In the Spotlight :: Tom Anderson of Blackfish Children’s Books

May 20, 2013 by 4 Comments
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Jodi Murphy of Geek Club Books introduced me to Tom Anderson who heads up the app developer company:  Blackfish Children's Books.  I was impressed with the platform that he and his brother have created and the quality of storybook apps they offer.  Their book engine allows the app user to choose the main story character, add customizations to make the story about yourself, and the ability to create choose-your-own-path adventures.  I know my daughter loves to create stories where she is part of the adventure.  The Blackfish Children's Books offer this unique ability for your kids to not only be a part of the story but chose different main story characters.  I had a chance to speak to Tom about his company and their new project called The Great Illustrator Project. What was the inspiration behind creating Blackfish Children's Books? Our former company was a video game company. … [Read more...]

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In the Spotlight with Brian Felsen, CEO of BookBaby

May 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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  If you are a self-published author you have probably heard of BookBaby.  They can convert your book (or manuscript) into an eBook for a very reasonable price and help with getting your book into major distribution channels.  With so many authors opting to go this route it is great to have BookBaby around.  One of the things I like about this company is that they charge you a flat up-front fee and that's it.  They don't take a percentage of your sales once it becomes available as an eBook.  There are not many services around that do that.  Having an innate sense of curiosity about the people behind the companies I like - I wanted to find out more about the person who created Book Baby.  In my eyes, this person and company is helping to realize people's dreams.  How many people wish they could write and publish a story they might have been working on … [Read more...]

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In the Spotlight with Michel Kripalani, President, Oceanhouse Media

April 30, 2013 by 2 Comments
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Last year I met Natalie Aller at the home of Rebecca Cox whose son was getting a new iPad from an organization that provided  40 iPads to over 40 Kids in 40 States!  It was a great experience to see firsthand how remarkable how much this device can help children with special needs.  Since that time, I have seen Oceanhouse Media grow into one of the best developers out there.  The quality of apps they provide are pretty remarkable.  Of course, we love all of their Dr. Seuss and Berenstain Bears apps but they are such a wide selection of great apps.  I had a chance to speak to Michel Kripalani, the President of Oceanhouse Media about how he got involved in this business and how his background in the gaming industry helped him to acquire such classics as the Dr. Seuss series. Q&A with Michel Kripalani, President, Oceanhouse Media, Inc. Tell us what inspired you to create … [Read more...]

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In the Spotlight with Ron Engel of Smart Apps for Kids

April 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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  When I released Penelope the Purple Pirate through PicPocket Books back in January 2010, I had no idea how much work it would take to get the app out there and noticed amongst all of the other apps on the market.  Since that time, there has been a huge influx of apps available through iTunes that it makes it even harder to get noticed!  One of the best App Review sites out there includes Smart Apps for Kids that was started by Ron Engel.  I had a chance to speak to Ron about his site and he offers some pointers on what makes a good app.  He mentions how much he had to learn as well when he first started out in this business.  I think that is a good point for people to keep in mind if they are looking to get into the app business.  We all started at square one (at least most of us) and don't let the fear of the unknown stop you from moving forward with your dream of … [Read more...]

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In the Spotlight with Karen Robertson

April 9, 2013 by 2 Comments
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It's a great time to be a writer as there are so many paths to take to realize your dream of publishing your book.  Just the other day I was speaking to Reva Solomon who is the People Editor for the Society of Children's Book Writer & Illustrators Magazine about how the industry has changed so much in just the past five years.  She and I spoke about what a great time it is for writer!  Today we are featuring Karen Robertson who paved her own way and is a true pioneer and supporter of indie authors.  She wrote an eBook that showcases 27 children's authors in her new release What is a Book App and Could You Create One?  How 27 Writers Did! which she is offering for FREE from April 9-13th so make sure to download it!  I think you will find some useful tips from the writers featured that just might help you get off the fence and go after your dream of creating a book app or … [Read more...]

