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WELCOME!
Welcome to Day 7 of our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway. I’m part of an amazing group of writer friends who specialize in writing engaging nonfiction for kids. We’re the Nonfiction Ninjas!

Each day for for 11 days we’ll be offering you the chance to win a free children’s book. Great for your little ones, for the classroom, for homeschooling families, and for libraries everywhere, these books are AWESOME! And they’re written by these talented gals I’m fortunate to know as my writing buddies.

During the giveaway, you’ll get to learn more of the story behind the story of each of these books. Plus you get to meet each member of the Nonfiction Ninjas! How great is that?!

Then, on the last day, Day 12, I’ll announce here on my blog the list of winners for each one of the books featured in this giveaway. So join in the fun. Every day for these 12 days! Here on my blog!!

(This giveaway is for folks in the continental US only. No overseas entries, please.)

The Book That Jake Borrowed
by Susan Holt Kralovansky
Hip hip hooray for today’s featured book in our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway! One of you will be our winner for today and will be receiving a free copy of this fantastic book in your mailbox.

MEET SUSIE!
Susie, thanks so much for visiting my blog today and offering readers the chance to win a copy of your incredible and brand new children’s book.

Susie, can you tell us what your book is all about?
THE BOOK THAT JAKE BORROWED is about a little boy and his library book that are in one sticky situation after another. First there’s the drip of a jelly sandwich that leads to the lick, lick, lick of a rat, and then there’s the cat and the dog, and that’s that for the book Jake borrowed.

What inspired you to write this story?
I was a school librarian and my students were terrible about taking care of their library books. I tried book care lessons and read book care stories, but when they returned their library books, they were a mess! After one especially frustrating day with a common theme of “It didn’t look like that when I put it in your book drop.” I decided to write them a book about taking care of a book. That night, around midnight, I woke up from a sound sleep to the first line of The Book That Jake Borrowed.

What do you hope it will leave the kids thinking about?
I hope parents and teachers and librarians share stories of kids who are greeted with the smiling face of the “librarian they adore,” as they take responsibility for their book problems. To celebrate the release of THE BOOK THAT JAKE BORROWED, I’ve added a book trailer and activity guide on my website. CLICK HERE to enjoy!

Thanks, Susie, for visiting my blog today. It was great to hear more of the “story behind the story”!

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ENTER THE GALA GIVEAWAY
Hey everyone. Hop on board and join the fun!!!! You can enter your name once today for a chance to win a free copy of today’s featured book by one of our members of the Nonfiction Ninjas! All it takes is 2 easy steps.

Step One
Click on the icon on the right to follow my blog and get an occasional newsletter in your inbox featuring releases of new children’s books by the Nonfiction Ninjas, and chock full of helpful tips on how you can write for kids. (If you already follow my blog, you can skip this step.)

Step Two
Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win!
CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter your name in the contest.

That’s it!

Be sure to stop back here on my blog tomorrow for Day 8 of our Gala Giveaway. You can enter your name for a chance to win our next featured children’s book. We’re giving away 11 amazing children’s books during our Gala Giveaway. And on Day 12, we’ll announce the winners, here on my blog. I hope you’ll be one of them!

But hey…why wait until the giveaway is over to get your hands on this children’s book? It’s great for holiday or birthday giving and perfect for your kiddos to enjoy. It’s great for your school or classroom library, and makes a great holiday donation to your local library! You can buy it today on Amazon or at your favorite online bookstores!

Share this:

WELCOME!
Welcome to Day 6 of our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway. I’m part of an amazing group of writer friends who specialize in writing engaging nonfiction for kids. We’re the Nonfiction Ninjas!

Each day for for 11 days we’ll be offering you the chance to win a free children’s book. Great for your little ones, for the classroom, for homeschooling families, and for libraries everywhere, these books are AWESOME! And they’re written by these talented gals I’m fortunate to know as my writing buddies.

During the giveaway, you’ll get to learn more of the story behind the story of each of these books. Plus you get to meet each member of the Nonfiction Ninjas! How great is that?!

Then, on the last day, Day 12, I’ll announce here on my blog the list of winners for each one of the books featured in this giveaway. So join in the fun. Every day for these 12 days! Here on my blog!!

(This giveaway is for folks in the continental US only. No overseas entries, please.)

The Hole Story of the Doughnut
by Pat Miller
Hip hip hooray for today’s featured book in our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway! One of you will be our winner for today and will be receiving a free copy of this fantastic book in your mailbox.

MEET PAT!
Pat, thanks so much for visiting my blog today and offering readers the exciting chance to win a copy of your children’s book.

Pat, do you have a favorite book that you have written?
Yes! The Hole Story of the Doughnut is my favorite because it introduced me to the magical addiction that is research. Tracking down a true story, something like a crime scene investigator, is much more exciting for me than creating a fictional world.

How did you get the idea to write about the true story of the doughnut?
My husband and I were on a tour boat in Boston harbor when the guide gestured vaguely and said, “Over there is where they buried the guy who invented the doughnut.” My first thought was, “We know who that is?” My second thought was to find out who it was. That research led me in surprising directions.

