Winners of Books!
Dec 14, 2016 
Thank you all for entering the giveaway last week! Winners have all been notified, and books are on their way to deserving winners across the United States.
Congrats to our winners!
Winner #1: Kimberly
Winner # 2: Colleen
Winner #3: Amy
Winner #4: Diane
I will be incognito from now to the new year, but thank you for hanging around, and may you all enjoy the holidays, whatever you may celebrate!
Middle Grade Giveaway!
Today, let me get right to the point. In the season of giving, I have some awesome middle grade books to give away to four lucky blog readers!
A personalized signed copy of THE LAST GREAT ADVENTURE OF THE PB&J SOCIETY by Janet Sumner Johnson (me!!)
A signed copy of THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY by Laura Shovan
THE DISTANCE TO HOME by Jenn Bishop
THE RAT PRINCE by Bridget Hodder
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Simply enter using the Rafflecopter link below. The first winner will have first pick, the second winner will have second pick, and so forth. Sorry fourth winner, you get what’s left, but lucky you, it is bound to be fantastic!
Also, I have given the option to earn extra entries by posting a review. Just as an added incentive, if I get to 50 Amazon reviews (this is me being hopeful), I will release the never-before-seen final chapter that was cut before publication. Exciting, right??? To be clear, you can review PB&J Society however you would like, but every review is helpful.
Have a great day and good luck!
Author Adventures
This last week has been a whirlwind of book events! On October 13th, I flew into the beautiful city of Cincinnati, OH for the Books by the Bank Regional Book Festival.
I had never been there before, and I was amazed at all the beautiful houses, the river views and of course the wonderful and friendly people.
On Friday, I participated in an author panel, along with Dee 
Romito (The BFF Bucket List) and Jenn Bishop (The Distance to Home) for a local school. Blue Marble Books arranged this visit, and if you are in the area, and haven’t been to their store, you should go!
On Saturday, I attended the Books by the Bank Regional Book Festival, along with so many of my fellow 2016 debut authors. I saw many friends, and made a few new ones. Just to give you an idea:
- Dee Romito (The BFF Bucket List)
- Jenn Bishop (The Distance to Home)
- Jen Maschari (The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price)
- Lois Sepahban (Paper Wishes)
- Bridget Hodder (The Rat Prince)
- Laura Shovan (The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary)
And then I got to meet some other wonderful authors:
- Laura Martin (The Edge of Extinction)
- Chris Grabenstein (!!!) (Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library + tons of others)
- Tricia Springstubb (Every Single Second, What Happened on Fox Street, + so many others)
Laura was my table mate, and her super awesome book about dinosaurs being brought back to earth was a huge hit! (Alas, this blurry piture is the only one we got of the two of us). She sold out before the event was even over. You should look her up!
She was kind enough to take some paparazzi pictures of me signing books for some of the kids who came by. I loved meeting all the amazing kids who came through the festival. The grins on their faces because they were in a place with so many books, and so many authors. So proud of their reading abilities, and so proud to be talking to an author. They would ask, “Did you write that book?” And when I said “Yes,” their eyes would get so big. Working with kids is honestly the best part of being an author.
One of my favorite current books is “Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.” So when Chris Grabenstein casually strolled up and started chatting with us before the whole event began, I was fangirling like crazy. He humored me (and quite a few others) by letting me take a selfie with him. Not only are his books amazing, but he is, too.
Of course, the local PBS tv station was at the event, so I couldn’t resist taking a picture with the famous Mr. Carson. He is as stiff in person as he is on Downton Abbey (hahaha!). 😉
And when Little Critter came by my table, I had to ask for a picture, because Little Critters by Mercer Mayer are a staple at my house. Even my older kids run over when we’re reading a Little Critters book.
I had such a great time at my first ever book festival (at least as an author). I hope to do this again soon! Have you ever attended a local book festival? What did you think?
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
I have spent a long summer of absenteeism here on the blog. But now that school is back in session, it’s back to work. Today, I give my official report of how I spent my summer vacation. And because pictures tell a thousand words, this will be a photo essay:
For my summer vacation, my family and I went camping with our good friends. We met them halfway (almost) at National Lava Beds Monument, and we tromped through caves, scooted under rocks on our bellies, and somehow managed to avoid claustrophobia. Happily, we all made it back out, but unhappily we had to bid our friends farewell (for now).
I also wanted to be useful during my summer vacation, so I skipped off to the Red Cross, and donated some blood. Doing stuff for others makes me feel good. Speaking of which . . . it just might be time to make another appointment, so if you’ll excuse me for a moment . . .
Okay, I’m back. Seeing as how I have three children, I also spent a lot of time at parks this summer. My sons attended a cub scout camp, and there happened to be some amazing swings right nearby. My daughter begged to go there everyday, and so this is the kinds of thing we did. She would swing, and I would be hypnotized by her spinning pony tail. And suddenly I have the urge to go buy a stuffed animal for my sweetest of sweet daughter. Weird. Because we already have a lot of those, most of which I don’t even know where . . . must . . . not . . . resist . . . urge . . .
