dulemba.com

Book Sales Demystified

2009-07-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

Fantastic guest blog post on Nathan Bransford's blog the other day about a side of the biz we seldom hear about: Book Sales Demystified. We create the stories and it's hard enough to get a publisher to love them. It's sobering to think they then have to face the challenge of sales teams and bookstores. Anyhow - this is a highly informative post and a good read.
Thanks to Anastasia Suen for the heads up!

Sour Video from Happy Accident

2009-07-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

Very cool video on Greg Pincus' new blog - all shot with web-cams. Rather than embed it here, I'm going to send you to Greg's new "Happy Accident" to see it, because he just started this blog about 'using social media to help create happy accidents' and I think you'll enjoy it too. So go have a looksie at "Sour" and then dig around for a bit.

Lovely article on Garth Williams

2009-07-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

Lovely article on the man I attribute with turning me into a children's book illustrator - Garth Williams.
     You probably know his work. He illustrated Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and The Little House on the Pairie series. But I remember him for The Golden Book of Elves and Fairies.
     I grew up reading my mother's copy and it is now threadbare from all the time it spent in my hands. And maybe I shouldn't say I read it - I devoured the illustrations. I would sit for hours trying to figure out how to climb into the magical worlds he created.
     All my illustrative efforts since then have been to recreate that wonder for me or somebody else. All of them.
     So, if ever I had a hero - Mr. Williams would be top of the list.
     Thanks to Jenny Schwartzberg of the Newberry Library in Chicago for the heads up!

Illustration Friday: Hollow

2009-07-10T11:02:00.003-04:00

Do you remember when you were a kid and you'd go to play at somebody's house for the first time - and you got that awful hollow feeling when you realized they did things differently there? Or that you were doing things all wrong?
Learning how to compromise and get along is one of the early challenges of childhood. Advice for success in this arena is summed up perfectly in Ready to Play!

Part of the ParentSmart KidHappy™ series written by Stacey Kaye, illustrated by Yours Truly, Free Spirit Publishing.

Leaf and Tree: A Book About Writing...

2009-07-10T08:02:00.001-04:00

Groovy new approach to a book on writing by a top editor in the biz... (and it will be some kickin' advice too!)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

It's almost here! July 15th. Can you stand it!? Click here to watch a new trailer on myspace! Chills, I say - CHILLS! I Can't Wait!

Joelle Anthony on Breaking In

2009-07-08T07:57:00.004-04:00

I promised more posts on method, and there have been some wonderful recent posts by other authors on their journeys into this tough industry. Remember the heartfelt post I told you about from Shelli Johannes Wells?

Well, here's a new one for you - Joelle Anthony visited Darcy Pattison's blog "Fict!on Notes: Believe in Your Story" recently to relate her journey to publication in "The Short Sixteen Years to Becoming a Published Author".

What strikes me most deeply about both of these stories is the incredible dedication it takes most people to break into this industry. It's a hard road, but it can be done!

Thanks to Wanda Johnson of the SCBWI Mid-South Board for the heads up!

Coloring Page Tuesday - Victorian Poetry

2009-07-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

     Sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted and to view more coloring pages - click here!

     Ahhhh. So you're thick in summer activities, yes? I hope you have a lot of free time to enjoy good books wherever you are!
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send me your colored version (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog!

     Learn about my Cinderella story picture book, The Prince's Diary, click the cover.

Crazy Idea #2 - Bobbley Head Surveillance

2009-07-06T09:02:00.002-04:00

Listen!

Leave a comment - let me know what you think! :)

I'm Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears

2009-07-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

Wonderful story on NPR's "All Things Considered" on Friday, An Enchanting Tour Through a World of Idioms, featuring a new book/collection by Jag Bhalla.

When you visit the link (click the image), you'll see more Idiom Cartoons by Julia Suits' too. The one below is the Italian equivalent of 'having a chip on your shoulder' - it becomes 'you've got a fly on your nose'. Isn't that great!? I gotta get this book!

(Thanks to Robyn Hood Black for turning me onto the story!)

Bits about the biz to enjoy...

2009-07-04T08:00:00.004-04:00

Happy Birthday America!! If you get some down time today in between the barbeque and fireworks, here are some great bits you may want to check out...

I just read a charming article by Nan Marino on her Thought on the First Two Months of her first book's release.