What was surprising in your research?
The very first thing I learned about my inventor (Captain Hanson Gregory) was from a 1916 census record that showed he was an inmate. Yikes! Was my subject a prisoner? Hopefully he wasn’t a murderer! But further scrutiny showed he was an inmate (resident) in a state home for retired sailors. Whew! And then there were all the tragedies in his life. I actually cried for him and his family.

Thanks, Pat, for sharing both the joys and the heartache behind writing nonfiction for kids. It was great to hear more of the “story behind the story”!

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ENTER THE GALA GIVEAWAY
Hey everyone. Hop on board and join the fun!!!! You can enter your name once today for a chance to win a free copy of today’s featured book by one of our members of the Nonfiction Ninjas! All it takes is 2 easy steps.

Step One
Visit our brand new blog for children’s writers. CLICK HERE to go to Nonfiction Ninjas, and post a comment!

Step Two
Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win!
CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter your name in the contest.

That’s it!

Be sure to stop back here on my blog tomorrow for Day 7 of our Gala Giveaway. You can enter your name for a chance to win our next featured children’s book. We’re giving away 11 amazing children’s books during our Gala Giveaway. And on Day 12, we’ll announce the winners, here on my blog. I hope you’ll be one of them!

But hey…why wait until the giveaway is over to get your hands on this children’s book? It’s great for holiday or birthday giving and perfect for your kiddos to enjoy. You can buy it today on Amazon or at your favorite online bookstores!

Share this:

WELCOME!
Welcome to Day 5 of our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway. I’m part of an amazing group of writer friends who specialize in writing engaging nonfiction for kids. We’re the Nonfiction Ninjas!

Each day for for 11 days we’re offering you the chance to win a free children’s book. Great for your little ones, for the classroom, for homeschooling families, and for libraries everywhere, these books are AWESOME! And they’re written by these talented gals I’m fortunate to know as my writing buddies.

During the giveaway, you’ll get to learn more of the story behind the story of each of these books. Plus you get to meet each member of the Nonfiction Ninjas! How great is that?!

Then, on the last day, Day 12, I’ll announce here on my blog the list of winners for each one of the books featured in this giveaway. So join in the fun. Every day for these 12 days! Here on my blog!!

(This giveaway is for folks in the continental US only. No overseas entries, please.)

The Queen and the First Christmas Tree
by Nancy Churnin
Hip hip hooray for today’s featured book in our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway! One of you will be our winner for today and will be receiving a free copy of this brand new holiday book in your mailbox.

MEET NANCY!
Nancy, thanks so much for visiting my blog today and offering readers the wonderful chance to win a copy of your newly released children’s book.

Nancy, can you share with us what your book is about?
THE QUEEN AND THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE, QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S GIFT TO ENGLAND is the true story of Queen Charlotte, the kind queen who cared about orphans and people in need, and introduced the first Christmas tree to Windsor Castle in 1800. She was married to King George III, the king at the time of the American Revolution.

What inspired you to write this story?
Curiosity! I always wondered how the tradition of the Christmas tree got started. Many people associate it with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. I found out that Queen Charlotte, who was Queen Victoria’s grandmother, was the first to delight children with a tree decorated with candles and nuts and candies. However, it was not until the Illustrated London News published a drawing of Queen Victoria and her family around their tree in 1848 that people became aware of her annual tradition and wanted trees of their own. When Godey’s Lady’s Book published the picture two years later in America, many Americans wanted trees, too.

What do you hope it will leave the kids thinking about?
I hope it will leave the kids thinking that royalty is not just about tiaras and dressing up for balls. Queen Charlotte didn’t like either of those things. Instead, she and King George were the first royals to make charitable giving part of royal duties. In Queen Charlotte’s honor, I’ve launched A KIND HOLIDAY project on my website. (CLICK HERE to visit.) I hope parents and teachers will share stories of kids who are doing kind things for others at whatever holiday they celebrate all year long.

Thanks, Nancy! It was great to hear more of the “story behind the story”! And best wishes on the launch of your new book.

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ENTER THE GALA GIVEAWAY
Hey everyone. Hop on board and join the fun!!!! You can enter your name once today for a chance to win a free copy of today’s featured book by one of our members of the Nonfiction Ninjas! All it takes is 2 easy steps.

Step One
Share this post on your favorite social media sites. It’s easy! Just click on the sharing buttons below to post this event and let your online friends know.

Step Two
Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win!
CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter your name in the contest.

That’s it!

Be sure to stop back here on my blog tomorrow for Day 6 of our Gala Giveaway. You can enter your name for a chance to win our next featured children’s book. We’re giving away 11 amazing children’s books during our Gala Giveaway. And on Day 12, we’ll announce the winners, here on my blog. I hope you’ll be one of them!

But hey…why wait until the giveaway is over to get your hands on this children’s book? It’s great for your holiday gift list…Christmas is just around the corner! It’s perfect for the classroom or to donate to your local library. And your kids or grandkids can enjoy what’s sure to be a brand new Christmas classic. You can buy it today on Amazon or at your favorite online bookstores!

Share this:

WELCOME!
Welcome to Day 4 of our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway. I’m part of an amazing group of writer friends who specialize in writing engaging nonfiction for kids. We’re the Nonfiction Ninjas!

