Saturday, January 29, 2011

Are you self-published?

Here's a link for all you who self publish. It's an opportunity to get your work more exposure. Writer's Digest is doing their 19th annual contest...

Win $3,000 in cash! Gain international exposure for your book! Catch the attention of prospective editors and publishers!

Writer's Digest is searching for the best self-published books of the past few years. Whether you're a professional writer, part-time freelancer, or a self-starting student, here's your chance to enter the only competition exclusively for self-published books!

Here's the link to the details... http://www.writersdi...202&rid=2971089

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Interview with Sherry Rossman, author of The Miracle of Rain

Today’s interview is with Sherry Rossman, who is a newly published author. She is a lover of the outdoors and their many critters which have been part of the inspiration for her new children’s picture book. She loves inside critters as well, especially her cat, Molly, who is also an inspiring creature.

How did you come up with the idea of your book, The Miracle of Rain?

This book deals with a little girl’s fear of thunderstorms. She is afraid of the noise, the lightning, etc. When I was a little girl I had these fears. I grew up in flash flood area where the (dirt) road would sometimes wash away to a little sliver. My mom would tell me how the rain would bring water for the animals to drink and the other benefits brought by storms. So I wove all of those things into a story in the hope that it would help other children see beyond their fears.

Could you give me a short synopsis on the story?
The Miracle of Rain is about Nora, a young girl and her cat, Molly. Both fear thunderstorms and get caught in a huge storm one day. A fuzzy raccoon named Smickett rescues then and takes them to his secret animal village where he shows them the blessings that come from these thunderstorms.

How many publishers did you contact before one accepted your book? I contacted two other publishers before finding Tate Publishing.

That’s only three publishers, how did you narrow it down to sending to those specific companies?
I do not have an agent so finding a publisher who accepted an unsolicited manuscript was a challenge. I focused on publishers who would work with new authors and welcome faith-based children's books. Tate publishing was by far the most welcoming and encouraging to someone who had never taken "the plunge" before.

Prior to getting this book published what other writing credits or background did you have that would encourage a publisher to take a chance on this book?

The Miracle of Rain is absolutely my first published work.

What would you say is one of the best tips you've learned in the process of getting published?
I've gained in so many ways from the tips that Tate has offered, but probably the best was to get involved in networking. In this I am gaining an audience, plus making connections with other authors

Once you sent your manuscript to Tate how long did it take to get a response?
I heard from the publisher three months after I sent in my manuscript.

What was the total time frame from the point of submission of the original manuscript to the actual printing of the book?
It took about one year.

What type of publicity does your publisher do to promote your book?
Tate Publishing will send out press releases, set up book signings, use book trailers to be used in various ways (T.V. spots, online videos, etc). They make available bookmarks, posters, business cards, they also have a facebook page where they provide daily tips for writers which has been very helpful.

What do you do to promote your book?
Networking! Very important. Shortly before my book was printed I had a baby, so that slowed things down for me a bit. I wasn't able to do the events I would have liked but now that will pick up for me soon.

What is the biggest surprise to you about getting published?
I wish I had known about the work that comes AFTER you complete the book.

What advice would you give other aspiring writers?
Perseverance is key. If you strongly believe in your book, don't give up. Have faith.

Thank you, Sherry for your time. If you would like to know more about Sherry and her writing, you can view her website at http://www.sherryrossman.com/

Friday, January 21, 2011

To the Legal Eagle Fiction Writer...

Here's news you might find interesting if you write in the genre of John Grisham or Erle Stanley Gardner...The Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction

To honor the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, The University of Alabama School of Law and the American Bar Association Journal partnered to create The Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. The Prize, authorized by Harper Lee, author and former Alabama law student, was announced in conjunction with Attorney General Eric Holder’s remarks on the book at Alabama in October 2010. The Prize honors Lee for the role model she created for the legal profession and for the extraordinary cultural phenomenon that her novel has become.

In the spirit of To Kill a Mockingbird, the Prize will be given in conjunction with the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., in September 2011. The winner will receive a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird signed by Harper Lee.

To qualify, an entry must be a book-length work of legal fiction first published in 2010, with an ISBN, readily available for purchase in retail or online bookstores.

