look inside and check out “Secret List.” It’s the list every kid mentally makes before Halloween!

#11 – Tabatha is experimenting with Tolkien’s Black Speech, the language he created for Lord Sauron. The result is a really thoughtful poem!

#16 – Heidi shared so much of herself in “Tying the Knot.” I am not usually a fan of longer poems, but I am a fan of this one!

#18 – Betsy gives us part of a Roethke poem and her own related complete poem, full of pond, bird, and mystery.

#19 – Liz Steinglass shares a poem for grown-ups this week–one with the concrete and abstract woven together beautifully.

#21 – Iza Trapani offers up a shocking poem about her exhibitionist vegetables! /

#23 – Irene Latham’s haunting war nonet reminds me a little of the iceberg’s voice in the selections I shared–even though the imagery here is all dry and dusty and rough. Beauteous and scary.

#28 – Joyce Ray’s Mr. Linky link isn’t working for me, so just in case that’s true for you, at Musings, Joyce is sharing a lovely poem honoring St. Hildegard. I love when history inspires poems, and when poetry helps me learn/feel something new.

#32 – Cathy shares a desert-y poem inspired by a very cool piece of sculpture.

#34 – Joanna shares the V, W, and X (yes, X) poems from her A-Z Endangered Species Haiku series. A very cool project!

#36 – Joy Acey is in with a fun clarinet poem, which she says she researched and then didn’t really need any of her research in the poem itself. I think that’s often the very best way to use research. Just background, mood-maker.

#37 – Matt Forrest Esenwine gives us an untitled sonnet about fall, with the beautiful line: Now sullen limbs hang low, with fingers crack’d. Ooh, how could you stop reading there?

#47 – Elaine Magliaro is back! She’s in with a mask poem about one of my favorite autumn things. Hint: Honk!

#41 – Beth answers the question, “Why write?” And this answer should be hung on every classroom wall.

#42 – Lorie Ann Grover is in with a slightly menacing haiku!

#49 – Jeanne Poland shares a fruit fly poem. Yes, fruit fly. I LOVE seeing the wide variety of poems we’re all sharing. That makes Poetry Friday so much fun!

Great Poems by Other Folks

#2 – Robyn Hood Black is in with a gorgeous excerpt from St. Francis’ Canticle of the Sun.

#6 – Diane Mayr shares a Robert Penn Warren poem that combines geese and Story. What could be better? (Geese honking overhead is one of my favorite autumn noises.)

#25 – Fats Suela shares an amazing Neil Gaiman poem that he wrote for someone who wanted a poem tattooed on his back! The tattoo? Eh. But the poem? Wow.

#10 – Diane Mayr, at yet another blog:>), shares Carl Sandburg’s “Fog,” plus a video.

#11 – Linda Baie introduces a new-to-me poet, Ben Mirov, and shares the non-traditional ”Black Glass Soliloquy.” It’s unusual, and I hope you’ll share your reaction to it. I’m curious:>)

#14 – Laura Shovan shares stuff I didn’t know about poet Tony Medina, plus a great poem about Harlem.

#15 – Carol plus Douglas Florian plus pirates–Ahoy, mateys–Get yer scurvy-ridden bones over there!

#24 – Jama is also sharing Douglas’ new book! The first two lines of the first poem she shared made me snort my Diet Coke!

#33 – And Douglas Florian himself has a poem up by Mary Mapes Dodge. I love a poet with a wry sense of humor–so Dodge and Floridan both have me won over!

#17 – Mary Lee shares a beautiful Wordsworth poem, but her post itself is even MORE beautiful than the poem.

#22 – Katya has a wonderful Eve Merrium poem up. I feel calmer just for having read this 15-second beauty.

#30 – Karen Edmisten shares a Carl Dennis poem about…well, about a daughter, but so much more. I rarely click through and read long poems, because I like short ones. But this one is worth every line. This ode to imagination and generosity of spirit just made my day!

#31 – Andromeda shares a new picture book collection that all the little builders in your life will love.

#38 – Tara has an Elizabeth Carlson poem that is funny and accepting and is just what I needed to read.

#40 – Julie Larios gives us a James Arthur poem about winter and night and a stranded moon…And Julie helps us read that poem a little more closely and learn from it.

#48 – Janet Squires has J. Patrick Lewis’ Please Bury Me in the Library for us today!

#46 – Catherine Johnson is in with a funny Thanksgiving poem, just in time for Canada’s Thanksgiving holiday. I can especially relate to the last two lines!