Each day for for 11 days we’ll be offering you the chance to win a free children’s book. Great for your little ones, for the classroom, for homeschooling families, and for libraries everywhere, these books are AWESOME! And they’re written by these talented gals I’m fortunate to know as my writing buddies.

During the giveaway, you’ll get to learn more of the story behind the story of each of these books. Plus you get to meet each member of the Nonfiction Ninjas! How great is that?!

Then, on the last day, Day 12, I’ll announce here on my blog the list of winners for each one of the books featured in this giveaway. So join in the fun. Every day for these 12 days! Here on my blog!!

(This giveaway is for folks in the continental US only. No overseas entries, please.)

Frederick Douglass for Kids
by Nancy I. Sanders
Hip hip hooray for today’s featured book in our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway! One of you will be our winner for today and will be receiving a free copy of this amazing book in your mailbox.

MEET NANCY
Today my book is the featured giveaway! You can to learn a little bit more about me and the journey I took to write this book.

What makes Frederick Douglass so important to kids today?
Frederick Douglass believed that one person can make a difference. And he did. Through his brave efforts, he helped bring an end to slavery in America. A true hero, he’s an outstanding role model for everyone—kids and adults alike.

What happened along the journey to write this book?
I took a photo-research trip and walked in Douglass’s footsteps. From finding the area in the woods where the cabin once stood when he was born, to driving up to see the Great House on the plantation where he first worked in slavery, to touring his home near Washington D.C. when he worked as a free man at our nation’s capital, it was a journey I will never forget. Many of my photos are featured in this book and help bring his biography to life.

Who should read this book?
Teachers, educators, and librarians of upper elementary, middle-grade, and high school students. Parents and kids alike. Anyone interested in African-American achievements as well as the history of Lincoln or the Civil War.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about the “story behind the story”!

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ENTER THE GALA GIVEAWAY
Hey everyone. Hop on board and join the fun!!!! You can enter your name once today for a chance to win a free copy of today’s featured book! All it takes is 2 easy steps.

Step One
Post a comment here on my blog. I’d especially love to hear about YOUR favorite role model and person who has truly made a difference in your heart like Frederick Douglass has for me.

Step Two
Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win!
CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter your name in the contest.

That’s it!

Be sure to stop back here on my blog tomorrow for Day 5 of our Gala Giveaway. You can enter your name for a chance to win our next featured children’s book. We’re giving away 11 amazing children’s books during our Gala Giveaway. And on Day 12, we’ll announce the winners, here on my blog. I hope you’ll be one of them!

But hey…why wait until the giveaway is over to get your hands on this children’s book? It’s great for holiday or birthday giving. It’s perfect for the classroom or to donate to your local library. And your kids or grandkids can learn about these inspiring stories. You can buy it today on Amazon or at your favorite online bookstores!

Share this:

WELCOME!
Welcome to Day 3 of our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway. I’m part of an amazing group of writer friends who specialize in writing engaging nonfiction for kids. We’re the Nonfiction Ninjas!

Each day for for 11 days we’ll be offering you the chance to win a free children’s book. Great for your little ones, for the classroom, for homeschooling families, and for libraries everywhere, these books are AWESOME! And they’re written by these talented gals I’m fortunate to know as my writing buddies.

During the giveaway, you’ll get to learn more of the story behind the story of each of these books. Plus you get to meet each member of the Nonfiction Ninjas! How great is that?!

Then, on the last day, Day 12, I’ll announce here on my blog the list of winners for each one of the books featured in this giveaway. So join in the fun. Every day for these 12 days! Here on my blog!!

(This giveaway is for folks in the continental US only. No overseas entries, please.)

Women Who Dared
by Linda Skeers
Hip hip hooray for today’s featured book in our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway! One of you will be our winner for today and will be receiving a free copy of this amazing book in your mailbox.

MEET LINDA!
Thanks, Linda, for visiting my blog today! We’re eager to learn a little bit more about you and the journey it took to write this book.

Linda, why did you want to write about lesser known women in history?
So many women have done amazing, heroic and fascinating things through the years that haven’t made it into history books. I wanted to shine a spotlight on some of these remarkable women and share their stories with readers.

How did you choose the women you wrote about?
I did a LOT of research and although there are so many wonderful stories, sometimes I would get a special tingly feeling and wished I could give the woman a high five, a fist bump, and then just sit next to them and have them tell me all about their life. I looked for women who overcame obstacles or were told they couldn’t do something — and did it anyway. They all had courage and an inner strength that I found powerful and inspiring.

Who was your favorite woman to write about?
Each time I wrote a biography I would say “she’s my favorite!” That is, until I started writing the next one! Bessie Stringfield (Motorcycle Queen of Miami) really stood out — she asked for a motorcycle for her 16th birthday and got one. She rode all over the country in the 1930s and despite facing opposition and prejudice she never lost her sense of joyful adventure. And then there’s heroic Irene Sendler who smuggled over 2,500 children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during the holocaust and Annie Edson Taylor who was the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel…

Thanks, Linda, for visiting my blog today. It was great to hear more of the “story behind the story”!

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ENTER THE GALA GIVEAWAY
Hey everyone. Hop on board and join the fun!!!! You can enter your name once today for a chance to win a free copy of today’s featured book by one of our members of the Nonfiction Ninjas! All it takes is 2 easy steps.