To get complete details of the contest, click here.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

More info on Grants

I thought I would add this additional information on writing grants. The first link is for the NEA which gives you email addresses for state and regional arts councils where you can write for more details on what they might be offering.

http://www.nea.gov/partner/state/SAA_RAO_list.html

This second link brings you to a site that is a wealth of info on writing for grants and should prove very helpful if you have the time to go through it.

http://www.grants.gov/

This last link is for my Canadian friends of which I have a few. I wanted to make sure they were included as well.
Canada: http://www.canadacouncil.ca/writing/

Happy writing to one and all!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Interview with Diana Murray, 2010 Winner of a SCBWI Grant

Every year SCBWI sets up a variety of grants and awards. One of them is for new writers and is called the Barbara Karlin Grant which is underwritten by Amazon. This is for a new unpublished picture book writer. All entries for this grant need to be postmarked by February 15th. You can find more information on this award and others at http://www.scbwi.org. As the deadline for grants is nearing, I thought it would be interesting to interview Diana Murray, who was the winner of the 2010 SCBWI Barbara Karlin Grant.

Books on writing always discuss the importance of having writing credits prior to submitting a book to a publisher, but prior to winning the grant, your bio shows just a few publishing credits.

At first, I wasn’t too concerned about getting magazine credits. But then I realized that an editor might spend an extra second reviewing a picture book manuscript if I had a few reputable credits on my cover letter. I had heard that Highlights and the Cricket magazines were among the most well respected (by editors and agents) and the most difficult to get into, so I made it a personal goal to get into those. I was very excited when I broke into those markets, and it was fairly recently. I didn’t submit much to magazines after that because I decided to focus on my picture book projects instead. Another reason is that I’m working on two poetry collections as well as an anthology, so many of the poems I write end up being allotted to those projects.

How many submissions did it take you to get accepted in the Highlights and the Cricket magazines?

I had about 4 rejections from Highlights and 2 from Spider. Highlights is quicker in responding. Spider can take 6 months. I could tell I was getting closer when I started getting personal rejections and invitations to sub again.

When did you decide to join SCBWI?

November 2007. That was a huge turning point for me. I came across the website while surfing the web. I feel that the moment I joined is the moment I became a “real” writer. Before that, I dabbled, but didn’t take it seriously. It took a while for me to be serious enough to educate myself about writing in meter and to educate myself about the market in general. Participating in the manuscript exchange area was huge too. It was scary to put my work out there, but getting feedback was like taking my first steps to becoming a writer. It was also extremely helpful for me to critique the work of others. That helped me become a stronger writer. I also started to familiarize myself with the submission process and all those nitty-gritty details. It took a while to get up to speed.

What motivated you to apply for the grant as some might be intimidated by the process? Have you applied for any other grants?

That was the second time I applied for that grant. It’s the only one I have tried. I didn’t really find it intimidating. Either you win or you don’t. Getting your work read during a first page session at a conference is a bit scarier, for example, because then you can see people’s reactions. At least for me that was more scary. But scary mixed with exciting. I applied for the grant because I wanted to have something shiny to put on my cover letter and the money was a motivation as well, since I started going to conferences and they can get expensive. I also wanted a sense of validation that I was on the right track.

How did you on which story to use for your application as you can submit only one book idea?

This past time it was very easy to choose because I had one story that was clearly my strongest. I could tell from the reaction of my peers, and I even felt it as I was writing. Based on my research, I knew editors often liked character-driven stories with a strong plot, with conflict, and with a final transformation in the main character and/or a twist, and my story had those ingredients.

Could you give me a short synopsis on the story you entered?
The title is “Grimelda, the Very Messy Witch”. The version I sent in was about 450 words. It’s a rhyming story about a messy witch who is constantly losing things. When she finally loses her trusty spell book, Grimelda is forced to do the unthinkable. Her frenzied, all-night cleaning spree uncovers surprises. I’m sorry to say, it was inspired by my messy apartment!

Tell me about the process. What happened after you submitted your story?
I just kept on writing and working on other projects. I honestly didn’t expect to win so I wasn’t anxious about it. I almost forgot about it. In June I got a bunch of calls from an unknown number. I thought it was some annoying telemarketer and kept ignoring my phone! Then I listened to the message. They were calling in regards to the SCBWI Barbara Karlin grant and asked me to call them back. I’ve never been so shocked in my life! I gasped, I screamed, and I did a little dance around the living room before calling back. I had to leave a message and then the organizer called me right back and told me the news. Aside from family events, that was probably the happiest day of my life. I posted my news in my critique group, on the blueboards, and on facebook. That was the first time I really went public about my writing in front of friends and family. I sort of felt like I was coming out of the closet.