#43 – Readertotz shares a beautifully-sung rendition of Goodnight Moon.

How-To and Process Posts

#2 – Make sure to check out the link to Robyn Hood Black’s column on writing and submitting haiku for publication (this link isn’t in Mr. Linky). You’ll find the link to that column at the end of her Poetry Friday post. I’ll be going back to read that one once I’m caught up here!

#5 – Wow. Check out Diane Mayr’s fascinating post about the Spark challenge and the very cool interaction between her and PF regular Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, leading to this lovely art/poetry piece that Diane shares.

#7 – And look at this William Faulkner quotation that Diane shares, which perfectly defines the job and special talent of a poem:>)

#20 – Maria shares the most wonderful story about what happened when she had to skip Poetry Friday in her classroom. Don’t miss it!

#26 – Sylvia offers up a fabuloso list of autumn and Halloween poetry books. Educators, don’t miss this list!

#26 – Sylvia and Janet (that’s Vardell and Wong), the masterminds of the Poetry Friday Anthology, share the beginning of a terrific Michael Rosen poem, plus easy Common Core-related activities to go along with it. (This book is a treasure for teachers/librarians!)

#29 – Amy at the Poem Farm is sharing an original poem, and I love it! But I think the real treasure in her posts is always for teachers/students, as she shares basically a whole intimate poetry lesson with every poem. Amy-azing!

#39 – Go fill out Ed’s pop quiz–and don’t lie!

#45 – Jill Esbaum has a great post on using rhythm in rhyming picture books. Aspiring picture book writers, this one’s for you:>)

And don’t forget to rate BookSpeak, if you’re willing. Thank you, and Happy Poetry Friday!

[Writer's Life] I Learn My Lesson…Again

A couple of weeks ago, I spent the day at the Minnesota State Fair. I was the Homegrown Author of the day in the Alphabet Forest, a super cool area full of alphabet and literacy activities for kids. So much hard work goes into this on the part of the creators, the sponsors, the volunteers, and the visiting authors–and families love it! But I screwed up in my choice of activity. Sigh.

I created and brought boxes full of (expensive) fans (anything on a stick is a bit hit at the Fair).

The idea was that kids would spin the poetry wheel and get a random word. Then they would draw a word ticket out of the word bag. Then they would brainstorm and come up with a metaphor linking the two nouns.

Then they would decorate the back of the fan, writing out their metaphor and coloring and stickering the fan, like my samples here.

That was the idea.

I knew my activity would work best for upper elementary. And I should have changed plans. Because my experience has been that every public event I’ve been at, regardless of what age organizers say to plan for, I end up with mostly pre-schoolers or even toddlers. Knowing that, I should have planned a more basic, more visual activity. I don’t know why I have to re-learn this point at every book fair, festival, or bookstore event I do. Sigh.

90% of my kids were 5 or younger. Many were only 2. So my writing activity basically devolved into just coloring and decorating fans. Kids who were old enough did write a sentence describing their word, and they had fun spinning the wheel, coloring the fans, and doing foam stickers. Man, did they love the foam stickers. So, that was good. At least they had fun, like these two cuties below.

But I missed a good opportunity to connect with kids and help them connect with one of my books specifically. Next time, I will do better. And if I mention an upcoming public event, please remind me of this post!

Visit CLN’s site (they are a main sponsor of the Alphabet Forest) to see loads of Alphabet Forest pictures!

A Laptop Can Be… (Creating a Custom Laptop Skin)

My laptop has been disintegrating the past few months, and I just got a new one. My husband got it all set up and then surprised me with a laptop skin of the gorgeous cover art (by Violeta Dabija) from my newest book, A LEAF CAN BE…. I shared pix on Facebook and got a lot of questions about how he did this, so I said I’d share a blog post about it.

Randy used Skinit.com to custom create this. He said he looked at GelaSkins, too, but with Skinit, he could just choose the model laptop I have (you can make skins for iPods, phones, tablets, laptops, etc., plus car decals, wall decals–just about everything!) and they have a template for it. That way the skin is precisely the right size with little holes for the manufacturer’s raised logo and any other obstructions that might be on your particular device. Very cool.

So, he described how he did it, and I also went to the Skinit site and created another project for practice. Here are the basic steps:

Decide what image you want to use. Randy needed a horizontally-oriented image because a laptop is horizontal. If you are doing a skin for an iPhone or something, then vertical might be better. Randy decided to use the art from LEAF because he knows how much I adore it. The cover itself is square, but Randy could see that he’d be able to take a horizontal slice of it and have it still be wonderful.