Step One
Click on the icon on the right to follow my blog and get an occasional newsletter in your inbox featuring releases of new children’s books by the Nonfiction Ninjas, and chock full of helpful tips on how you can write for kids. (If you already follow my blog, you can skip this step.)

Step Two
Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win!
CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter your name in the contest.

That’s it!

Be sure to stop back here on my blog tomorrow for Day 4 of our Gala Giveaway. You can enter your name for a chance to win our next featured children’s book. We’re giving away 11 amazing children’s books during our Gala Giveaway. And on Day 12, we’ll announce the winners, here on my blog. I hope you’ll be one of them!

But hey…why wait until the giveaway is over to get your hands on this children’s book? It’s great for holiday or birthday giving and perfect for your kiddos to enjoy. It’s great for your school or classroom library, and makes a great holiday donation to your local library! CLICK HERE to buy it today on Amazon or at your favorite online bookstores!

Share this:

WELCOME!
Welcome to Day 2 of our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway. I’m part of an amazing group of writer friends who specialize in writing engaging nonfiction for kids. We’re the Nonfiction Ninjas!

Each day for for 11 days we’ll be offering you the chance to win a free children’s book. Great for your little ones, for the classroom, for homeschooling families, and for libraries everywhere, these books are AWESOME! And they’re written by these talented gals I’m fortunate to know as my writing buddies.

During the giveaway, you’ll get to learn more of the story behind the story of each of these books. Plus you get to meet each member of the Nonfiction Ninjas! How great is that?!

Then, on the last day, Day 12, I’ll announce here on my blog the list of winners for each one of the books featured in this giveaway. So join in the fun. Every day for these 12 days! Here on my blog!!

(This giveaway is for folks in the continental US only. No overseas entries, please.)

Twisted True Tales from Science: Insane Inventors
by Stephanie Bearce
Hip hip hooray for today’s featured book in our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway! One of you will be our winner for today and will be receiving a free copy of this exciting book in your mailbox.

MEET STEPHANIE
Stephanie, thanks so much for visiting my blog today and offering readers the exciting chance to win a copy of your children’s book.

Stephanie, can you tell us who was the craziest inventor of all?
There are lots of wild stories about inventors and scientists, but I think my two favorites are Nikola Tesla and Tycho Brahe.

Tesla’s ideas were so far ahead of his time that people thought he was crazy. He had a vision and plan for cell phones in the 1890s. He also claimed to have a plan for a death ray gun. But we will never know how close he came to that, because the U.S. government seized all his papers immediately upon his death.

Brahe was probably truly a bit crazy. He got in a duel over a math problem and he kept a moose as a house pet. But he was also a genius astronomer. Often truth is stranger than fiction.

Why do you write nonfiction for kids?
I want kids to fall in love with history and science. School text books often give only facts and dates. They don’t tell the stories of these amazing people and their discoveries. When readers learn the true facts and stories, it makes science and history come to life, and they want to learn more!

Where do you get your ideas?
I read EVERYTHING! I love biographies, history books, memoirs, and science books. I listen to podcasts, read blogs, magazines, newspapers and watch documentaries. When a topic fascinates me I start doing research. The world is full of so many amazing stories, it’s hard to pick which one to write about.

Thanks, Stephanie! It was great to hear more of the “story behind the story”!

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ENTER THE GALA GIVEAWAY
Hey everyone. Hop on board and join the fun!!!! You can enter your name once today for a chance to win a free copy of today’s featured book by one of our members of the Nonfiction Ninjas! All it takes is 2 easy steps.

Step One
Visit our brand new blog for children’s writers. CLICK HERE to go to Nonfiction Ninjas, and post a comment!

Step Two
Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win!
CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter your name in the contest.

That’s it!

Be sure to stop back here on my blog tomorrow for Day 3 of our Gala Giveaway. You can enter your name for a chance to win our next featured children’s book. We’re giving away 11 amazing children’s books during our Gala Giveaway. And on Day 12, we’ll announce the winners, here on my blog. I hope you’ll be one of them!

But hey…why wait until the giveaway is over to get your hands on this children’s book? It’s great for holiday or birthday giving and perfect for your kiddos to enjoy. You can buy it today on Amazon or at your favorite online bookstores!

Share this:

WELCOME!
Welcome to Day 1 of our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway. I’m part of an amazing group of writer friends who specialize in writing engaging nonfiction for kids. We’re the Nonfiction Ninjas!

Each day for the next 11 days we’ll be offering you the chance to win a free children’s book. Great for your little ones, for the classroom, for homeschooling families, and for libraries everywhere, these books are AWESOME! And they’re written by these talented gals I’m fortunate to know as my writing buddies.

During the giveaway, you’ll get to learn more of the story behind the story of each of these books. Plus you get to meet each member of the Nonfiction Ninjas! How great is that?!

Then, on the last day, Day 12, I’ll announce here on my blog the list of winners for each one of the books featured in this giveaway. So join in the fun. Every day for the next 12 days! Here on my blog!!

(This giveaway is for folks in the continental US only. No overseas entries, please.)

Dinosaur Devotions
by Michelle Medlock Adams
Hip hip hooray for today’s featured book in our 12 Days of Children’s Books Gala Giveaway! One of you will be our winner for today and will be receiving a free copy of this wonderful book in your mailbox.