After getting the grant, did that open new doors for you in writing? If so, how?

Yes. For one thing, I get a lot of hits to my website from the SCBWI site. I was able to submit to an agent who is normally closed to submissions. I've been asked to do interviews or guest posts on a couple of pretty prominent blogs, such as Tara Lazar’s blog. I also made some new writer friends as a result of winning. I noticed Deborah Diesen was on the list of past winners of the grant and I read in an interview with her that it was a big confidence boost. She later wrote “the Pout Pout Fish” which I believe is a NYT bestseller now. It was inspiring to see some names I recognized on the list. I can only hope that it opens the door to future successes. There certainly aren’t any guarantees!

The story you wrote is it under contract with a publisher now?

Not yet. Right before I found out that I won, I met an editor at a conference. She loved my story when it was read during the first page session and asked me to mail her the full. She emailed me about a week later and was very enthusiastic about it. It went to one editorial meeting and I sent her some revisions. Now I’m still waiting. It’s a slooooow business. I heard from someone else who is published by that house (it’s a big one) that it took 9 months to get an offer after she sent in revisions. And there's still a chance this editor will reject it.

What are your weekly writing goals?

Nothing specific, but I write every day. I have several projects going on at once and I often write short poems. I feel that the more you write, the quicker and easier it comes. It's like exercise. I also critique A LOT. I belong to two critique groups

What do you know now about writing that you wished you had learned sooner?

I wish I had read books on craft sooner. Books like “All the Fun’s in How You Say a Thing” (about writing in metrical verse) and “Writing Picture Books" by Ann Whitford Paul. Also Harold Underdown's website and other writing related blogs and sites. I also wish I had joined Verla Kay’s blueboards sooner. But really, there’s no way to rush things. It’s just a matter of doing, and learning over time. I’m still learning new things every day


What is it that you like about Verla Kay’s blueboards?

The blueboards is extremely active and you can always get pretty immediate answers to your questions from experienced writers and agents, or search for similar topics. It's very comprehensive. There is a lot of insider information. You can also get info on response times for agents and publishers which is really handy to know. The longer and more active you are as a member, the more sections you have access to.

What is it that you like about Harold Underdown's "Purple Crayon" website?

Answers to all the basic questions, like the difference between a cover letter and a query letter. Also, I often use his "Changes" page to see who's moving where and who has been promoted.

What advice would you give someone who is a new writer?

Don’t be afraid to experiment or make mistakes. Give yourself permission to write something that stinks. It may or may not stink in the long run, but you will learn from it either way. Keep an open mind to criticism. This is very important. Sometimes you have to "kill your darlings", as they say. And the more you write, the more confident you will become in your abilities and your choices. In the beginning, it may be hard to know when to change something based on a suggestion or stay true to your original vision.

Try to write everyday, even if it's just a short poem or story. Sometimes, write just for fun. It may not be something you submit, but you will learn from it, and in fact, when you write for fun, it may end up being your strongest work. Keep a notebook handy and jot down ideas as they come up. Even near your bed! Also, write down lots of ideas and then choose the best ones to concentrate on. For me, this kind of focusing works better than just writing anything that pops into my head (which is what I used to do). But any idea that truly inspires you is worth exploring. Find a good critique group or a few good critique partners. Don’t be discouraged by rejections.

Being part of the writing community helps. Everyone understands what it’s like. Always research publishers before you submit. A carefully targeted submission makes all the difference. Finally, don't get too attached to one project. It's OK to put something aside and start something new, and sometimes it's for the best. It's not about one story, but about the process of writing and just being a writer. Don't get stuck. Just keep moving forward.

That’s it for the interview today. I hope it encourages you to not only write, but also submit your writing! Don’t forget, if you want to know more about submitting for the current grant go to http://www.scbwi.org for the complete details.

Here are the links to the other websites that Diana mentioned in the interview that you might find helpful as well.
http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php
http://www.underdown.org/

Friday, January 14, 2011

Planning Your Writing Day

I am not the best person for writing a daily schedule of things to do and prioritizing them. For years my husband has been nudging me to do it with only intermittent results. I'm one of those who like to work it out in my head and just let it flow. That works well at times when I have a lull of deadlines to meet. It is easy for me to get pulled into a project and disregard everything else in my life including meals. It's only when my office starts getting dark that I realize I've been on the computer all day. If it wasn't for the fact that I have a window besides my computer that makes it unnecessary to use lights, I would some days loose all track of time.

