RockABet by Kelly Polark

Today, I'm playing band manager to celebrate the release of Kelly Polark's ABC's of rock 'n' roll picture book, ROCKABET: CLASSIC EDITION. 

Are you ready to rock A to Z? Let's roll through some music history! ROCKABET: Classic Edition introduces classic artists of rock 'n' roll in catchy couplets. This fun book promotes the arts, literacy, and learning the ABC's. Cute illustrations depict musicians in a childlike manner. Reading rocks!


Tell me your rockin' picks if you could create your own band.

Band Name: 
First Gig: 
Lead vocals: 
Lead guitarist: 
Bass guitarist:
Drums:
Keyboards (optional):
Who would you choose for your supergroup and why?

Here's a band name generator to create your killer band name!

ROCKABET: The CLASSIC EDITION can currently be purchased online at Amazon or at select bookstores. Hardcover books will be available at various online retailers and stores in October.

Kelly Polark is Kelly Polark is a married mom of three and a children's educator and author from the Midwest. She has been featured in Spider, Ladybug, and Highlights Puzzlemania. Her published books include BIG SISTER, BABY BROTHER and HOLD THE MUSTARD! by Meegenius and ROCKABET: CLASSIC EDITION. In her free time, Kelly plays with her family, reads books, and sings along at rock concerts. 

Visit her websites, BOOK RECS OF THE ROCK AND FAMOUS (www.bookrecsthatrock.blogspot.com) and KELLY POLARK (www.kpolark.blogspot.com). Find her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/AuthorKellyPolark) and on Twitter, too (@kellypolark)! 

She is also the author of BIG SISTER, BABY BROTHER and the upcoming HOLD THE MUSTARD! from Meegenius. Come visit her on Facebook and Twitter! Check out her website and celebrity book recommendation site, Book Recs of the Rock and Famous.

Huffington Post: 50 things under 50$ (book promotion)

This article was in Huffington Post today ad offers some great ideas.

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These days it seems like everyone's book marketing budget is a little tighter. If you're feeling the pinch, or if you're just looking for some great free stuff to do on your own, here are some tips that can help keep you on track. Along with the tips, I've also linked to other articles I've written on the various topics, in case you want to dig deeper:

1. Buy your domain name as soon as you have a title for your book. You can get domain names for as little as12.95. Tip: When buying a domain always try to get a .com and stay away from hyphens, i.e. penny-sansevieri.com - surfers rarely remember to insert hyphens. You should also consider using your keywords in your domain because it'll help you rank better. Social media is great, but don't use your Facebook or Twitter pages as your "website" - you should own your domain and have a site. Period. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/how-to-build-the-perfect-_b_1932184.html
2. Head on over to Wordpress.com and start your very own blog (you can add it to your website later): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/ten-reasons-why-you-shoul_b_839231.html
3. Set up an event at your neighborhood bookstore. Do an event and not a signing, book signings are boring!
4. It's all about content these days so why not create a calendar for content? Often if you aren't sure what to write, or when, a content calendar will keep you on track. You can plan the calendar around your free time (though you should blog weekly) and around holidays or events that may tie into your book.
5. Then, while you're at it: brainstorm content ideas and start a content folder you can always refer back to when you aren't feeling "inspired" to write anything.

For the rest of the list, head over to Penny Sansevieri's article at Huffington Post, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc.,

Some great marketing posts!

How Does Time Impact Your Book Publicity

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-5-pillars-of-book-publicity_12.html

The Role Of Connectivity & Book Publicity

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/connectivity-book-publicity.html

How Can Authors Measure Social Media Success?

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/how-do-you-measure-social-media-success.html

25 Ways For Authors To Break Through & Establish A Legacy

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-do-authors-break-through.html

Do You Market Your Books Doggy Style?

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/book-marketing-doggy-style.html

Will Social Media Save Your Book?  http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-big-is-your-social-media-following.html

Why Authors – and Publicists & Publishers Need A Therapist

http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/why-authors-need-therapist.html

Bookanista: Reconstructing Amelia

I picked up this book at RWA in the spring. Didn't think anything about it until a friend starting talking about it and compared it to Gone Girl.

Sold.

This is a little different of a book - since it is technically adult - but it is about a teen's angst and partly from a teen POV so I decided to try it. 

This book was so good, I wanted to talk about it. I loved it! 

I will say there was one subplot that felt a little forced, but it didn't ruin the book for me. It is told in alternating view points of Kate (the mom's) present day investigation and Amelia's POV in past tense (the 15 year old) time leading up to the event of her death. It's also told using emails, text messages, and Facebook statuses so its very technology focused which is different and really worked.

Below I listed my top 10 things about this book! But first what it's about.

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

A stunning debut novel in which a single mother reconstructs her teenaged daughter's life, sifting through her emails, texts, and social media to piece together the shocking truth about the last days of her life.

Litigation lawyer and harried single mother Kate Baron is stunned when her daughter's exclusive private school in Park Slope, Brooklyn, calls with disturbing news: her intelligent, high-achieving fifteen-year-old daughter, Amelia, has been caught cheating.

Kate can't believe that Amelia, an ambitious, levelheaded girl who's never been in trouble would do something like that. But by the time she arrives at Grace Hall, Kate's faced with far more devastating news. Amelia is dead. 

Seemingly unable to cope with what she'd done, a despondent Amelia has jumped from the school's roof in an act of "spontaneous" suicide. At least that's the story Grace Hall and the police tell Kate. And overwhelmed as she is by her own guilt and shattered by grief, it is the story that Kate believes until she gets the anonymous text: 

"She didn't jump."

Sifting through Amelia's emails, text messages, social media postings, and cell phone logs, Kate is determined to learn the heartbreaking truth about why Amelia was on Grace Hall's roof that day-and why she died.

Told in alternating voices, Reconstructing Amelia is a story of secrets and lies, of love and betrayal, of trusted friends and vicious bullies. It's about how well a parent ever really knows a child and how far one mother will go to vindicate the memory of a daughter whose life she could not save

Top 10 things:

1) I felt this mom's pain. It was heart wrenching. Find out out a teen is dead has to be horrible for any mom. Especially a single mom.
2) The bond between mom and daughter is special. This mom did everything right yet there was still a break down. I think this portrayed a real relationship.
3) It was very Gone Girl meets Pretty Little Liars. And I love both of those.
4) This book is a about how small secrets can grow into bigger problems. They can sneak up on you and fester slowly.
5) If i learned one thing it is : that quality is better than quantity. The quality is the emotional connection while the quantity is only physical.
6) It brings to light the issue of bullies. That they can be girls and they can be cruel. 
7) It touched me how a young beautiful smart girl who had everything going for her could still get pulled in the wrong direction
8) It was a page turner because I needed to know what happened - like Kate. The desperation bled off the pages into my heart.
9) It made me think about how important we think work is until something tragic happens and then it all doesn't seem worth it in the end.
10) The writing was beautiful. It was different

Pick this one up if you want a break from traditional YA books!

For other Bookanista books:

• Lenore Appelhans showers praise for HALF LIVES by Sara Grant
• Shari Arnold gushes about HYSTERIA by Megan Miranda
• Shannon Messenger adores THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US by Kasie West
• Tracey Neithercott is mad for EARTHBOUND by Aprilynne Pike
• Kimberly Sabatini dishes about ROSE UNDER FIRE by Elizabeth Wein
• Katy Upperman can't get enough of AUDREY, WAIT! by Robin Benway