3 S.R. Johannes: Friday Round-Up (thoughts and marketing posts)

Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday Round-Up (thoughts and marketing posts)

NYC Conference! Who's in?

Raise your hand if you are going to NYC SCBWI Conference. Me too! (hopefully:) Libba Bray is the keynote speaker - that alone is worth the cold, the money, and the taxi rides. Don't you think? OK so maybe you could buy all her books for much cheaper (evidently especially if you go to the devil stores of Walmart or Target) or watch her vlog for free.

But to see her in person and maybe steal/borrow/suck up some of her writing brilliance: priceless.


Mediocre Mom to the rescue! Halloween Drama Solved!

My daughter's costume was lost in mail this week. Talk about devastation! Try telling a 5 year old "I'm sorry but you may not be able to be Cheetah Cat Girl" Then I got "the look" - you know the one with a big puffed out lip and alligator tears clinging to the ledge of her eyelids. Broke my heart.

As if I dont' feel guilty enough, to drive the stake further into my heart - she mutters: "It's OK mom. I don't have to be Cheetah Cat Girl. I guess I can just go as a regular old Cat." (So sweet right?)

But just KILL me why don't yah!

So what did I do?

No!!! I did not make one! That would make me a Super Mom. I'm just Mediocre Mom. Not to mention, I am soooooo not crafty!

Besides, if I was so super - I WOULD NOT HAVE WAITED UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE. I would have bought it months ago and had it dry-cleaned and pressed.

My solution? I paid 50$ on overnight shipping for a 30$ cat costume. And lucky for me - it arrived today. Can't wait to see her face and the obvious words that will follow: You're the best mom in the world!

And she will be the best Cheetah Cat Girl - wrinkles and all.

PS: An update - after all that - the other one just came too - GRRRRRR! Anyone need a Cheetah costume, unfortunately its too small for me :)

Marketing Round Up

Here are some "spooktacular" marketing posts for the week. Happy Halloween!

Author Websites- What not to blog - You start blog and wonder what to write about. Here's are some tips on what NOT to do!

What's next in book promotion? - A man using airports as a book tour. All times are based on flight schedules! :)

Book Promotion Humor - A recent (and very funny) New Yorker piece by Ellis Weiner (wait don't laugh yet!) on book promotion has zoomed around the web.

15 places to start a group online - There's another aspect you can use to promote your book and your identity as an author. Instead of looking only for existing social hangouts, why not create one?

The Katy Challenge - My first school visit presentation was speaking to a group of 300 school kids—one of my biggest crowds ever. Here's the surprising thing: it was a piece of cake!

21 comments:

Dawn Simon said...

I'll be at the SCBWI Winter Conference too! I'm sooo excited!!

I enjoyed the Halloween costume story. Your daughter will be thrilled.

I have a little something for you at my blog. ;)

Christina Lee said...

Thanks you--I keep meaning to register for it! So I will see you there! Oh and BTW, did you love vamp diaries last night?

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

yay Daw and chrsintina - hopefully I will get to meet you.

christina - it was awesome right?!

Susan R. Mills said...

You are a SUPER MOM! She's a lucky little girl. And, no, I'm not going the conference. I wish!

Donna Gambale said...

I'm definitely attending with the FNC! We definitely should meet up.

Tere Kirkland said...

Ooh, you really are the best mom!
Happy Halloween!

Thanks for the links, and have fun at the conference.

Deb Salisbury, Magic Seeker and Mantua-Maker said...

> I paid 50$ on overnight shipping for a 30$ cat costume.

In my opinion, that makes you a super mom!

Thanks for the links. :-)

Corey Schwartz said...

Wow, LA and NYC? What a year for you!

Sherrie Petersen said...

I wish I was going to NY. I'd love to see you again!

Jasmine was a cat last year. This year she is the most adorable bat. But I didn't order the costume. Just bought it from an evil WalMart...

Frankie Diane Mallis said...

Woohoo! Ill be there!

Melissa Hurst said...

I wish I could go to the conference. Maybe one day...

Wow, $50 bucks for a costume...the things we do for our children.

Great links. Thanks for posting.

Clementine said...

Probably not this year, I went this past January and it was AMAZING! I'll try to catch it next year.

jdsanc said...

Cheetah Cat Girl, don't even know, so that you get it, yeah, super mom. Besides, halloween costumes are important. Who doesn't remember every Halloween costume they wore as a kid, right? Saw a Jedi and Tinkerbell the other day in Macys. Turns out it was a Storm Trooper and Tinkerbell. My bad.

Jessie Oliveros said...

Oh no! The other costume came? Maybe she won't grow much next year and still like cats. Have fun at the conference.

Kelly H-Y said...

Isn't that the way that it would arrive right after spending a fortune to get a replacement?! Ughh!!! Wish I could go to the NYC conference!

mary.anne.gruen@gmail.com said...

It's always Feast or Famine!

With the Internet, kids must have a lot more costume options than I did as a kid. A Cheetah Cat Girl costume sounds like fun!

I've given you two awards back at my blog http://www.StarlightBlog.com It sounds like you're kind of busy right now, so don't worry about doing anything with them. Just know your blog is appreciated.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

I'm thinking about going. I'm talking to my critique group to see if anyone else is thinking about going.

It sounds like you have a sweet litle one. :)

Christina Farley said...

Jealous over your conference! And your poor daughter!

Vicky Alvear Shecter said...

Enjoyed all the links. Can't wait to hear your NYC stories. I also love hearing about your mom-escapades. Can so realte...

Adrienne said...

Great costume story! Is the other one listed on Ebay yet?
Thanks for the links - I'm off to see what I shouldn't be blogging about. :)

Crystal said...

What sacrifices we make for our kids' happiness! I know the feeling . . . I had to get 2 costumes this year (but only for each kid, thankfully!. I've been thinking about going to the 2010 conference but the line-up seems a bit less compared to LA . . . have to think harder about this! :)