Now as I get more involved in writing and juggling various projects I can feel the real need for a written to do list. This includes keeping a running list of submission deadlines and contests, writing for personal fulfillment, reading in my genre as well as outside of it for fun and a different illumination. However, I've found some items not related to writing that are needed on my list to improve my day. Here's two items that I have just put back on the must do's that I am finding really make a difference for me in keeping me focused.

The first activity that makes a difference in my day is an early morning inspirational reading. This allows me to center and focus. It gives me a chance to breathe and appreciate the glory of being alive. When I just jump on the computer before anything else, I tend to have a day that is hit or miss. When I start the day with focus, it tends to last throughout the day and I get less stressed.

The second activity is to go to the gym to use the treadmill or elliptical. This gives me the opportunity to do exercise, which I am not in love with doing, with reading. I use this time to either read a book or magazine on writing or escapist reading. This gives both my mind and body exercise. By doing the reading, I am doing something I want to do with something I need to do and wish I didn't.

As I also love being encouraged as a writer, I read other blogs from those in the trenches with me. One of my favorites is written by Hope Clark. In her current blog she chats about the myth of being an overnight success. Being successful in writing is just like any other career, it takes a lot of effort. Sometimes, I forget that and want instant results. So click here for her advice. The article is entitled, Don't be Fooled.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Interview with Janet Halfmann


Today’s interview is with Janet Halfmann who has published more than thirty books. Her writing began with a home-study course in children's writing which soon became her dream. That love of writing took her into various directions from working at a national magazine called Country Kids, to creating coloring and activity books for Golden Books and selling articles to Ranger Rick and Jack and Jill magazines. From there she wrote a series of insect books for children. She now specializes in children’s picture books.

How did you come up with the idea of your current book?


I have two new books out right now: Fur and Feathers (Sylvan Dell Publishing, August 2010) and Good Night, Little Sea Otter (Star Bright Books, September 2010).

I decided to write Fur and Feathers after I noticed on the publisher’s website that they were looking for a story on animal "wraps." That topic fascinated me, so I started researching and brainstorming possibilities, and Fur and Feathers was born!

I got the idea for Good Night, Little Sea Otter when I was writing a magazine article about two young scuba divers. In researching the many creatures the girls met in the underwater kelp forest off California’s coast, I especially fell in love with the sea otters. I was fascinated by how the mother sea otter wraps herself and her baby in kelp strands for the night so the two won't drift away. I knew I had found the perfect pair to star in a bedtime story! And with four kids and four grandkids, I didn't have to research bedtime stallers!

Could you give me a short outline on the story for my readers?

Fur and Feathers, which recently won Gold in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, is a fun story of creativity, friendship, and animal coverings. When whipping winds whisk the clothes off Sophia's animal friends in a dream, she shares her clothes with them. But the animals can’t walk or fly in the kid clothes. So Sophia comes up with a creative plan. Using items from her grandma's huge sewing box, she creates new coats for the animals. To each coat, she adds her own special touch, such as a little red heart behind the polar bear’s ear.

The idea for the big sewing box came from the one I always kept handy for creating or fixing whatever while my four kids were growing up. As for the special touches, Sophia just seemed to start adding those on her own. In writing the story, I used each class of animals so the story would be not only fun, but as educational as possible. The book also has a “For Creative Minds” educational section on classification at the end.

Good Night, Little Sea Otter is a soothing and fun bedtime story featuring a baby sea otter who stalls going to sleep. He has to say “good night” to each and every one of his ocean friends. It seems like he'll never close his eyes! But he finally settles down to sleep cuddled in his mama’s loving arms and a cradle of kelp.

From the time you sent in the manuscripts for these two books, how long was it before you got any feedback?

With Fur and Feathers, I got feedback almost immediately because Sylvan Dell Publishing published another of my books, Little Skink’s Tail. The publisher asked me to add two more animals, including an insect. After that revision, it took about ten months before the publisher bought the manuscript.