Use hi-res art, if possible. The impact of your image will be demolished if it’s fuzzy and/or pixelated. If you’re using an image from your book/cover, ask the artist for permission and request a hi-res file. I have permission from all my illustrators to use book images for promotional materials. And what cool promotion this is! I’ve only taken my laptop out in public a couple times so far, but in both instances, people have commented on the skin and I’ve told them about A LEAF CAN BE…

Once you have your hi-res image, go to Skinit.com. First, select your device. Click on Laptop skins. Then Sort by Brand. Find your brand–mine was HP. Then scroll through the choices and find your exact model. So whatever it is you want to make a skin for, pick it from the choices. Then click on Create Your Own (it was in the left sidebar for me).

Next, click on Images. Navigate to find the image on your computer that you want to use, and choose it. Then use the really simple on-screen tools at Skinit to size your image and figure out which portion will look best on your skin. It’s so nice not to have to figure out dimensions and create the image in an image editing program like Photoshop (ahem, Facebook headers, I’m glaring at you). You just do it right there on the Skinit website. Just play around with it and try not to cut any major characters in half:>) To the right of the tool you’ll see a window that shows exactly how your skin would look. And during this process, Skinit will tell you if your image is not hi-res enough to print beautifully.

Next, click on Text. I’ve used LEAF cover art for some other promotional materials, like postcards and notecards, sometimes with and sometimes without the actual title and text from the cover. Randy decided against using any text because it looked too much like an ad. He wanted to make me something beautiful and striking, and he did. (I smile every time I look at it.) If you don’t use any title text, I recommend adding a small copyright symbol and the artist’s name along one edge of the image. I always have to go to Word to create the text I want so I can make a copyright symbol, which I only know how to do by using Insert>Symbol in Word. Then copy your text into the Text tool and choose your font, color, size, etc. Drag and drop to move it to exactly where you want it on the skin. NOTE: Do not use the forward and back buttons on your browser during the skin creation process or you’ll lose everything you’ve done so far (though the program does Auto-Save and I was able to get mine back–after my minor heart attack).

When you think you’re happy, click on Preview. If you’re still happy, then you Add to Cart and you’re all set to go.

Oh, one more thing. Once you have it completely ready, open a new browser Tab or Window and search on “skinit.com coupons.” Type in the coupon code (you can often find 20% off at retailmenot.com and then check out. It’s that easy.

Randy ordered it (not quite $35 shipped after coupon) on a Thursday and it came on Monday, all glossy and gorgeous!

Do you remember getting Barbie motor homes or GI Joe tanks when you were a kid, and the plastic casing was there but you peeled off stickers to create the windshield, doors, decorations or camouflage, etc.? That’s what this was like. It came on a big sheet. Peeling it off and applying it was a little bit of trial-and-error, but you can pull it off and reposition it. After having it on for a week, the few tiny bubbles have worked themselves out and it looks like it’s actually printed directly on my laptop.

It’s just the coolest thing! I’m pondering doing something similar for my iPhone. I’m clumsy and must use a case, but I’m wondering about a printed case. I don’t know whether there is such a thing in my price range, but I might just have to go investigate:>)

Anyway, if you’re interested, give it a try. I’d love to hear about it/see pictures if any of you give this a try.

Where I Am

How many New York Times best-selling authors do you know who have based their online world on promoting OTHER writers? Cynthia Leitich Smith of Cynsations is the one I’ve always admired. And I’m amazed at how much Cyn accomplishes–it’s like she has 34-hour days or something. I’m proud to be featured on her site this week, being interviewed by very funny children’s writer Kate Hosford. The post is all about poetry, rhyming nonfiction, writing, getting feedback, getting published, promoting your work, etc. If you have a few minutes, I hope you’ll check it out!

Getting Crafty With Promo Items (BookSpeak luggage tags)

I’ve blogged recently about promo items I’ve been creating through Vistaprint.com (note: that is an affiliate link for me–please only use this link if I’m giving you helpful information!), and I thought I’d share how I made the luggage tags that I’ll be including in the swag bag for my table mates at the Children Literature Network Books for Breakfast event this Saturday. I don’t really do crafts, but it was fun making these. They’d be too time-consuming and expensive to do for huge crowds (like I ever have huge crowds), but they work well, I think, for a little trinket.