MEET MICHELLE!
Michelle, thanks so much for visiting my blog today and offering readers the exciting chance to win a copy of your children’s book. It’s a brand new book, just released last month!

Michelle, can you tell us what your is book about?
Dinosaur Devotions is a book of 75 devotions featuring different dinosaurs. It’s written for children ages 8 to 12, but I’m already hearing from parents who are enjoying it as much as their kiddos. You know why? Because dinosaurs are fascinating! The model for each devotion is this: I find an interesting fact that distinguishes a particular dino from all the others, and I relate that characteristic to a biblical insight. In addition, each devotion includes Dino Stats, Bible Excavation, Digging Deeper, Did You Know?, and Jurassic Journaling activities. It’s my hope that Dinosaur Devotions is the perfect blend of fun dinosaur facts and a deeper understanding of faith.

What inspired you to write this book?
Well, I have always loved dinosaurs. When I was a little girl, I would check out every book about dinosaurs that I could find, so you might say, I had to write a dinosaur book at some point in my life. My two daughters always loved dinosaurs, too. We had every “Land Before Time” movie ever released—even the sing-alongs! But, being a non-fiction girl, I wanted to write a book based on lots of dinosaur research, and that’s exactly what I did. The idea to turn my research into devotions was definitely a Divine Intervention thing. I give God all the credit for that idea. I had so much fun with this project, and if it sells well, don’t be surprised to see a Volume II of Dinosaur Devotions.

What do you hope children take away from your book?
It’s my desire that children not only fall in love with dinosaurs but also with the Bible. I hope they take away the faith-filled lesson woven into each entry and apply it to their everyday life. But mostly, I hope this book encourages kids to be brave even when life gets scary, to always have a grateful heart, and to realize how special and precious they are to their Heavenly Father. With every book I write, I pray my words will cause children to fall in love with reading. But with this book, I hope my words cause children to fall in love with God’s Word.

Thanks, Michelle! And best wishes on the launch of your brand new book for kids.

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ENTER THE GALA GIVEAWAY
Hey everyone. Hop on board and join the fun!!!! You can enter your name once today for a chance to win a free copy of today’s featured book by one of our members of the Nonfiction Ninjas! All it takes is 2 easy steps.

Step One
Share this post on your favorite social media sites. It’s easy! Just click on the sharing buttons below to post this event and let your online friends know.

Step Two
Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win!
CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter your name in the contest.

That’s it!

Be sure to stop back here on my blog tomorrow for Day 2 of our Gala Giveaway. You can enter your name for a chance to win our next featured children’s book. We’re giving away 11 amazing children’s books during our Gala Giveaway. And on Day 12, we’ll announce the winners, here on my blog. I hope you’ll be one of them!

But hey…why wait until the giveaway is over to get your hands on this children’s book? It’s great for holiday or birthday giving and perfect for your kiddos to enjoy. You can buy it today on Amazon or at your favorite online bookstores!

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Do you want to write nonfiction picture books with the skills of a ninja? One of the first things to tackle is the first page.

Not the first page of your manuscript.

The first page that will be in the final published book.

On my group’s blog, Ninja Notebook, I posted an article on strategies to make your first page a winner.

CLICK HERE to read it and start to sharpen your skills!

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When you’re writing nonfiction, you know how valuable (and hard to find!) primary sources can be.

Stephanie Bearce, one of the highly skilled members of my writing group, Nonfiction Ninjas, posted an incredibly helpful blog on our website with lots of links for primary sources dealing with American History.

CLICK HERE to read her online article, Nonfiction Ninja Super Secret Weapon.

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I want to introduce you to my scribe tribe! It’s official…we’re the Nonfiction Ninjas!

We’re a group of 11 professional children’s writers who first gathered in Texas this last year and have since been helping each other move forward in our writing careers. And even though we write in a variety of genre, together we all specialize in nonfiction!

To make us even more official, we even have our own website. You can click here to meet each of us and learn more about who we are.

But one of the best things I want to share with you today is that we have started our own blog, chock full of tips and strategies on how YOU can polish your nonfiction skills and learn to slice and dice like a blackbelt! Our blog is called the Ninja Notebook and I’ll be sharing lots of their posts here on my blog.

For starters, I encourage you to read the incredible Pat Miller’s post on Writing Lessons from a Worm. You’ll be inspired to maximize your fullest potential as a writer!

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As many of you know, I’m busy right now writing a readers theater script for the educator’s guide I’m creating for the release of my upcoming MG nonfiction book, JANE AUSTEN FOR KIDS.

In my last post about this, we talked about format.

The format of the actual text of the play is very important. This is what the kids will be reading and following along as they read the play aloud. (Unlike other plays that are acted out, readers theater plays are intended only to be read out loud. No acting skills needed!)

I try to make my readers theater scripts that I self-publish in educator’s guides as companions to my books or that I sell individually appear visually appealing to the kids who will be reading them. So I always like to start out with some sort of an interesting picture or photograph.

These days you can find lots of royalty free images on the internet. I found this one about an English fox hunt because it will tie into the story I’m telling in my play.

Just below the image, I add in the title of my play. It’s centered on the page.

Below that, you can see that I start Scene 1 with a little description of where the scene is taking place.