I submitted the otter manuscript to Star Bright Books in October 2007, and they bought it in April 2008. I originally wrote the otter story in 2001 and over the years submitted it to several publishers, fine-tuning it several times in the process.

What was the total time frame from the point of submission of the original manuscripts to the actual printing of the books?
Fur and Feathers took a little over two years from submission to finished book. Good Night, Little Sea Otter took about three years.

I see that you work with several different publishers. Why not with just one source?
Several of the publishers I publish with have specialties. Sylvan Dell Publishing wants fiction with a math or science tie, Soundprints is a work-for-hire publisher, Lee & Low Books publishes only books on minorities, etc. Even when a publisher buys one of your manuscripts, it doesn't mean they will buy the next one you send to them, so then you look for another publisher for that manuscript. Sylvan Dell Publishing encourages its writers to send their manuscripts out to other publishers as well as them.

What type of publicity does your publisher do to promote your book?

The publishers send review copies to review journals, bloggers, etc. (publishers more and more prefer to send e-books or pdfs rather than actual books). The publishers post the reviews in various places: their own websites and blogs, Facebook, etc. The publishers also promote the books at trade shows and through their school, library, bookstore, and other contacts.

Sylvan Dell Publishing also created a trailer for Fur and Feathers, which can be viewed on the publisher’s page for the book: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/bookpage.php?id=FurFeathers. The publisher also created a 57-page free online Teaching Activities Guide to go with Fur and Feathers, plus several other free resources, including reading and math quizzes, alignment to state and national standards, English and Spanish audio, etc. Sylvan Dell also has provided thousands of schools and libraries free access for a year to all 55 of their e-books through educational resource grants.

What do you do to promote your book?
I organized a virtual book tour for Fur and Feathers that included the illustrator. The tour featured reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways. For both books, I contacted several bloggers and asked if they would review my work. I share all reviews and other publicity for my books with my publishers and on my Facebook and Twitter pages. I let bookstores, nature centers, libraries, etc. in my local area know about my new books and offer to do events. I do interactive story times at libraries, bookstores, book festivals, nature centers, etc. Before any event, I contact the media for publicity and submit the info to various media calendars.

What do you know now about getting published that you wished you had known earlier in your writing career?
I wish I would have known that each word of a manuscript has to sing before it’s good enough.

What advice would you give someone who wants to write children’s books?
Read, read, read, the kind of books you want to write.
Write, write, write, every day if possible.
Revise, revise, revise, until every word sings.
When you feel every word in your manuscript sings research markets to see who publishes your kind of project and send it off. Then forget about it and start something new.

Also, write about what you enjoy. Join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and get involved in their state or regional group. You can learn so much by going to writing conferences, workshops, or chatting with other writers in person or in online writing groups.

Janet Halfmann now writes in a home office in South Milwaukee, WI, where she lives with her husband Tom, an artist and retired teacher. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family; working in the garden; exploring nature; visiting new places, especially wildlife areas and living-history museums; and watching movies.

If you have small children to whom you read bedtime stories, I would wholeheartedly recommend Good Night, Little Sea Otter. I think it could have the same long life as the perennial favorite, Good Night Moon. It is extremely charming!

If you would like to know more about the author, you can check out her website at: http://www.janethalfmann.com
Star Bright Books Good Night, Little Sea Otter page: http://www.starbrightbooks.org/details.php?id=300

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Upping the Sales for your Book

If you are published or in the process, here's a link to a video for some ideas on how to improve the sales of your book. Basically, it is piggybacking on other authors successes. It tells potential readers how your book might also be of interest to them. Just a quick tip I thought you would appreciate!

Writing Resolutions for the New Year

It's amazing that the turn of a calendar day can give you a feeling of renewal. At least it does for me when January 1 rolls around. I feel like I have new opportunities to grow and learn. Like many of you, my past year was like a roller coaster ride with deep plunges (in income) and a lot of jostling (rejections slips or deadlines for response passing with no results). Now that ride is over and I'm ready for a new one. I'm hopeful for good results and upward swings this year. I am rededicating myself to my writing career and finding new ways to hone my skills.

I ran into a wonderful web blog that asks the question...What Will You Do in 2011 To Help Your Writing? This opened my mind to thinking about how I can be proactive in improving my writing. If you would like to read the full article, click here. Here's just a couple of the questions he suggests to get a writer moving forward...Will you submit a query to an editor? When will you do this?
I know many writers are hesitant about doing this because they don't want to be rejected; but inaction won't get you published! So take a risk, write, rewrite and send out!

