Tag Archives: book promotion

Guest Blog Post at Candysraves.com

I’m trilled to have a guest blog up at Candysraves.com today! It is an interview with me about being a writer and “Why Kimba Saved The World.” You can see the interview at Candysraves.com, or it is copied below as well. Thank you, Candy, for helping to get the word out about “Kimba!”

Guest Post by Meg Welch Dendler, Author of Why Kimba Saved the World

Tell us about yourself…

I spent 15 years working with young children, 10 of those as a classroom teacher. I have been writing since I was a little girl and have always wanted to be a full-time author. For many years I did freelance work while I was teaching and raising my daughters. Now writing has my full attention.

What genera do you write and why?

My current series is for middle grade readers, roughly ages 8-12. That is an age group that I really loved working with as a teacher, and this story was perfect for sharing with them. But I will freely admit that I have lots of adults who love the book and read it right along with their kids.

Tell us about your book…

“Why Kimba Saved The World” is about a pampered house cat who wishes she could be wilder and have more freedom, until she suddenly learns that she is really part of an alien race and has a whole huge destiny and big adventures expected of her. It’s exciting at first, but she has some life-changing choices to make about what is important and where her loyalties lie.

What was your inspiration for this book?

The main character is based on one of the cats in our house, Kimba. I had grown up with the idea that cats might just be aliens — my mom read lots of science fiction — so it wasn’t much of a stretch to wonder if that was true of Kimba too. Later books in the series will focus on different characters and how each deals with their own challenges in coming to terms with their alien heritage.

Do you have a favorite character and why that one?

Kimba is definitely my favorite because she is based on the real cat that is mine out of the clowder of cats we have at home. When we found Kimba and her sister Hiro at only a day or so old, we already had four cats. That’s a lot of cats! Kimba is just wild and crazy and totally nutty and an independent cat. She’s my favorite. As I write this, she is sleeping on a chair next to me in a pile of stuffed toys. She’s a real character. The cat on the cover of the book is an actual photo of her.

Did you find anything particularly difficult in writing this book?

When I first started writing it, I hoped to have something for an even younger age group — very early readers. But that is limiting for the vocabulary you can use, the length of the story, and technical things like that. As it progressed, I just knew I had to kick it up a notch and hope that those younger kids who are still developing their reading skills will have someone who is willing to read it aloud to them.

What project(s) are you currently working on?

Right now, I am very focused on writing the second book in the series, “Vacation Hiro.” I really want to have that published next spring so I can take both books with me to the fairs and festival in 2014. That is one of the great things about self-publishing. Once you have the text ready to go, getting it into print format can be done in a couple of months.

Right after that, I will be publishing an unrelated book called “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main” that is for a bit older reader and follows the spiritual journey of a young woman who is having trouble moving on from her life here on earth to what lies ahead. That manuscript is in the hands of some much trusted friends and colleagues right now for their feedback and critique.

Do you have any interesting writing quirks you want to tell us about?

I will freely admit to being quirky. I think most writers are! Writing a first draft is hard for me. Just getting it out of my head and onto the paper for some reason is very frustrating. So I reward myself with breaks. If I write a chapter or a certain amount of words, then I can take a break for 10 minutes and play Zoo World on Facebook, or something like that. My office is also filled with my collection of Disney mini-plush characters. I have about 75 of them right now. They watch me write, and that makes me very happy. Kimba has pulled 10 of them down onto her special chair today for her nap. I don’t mind sharing them with her.

Do you have any advice for writers out there?

Write, and then write some more. If you have a book in your head, go for it! But also be sure to get input from people around you that you respect. Join a critique group. Go to conferences. Sometimes I get the best idea on how to tweak a story or “bling” it up some just by listening to others talk about their work. And pay an editor if you are self-publishing. Pay someone to help you make the best cover you can. If it doesn’t look professional in the end, it won’t matter how good your story is. Make it great!

Where can we find you?

My website and my blog are at www.megdendler.com. I am on Twitter @kimbababy and on Facebook at Meg Dendler, Author (there’s a link at my website). You can sign up to follow my blog and get my newsletter. I’m also active on Goodreads and have a YouTube channel with fun videos. I’m in production right now on a series of videos where I read “Why Kimba Saved The World” aloud one chapter at a time and will share fun photos and “behind the scenes” stories. That should be up soon.

And of course we have to know, where can we find your book?

“Why Kimba Saved The World” is available in paperback and ebook through Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com. You can also get signed paperback copies directly from me through PayPal right at my web site. I’m happy to personalize it and add a matching bookmark just for fun.

