by Greg on January 25, 2012
I'm excited today to share an interview with fellow children's book author Eve Yohalem. I find the way she thinks about platform, and how she decided to work on hers, a really interesting take on what authors can do, whether published by a major house or doing it on her/his own. I hope y'all will find it interesting, too.
Full disclosure - I know Eve from a totally different context. Years back, she sang lyrics of mine, and for that I'm forever grateful, as she could turn anything I might've penned into something worth listening to. But that's a different story, since today, we're talking platform and publishing. [click to continue reading…]
by Greg on January 24, 2012
I’ve just started playing around on Pinterest, so I have no conclusions about it yet… but I do have impressions. I think it’s important to capture these thoughts now.
For those who don’t know of Pinterest yet, it’s a virtual pinboard – you collect images (which link to their original sources) and “pin” them on boards. You can share your boards and browse others. It is currently invitation only. [click to continue reading…]
by Greg on January 19, 2012
I already loved Skype, school visits, and mixing them together, so last year when I saw author Laurel Snyder announce that she was going to do 100 Skype visits in 100 days along with her book launch, I thought it was a fantastic, if exhausting sounding, idea.
Now that the visits are over, I asked Laurel a few questions about the experience – the logistics, what she learned, how it did (or didn’t) help her and her book. Luckily for all of us, she gave great answers, and I’m happy to share them with you all today. [click to continue reading…]
by Greg on January 18, 2012
(if you cannot see the poem above in your reader, please click here)
Many sites on the internet have gone black today to draw attention to the SOPA bill (and the PIPA one, too) currently winding its way through Congress. Here, for example, is Wikipedia’s information about why they went dark.
I am a big fan of danah boyd’s article about stopping SOPA and PIPA while still focusing on piracy. As an artist, of course I want to be paid for my work. However, that does not mean that SOPA addresses my concerns in a way I can support. That difference is important, I think.
I hope you’ll take a moment to read these pieces and ruminate/take action in whatever way you choose.
by Greg on January 17, 2012
Sometimes, it seems to me, we focus so much on building readership, growing “friends” or gaining more followers that we lose sight of the simple, easy steps we can take on our path to those goals.
What follows are just seven ideas (feel free to add more in the comments) of places to find “the low-hanging fruit.” To me, that means, in part, that this will be folks where it makes sense to connect: there’s shared interest. And, as always, only do what YOU are comfortable doing! [click to continue reading…]