One of my favorite rejection stories about either O'Henry or Saroyan is that they sent out many stories to a series of publications only to have all of them rejected. Then another year past and they were sent to the same publications. This time many were accepted. The previous editors who had reviewed the stories had either left the publication or another editor read it. So when I get a rejection or no response, I've just got to remember that maybe I haven't found the right editor for me yet. So I say write on!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Interview with Marc Franco, author of the Kringle Chronicles


Writing is a second career for today’s author, Marc Franco. Prior to being published, he grew up living around the world, spending fourteen years in different countries and moving eight times before graduating from high school. This is what helped to inspire him in his writing. He has had a varied career from spending time as a Sheriff’s Detective to being a senior level technology architect. Although he has been writing fiction for over 20 years, he didn’t make the push to being published until the last few years. It seems that life -- marriage, children, career, and more got in the way, which we can all understand.

How did you come up with the idea of your most current book, The Kringle Chronicles, Catching Santa?
I was on an airplane when the idea came to me. I’d write a story about four central Florida sixth graders and use their story to introduce readers to a cool and hi-tech Santa universe. It really bothered me that Santa was considered this overweight magical elf. There was nothing cool about him. Why not make him cool and hi-tech? The youth today, the digital natives, are video gamers first, readers second. I figured it was time to create a twist on American Santa lore that would interest readers and video gamers alike. The twist: A Santa commando and a reindeer-named commando team inspired by Microsoft’s bestselling video game, Halo. I imagined that on the surface the commandos looked like reindeer because of their holograph emitting cloaking belts. But in reality they were really these jacked up commando dudes with these ballistic plated suits. Their mission: Protect Santa on Christmas so the Jolly Old Elf could focus on delivering presents but I had a problem. I needed a bad guy—someone the kids would appreciate—someone that was Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger evil.
Could you give me a short synopsis on the story for my readers?
It is six days before Christmas and incredibly weird things are happening in 11-year-old Jakob’s Florida neighborhood. His best friends -- Logan, Shig, and Fleep -- are convinced their Christmas is in danger, and then live snowmen strangely appear and confirm the threat. Jakob dismisses the bizarre events as nothing more than an elaborate hoax concocted by the bully down the street. But when the bully turns into smoke, a magical and powerful stranger appears as the mastermind behind the mayhem. The stranger demands the unimaginable and impossible: that Jakob catch Santa...or else!

Prior to getting this book published what other writing credits did you have?
None professionally, but I have been writing since the late 80’s. Writing has always been a hobby. I guess if there were any semblance of professionalism in my writing it was when I wrote reports as a property and sex crimes detective for a Sheriff's Office. It was a fun job and paid for my college.

From the time you sent in your manuscript to this publisher how long was it before you got any feedback?
Pants On Fire Press responded to my query letter within a week requesting the manuscript. Within two months I had a contract.

How many other publishers did you contact to produce your book?
Sixteen! I researched which publishers accepted unsolicited queries and scripts and sent them my script. There are not many publishers who do this. I did not have an agent.

What was the total time frame from the point of submission of the original manuscript to the actual printing of the book?
8 months

What type of publicity does your publisher do to promote your book? Obtaining reviews, writing press releases, attending librarian and educator conferences, promo materials like high quality book marks and posters, book trailer, giveaways (like goodreads.com, local hospital), industry advertising in Ingram magazines and consumer advertising on Facebook and Google.

What do you do to promote your book? I did an extensive book tour of schools, public libraries, and bookstores. I also do Facebook promotion, networking with bloggers and entering competitions.

What do you wish you knew about this publisher now that you wished you had known prior to submitting your manuscript? I just wish I knew of them sooner. I would not have wasted so much of my time trying to find an agent and publisher. Don’t get hung up on the big six -- the New York presses. A small press can do just as much for you if they know what they are doing.

What advice would you give someone who wanted to submit a manuscript to this publisher? Do it! Pants On Fire Press is great.

There is a sequel to the Kringle Chronicles coming. If you would like to learn more about Marc Franco and his writing, here are the details…
Website: www.marcfranco.com Email: mf@marcfranco.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000865662824

Additional information can be found at…
www.pantsonfirepress.com
www.catchingsanta.net
www.thekringlechronicles.com