There's also a Quick History of Golden Books you may find fascinating. It's celebrating a new gallery show currently on tour featuring art from these classics. The closest it will get to me is South Carolina, but I may have to make the trip. Update: You can see some of the images HERE.

This one is a radio broadcast from "To The Best of Our Knowledge" hosted by Wisconsin Public Radio. The program is called "The Fairy Tale Hour" and is a great listen.

And this one won't take long... unless you start following the links. It's a fantastic poem by Gregory K. Pincus called I'm Pretty Well Connected (a Web 2.0 poem).

Enjoy!

Free Flash Website Builder

2009-07-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

Remember when I turned you all onto building a website using a blog? Well, this may be the next wave: Wix.com. I have no idea how well it works - but it looks promising. I will say, even the demo video ran very slowly on my ancient computer, which may be a bad sign - but if most of your users will be on newer machines, this might be an option. And I love the gallery set-up. That could be especially useful for illustrators.
So, if you try it, will you report back and share your link? I'd love to see one of these applied to our world of children's books!

Update! We got a taker. Anaiis Salles built a new website using Wix. As she says, " went right there, dug down deep and between Friday and Sunday had the basic web site up and running. Still tweaking, of course -- always!" Click here to see what she came up with!

Hubbie on Wheels

2009-07-02T08:00:00.004-04:00

     Every now and then I mention that my husband is a long-distance motorcyclist, but I don't really share details. Today, I remedy that.
     When I met Stan, the only room in his house that was completely furnished was his garage. He had three motorcycles back then - all BMW's. As long as I've known him, he's had at least one motorcycle and gone riding pretty much one day per weekend. And I don't mean little bimbles - the man doesn't see the point in getting the bike out unless he starts with a 300 mile jaunt. He even did an east coast to west coast ride in 42 hours which earned him the title of Iron Butt - no joke. (He corrected me - he's actually earned the title three times now.)
     So every weekend he travels to the distant corners of our state, or other states, looking for those sweepers and well-engineered curves. And he often organizes rides for other long-distance riders to join him.
     The other weekend, he did the Dragon - or the Tail of the Dragon (as it is often called) at Deal's Gap. It's an 11-mile stretch of road in the Tennessee/North Carolina Mountains with no less than 318 turns in that small space. People fly from all over the world to ride the tail of the dragon. So, three photography studios have claimed corners to grab shots of you as you ride it.
     We don't have many pics of Stan actually ON his bike, so were thrilled when these came out so well.

     Yup, that's my hubbie - ain't he hot?

Springer Mountain

2009-07-01T08:01:00.000-04:00

More research for the picture book I'm illustrating, "The 12 Days of Christmas in Georgia." Did you know that Springer Mountain is the beginning of the Appalachian Trail? Well, it's in Georgia and makes for a lovely bimble.
     This past weekend, we headed up to North Georgia and stopped at R&A Orchards for lunch and peaches!

     And then we headed for the mountain. About 20 minutes in on a National Forest road and we were there! Well, sort of. We parked the car and then hiked a mile uphill. THEN we were there!
     And boy was it worth the trip - it was gorgeous.
     There are two plaques when you get to the official start of the AT - you can see one of them in front of Stan (the hubsmeister) embedded in the rock and the other in this second shot. There's also a mailbox of sorts built into the back of the rock to hold notebooks for geocachers and notes/postcards people want to leave for whoever is there next. Pretty cool.
     We also checked out the camping set-ups nearby, and dang. It's like five-star camping up there! And if it wasn't for the bears (which have been problematic of late according to a posted sign) I'd be all over it.

     It's going to be tricky to illustrate this one. If any of you are hikers, you know that the view surrounding you most of the time is pretty limited in scope (rocks, trees, the uphill climb). Every now and then you come to an open vista like the pic above, however, it can be hard to relate that information to surrounding context. So, it will be challenging to draw. But now that I've been there, I have a much better idea of how to tackle it!

Coloring Page Tuesday - Fireworks!

2009-06-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

     Sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted and to view more coloring pages - click here!

     It's our Nation's birthday this weekend! How will you celebrate? Are you going to go see fireworks?
     Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send me your colored version (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog!

     Learn more about my fun picture book Glitter Girl and the Crazy Cheese - click the cover.

Harold Underdown's Article on Publishing

2009-06-29T09:20:00.001-04:00

He's done it again. Harold Underdown has once again proven why so many people turn to him for sound advice and a true gauge on the state of the industry. He's written a thorough article he's sharing for free on his website, which I highly recommend you read: "Working in Children's Books and the Recession of 2008-09".

