I spent some of the weekend helping Greg send his promotional postcards for Tofu And T.Rex (Little Brown, July 2005) to booksellers, both those on our own list, compiled over the years, and to members of the Association of Booksellers for Children.
As authors we’re eligible for associate memberships and have joined along with some other lovely people like: Franny Billingsley; Toni Buzzeo; Erzi Deak; Jennifer Holm; Kristine O’Connell George; and Kay Winters.
By the way, I actually asked a bookseller-turned-author and a librarian-turned-author when to best send said cards.
The bookseller-turned-author said to send them when the catalogs were at the stores, in other words, now for summer. For the most part, bookstores put in their original orders before reviews and what not.
The librarian-turned-author said to send to public libraries about a month before the book is released and to school libraries during the school year, but not during the first month of school. So, since Tofu And T.Rex is coming out in July, we’ll wait until October to send to those contacts.
Cynsational Links
Booktalks: Quick And Simple Blog from Nancy Keane. “See some of the booktalkers booktalks before they are published on the Web site. Make comments and give suggestions, too.”
Cinderella: Variations and Multicultural Versions from the de Gummond Children’s Literature Collection of the University of Southern Mississippi Libraries. Note: readers may remember I have some Cinderella issues, but I just have to marvel at the depth and breadth of the number of related published books.
A Cool Bit With Francesca Lia Block from Favorite Teenage Angst Books. “A never-before-published conversation from 1998.”
Sterling Printing and Copying: my main source for promotional postcards and bookmarks. I’ve also used Web Cards.
Unlikely Arithmetic: Thirteen Ways To Raise A Non-Reader from The Horn Book. A “tongue-in-cheek directive” (a PDF file).