About the Author:
Meg Welch Dendler is a former teacher with a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. While over a decade as a freelance writer gave her the chance to interview individuals as diverse as the Archbishop of Cape Town and Sylvester Stallone, in 2010 Meg set her focus on publishing several books for young readers that she had been working on for years. Meg is thrilled to be sharing her first book, “Why Kimba Saved The World,” with young readers worldwide. In this first book of the Cats in the Mirror series, feisty house cat Kimba learns that she is really part of an alien race and has to pick sides between her loyal human family and her feline destiny. The second book, “Vacation Hiro,” is already in the works. Meg and her family (including four cats and her dog Max) live at 1,400 feet in the Ozark mountains on what they call Serenity Mountain, just outside of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Visit her at www.megdendler.com for more information about upcoming books and events.

May Artrageous Fair Fun

Summer time in Eureka Springs brings a great chance for independent artists and authors like me to share our wares with the tourists who come through town. Basin Park, in the heart of downtown, is always an interesting place to wander through on a weekend. You never know what you will find. But this is especially true during May’s Art Festival events. I had a great weekend being part of the Artrageous Festival on Saturday, May 25th, and loved meeting other artists in town, as well as both kids and adults who shared stories about their favorite crazy cats. Copies of “Why Kimba Saved The World” went home with excited children and adults, and many names were added to my mailing list. The weather was perfect. Street musicians entertained us all. Our resident 11 year-old performing sensation juggled knives just inches from our tent. All-in-all, it was a great Saturday in the park. Knowing that my book earned some new fans is the icing on the cake.

Scott used some chalk from the Kid Space booth next door to create some inviting “Kimba” footprints.

This is actually Friday night in the park, but it looked the same for Saturday.

Overhead view of a quieter moment near the end of the day at Basin Park in Downtown Eureka Springs.

The view coming up the main staircase, past The Sphere, and toward my booth in Basin Park.

Three of the artists with booths nearby turned out to be cat lovers who just had to take a copy of “Kimba” home with them.

Author Interview With Book Club Reading List

I’m thrilled to have another interview posted, this time with the Book Club Reading List web site. 482 people recommended it on their Facebook pages. Who knows what that means in real life, but Kimba and I are happy for whatever attention we can get for our new book! I should add that we would love to Skype with any children’s book club that is reading “Why Kimba Saved The World” for free. The text of the interview is pasted below. Enjoy!

Author Interview – Meg Dendler

April 12, 2013 · Leave a Comment

What inspired you to write this book?

I have been writing for years, but this particular story was inspired by the real life Kimba. She is such a kook and is constantly into something. I love her beyond reason in that way that only crazy cat ladies can truly understand. As a child, I had heard a story about cats being aliens and communicating through mirrors with cats on earth, so it didn’t take much for me to start imagining Kimba being a part of that. She and her sister, Hiro, spent the first few months of their lives living in our bathroom, so I just let my thoughts about what they might be up to in there when we were gone run wild.

What topics in your book or background do you think book clubs would find interesting?

“Why Kimba Saved The World” is a children’s book, but I have had many adults read it and be just as interested in Kimba and the choices she has to make. We all have things we want to be free from, to feel independent, but that freedom comes with challenges of its own. It’s not always all we thought it would be. What if that freedom meant hurting someone else? Kimba’s decisions echo the same ones we all face in our lives.

Tell us about your career outside of writing and how it influences your writing.

I spent many years working with and later teaching young children — preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary. I have been certified to teach in two states and hold a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. Language Arts and Reading were always my specialties and favorite parts of the curriculum. I always spent way too much money on books when I went to teaching conferences and loved reading them aloud in class and at home to my own daughters. Any time I am working on a book, I try to think about how it would be received by a child just listening to it — not yet able to read it him or herself. For a book like “Why Kimba Saved The World,” it is important to walk that line between the child being able to read it independently and an even younger child listening to it aloud and being absorbed by the characters.

Describe your style of writing?

I consistently lean toward third person omnipotent, the outside source who knows what everyone is thinking and sees all as the narrator. It isn’t that I went through different ways of presenting the text and ended up with that one, it is just what is comfortable for me as a writer. Both the sequel “Vacation Hiro” and an unrelated book “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main,” which I am working on now, have that same style. I also test my text against that read aloud-ability scale that I mentioned earlier. I read paragraphs out loud and edit them when it doesn’t flow well or I find myself naturally using a different word or phrasing than what I originally wrote. I helps me catch mistakes in the text too.

Which authors have inspired you?

I am very blessed to have a mother who loves books. When I was in elementary school, bedtime stories included T.H. White’s “The Once And Future King,” “Watership Down,” and Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders series. She continued to read aloud to me long past when I was an independent reader, and that is so important. It allowed me to “read” books that were still a bit beyond me but had amazing vocabulary and stories. We also had all of the Wizard of Oz books (by Baum and his daughter), the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, Beverly Cleary, Roald Dahl, Judy Blume, and Madeline L’Engle. After reading “A Wrinkle in Time,” I insisted that everyone begin calling me Meg (my nickname at the time was Molly), and it stuck. It’s probably not surprising to hear that “Socks” was one of my very favorite books growing up. I read it dozens of times. As a teacher, I grew to love newer authors like Don and Audrey Wood, Lois Lowry, and Jean Craighead George. When I tried to read aloud “Charlotte’s Web” to a group of first graders a couple of years ago, I couldn’t make it through the part where Charlotte dies without crying. To say out loud that she was all alone at the end was so heartbreaking. Now that’s great writing!