(I’d really like to come up with some other paper-based items that are actually useful that I could figure out how to re-create as promo items. I love the luggage tag Sylvia Vardell made for me, and every time I travel and see that tag, I’m reminded of how much fun the Texas Library Association Poetry Roundup was and what a great poetry advocate she is. So how cool if you can make things for people that remind them of you and your books, right?)

I stole the idea from a luggage tag Sylvia Vardell made for me when I participated in the Poetry Roundup at TLA in 2010.

First, I bought some scrapbooking papers that used text in them or reminded me of the colors/design sensibility of BookSpeak!

I ordered biz cards with my “Book Plate” poem on them.

I cut the papers into shape, copying Sylvia’s sample:>)

Part 2: Author Promo Materials for the Design-Challenged

Yesterday, I shared the promo materials I made for an upcoming CLN event. Today, I’ll share the materials I made in my next order.

I’m doing a storytime at The Red Balloon, a fabulous children’s bookstore in St. Paul. It’s in February for I Love to Read month, and I’ll be featuring BookSpeak! The problem? BookSpeak is really aimed at upper elementary kids, and storytimes usually feature much younger kids. So I want something a little interactive.

Back to Vistaprint.com (note: that is an affiliate link for me–please only use this link if I’m giving you helpful information!). One thing I like to keep in mind when I’m creating materials there is that I don’t have to use materials in the way they’re identified there. Just like I used the business card template to print out a single poem to use as an element on a luggage tag. You can look at what they have to offer and think about how else you could use each piece.

The main thing I wanted to make was an activity sheet for the storytime. I used the Flyer template and chose to upload a complete design. I created this sheet that kids will take with them and use to make (with a grown-up’s help, if necessary) a mini-accordion book imagining what their own favorite book would say to them if it could. Here are the front and the back, both in full color.

I’ll do one mini-book as a group activity with the kids, getting a different kid to provide the text for each page. I’ll cut it out, demonstrating how easy it is for them to do their own at home.

This was the pricey piece: $14.97 plus shipping, for only 25. That’s because I uploaded two designs (created in Photoshop) and paid for color printing on the back side. So those were three $4.99 fees. But I really want to try this. If it goes well, it’s something I will likely order more of in the future. If I had ordered 500 of them, the price would have proportionately gone way down. But I’m not ready to commit.

Also for the storytime, I also made a kind of Mad Libs take-off using “Hydrophobiac,” one of my poems from BookSpeak! (Thanks for the suggestion, Randy.) Again, I’ll probably do one as a group poem and then hand them out for the kids to take home. The activity is in color on the front, and some review quotes and a few bits of info about me and my services are on the black and white back side.

While I was on the site, I kind of got sucked in and ordered a bunch of other stuff. I just couldn’t resist:>)

So, I made a small car door magnet. It was only available free in a very limited number of templates, so…

It’s not pretty, but I thought using it while making an I Like to Read appearance couldn’t hurt.

I got a small banner (3 feet by 1-1/2 feet) to post at this and other events:

Well, I couldn’t stop there. After all, there was more free stuff! (I know, I know.) So, I ordered a few miscellaneous things:

A bit of letterhead that I have no idea what I might use it for.

Matching business cards (really just book cards—I have other business cards, which I of course got from Vistaprint, too):

And a small vertical banner (3 feet by 1-1/2 feet):

And last but not least, a bumper sticker:

This was another product with just a very few design/art choices, but one of them was a leaf, so how could I resist?

Other than the $14.97, I paid only for shipping. So I got one horizontal banner, one vertical banner, one car door magnet, 25 of the accordion-book sheet, 10 letterhead sheets, 250 matching business cards, 25 sheets of the Mad Lib activity, and a bumper sticker, for a total of $36.31 (that includes the $14.97 in fees).

I am easily seduced by Vistaprint, clearly. I mean, a bumper sticker? But it will make a fun giveaway or something. And the prices are so low, it’s almost like they’re paying me to order this stuff, right?

Anyway, the trick for me is to think about who I might need stuff for. For instance, I would love to have some posters and/or banners that schools could hang to get kids excited about my visit and also love-to-read type banners that I could leave with libraries or bookstores when I have events there. I would want them to have my name or book title or something on there somewhere, but be engaging enough that they want to hang them. A more polished version of my BookSpeak! banner above, maybe.

