Winner-winner! Tofurkey dinner! Congratulations to KIM LARSON! You’re the winner of the TURKEY ON THE RUN! drawing! Kim, your copy will be served up hot as soon as it comes rolling out of the roaster near the end of September. You can serve it up fresh to your family and friends on Thanksgiving.

Thank you to everyone for “stuffing” the Frog on a Dime comment box with your book drawing entries. Author Alayne Kay Christian and I gobbled up your messages about your favorite Thanksgiving foods. Good gravy! You made our tummies rumble, hungry for November to get here. And how heartwarming was it to read what you’re thankful for. As for your outpouring of genuine, sweet as pie words of encouragement and congratulations to Alayne Kay Christian, they were all well-deserved and appreciated.

I’d personally like to thank Alayne for being such a gracious guest. She’s welcome back to the Frog on a Dime dining table any time.

If you haven’t already, remember you can pre-order your very own copy of TURKEY ON THE RUN! today.

Gratitude turns what we have into enough. ~ Melody Beattie

Greetings Summery Syllable Slingers!

A book signing expert I am not, but I’m learning. So, today, I’m passing along these practical tips for you to peruse. Please be sure to pass along your even wowier wisdom too!

SENSIBLE SIGNING STARTERS

Before you put “crayon” to cover page, write the child’s name on a sticky note (or ask the child or their adult to do it). DO NOT assume Katie is spelled K-a-t-i-e. It may be Kaytee, K.D. or Caytey. (You get the idea. Right, Quaydey?)

Botch an autograph beyond repair? Bring along a package of self-adhesive bookplates to hide the mishap.

Come up with a succinct, clever, one-size-fits-all line you can use with your signature. You do not want to conjure up a unique message every time. Here’s what I use for THE BIG BOOK OF BARF: “May your collywobbles be few!” (Don’t know what collywobbles are, well, the reader can look it up in the book!)

Pick the best pen. I recommend Milwaukee INKZALL black fine point marker. You can find them at hardware and home improvement stores. The ink glides across the page. Dries in a zippity. Zero smudging. Be sure to bring extras of whatever brand you choose.

Bring bookmarks to sign if a child wants your autograph but can’t get the book.

Plan “something” for easy, nearly immediate engagement. As a takeaway, I have funny looking barf bags to color. At some events, I even bring little boxes of crayons so kids can color while parents shop (with parental permission, of course). The front of the bag has a kitty with a concerned look on his face, and the other side shows him barfing up stars and hearts, you know, the usual barf ingredients. To engage a child, I ask how they think the cat is feeling. Instant chat starter.

POP QUIZ!

An adult and a kid approach your signing table. Who do you talk to first?

Always attempt to engage with the child first. They are your audience, right? At a recent signing, the grown-up who brought the child happened to work for the local school system. She was so impressed with the way the child and I interacted, she asked for my card for a future school event. How about that?

PRACTICAL PREP

Make sure you’re covered. Even if your host says they’ll have a table ready with a cover, bring your own tablecloth. If they come through great, and if not, you’re ready with your backup.

Pack a “Hey that’s personal!” bag –

Hand sanitizer

Moist wipes

Cough drops

Mints

Bottles of water

Tidy up kit that’s easy to take to the bathroom with you. Tuck in a comb, lip balm, nail file, eye drops, toothbrush and paste.

Tissues

Healthy, quick to crunch snacks

Pain reliever

Bandages

Umbrella

Bring your business card and have it out on your table. You may meet a librarian, teacher or PTO organizer who’d like to get in touch with you later.

Keep a list of what you brought with you, e.g., number of books, tablecloth, framed poster, etc. Then, even in your stuperous post-signing state, you can easily check your list and pat yourself on the back before you leave the host site.

Put your name on everything you bring with you. Did I bring this? Does it belong to the store? A customer? A wandering band of bookstore bandicoots?

Let the venue or event organizer do the heavy lifting when it comes to books. Of course, I’m not just referring to lugging boxes! I mean, if possible, avoid being responsible for providing books. If you are, talk with your publisher’s customer service department about how they’d want you to arrange it.

BOOKSHOP RELATIONS

Ask host about how sales work for them – For example, can you sign a book before the customer brings it to the checkout or does the customer need a receipt in hand before you can sign?

Offer to sign leftover books (if you’re in a bookstore obviously). The bookstore will appreciate it. And, bonus for you, signed books can’t be returned to the supplier!

During lulls, if the bookshop owner has time, ask about most requested books and upcoming book-related events.

BIGGEST & BEST THOUGHT thanks to children’s author Suzanne Jacobs Lipshaw

At an event this summer, I got to share the space with the wise and wonderful Suzanne Jacobs Lipshaw. (Our first chance to meet!) Suzanne shared (and I’m paraphrasing) that you never know what a turnout will be like—you could have a line of excited signature seekers (not so common) or looooong lulls (not so un-common). Regardless, Suzanne reminds herself that there’s always a “moment” (a memorable conversation, a connection, an invitation) that makes showing up worthwhile. So, she looks for the moment every time and she’s never disappointed. So smart!

Bonus suggestion:

Once your “gig” is over, give yourself a gift of time to unwind. Before you head home, explore the town or library you’re in.

In my own book-signings, I find humility. It’s always humbling when people go out of their way to come visit with me and buy some of my books. ~  Nicholas Trandahl

From Ideas to Action: Your Writing Revival Checklist

You’ve been invited to give an interview. How exciting! Let’s get you ready, my little Key Lime Pie!

