Monkey Barrel Musings

Jennifer Fosberry at Red Fox Books Today at 3pm

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:10:00 +0000

After a relaxing week of Adirondack vacationing with the kids and my family. My much extended family. I must actually work a little today. I am speaking at Red Fox Books at 3 pm. I will read and talk about My Name is Not Isabella Join us if you can!

Is it just me or are there too many choices?

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:46:00 +0000

Monday I spent loads of hours on the phone to work through health insurance things and try to get the trifecta appointments for the kids. You know, doctor, dentist, optometrist. Hours. And I succeeded in doctors for all three. Dentist for one. And I need to call back for the eye appointment. There are valid reasons why this is so complicated. Well not valid but explainable.

Today I spend at least two hours to figure out the best travel options for a little trip back east in August. I have succeeded in booking the trip there, and have some options for the trip back.

Is it just me or does all this seem to take longer than necessary. After living in Costa Rica for some time, I got used to less choices. I was annoyed to have to search for what I wanted if it was a specific thing. This, this can be overwhelming and frustrating. I am not sure if so many choices are really a good thing. What do you thing?

Creativity, Copyright and Computers - Oh My!

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:19:00 +0000

Since we have been talking about social media - I thought I would share these genius talk by Lawrence Lessing on TED "How Creativity is Being Strangled by the Law."

First let me say I LOVE TED. It makes me feel smart. It makes me feel smart and cool, unlike NPR - which I am sure will make me feel smart, but I am just not that old. Yet.

This talk is about how technology is changing the way we entertain and amuse ourselves and hence the way we create and interact. He goes on to really get into the legal aspect of this which is made darn interesting by his dynamic speaking (and to me intriguing sociological implications of his topic). I actually found this last October and have been thinking on it and not sharing it. That is BAD Social Media-ist of me.

I think of this talk as a consumer and as a copyright holder. I think we all want to be read-writers. Not just readers. So I think that ultimately we must share.

I think.

What do you think?

Why I Love Twitter and You Should Too

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:45:00 +0000

In my quest to get back on track and practice what I preach about social media, blogging, and promotion I have been spending a lot of time with Twitter. I have been a member for some time. I have enjoyed using it. I have seen some of the possible benefits. I have amassed over 400 followers. But now it is time to get serious.

A few weeks ago, I spent an exciting week at IBPA and BEA. I met many other publishers and writers. I learned a lot about marketing, pr, promotion, publicity. I may even be beginning to understand the difference. I spent time speaking with people about blogs and twitter. I realized that I might know more than I thought. I realized that the learning curve can be quite steep and it should not be. I spent much of the social time talking to other writers about twitter. I explained it as such:

"Twitter is like an on-line cocktail party. You just show up and see what people are talking about and you are encouraged to pipe up and join in. And you can go away for a while and come back and join back in. You can spend a little time or a lot of time. You can listen to others and learn things. You can sit back and watch the rowdy, egotistical drunk guy try to be really popular. You try to stay away from the boring guy that always talks about himself. Try really hard NOT to be that guy. You can hear what is happening right now. You can promote yourself or your book a little (remember Don't Be That Guy). You can make friends. You can find entertaining little things that you weren't even looking for. You can add to the conversation. Your friends might grow to really like you and promote you (and hence your book). You can enjoy this and maybe get something out of it at the same time."

I may have convinced a few people. I hope that they follow through and start using it as the "platform" it can be. It made me think of my own transition from twitter-doubter to twitter-lover.

When I first heard of twitter, I thought, as many do, how dumb.
Who needs this?
Who would use this?
What a time suck.

The first few months of finding interesting people to follow, gathering followers and tweeting were a back and forth between, "this is kinda coo" and any one of the things I originally thought. Now when I look back at my early tweets, I definitely wasn't quite "getting it."

I can't promise that I get it any better now. But it is fun, addictive, informative, and possibly a good source of pr buzz for later. With that in mind, I have been learning by doing, but also reading. There are many articles out there to give you an idea of it, here are some of my favorites:

General Information:
Jenuine Jen explains it all much better than I have and does so much earlier (you early adopter you). She states what it is, why you care and gives great, concrete examples about how it could be useful beyond the banal "washing my cat" kind of post.

Etiquette and "How it Works" so you don't embarrass yourself:
Broadcasting Brain tells how to get followers - key point is "be your authentic self" - we have all heard that before, but it needs repeating. Be your authentic self. I also really enjoy his analogy, although I have always said twitter was like a cocktail party. But I take his point and revise my earlier comparison and say a really big and really friendly cocktail party.

Cool Applications
There are many applications to help you utilize twitter. Days could be spent going through these and I plan to highlight some of my favorite finds later. Most just require your twitter account and possibly your password. I am free with my password, but I am sure there are some who would advise against it. My advice here is to look at this list and play around with what you find interesting.

Mainstream Media taking note:
The mainstream media is taking note. There was a great article in Time magazine: How Twitter will Change the Way We Live. My favorite section details the use of twitter during a small conference on education. The article goes on to state the strengths of twitter (social networks, live searching and link-sharing) and the amazing development of the way it is used by the users. Very interesting reading.

Super Fresh News and Making a Difference:
After the events of the last few days in Iran, it is impossible not to see how effective twitter can be at giving the underdog a voice, at spreading a message world wide and perhaps in making a difference.

Many people think Twitter is lame. Many people don't get how it works. Maybe it is not for everyone. Maybe something better is coming around the corner that will connect us all. For the meantime, this explains why I have changed from a twitter-doubter to a twitter-lover. At least for now.

Where is Matt?

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:16:00 +0000

He is a terrible dancer, but looks to be a lovely person. This is so old, but I had enjoyed it so I will share and test my feed at the same time.

What has happened - what will happen now

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 06:37:00 +0000

It has been a busy few months. We have moved back to the US. Lived with relatives. Fought and got Bella into first grade. Found our own place. Got our stuff back from Costa Rica. Cleaned a lot of mold. Squeezed ourselves into a 900 square foot apartment. Worked with Bella to catch up and do a whole year of first grade in four and a half months. Barry got a job. Barry got a different job. Barry took classes. And I didn't do much on the book.

Then I took a trip to New York. Went to IBPA Publishing University. Went to Book Expo. Went to visit my parents and did school visits. Came home and did a school visit here. Head is full of lots of great ideas. Time now to work and put them into action. I'm so excited to work on things.

Oh, and school is over so now I have three kids at home. Should make all that work easy, right?

Sad, Pitiful, Exciting, Wonderful....Phew!

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:16:00 +0000

Sad and pathetic and pitiful that I have not blogged since MARCH!

Exciting that I am leaving in a few short hours for a red-eye flight on JetBlue to NYC for a very full week plus of book activities!

First I will be attending IBPA Publishing University. I will sit in many informative classes, meet many people in this industry, and question, question, question. One topic I am particularly interested in is the new book requirements for child safety regulations.

Then I will attend Book Expo, which just looks like a whole lot of WOW! More info, parties, free books. I am so excited, from a reader/fan standpoint as well.

And did I mention that this all happens in NYC? The city that never sleeps? Well hopefully I will get some sleep because it is going to be busy!

Then I am off to upstate to bug my parents, visit bookstores, and entertain elementary school children. Probably the last is the scariest.

Wish me bon voyage and good luck!

Dora the Tween Explorer - Tarty or Timely?

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:44:00 +0000

When I first heard the news that Nick/Mattel was going to "grow up" Dora to a tween, I thought interesting strategy. I thought perhaps they were going for the Bratz market, although I hoped that they wouldn't turn her into a tart. Apparently, many mothers were worried about the same thing. With the initial silhouette released in the news, who could blame them. She does look a little "tarty." I think Nick/Mattel planned to keep a lid on the redesign, other than the "tease silhouette." After some concerns from Moms, they released what she really looks like and I am now a little hopeful.

My oldest daughter (age 7)has outgrown Dora and informs me "that is for babies." My middle boy (age 4) is only interested in Diego. And my youngest daughter (age 2.5) is still in love with the original. I like her watching the original. I want her to continue to watch the original. I also like the idea of a sort of older version to appeal to my oldest and continue some of the value in the original. I hope it will continue to progress her understanding of the Latin culture (and other cultures) and the Spanish language. Perhaps map reading skills and problem solving logic could be done at a higher level. Hopefully, this will be done without injecting the attitude that sometimes comes with the tween shows. I have high hopes for this transition. I have high hopes that there is a way to continue the older (younger?) Dora as well without confusing my two year old. Can Nick/Mattel pull this all off? Time will tell.

Another Day - Another Honor for the Book

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:57:00 +0000

Good News. My Name is Not Isabella has been named a semi-finalist in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Contest for the children's picture book category.

If this keeps up, I will have to straighten up my virtual trophy case.

Do you realize - this is beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:53:00 +0000

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=200

Author Visits - I will be famous soon.

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:08:00 +0000

I am going to dive right in and share the good news.

I am booked.

I have three upcoming engagements in March to read "My Name is Not Isabella." I have been working on an entertaining presentation. Thinking about what I will say. Making little props to go along with the show. I am excited and nervous.

Here is information on my first library appearance.

Tuesday March 3, 2009 7:00 PM Cedar Room of Santa Clara City Library

Be there or be square!

Wordless Wednesday - I may not be tall enough, but dang it I can shoot

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:49:00 +0000

How Pathetic - the whirlwind excuse

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:58:00 +0000

Has it really been OVER two months since I posted a single thought, photo or link? Yes it has. How pathetic. I have read that you shouldn't blog unless you can commit to posting something every x times. Maybe once per day or once per week. Somehow I don't think bimonthly would cut it. And I feel terrible as I look at a long list of mostly finished posts that I planned to drop bomb in so that I wasn't completely absent. You know what they say about the best intentions....

I would vow that I will do better, but that would be an empty promise. I will try to do better is the best that I can say right now. You will see why.

We have left Costa Rica. After a whirl wind Nov/Dec of information gathering, ticket buying, scheduling, packing, school end activities and other normal daily activities - the kids and I left for NY. I flew with my three children (to remind you ages 2, 4 and 6) and about a gazillion pieces of luggage to New Jersey, rented a car and drove to upstate New York. It was crazy, but it got done. We hid out in NY under a new blanket of snow (which the kids loved - but it took out my parent's Internet) for a few weeks. Then we made our way to the Boston area (thanks Mom and Dad for dropping us off - we understand why you bolted once the luggage was out of the car) for a few days with cousins.

Cousins are wonderful and my kids were thrilled to hang out with similarly aged cousins. The first night, Bells asked if she and C. were cousins. Upon my yes, they both starting celebrating - yeas, joy jumping and high fives abounded. Because now they Have to be friends. Right? Meanwhile Gus really dug his older cousin T. And proceeded to rob inherit all his outgrown super hero costumes, toys and clothes. They are still his favorite now. So after a few fun-filled days in Boston, we proceeded to Logan (in a snow storm) and took off for Sunny California (freezing).

California has been busy, trying to get ourselves organized and living situations set up. Lucky we have such nice, helpful, accommodating family to assist. Hope they are the same nice, helpful, accommodating family when we are through. I am doing my best to be on my bestest, nicest, sweetest behavior. You know, like my normal behavior.

While we were having all this fun, my husband stayed in Costa Rica to sell the car and finish some other obligations. He lived with our dog in the house devoid of furniture, with a blow up bed, a cardboard chair he crafted himself and a microwave. He managed to be on the seventh floor of one of a few tall buildings during the recent Costa Rican earthquake. He gets all the fun. This past Sunday, he dismantled his cardboard chair, deflated the air mattress, packed his few thing and flew to San Francisco, dog included.

We are all together again, living on the kindness of our family, searching for jobs, trying to provide some stability/normalcy for our kids, and sorting through one and a half years of junk mail. I will be back when the junk mail is gone.

Could be a while.

Home

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:46:00 +0000

"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."
- Robert Frost, Death of a Hired Man, 1915

And while our need is not that great, I am so grateful to have so many homes to welcome us.

We have thought long and hard about the choices we have made and the life that we are living. Costa Rica has been a wonderful experience, but like so many gringos that try it out, we won't make it past two years.