Free Ebook To Celebrate Book Birthday!

Today is the official Book Birthday for “Why Kimba Saved The World”!!!! It is also the real 6th birthday for Kimba and Hiro, who we found in a box at only a day or so old and hand raised. To celebrate, I’m offering up free copies of the ebook to help spread the word about this new series: the Cats in the Mirror. “Kimba” is only book one, but “Vacation Hiro” is well underway and expected to be out in March of 2014.

You can download a free ebook copy today at this Goodreads.com link! If it’s not working for you, just email me at [email protected], and I’ll send you the file directly.

Happy Birthday, Hiro and Kimba!! Now it’s time for a game of string!

Kimba and Hiro playing their favorite baby game.

Babies!!

The Book Reviews Game

Now that “Why Kimba Saved The World” is settling into the business of getting noticed and sold, I am forced to enter into a whole new world of self-promotion. Normally, whatever publishing house bought your book would take care of all of this nonsense. It would tell you where to show up for a book signing or event and make all the calls and connections for you. Self-published authors have to pay for this service or do it themselves. Paying for promotional work is very pricey (and rightly so, it’s nasty, time-consuming work). Promoting and selling a self-published book can feel like one big game, and it sort of is. Knowing how to play is the key. Thank goodness I have a degree in Public Relations.

Back in the late 80’s when I completed that degree, the game was very different. It was more about working for big corporations and writing press releases to help promote or cover up something. By the time I was in my last year, I knew I didn’t really want to do that for a living. It was just a core group of classes that I really enjoyed. Lots of English, Journalism, Creative Writing, and Technical Writing. I never worked a day as a publicist (I went back to school to earn a teaching degree), and I never thought I would. Until now.

Most afternoons when I sit down at my computer to face the challenge of how to get my book noticed and appreciated, I hear Queen singing “Play The Game” in my head. It is a very elaborate game, so I’m grateful for the generous spirits along the way who share their advice freely. I have links to them in my blog roll already, but I should give a shout out to Katie Davis and Joanna Penn. Both of them offer lots of products and seminars and blogcasts you can purchase for in-depth information, but they are also free with the freebies. If you are in the same boat as me and need to know how to play this book promotion game on your own for as little cost as possible, start with these two women. They will give you enough fodder to stay busy for many months. I have never met either of them and have no vested interest in whether or not you purchase their products. I just highly recommend them.

My current game is to get book reviews. This is VITAL if you want to play the amazon.com rank and algorithm game. No one knows exactly how it all works, and they seem to be changing the game from month to month so you must stay up to date on what they like and don’t like, but the big #1 whammy to get better rankings is reviews. They don’t even have to be fantastic reviews. It seems to be very much about quantity and who those reviews are from. My first target was the top 1,000 ranked reviewers at amazon.com. Yes, it was a lengthy process, but I made sure that anyone I was in contact with was willing to review children’s books. In the end, out of 1,000 I made contact with 28 of them. Three responded and agreed to be sent a copy and do a review. I’m not sure if that is a great percentage or not. It does not feel like a home run, but it’s something.

Now on the agenda is getting in touch with bloggers who do book reviews. Again, I’ve taken a big list from a web site, narrowed it down to potentials, and now I am going through one site at a time. Sometimes it is immediately clear that the site would be a bad fit. Books on vampires or romance novels (or worse) filling the pages are a good hint. Out of the first 30, I’ve send requests to 7. One has responded enthusiastically and already has the epub file to review. Many times you just submit an author interview format which may or may not be posted. We shall see where that all leads. It’s not an amazon review, but it’s web traffic and may lead to more later.

It’s a game. It is not for the timid or the part-timer. Self-publishing allows for wonderful opportunities for so many people to get their books out into the world. Getting them into people’s hands is a different matter altogether. So I get up every day, write my 1,000 words on “Vacation Hiro,” and then I spend a few hours playing the game of finding an audience for my first soul book baby in a vast sea of children’s books. But this game is just the opposite of “War Games” — if you don’t play, you can’t win. So onward I go.

And here’s a fun Kimba picture because everyone loves cute cat pictures.

Kimba Napping With Mickey Mouse

If you are just getting started with a children’s book promotion, I highly recommend “How To Promote Your Children’s Book,” by Katie Davis. I have not even made it through all of The Creative Penn’s free blogs and audios, but I’m sure her stuff is great too.