Besides being a children’s book author, I’m also a PR specialist. (15 years and counting!) Allow me to pass along the tips I share with the people I schedule for interviews.

Practice and apply these basic tips and you’ll become more polished, poised and professional with each experience. Why, you’ll feel cooler than a watermelon slice on ice. Your audience will think you’re cool too. This may be crazy talk, but hey, you may even learn to enjoy being in the hot seat!

TV interview

• Watch prior interviews the host has conducted, if possible. Take note of their style, tempo, the types of questions they typically ask, and their sense of humor (or lack thereof!). Now, imagine yourself chatting with them.
• Unless directed otherwise, look at the interviewer, not the camera.
• Avoid wearing checks or stripes. Simple, solids are your best option.
• To give yourself a chance to make any necessary wardrobe adjustments, practice sitting/standing in the clothes you plan to wear.
• Arrive 10 – 15 minutes early to give the station crew time to attach your mic and run through anything they’d like you to know or expect before it’s your turn.
• Speak up if you have concerns or nagging questions before the interview so that you can feel confident, and both you and the interviewer you can have a positive, upbeat experience.
• See tips for radio interviews.

Call-in radio interview

• Use a landline, if available, to avoid being dropped mid-conversation.
• Smile as you speak, if appropriate to the topic.
• Have a mirror in front of you so you’ll have “someone” visible to talk to. It will remind you to smile.
• Ask how long the interview will be so you can pace yourself. Note, if an interview is very brief (e.g. 2 minutes or less), don’t let that pressure you into speaking too fast.
• Prepare a cheat sheet of answer prompts to anticipated questions, but not a word-for-word script. You’ll be too tempted to read it and you’ll come off sounding stiff or rehearsed.
• Have a glass of water handy. (A bottle takes too much time to open.)

Zoom/Skype/Web interview

• Make sure you have the technology loaded to your device prior to the interview.
• Set up a professional, clutter-free background.
• Position your device so that the interviewer can see you square on, as if you are seated across a table from one another. Avoid looking down at the screen.
• Adjust the screen so the interviewer sees more of you and less of the background.
• Have your notes, pen, phone, etc. within easy reach.
• Look into the camera when you are speaking. You can look at the screen otherwise.
• Speak slowly and clearly.
• Pay attention to the mute button.

For any interview

• Thank the interviewer at the top of the interview and at the close.
• Be your authentic, wonderful self. If you misspeak, quickly correct yourself, and move on.
• Prepare a “cheat sheet” with basic information for easy reference, such as:
  • Street address/date/hours/details – for an upcoming book signing, workshop or event you’re promoting. It’s better to have the information ready and ignore it than to have your memory go POOF! mid-sentence.
  • Your web site URL, social media handles and/or how to contact you. (Who knows. Someone listening may want to invite you to your next interview!)
• Provide your interviewer with a synopsis of your book, your headshot and image of your book cover to use for pre-interview promotion.
• Offer the interviewer a signed copy of your book to use a giveaway to their audience.
• Practice with a friend.
  • Give your friend/interviewer a list of the questions you’re likely to asked, then give them the okay to throw in a few unexpected questions.
  • Record your interview. Count on not liking the sound of your voice. It’s a hang up we all have.
  • Ask your friend for honest feedback and record that too.

You’re going to be fabulous!

I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying. ~ Oscar Wilde

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

When your work-in-progress refuses to, well, progress, give yourself permission to call a TIME OUT. Sure, for some, a physical activity (e.g., taking a quick walk) can do the trick. I guess I’m a little different. I find much-needed mental refreshment from letting my brain go out to play (so long as its well supervised!). For example, engaging in a simple writing exercise can (re)invigorate my imagination and remind me how fun writing can be.

Recently, I challenged myself to play with the lyrics of a famous song, syllable by syllable. It felt like real exercise for my gooey gray matter dipped in a sweet sugar coating of zero-pressure pleasure. Why not give it a try, my little pumpkin spice biscuit. If you dare, please share the results.

Sound of Silence Night

(Apologies to Mr. Simon)

Hello Feedback, my old friend–

You’ve come to toy with me again

Words of derision swiftly heaping

Grow like weeds while I am sleeping

And the revisions that are ranting in my brain

Still complain–

With this next round, try silence.

***

In ripped up jeans I walk alone

To buy a bar of Toblerone

‘Neath the beam of a gooseneck lamp

I scroll the pages till my fingers cramp

When my eyes are stabbed by a plot so flat and trite

A wasted night

Even my muse is silent.

***

And in my lava lamp I saw

Ten thousand people I may bore

People banning without reading

Critics speaking without thinking

Authors writing books that agents never share

No one dares

Curb the sound of silence.

***

“Dudes,” say I, “You do not know

Silence like my word count grows

Hear my words through this blue kazoo

Read my texts that I might reach you!”

But my work like sweaty high tops smells

Say geckoes in the wells of silence.

***

And the writers bow and pray

Over critiques for which they pay

Spellcheck flashes out its warning

After words they are misforming.

***

And agents say, “The words of this novel

Should be written on subway walls

And bathroom stalls

And whispered—no, drowned!—in silence.”

Stepping out of a normal routine, finding novelty, being open to serendipity, enjoying the unexpected, embracing a little risk, and finding pleasure in the heightened vividness of life. These are all qualities of a state of play. ~ Stuart Brown, Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul