VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Picking the Right Words for a Picture Book by VS Grenier First, let me say there are four types of picture books. Story Books: Most of us grew up on this traditional picture book. This type of picture book is by far the most popular and is usually fiction based. You will have a series of events with strong character development. Story books tend to have more text on each page vs. other types of picture books. Concept Books: This type of picture book helps to promote a child’s understanding. You see this type of picture book for toddlers or as a “My First” book series. These books can be fiction or nonfiction and have very few words. The illustrations tend to be the focus. Novelty Books: A great example of this type of book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This picture book relies on some short of gimmick to tell the book’s story. Modern Picture Books: This type of picture book is a lot like the story picture book, but uses both the illustrations and

What daily practice can help you grow in creativity, both in the arts and in problem solving? Keep a creative journal, and you will amaze yourself with your own innovations. Remember that there is no one right way to keep a journal. Creative journaling is about trying things until you find your own favorite methods of expressing yourself. First, let yourself off the hook when it comes to having every page picture perfect. Either use a looseleaf and discard the mistakes, or invest in some erasable pens. Better yet, learn to see an occasional mess as an inevitable sign of your own humanness, and nothing to be ashamed of. Mistakes are simply stepping stones in your growth and understanding. Besides, your journal is for you and no one else, unless you decide to make it public. Who cares about an occasional flub? So don't let perfectionism stop you in your tracks. Now that that's been said, let's consider what it means to be creative in your journal. POETRY: A journal

  The World of Ink Network: The Writing Mama show will talk about Books and Online Marketing with with Karen Cioffi. The Writing Mama Show TONIGHT, FRIDAY 10th, at 6pm EST at http://blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork Karen Cioffi is the founder and manager of a marketing group, Writers on the Move, she has some experience with what works and doesn't work for touring and online marketing and will be sharing her views with hosts VS Grenier, Marsha Cook and J.D. Holiday along with you our audience. Along with the Writers on the Move experience, Karen has attend a number of marketing teleseminars and tries to apply what she learns to her own marketing strategies. Karen is also an author, ghostwriter and freelance writer and a member of the International Association of Professional Ghostwriters, the Professional Writers Alliance, and the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors. As always, The Writing Mama show can be listened to live at BlogTalkRadio.com

Publishing Tips (dos and don'ts) By Ronda Eden Illustrator of "The Brothers Foot" This is the one I’m betting Steve, the author, is avoiding. I know this because we are alike in that promotion, publishing and all the business parts of our work is hardly our forte. Like most artists, we just want to be left alone to do our art. We are however, making an effort...but it’s not easy. I think I could offer a few tips though as I do some writing for children as well.   First: Keep up with the latest trends and how things are quickly changing. Second: As much as you may not like Facebook and other social networks, they are fast becoming a necessity if you want to get the word out there. Do keep some boundaries tough. It’s easy to get distracted and led astray. Third: Be careful of self-publishing companies. Make sure you understand the costs involved. Realize you are probably going to have to buy your own books and usually in bulk to get any kind of profit margin. Some of th

Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network Show: The Writing Mama with hosts VS Grenier, Marsha Casper Cook and J.D. Holiday will be chatting with Julie Schoerke, founder of JKS Communications about marketing, media publicity and radio appearances.  Julie and her company specializes in developing winning promotional strategies integrating traditional and new media for authors and publishers, and in managing comprehensive publicity campaigns. Before specializing in book publicity, Schoerke spent more than 20 years in general Public Relations providing services to the following sectors, which has enabled JKSCommunications to utilize strategic partnerships to enhance book promotion. A public relations expert with more than 20 years experience, Schoerke built her business with a wide variety of corporate clients, high-profile individual clients and events before narrowing her focus to literary publicity. Prior to that, she was a not-for-profit executive. Her clients — authors with Random