Then I start the read-aloud script.

I align the characters’ names along the left, add a colon, and then indent so all the read-aloud script starts at the same tab.

For this readers theater, I’m actually writing it while I’m typing on the computer. So I’m formatting it as I write the first draft of the story. This is helping me keep the format correct as well as pace the amount of dialogue I’m giving each character.

I’m trying not to give any character more than about 3 lines of text because I want the kids to get equal chances to speak.

Here is how that looks on the second page of my script so far.

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And the winners are…drumroll please!!!!!

The winner of the first prize is Trine Grillo.

Yay, Trine! You have won a free copy of my how-to book for writers, YES! YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE BEGINNING READERS AND CHAPTER BOOKS.

And the winner of the second prize is Heather Beers.

Hip hip hooray, Heather! You have won a free copy of my family’s brand new cookbook, THE SANDERS FAMILY COOKBOOK.

Thanks one and all for your participation.

And Trine and Heather, I’ll be sending you an e-mail asking you for your street address so I can pop those puppies in the mail. Congratulations!!!!

 

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Who loves freebies? And who loves free book giveaways?!! I do and I hope you do too!

Yesterday and today, this Wednesday and Thursday on October 10 and 11 2018, here on my blog I’m hosting a book giveaway for 2 free books. We’ll have 2 happy winners who will each win one free book. (Please note that this contest is open only to folks living in the continental USA.)

PRIZE #1
The first prize is a copy of my how-to book for children’s writers, YES! YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE BEGINNING READERS AND CHAPTER BOOKS. This book teaches you how to write for kids based on my experience writing hundreds of beginning reader stories as well a numerous chapter books over my career. I share insider secrets of the trade, timely tips, and lots of essential info for you as a children’s writer. If you already own this book, as I know lots of you do, you can still enter the contest as a chance to win it to give as a gift to another writer friend.

PRIZE #2
The second prize is a copy of a cookbook, THE SANDERS FAMILY COOKBOOK. My son recently published it with favorite family recipes of his wife and her mom. (They are AMAZING cooks!) A bunch of my recipes are in there, too. So if you’re looking for some great ideas for delicious dishes to serve up at your next writer’s group, look no further. There’s the best chocolate chip cookie recipe, a scrumptious brownie recipe, plus lots of yummy vegetarian dishes if you’re trying to eat on the healthy side of life. A great Christmas present for your family members, too!

ENTER THE CONTEST
You can enter your name once again today for a second chance to get your name in the pot. (If you didn’t yet enter your name, feel free to read the previous post and follow those steps to enter your name there, too. Two time maximum, please!)

I’m hoping to build followers for my online store at a site called TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS where I sell products for teachers and homeschooling families to use. So today I’m asking you to put your name in the contest in 3 easy steps.

Step One.
Go to the TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS site and register to join. It’s free and anybody can join! Registration is simple–it will ask you for your name, e-mail, username, and password. Plus, it will ask if you’re a teacher, but if you’re not (like me) just click “not a teacher.” If you write for children, this is a must-have site to join. You can browse on this site and discover what teachers are teaching in classrooms and get tons of ideas for writing new stories and books for kids. CLICK HERE to go to Teachers Pay Teachers and register. (If you’re already a member of TpT, you can skip this step.)

Step Two.
Go to my store TEACHER PLUS WRITER and click “Follow me!” I’d love for you to follow my store and learn about new products I’m creating for kids as I post them several times a year. CLICK HERE to go to my online store and follow me. (If you already follow my TpT store, you can skip this step.)

Step Three.
Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win! CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter the contest.

That’s it! I’ll announce the two winners by Friday this week. I hope it will be YOU!!!

And thank you for helping me out by following my blog and also my store at Teachers Pay Teachers!

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Who loves freebies? And who loves free book giveaways?!! I do and I hope you do too!

Today and tomorrow, this Wednesday and Thursday on October 10 and 11 2018, here on my blog I’m hosting a book giveaway for 2 free books. We’ll have 2 happy winners who will each win one free book. (Please note that this contest is open only to folks living in the continental USA.)

PRIZE #1
The first prize is a copy of my how-to book for children’s writers, YES! YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE BEGINNING READERS AND CHAPTER BOOKS. This book teaches you how to write for kids based on my experience writing hundreds of beginning reader stories as well a numerous chapter books over my career. I share insider secrets of the trade, timely tips, and lots of essential info for you as a children’s writer. If you already own this book, as I know lots of you do, you can still enter the contest as a chance to win it to give as a gift to another writer friend.

PRIZE #2
The second prize is a copy of a cookbook, THE SANDERS FAMILY COOKBOOK. My son recently published it with favorite family recipes of his wife and her mom. (They are AMAZING cooks!) A bunch of my recipes are in there, too. So if you’re looking for some great ideas for delicious dishes to serve up at your next writer’s group, look no further. There’s the best chocolate chip cookie recipe, a scrumptious brownie recipe, plus lots of yummy vegetarian dishes if you’re trying to eat on the healthy side of life. A great Christmas present for your family members, too!

ENTER THE CONTEST
How do you enter the contest? I’m hoping to build followers for my blog. So you can enter your name once today for a chance to win a free book by taking these two easy steps:

Step One.
Click “Follow Blog Via Email” to follow my blog. (The button on the right of this page.) You’ll receive my posts as well as an occasional newsletter. (If you already follow my blog, you can skip this step.)