In the end, language barrier (totally my fault), lack of family and multitudes of friends, and fear of experiencing crime first hand have tipped the scales to our return. The final nail in the coffin was when I realized that we had successfully replicated our Silicon Valley life here. My husband is working the programmer schedule 10-7, nice for a single guy, sucky for a family guy. Might as well do that at home, where Mom can network with the other soccer/girl scout/karate/boy scout/ballet/science club?/PTA moms and understand the instructions.

After the decision had been made, we learned that Costa Rica is thinking of drastically changing the residency requirements. My friend talks about it in greater detail. So far they are just thinking about it, but.... um no. In a very amusing coincidence, our residency cards are finally ready.

You just can't make this stuff up.

I am sure that I will write more in the future about Costa Rica and our decision/transition to return home. And we will try to squeeze in as much more Costa Rica as we can in the meantime. But for now, there is so much to do.

28 days and counting.

Yes We Can

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:34:00 +0000

I know that this is an older clip, but it is still as evocative and inspiring and now reality.

Wordless Wednesday - Poor Puppy

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:14:00 +0000

Why do we torture you so?

How to measure your Blogging Success

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:21:00 +0000

What do I mean by successful?

There are several measures of bloggy success. Pretty much there are the two categories that we use to "rank" people in real life.

Rich and Famous

Just like in real life, you can be any combination. Rich or Famous or both or neither. Same is true for blogging.

If you blog for a small, select group of friends and family to keep them abreast of your life, you probably aren't in it for the glory. You are a successful blogger if your mom doesn't call you for new photos of the grand kids and no one reports you missing.

For the rest of us, fame and fortune are the benchmarks. Let's take them one at a time.

So you wanna be Rich?

There are many, many ways to attempt to monetize your blog. Most of results are top-secret. People generally don't disclose how much income they make, and if they do I tend not to believe them. Therefore, I am going to say that there are no real statistics, rankings, or other measures that I am aware of that compare your level with that of other bloggers.

I have not worked hard on this and I am sure there are great lists, links, and so forth on great blogs such as problogger. Or simply do a google search on such terms as "affiliate marketing" or "monetize your blog". There is certainly a wealth of information out there.

That being said, many of these things make me a little nervous. I am sure that there are great networks out there. But the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I hear words like "free money." I will say the two of the easiest methods for a beginner are Google Adsense and Amazon Associates programs. I have also heard good things about Blogher. Many people swear that selling private ads is where it's at. But a word of caution. Do not monetize too early. With very little traffic comes very little or no money. Which leads us to....

Famous

For this there are definitely ways to see how you measure up. You can sign your blog up with Technorati and see how you rank. I also like to check my blog juice, a calculation that takes your Alexa ranking, technorati data, bloglines and performs some hocus pocus and gives you a number between 1-10.0. The higher the number, the more popular and far reaching. You can also use a statistical program such as Statcounter or Google Analytics to see where your visitors are coming from (both literally and figuratively). Many have free minimized versions or trials and they are worth reviewing.

One word of caution, just try not to become obsessed with checking your stats. It can eat up as much time as social media (which is another post altogether). Both things used right are advantageous. Used wrong they become a major time suck and a stomp on your ego. The most useful thing you should be doing with these stats, is to use them to determine how to enhance your site. What are people searching on that brings them to you? Do they stay and look around?

This should help you enhance your content with better keywords, better post titles, better content. Better stuff leads to more readers leads to more money. Rinse and repeat. Anyway, that is the theory.

Tell me how you monitor blog success.

Is this women Crazy?

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:07:00 +0000

How to Watch your money - Two angles

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:17:00 +0000

In our house, the money jobs are pretty well defined and divided. My husband would say he invests the money and I spend it. In many ways that is true. He does the higher level investing, I take care of the day to day. Neither of us is completely out of the decisions the other is making and no large decisions are made alone. However, if I am at Target and I want to buy an inflatable swimming pool for the kids, let's just say that I don't call in. On the other hand, I trust his decisions on investing and don't want a lesson on dividends, interest rates, and market trends every time. Perhaps I should be more interested. Okay, I know I should be more interested, or at least in the know.

With that in mind and my new iv connection to the Internet, I thought that I should see what tools might be out there.

For pure investment strategies, I have been "playing around" with my husband's financial website. I wanted to share it today. Especially as the markets go up and down, it is nice to see the "what ifs". Months after you make a decision, you can look to see how close to a good time you hit it. The Working Money (as in make your money work for you) is a free site to keep an idea of how you are doing over time.

He is still working on enhancing this site, but some of the features he has included:

Keeps track of dividends
Keeps track of cash
Allows two different ways of tracking stocks: simulating a real portfolio or keep a watch list of stocks.

You can always go look around, but to do more, you need to sign up for an account. Also, the website currently updates financial information on a daily basis, but if there is enough interest he will eventually make that part live. He has added some accounts that follow certain investing strategies or experts, The Little Book that Beats the Market for example . If you are into this stuff, you will see the accounts he made up and know who they are modeled after.

If you are interested, visit his site. If nothing else, it will give him a little buzz to see his stats go up. Don't tell him I sent you.

The second angle incorporates a budgeting and planning aspect. I have been entering receipts into excel for about a year. While that has stabilized my spending and purchase, it isn't doing enough anymore. I want to go beyond that. I am considering looking into more traditional programs such as Quicken and Microsoft Money. Thrive is a new website that I saw someone twitter, so I decided to check it out. I am not convinced I want to share all my financial information, but I have been looking for a tool to take my financial savvy to a higher level and this might be worth a try.

How about you? What tools do you use to see where your money is going?

Wordless Wednesday - The Artist At Work

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:02:00 +0000

5 Minutes for Isabella

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:56:00 +0000

There is a great, popular site run by twin Canadian Moms. I have participated in their blog parties. I have eyed their contests and giveaways with desire (hard to do it from Costa Rica) and awe at their web presence. I speak of 5 minutes for mom of course. Something that every Mom dreams of. 5 Minutes.

Any hoo.... they recently launched several offshoots. They call them the Sisters. There are 5minutes for special needs, going green, parenting and BOOKS.

I asked them if they might be interested in reviewing my book. After sending them a copy, no strings attached, of course, I was so happy to see the review they wrote. Lauren has gotten to the essence of the idea.

"...Isabella spends the day pretending to be great women from the past. The author does an excellent job of integrating the roles of these women into Isabella's every day life, and the illustrations are delightfully engaging."

Read more on how she connected with "My Name is Not Isabella.".

My Name is Not Isabella named SEMIFINALIST

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:26:00 +0000

It seems that "My Name is Not Isabella" has been named as a semifinalist in the Moonbeam Children's book awards for 2009 in the picture book ages 4-8 category. See entry number 9. I understand there were over 100 entrants into this category. Also, some of the other books are published by publishing houses such as Carolrhoda, a division of Lerner, Warner Press Kids, Sylvan Dell Publishing amd Raven Tree Press. These are experienced publishing businesses. I am floored. And happy. Stay tuned for final results.

sHift Happens

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:02:00 +0000

I have ben working so hard to understand web 2.0, social media, internet "stuff." I forget how much all this "stuff" will impact my kids.

Amazon category puts me in good company

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:57:00 +0000

Today's Amazon Listing of "My Name is Not Isabella"

See that big circle up there? That puts "My Name is Not Isabella" as the 77th most popular book in the category of Children's books categorized as "People and Places" categorized as "Girls and Women." Sounds like a pretty specific category. 77th does not sound that impressive. So why am I so excited and telling you all this?

First, it is the first time "My Name is Not Isabella" has been categorized by Amazon. Second, it is categorized in a relevant category. And, please remember how many books Amazon sells and you can see why this has given me a little buzz for today. This ranking is updated hourly and I know we ill probably start to fall quickly. But for right now, the book is on a list with Nancy Drew, Pippi Longstocking, Fancy Nancy and Junie B. Not bad company if I do say so myself.

Wordless Wednesday - Queen Me

noreply@blogger.com (Jen Fos - Top Banana) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:39:00 +0000