Listen to Your Mother!

If you have not yet heard of the Mother's Day Phenomenon that is sweeping the nation, please allow me to enlighten you! For the past two years, women in select cities around the U.S. have been celebrating Mother’s Day by heading to the theater with local writers to share the joys, trials, and occasional absurdities of motherhood at Listen To Your Mother shows. If you have not yet been to a LTYM show, I promise, you will not want to miss out on another year of this inspiring series. 

Created by incredibly smart and talented friend, Ann Imig, LTYM has expanded performances to 10 cities across the country this year! As part of the cast in 2010, and part of the audience in 2011, I can personally guarantee that any level of participation in these shows will leave you uplifted, heart-broken, giddy, grateful and forever changed by the stories you hear. Best of all, a portion of the proceeds from all 10 productions go to local charitable causes that support mothers and families. What more can I say? It's brilliant.

Tickets are selling out so do not delay! I will be the first in line to the Madison show on May 13th.

Cool Book Trailers

It was an amazing day at the Annual Writers' Institute at UW-Madison! I thoroughly enjoyed signing books, attending workshops, and meeting other authors this weekend where I was introduced to (among many things) the super cool concept of creating a book trailer. Of course, this form of marketing makes a lot of sense, and thanks to Youtube, Vimeo and other online platforms, you don't need to spend thousands of dollars in air time for these mini commercials to promote your book.

If you want to get really fancy though, you could easily spend that in pure production costs, which what some of these authors (and one book council) decided to do for our enjoyment. Check these out with many thanks to writer and producer Susan Reetz for bringing these to our attention! My top three favorites are:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman

New Zealand Book Council promo (pardon the distracting political ad beforehand - just skip it if you can!)

While it's probably difficult to accurately measure the full return on investment for these trailers, I can verify through my own personal focus group (involving one person, that being me), I find them to be highly effective and inspiring. I do believe I will be purchasing copies of both of these books at my earliest convenience. And who knows, maybe a trip to New Zealand is in my future too!

Have you seen any interesting book promos or trailers online? If so, please do share.

At long last -- the sequel to "The BugaBees: Friends with Food Allergies" is finally in production!

"The BugyBops: Friends for All Time" is dedicated to my youngest child, Max, and all the wonderful kids like him who do not have food allergies themselves, but try to help make life just a little bit easier for those who do.

From washing hands to reading labels, BugyBops show how a few simple steps can help prevent serious allergic reactions to foods like peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, milk, soy, eggs, and wheat. With more amazing illustrations from 64 Colors, this next book in the BugaBees series also introduces young readers to important concepts related to cross-contamination, Epipens, and the physical signs of an allergic reaction. Follow the BugyBops to learn how their kindness and compassion help their friends with food allergies stay safe, happy, and healthy.

Books will be available just in time for Food Allergy Awareness Week 2012 (May 13-19). Pre-order your copy today at www.BeaversPondBooks.com or look for ways to win online in the the coming weeks!