Step Two.
Go to Rafflecopter and enter to win! CLICK HERE to go to Rafflecopter and enter the contest.

That’s it! I’ll announce the two winners by Friday this week. I hope it will be YOU!!!

(Be sure to check back in tomorrow  to add your name into the contest a second time for a chance to win one of these free books! Each person can enter two times max.)

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I love readers theater! I’ve published entire books of readers theater plays and scripts for teachers to use in the classroom. Plus, I write individual readers theater plays and sell them in my online store at Teachers Pay Teachers. And I usually include at least one readers theater play in every educator’s guide I create to help market one of my published books.

If you have a fancy art publishing program that you already know how to use, you can create your readers theater in that format and add all the bells and whistles you want.

But if you’re technologically challenged (like I am) you can just create a readers theater script using a simple Word document and make it look very professional! That’s the format I use most of the time and it’s the format I’ll show you how to use. It’s easy peasy. And that’s how I like it.

Here are several examples of readers theater plays I’ve written and published to sell in my online store, TEACHER PLUS WRITER. Look at the free previews and check out the basic format that first meets your eye.

Readers Theater: Frederick Douglass and the Emancipation Proclamation

Readers Theater: John and Abigail Adams Move into the White House

Let Freedom Ring! A Readers Theater Script on the Declaration of Independence

We’ll talk more about format in upcoming posts, but I have exciting news to share! For the next 2 days, I’ll be hosting a giveaway here on my blog for 2 free books! Stay tuned for details on how you can put your name in a hat for the chance to win one of these fun titles!!!

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As many of you know, I’m eagerly awaiting the publication of my newest book, JANE AUSTEN FOR KIDS. Its release date is February 2019.

As with many of my other books, I’m creating a free educator’s guide to go along with it.

If you write for children, it’s a good idea to create an educator’s guide to go along with your book too. Some publishers provide this, but many don’t, so for the ones who don’t, I make it myself. I’m starting to work on my educator’s guide for JANE AUSTEN FOR KIDS, so I wanted to share the steps I’m taking, here on my blog, so you can learn how to create one for your book as well.

An educator’s guide serves many important purposes. For one thing, it gets your book into the hands of teachers and teachers are a key buying force–a vital target audience for you to market to.

For another thing, somewhere in your educator’s guide you can market your book (and other books you’ve written) so that it increases your marketing exposure.

And most of all, it helps bring your book to life for kids. The activities in an educator’s guide can be fun and exciting and help add interest and connect with the hearts of kids so they become even more enthusiastic about your book.

The first component of my educator’s guide that I’m going to create will be a reader’s theater story about Jane Austen. Here in the upcoming days on my blog, I’ll be taking you through the process I’m going through, step-by-step, to write it.

Readers theater stories are AWESOME! They are fun for kids to perform. They bring your topic to life. They are always a favorite in an educator’s guide. Plus, you can write these puppies even if you do not yet have a published book and sell them yourself on the site, TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS.

I highly recommend you join TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS. (You don’t have to be a teacher to join.) It’s an amazing place you can self-publish various products and stories and SELL them for teachers to use in the classroom. It’s also a great place you can post your free teacher’s guide for your published book to get it in the hand of teachers everywhere.

Go to the TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS site and register to join. It’s free and anybody can join! Registration is simple–it will ask you for your name, e-mail, username, and password. Plus, it will ask if you’re a teacher, but if you’re not (like me) just click “not a teacher.” If you write for children, this is a must-have site to join. You can browse on this site and discover what teachers are teaching in classrooms and get tons of ideas for writing new stories and books for kids. CLICK HERE to go to Teachers Pay Teachers and register. (If you’re already a member of TpT, you can skip this step.)

While you’re at it, go to my store TEACHER PLUS WRITER and click “Follow me!” I’d love for you to follow my store and learn about new products I’m creating for kids as I post them several times a year. CLICK HERE to go to my online store and follow me.

And if you have a store on Teachers Pay Teachers, I’d love to follow you, too! Just post a comment here with the name of your store and I’ll follow you, too.

Stay tuned…as we get started on learning how to write a reader’s theater.

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Here’s another question from my cyber writing friend, Jarm:

My upcoming book will resonate with home educators, church librarians, Christian schools and others who enjoy MG historical/Biblical fiction. So I’ll look for those groups on Twitter and Facebook. I’ve already joined a few groups on Goodreads. How do you keep track of them all? And do you mostly watch their comments or actually interact with them?

Again, these are great questions. And again, there are no right or wrong answers.

I have writer friends who spend a lot of time on social media interacting with their friends and followers. They love it and they really maximize their author platform online.

After several years of participating in online social media, however, I have learned that it is not the best fit for my interests, personality, or time. I’d rather write a teacher’s guide and post it in my store, Teachers Pay Teachers, where teachers can get it for free and learn about my book and hopefully purchase copies of it for their classroom.