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In the Spotlight with Author Merrily Kutner

March 28, 2013 by 7 Comments
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Last year I attended the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) South Coast Winery Retreat and met Merrily Kutner at one of the round-table seminars where she was leading the talk on eliminating unneeded dialogue in our stories.  Merrily is an instructor with the UCLA Extension Writers Program and an award-winning author. She is a great editor and writer and I am so happy to feature her as she is a real pro!  She helped me with both Gerry the Giraffe and Clarence and the Traveling Circus and provided some great advice on how to cut back on unnecessary words in the story.  This skill to only use words that help push the story along is something that can take years to develop for a writer.  We had a chance to talk about her inspiration and process. Tell us a bit about your journey of becoming a children's picture book author? It was a long … [Read more...]

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In the Spotlight with Children’s Author Julie Hedlund

March 16, 2013 by 8 Comments
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  In the app world it would appear to be quite vast yet I seem to come across like-minded authors quite often.  I "met" Julie Hedlund last year after reading a post she wrote for The Children's Book Insider where she is an active contributor.  She also created the 12 x 12 Writing Program where writer's challenge themselves to write one story a month! I told her I might participate next year when my daughter is in school full time because it does seem quite daunting to write one story a month at this point!  Julie recently released her first storybook app through Little Bahalia called A Troop is a Group of Monkey's.   She provides some great tips for aspiring authors and writers on her website so check it out when you have a chance.  We spoke about her journey of becoming a children's picture book writer and she offers some words of wisdom if you are looking to write your first, … [Read more...]

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In the Spotlight with Indie Fantasy Author Lindsay Buroker

March 5, 2013 by 4 Comments
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  While researching successful indie authors I came across Lindsay Buroker's website.  Her site is filled with great advice for other writers and authors.  She also talks about her journey of writing and why she chose the path of self-publishing vs. traditional means -Lindsay really understands how to market her books and is selling over 2,000 eBooks a month on Amazon and other online bookstores.  Not bad at all!  I had a chance to speak to her about why she chose to self-publish and tips for writer's looking to be successful in this competitive market. Tell us why you decided to become an indie author instead of going the more traditional route? In the fall of 2010, I had my second manuscript, (Encrypted) ready to publish, and my first one (The Emperor’s Edge) had been sitting completed on the hard drive for a year because I didn’t think it was the sort of thing … [Read more...]

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In the Spotlight with Lynette Mattke of PicPocket Books

February 22, 2013 by 2 Comments
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    Back in the Fall of 2010, I was researching different app developers  to send my first children's story to and I came across PicPocket Books and Lynette Mattke.  One of the things that caught my eye about the company was the vast variety of children's picture books apps they offered.   I decided to give it a shot and sent in the Penelope the Purple Pirate text along with five illustrations to see if they were interested in making it into a storybook app.  I can still remember sitting at the computer when the email came in and Lynette said they would love to publish the story on the PicPocket Books platform and asked when could she get the rest of the illustrations!  I was SO excited that we would finally see Penelope as a storybook app.  Lynette had faith in Penelope and as an author you couldn't ask for a better developer to work with!  Lynette was named one of the … [Read more...]

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In the Spotlight with Tracy Fernandez

February 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Karen Robertson of Treasure Kai asked me to be part of a book app writers blog chain last month. Basically, we write a post and tag fellow writers who are participating. I love this idea as  it reminds me of the chain letters we wrote as kids!  So this week I thought I would write about a great company and woman who has done a lot of work for such great organizations like Apps for Children With Special Needs (A4cwsn) and even provided a banner valued at $300-$400 for Penelope's 2nd Birthday Facebook Party as a giveaway for developers.  Developers had a chance to win a custom-made banner on Polka Dots Publishing Facebook Page where we posted a Rafflecopter Giveaway.  Tracy Fernández is an award-winning graphic artist who has spent more than 20 years gaining extensive graphic design experience, conceiving ideas as well as producing design for printed communications and the … [Read more...]

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