Alice in Wonderland

2009-06-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

OMG is this going to be trippy! Tim Burton is doing a new Alice in Wonderland movie starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as Alice, and Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen. You gotta see some of these sneak release photos and read more - click here.
(Thanks to Tracy Barrett from the MidSouth SCBWI board for the heads up!)

Crazy Idea #1 - Pufferfish Hair

2009-06-28T12:22:00.002-04:00

I'm starting something new on dulemba.com. I finally found a program that allows me to record an mp3 which I can then embed on my blog. It's called Audioboo and it's a cool new app for your iPhone.

So here's the reason why I wanted it - to share the wacky ideas I get sometimes that just don't fit into anything else and may have no purpose at all other than being wacky ideas.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Listen!

Audioboo test run

2009-06-28T11:52:00.003-04:00

It's techno-geek-out Sunday at dulemba.com. I'm messin' around, trying new things. Here's a new app for iphone that should let me upload audio to my blog. Let's see if this works:
Listen!

Buffy vs. Edward (Twilight Remixed)

2009-06-28T08:00:00.001-04:00

     This is awesome.
     I'll admit I got caught up in the Twilight phenomenon just like everybody else. I listened to the books on audio and it was fun - a lark. But the relationship between Bella and Edward was always disturbing. And I don't mean because he was a vampire. It was because their relationship was co-dependent, and identity-stripping to the max. Bella wasn't even interested in Edward until he displayed utter revulsion for her - or that's what she thought. Turns out he actually wanted to suck her blood, like really bad.
     So here were all these teenage girls gushing over Edward, learning all kinds of really terrible ideas about how a good, healthy relationship should function. (Stalking is not in the top ten of desirable elements.)      So, what to do?
     Turn Edward over to Buffy! She kicks... bum!!! She doesn't put up with his games, his need to consume and control - oh no. In fact, she puts it all in perspective - fantastic!! Go Buffy!!
     To read more about the creation of the video and its creators, visit rebellious pixels.

Twitterfeed test

2009-06-27T09:39:00.002-04:00

I just signed up - here's my test run. (Click the logo to learn about this.)

Audiobooks on the Road

2009-06-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

     Have I mentioned how much I adore audiobooks? I listen to them while I draw or color. It frees my hand to do what it needs to do without my silly brain getting in the way.
     Hubbie and I also enjoy them on road trips. During our recent trip to Tybee we enjoyed NATION by Terry Pratchett read by my favorite reader, Stephen Briggs. (We're not finished with the story yet, so need to hit the road this weekend too!)
     Well, Random House is embracing audiobooks too with a new campaign called Listen Up Florida! They're working with the state to advertise audiobooks on billboards, radio, etc. They're also working with bookstores across the state to promote audiobooks and make them available.
     All I can say is, How GREAT is that!? And how wonderful would it be to see a billboard advertising your favorite YA novel vs. a fast-food chain? Wowsa.
     They're also running a video contest for teens which you can learn about at Fantasy Road Trip Contest.
     Thanks to Publishers Weekly for the heads up!

Take the Dare - Show You Care!

2009-06-26T08:00:00.004-04:00

Cynthea Liu has a new book coming out! It's called Paris Pan takes the Dare. To help celebrate - she's giving back. She's gathered some top people and creators in the children's book biz to donate books, services and art to an online auction. It's going on right now and continues through July 8th. Here's the official blurb:
OVER SIXTY CHILDREN’S AND TEEN BOOK INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS RAISE MONEY FOR TULAKES ELEMENTARY, A TITLE I SCHOOL IN OKLAHOMA

(Chicago, IL – June 24, 2009) In less than two weeks, the online event “Take the Dare: Show You Care” has far exceeded its original goal to support one classroom at Tulakes Elementary. As word spread among the children’s and teen book publishing industry, more professionals have joined, including literary agents from the nation’s top agencies as well as prominent editors from major publishing houses like HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Penguin, to name a few. The entire 3rd grade-five classrooms-at this Title I school will have new leveled readers for their classrooms and countless book boxes to store their new books. But according to author Cynthea Liu, the event’s organizer, “There is still work to be done. The 2nd grade isn’t any better off than the 3rd grade, and I’m determined to see them covered, too.” In addition to Tulakes Elementary, Ms. Liu has also chosen other Title I schools in her home state of Oklahoma to receive support through DonorsChoose.org. To learn more about “Take the Dare: Show You Care,” please visit www.cynthealiu.com/showyoucare or contact cynthea@cynthealiu.com.
Click here to see my prize pack for the auction!