And it’s kind of like dress-shopping. If you only shop when you desperately need a particular kind of outfit, it’s 10x harder. The stuff I shared yesterday and today was all created under duress. I needed to order stuff that day (in each case), before some special coupon/deal expired. That’s not very smart. I need to brainstorm a list of who I want to have promo materials for and what kind of materials would work best, and then slowly build up a bunch of ideas/designs, so that when I get a great deal in my inbox, I can take advantage of it AND come out with stellar products. I’m getting there, but I’m not there yet!

Meanwhile, I would love to hear what you guys do for promotional materials! Share links, tell stories, whatever you like!

Author Promo Materials for the Design-Challenged

I know some writers covet the awards given to fabulous writers yesterday (congraulations! and a complete listing of ALA awards here). And I wouldn’t kick any of those awards out of bed, either! But here’s my confession: I covet other authors’ cool promotional materials. When I try to create them myself, though, the results are often sketchy. But I enjoy using Vistaprint.com (note: that is an affiliate link for me–please only use this link if I’m giving you helpful information!) to make pretty inexpensive materials and figured I’d share a bit about that here.

For instance, I have two upcoming events I need some promo stuff for. One of them is a CLN event called Books for Breakfast, a wonderful chance for authors and illustrators to get to briefly share their work with 200+ teachers and librarians. For that one, I’ll be focusing on BookSpeak! and A Leaf Can Be… I’m putting together a door prize centered on A Leaf Can Be…, and it will include a copy of the book and some leaf products–tea, a little houseplant, a bagged salad, plus a set of 10 notecards using Violeta’s beautiful art from Leaf:

Then each person at my table for the breakfast will get a little swag bag. That bag will include a couple of oversized postcards featuring the same art. Here’s the front (color) and back (b/w):

The swag bag will also have some book plates and a luggage tag (I’ll share these one I actually make them!) that will have the “Book Plate” poem from BookSpeak on it. So I ordered business cards with the poem on them.

Since there will be 200+ teachers in the audience, I decided to throw together a school visit postcard, too. Here’s the front (color) and back (b/w):

For that I just used one of Vistaprint’s offered templates, so I didn’t upload any art.

So I ordered 100 standard-sized school visit postcards, 10 notecards with white envelopes, 250 “Book Plate” business cards, and 50 oversized Leaf Can Be… postcards. For $13.81.

Basically, at Vistaprint, if you sign up for their mailing list, you get emails at least once a week offering you free products. It might be 50 postcards or 25 flyers or a pen or whatever. Usually, it’s a list of 5-10 possible free products. You go in and create and order them and all you pay is the shipping. If you upload art (like I did with the Leaf art above), there’s a $4.95 fee. But once you pay that fee once, you don’t ever pay it again, even in future orders. So you upload your book covers and/or the iconic art you want to use from your titles, and then you’re all set for future orders.

Of course, if you do big events or school visits, you’ll need more than these small amounts. What I like is that this gives me a chance to try out items on a small scale. If I like something a lot, I’ll probably make a bigger order in the future. And Vistaprint has good prices for bulk orders. But for materials that are event-specific or that I don’t know if I’m going to need tons of them, it’s really nice to be able to order just a few to start out with.

2 important tips:

• Make sure you have permission from your illustrator to use his or her art!
• Use hi-res images. Otherwise, your print materials could be grainy and ugly.

OK, this is getting very long! I’ll share the other materials tomorrow!

It Seemed Like Such a Good Idea…

Lisa Bullard and I, who are Mentors for Rent, thought a contest might be a good way to get the graphics we need for our company. We came up with the rules, shared it with a local graphic design college, and thought we were all set.

But apparently we annoyed some people. Our friend Susan Taylor Brown shared our call for illustrators on Facebook, and a mini-firestorm erupted. (Or would that have to be a mini-volcano?) One indignant person said she gets $1,200 just to design a logo. Obviously, our $250 prize would not attract her. And another person was similarly insulted.

All I can say is, lighten up, people! If you don’t want to enter a contest, don’t! Our meager contest is clearly aimed at students or people who are just beginning to do this kind of work professionally. We understand that. Lisa and I regularly write entire books for the educational market that pay less than what one designer gets for a logo. And the illustrators for those books create art for an entire book for that same tiny amount. So to us, $250 for a fairly simple set of business graphics isn’t totally outlandish. We get that it isn’t much, but I don’t think there’s any reason to get offended about it!

Just sayin…

And P.S. If you know a struggling graphic artist who might actually be interested in our contest, would you send them the .pdf? Thanks! If you know people who would be insulted, uh, just keep it to yourself, ok?