So for my strategy for building up my social media on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter as I’m getting closer to the release of my book JANE AUSTEN FOR KIDS, I’m not planning on interacting with people every day. I’m planning on holding one to four marketing campaigns throughout the year to market various books of mine. So there will be times when I’m very active with my followers and friends for my target BUYING audience (this includes mostly teachers and librarians). But the other months of the year, I’ll probably not interact much with those platforms at all. That’s just my personal preference.

The bottom line:
My writing comes first. I am constantly writing fresh new content for new picture books or new teaching resources or new nonfiction children’s books.

Then after that, as I have time, or as I purpose to do, I’m spending time on my author’s platform in the realm of social media, helping to promote and market my books.

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That’s my cat Pitterpat sitting at my computer. I think she’s trying to friend all the cat lovers in my Facebook groups.

Social media. It’s got its benefits. And it’s got its issues.

Social media can drain our time and creative energy without generating much income in return. Yet it can also hopefully help generate sales for your books.

A couple of years ago I read a survey that interviewed published authors. A few years ago, these published authors earned a certain amount of income and spent a certain amount of time writing and a certain amount of time marketing on social media.

More currently, these same authors spent significantly more time on social media and less time actually writing, and their income also dropped significantly.

I wish I could remember where I saw that survey so you can see the results for yourself.

But this was an eye-opener to show me that I need to spend quality time on my writing first and foremost. I need to keep landing contracts to earn income.

But I also want to spend time marketing on social media because that’s what authors in today’s world need to do. Our role is to help get the word out about our books. So people can buy them and get them into the hands and hearts of children. That’s why I’m working on building social media as part of my author’s platform for the upcoming release of my newest book, Jane Austen for Kids.

The key is time management. Here are some ideas to help you manage your time on social media marketing so it doesn’t drain your creative energy or time from your actual manuscript and writing.

IDEA #1
We could spend 10 minutes every day working on social media to build our author platform.

IDEA #2
We could spend one hour each week on social media.

IDEA #3
We could pick one day a week to focus on social media.

IDEA #4
We could focus on a task instead of the time. We could just pick one task, one bite-sized chunk, to accomplish. Then do it. When that task is done, we pick a new task to accomplish.

What are your strategies for managing social media so it doesn’t drain your time or your creative energy?

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Want to get your ducks all lined up in a row on your favorite place to tweet?

This past year I attended a writer’s retreat and my roomie was the amazing author, Lisa Amstutz. (I LOVE Lisa’s books about gardening and nonfiction topics for kids. Lisa’s also a fellow Chicago Review Press author who will have her debut book out with them soon!)

Here are some tips on Twitter from Lisa’s desk:

“Just a note for those struggling with Twitter. It’s helpful to install the app on your phone as well as your computer.

I have gotten up to 1700 followers without much effort by just swiping through it once every day or two and ‘following’ several new people each time, usually people Twitter suggests. Most will follow you back.

I follow mainly other children’s writers, teachers, and librarians, as these are the primary people I want to see my book posts.

As I scroll down, I also retweet, comment on, or ‘like’ a few things that look interesting. And on very rare occasions, I actually tweet something.

It really doesn’t take long – like 5 minutes – and you can do it on your phone while watching TV, riding in the car, or whatever.

I could probably build my numbers faster, but they keep growing without much effort this way. So – if Twitter’s a platform you want to use, that’s my suggestion!”

Thanks bunches, Lisa! We appreciate you sharing real info about how you’re really building your author platform.

Lisa Amstutz is a children’s book author and freelance editor. Follow her on Twitter at @LJAmstutz or visit her fun website at www.LisaAmstutz.com.

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This is the pump in the Pump Room in Bath where Jane Austen and her family (and the characters in her novels) came to drink the healing waters. The pump is probably not original, but it’s still very old and very beautiful.

As I’m moving forward on my journey to build my author platform for the release of my upcoming book, JANE AUSTEN FOR KIDS, first I thought long and hard about LONG-TERM goals I want to achieve.

Here are some of them:

LONG-TERM GOALS
Build 2000 email list on MailChimp
Send out 1-2 newsletters each year to help market my books
Build 1000 followers of my store at Teachers Pay Teachers
Build 50,000 borrowed platform
Build 1000 Twitter followers
Build 4000 Facebook followers (mostly of my BUYING audience)
Pinterest: Learn How to Maximize Boards for Marketing

As you’re taking notes in your composition notebook or other note-keeping format, take time to brainstorm your longterm goals for building your Author’s Platform.

Your goals may look very different than mine. You may want to do 1 author signing every month or do 4 school visits every year, etc.

After you jot down ideas for your longterm goals, organize them into a more formal list that you can refer to over time.

Next break those down into bite-sized chunks for your first set of SHORT-TERM goals. Here are some of mine:

SHORT-TERM GOALS
Set up a MailChimp account.
Read a tutorial on how to create an email list on MailChimp.
Add 100 emails to my email list on MailChimp.
Build 100 more followers on Teachers Pay Teachers
Contact 10 writer friends and ask them to be part of my borrowed platform.
Build 100 more followers on Twitter
Friend 100 friends on Facebook from groups I joined from my BUYING audience

Now here’s an exciting idea:

After you write down some concrete short-term goals, pick one.

Just one.

Pick one bite-sized chunk and work on it over the next week or two or three. Then cross it off your list.

In the meantime, I’ll be posting about time management so you can work on this without drowning in the ocean of social media.