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Author Visits

Guest post by Wiley Barnes from Chickasaw Press

Children innately love books. They have certain stories that become favorites, and they want to look at them or read them time and again. Books from our childhood have a way of staying with us and becoming a part of who we are.

I kept this concept in mind all through the process of writing the children’s book, “C is for Chickasaw.” I wanted every element of each page to continue to draw young readers back and make it their own much-loved book.

After the book’s release through White Dog Press in 2014, I began to develop a vision for realizing the full potential of the book as a creative educational tool. Dreaming beyond the paper page, I imagined what it would be like to bring the characters and words to life, packing as much action as possible into a simple, but exciting digital book-app format for young readers.

So, what is an engineer-turned dancer-turned-author doing on YouTube?

Because kids need to grow up multicultural!

OK Ajanta, this isn’t making any sense,” you say. But you see, this is exactly why I co-founded Culture Groove.

I grew up in India but my son was born in the US. I read books to him about India – it was easily available since we write them ourselves. I coaxed him with Indian folktales as I tried to make him eat one more bite of food. I invented games on rainy days that reminded me of my childhood days.

But you know what I couldn’t find? A way for him to continue the learning as he inevitably did the one thing that none of us want to admit our kids do – watch videos on a tablet.

Guest post from author Erin Dealey

You might know a child like me: one you’d NEVER expect to write children’s books. One who thinks of writing as very serious business–definitely not fun.

I loved school. I loved recess with my friends, playing outside. Huge thanks to my teachers who encouraged every spark of creativity. Oh how I loved reading to the kindergartners, or opening that box of brand new books from the Book Club. (I can still smell them! Can You?) Thank you, Mr. Markey, who assigned 6th-grade autobiographies, and did not grumble when I turned in a biography of me–written by my shadow…

Endless gratitude to growing up in Oakland CA, on a hill where you learned how to stop your bike or jump off your skateboard before the stop sign at the bottom; in a neighborhood where kindness was the norm, and we played together, looked after each other.

My favorite place to do homework was on top of our garage, where a sawed-off footstool (Thanks, Dad!) made the perfect desk, surrounded by the neighbor’s treetops. I liked Math because there was a process to follow to get the right answer and, if my answer was wrong, there was a formula to fix it. With writing, not so much. To me, it felt like you had to be psychic to figure out what the teacher wanted. So, nope, writing wasn’t my thing.

As a publisher of beautiful children’s books, Crickhollow Books is committed to quality over quantity.

Crickhollow Books and Crispin Books are intertwined imprints of their indie book publishing house that is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are also known for their amazing catalog of picture books that shine the spotlight on topics with social or environmental impact. With titles like Doyli to the Rescue, Tony and His Elephants, and Tortuga Squadthey have much to be proud of!

author Cathleen Burnham

Crickhollow also offers a lot of middle-grade fiction focused on good values and a variety of books for adults, including books for writers on how to write well and get published.

“We love all our books just like parents love their kids,” shared Crickhollow Editor, Philip Martin. “Our homepage is a great showcase of what we do. As an indie press, we are like a parent that helps to bring something new and fresh into the world and then works for years to help it find its place, to grow to be part of a literary community of caring readers. Although we are microscopic in comparison to the big mega-houses, we work hard and take risks to produce quality books that can make a difference.”

Guest blog post by Susan Mayfield of Reduce the Chaos

With the recent changes on Facebook and the decreased reach for business pages, a lot of business people and authors are re-evaluating keeping a business page on Facebook. Some have made the drastic decision to delete their Facebook business pages or abandon them.

Facebook for authors

Stop! Before you follow them and delete your business from Facebook, you might want some facts to help make a more informed decision. I understand the frustration of the reduced reach on Facebook unless you pay for ads. However, there are still some valid points to having a business page and a quality, active presence. There are also some things that are working for organic reach if you have an engaged community. Until there is a more viable alternative, Facebook is one of the main places where the action is going to be when it comes to prospecting for clients and customers.