Georgia Music Hall of Fame

2009-06-25T08:00:00.001-04:00

     Did you even know about this? In honor of all the fabulous music and musicians that have come out of Georgia (it's an impressive list), the Georgia Music Hall of Fame was created in Macon, Georgia. And while it may seem like an odd idea going in, I challenge you to leave without a tear in your eye or a new sense of pride in the state of Georgia.
     We dropped by on our way back from Tybee Island - again for research. My main characters in "The Twelve Days of Christmas in Georgia" visit the kids section of the museum and I could find nothing online to help me figure out what it really looked like.
     It was a quiet Sunady and Hubbie and I walk in a little wary of what to expect.
     The main display is filled with era-replicas of cafes, diners, churches and other typical music hang-outs. In each are displays of guitars donated by their famous owners:

Actual outfits they wore onstage... (my fave was the B-52s - dang she pulled off something I never could!)

And old band posters. Stan even found one from his fave band in college - Dreams So Real!

     But what we really went to see was the Music Factory!

     This is where the kids can go wild and really experience music. There are booths where you can make and record your own music, become your own percussion/rhythm section, and play piano with your feet. There's a stage where kids can grab all kinds of instruments and become rock-stars (apparently adults like this too...)

     Stan really enjoyed the "Slap Organ" - an instrument made from PVC pipes and operated with flip-flops! It was AWESOME!!
     Best of all was the video the museum put together on the incredible music scene in Georgia over the last hundred years. I was blown away by its scope, and the pride of the musicians over being Georgians and Southern and being connected to all those ghosts and spirits that seem to weep their way into the music.
     But what really got me was listening to people passionate about what they do. It doesn't matter if it's hang-gliding, motorcycle riding, or creating picture books. A life given over to a passion is an awe-inspiring and incredible thing to see and/or experience. I think the hardest part for most people is figuring out what their passion is. But once that's down - the adventure is ON.
     They say success comes from one part talent plus ten thousand hours of practice (Stan worked that out to be about ten years) and the passion to stick with it for that long (I'm at year 8 with kids books). And there we were surrounded by the sights and sounds of people who were living proof of that theory being true.
     The chill bumps stuck with me throughout the museum - we were completely sucked in by its energy and ended up staying MUCH longer than we intended.
     If you can make the trip - even if you're not a crazy music junkie - I highly recommend it!

Tybee Island Research

2009-06-24T08:00:00.002-04:00

     No really. We went for research. It had nothing to do with the view (click to see it bigger):

Or the sunset:

Or having dinner with fellow illustrator/SCBWIer Daniel Powers and his wife Silke

at A.J.s where Stan and I saw an enormous Manta Ray jump out of the water several times. (All you have to do at the coast is say, "Look!" and point and everybody within a 100 yard radius will stop and watch with you.)

And it had nothing to do with the pretty little light house at the north end of the island, or the shrimp salad and raw oysters at The Crab Shack:

     No. I was there for research... for that new picture book I'm illustrating for Sterling Children's Books - "The Twelve Days of Christmas in Georgia" (Christmas 2010) written by my friend, Susan Rosson Spain. (Sterling is doing one of these for each state and I'm honored to be the illustrator for Georgia!)
     I'm supposed to draw my main characters standing on the pier looking at ... something in the water and I really needed to get a feel for the place, y'know?
     It was a bit hard to do at first because they're filming a new Miley Cirus (Hannah Montana fame) movie right now. Can you believe they set up an entire carnival on the beach just for the movie?
     It was cool to see, but a little sad that they wouldn't let anybody in to enjoy the rides (and boy was there a crowd!) Miley is back there somewhere:

     Yeah, this is what we drove all that way to see - the pier

which was a really stunning architectural feat, must say. The pavilion had these gorgeous arched supports - how did they do that!?

     Y'know, all jokes aside, there is something about experiencing a place, the temperature, the light, the reflections and shadows, that you just can't get from simply viewing photos online. Did I have to do this to create this illustration? Maybe not, but boy am I glad I did. I now have a context against which to place my mind's eye as I draw and I'm certain my illustration will be stronger because of it.
     On the way back from Tybee we hit yet another destination for the book which I will write about tomorrow! (No hints...)