One family tradition we have is that every summer we make homemade ice cream in bags. Each kid gets to make their own, and choose their favorite flavor. It almost always goes like this: Oldest – Vanilla (though sometimes he’ll mix it up and try mint . . . except that didn’t turn out so well one time, and he’s stuck with Vanilla ever since); Second – Chocolate (he has never varied. Although this year we forgot that you have to decrease the sugar when you add chocolate syrup, so he ended up throwing his out. Who knew there was such a thing as TOO SWEET??? This picture is of his blithe ignorance shortly before he learned the horrible news); and Girlie – Pink Vanilla (clearly, this is a food coloring thing. We tried using Kool Aid once to give it a pink flavoring. Yeah. We haven’t tried that again, either.).
I live in a very small town, so we don’t have any major sports teams. BUT!!! We have our own hometown minor league baseball farm team. The Klamath Falls Gems. When I first heard the name, I just assumed we were talking things like Diamonds (for baseball, right???), and Rubies, and Emeralds, and cool things like that. But I was wrong. We are the Potato Gems. Their mascot is a big old box of fries with a face. Which is even cooler!!!! Because who doesn’t LOVE fries???
I already mentioned the small town thing, and the potato gems thing, and since I know my readers are astute, they can only conclude that I live in a farming community where 4H and horses and cow wrestling and all that is a big thing. As our first full summer here, we would have been remiss if we hadn’t attended at least one rodeo. And see all that pink? It was even a fundraiser for cancer research. What better combination can there be? A cause I strongly believe in, and a crazy, new, homegrown, educational experience for the kids. But wow, I was sore just watching those cowboys ride. Or maybe it was watching them fall that made me sore . . .
Okay, my summer vacation report is about to extend past the maximum length allowed, so I will conclude with this lovely picture. My in-laws celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary (Congratulations again, you two!), and took us all on an Alaskan Cruise. It was amazing, and Alaska is beautiful, despite the COLD, and I did all kinds of things I don’t have time to tell you about here. But one thing that was a BLAST (of Arctic Rain), was the zip-line in Juneau. It rained the whole time, and that first step was pretty frightening, but I pushed past the fear, and I think this is my favorite memory not just of the cruise, but of my whole summer. Surrounded by family. Screaming through the trees (and I mean literally, not the going super fast kind of screaming you sometimes hear about). Defying Fears. It doesn’t get much better than that.
So that, my friends, is what I did on my summer vacation. What did you do on yours?
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Okay, okay, and one bonus activity, because I have to protect my Mean Mom image or my kids might expect me to be this cool all the time . . . I also spent this summer forcing my oldest to practice the Cello. He humored me with a picture of how he felt about this particular activity. I have affectionately titled it “Death by Cello.” And so now you know. I am a Mean Mom. And don’t you forget it!
Book Trailer!
Summers are always so full. Kids out of school. Vacations. Running through the sprinklers. Backyard barbecues. Friends. Fun. . . . and then of course you have to add in the work stuff that adults never really get out of, but that’s not nearly as fun to talk about.
At the beginning of every summer, my husband and I sit down with our kids and write out a summer bucket list. We started several years ago when a friend of mine posted a picture of theirs on Facebook. That was all the incentive I needed. A list (Who doesn’t love those?)??? Fun things to do? A get-out-of-jail free card for when the kids are bored? I was SOLD.
Anyway, it’s been a favorite tradition ever since. This year, we had a BBQ with friends on our list. So last week, each child got to invite over one friend, and we barbecued hotdogs, ran through sprinklers, had epic video game battles, and yeah. Best. Day. Ever. (at least according to my kids)
And here is where I am finally leading you to the title of this whole thing. The day before, I had discovered the iMovies app on my phone, and their fill-in-the-blank movie trailer videos. And they had the perfect template for my book! So while the kids wore themselves out, I planned out all the scenes I would need.
I even made some COOL props. Like, I could have totally been a map-maker in another life, right? (heehee) And when I pulled out the lighter to burn the edges and make it look super cool and super old, all the kids gathered around and BEGGED to have a turn. But yeah. I’m not THAT cool of a mom. Even I have my limits. 😉 But I sure had fun.
So I borrowed one of the visiting kids (with permission from the mom) and used one of my own and I made this epic book trailer! Woot! Seriously, it was one of the funnest things I’ve done this summer (and I’ve done some FUN things!). I forgot how good it can feel to stretch your creative self with new and different activities.
Since it’s Friday, and Friday is all about having fun and exciting things to come, I thought it was the perfect day to present you with my homemade book trailer extraordinaire for THE LAST GREAT ADVENTURE OF THE PB&J SOCIETY!!
Hope you enjoyed it! And now, please tell me about your Epic Summer Adventures in the comments (because we need more ideas for next years list). 😉
The Art of Listening
In April 2014, I watched the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag take over my Twitter Feed. I remember watching it and reading all the tweets, and trying to understand the urgency that was clearly evident in everything that was being said.
I didn’t join in.
Perhaps some of you are criticizing me now, but there you are. I didn’t join in. I didn’t feel qualified to join in.
Instead, I listened. I examined my own self and worked to figure out what I really thought about all this.
I thought back on my childhood reading. I remembered books like Mildred Taylor’s “Roar of Thunder, Hear my Cry,” and “Let the Circle be Unbroken.” I thought of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” and perhaps there had been some “Dear America” books with diverse main characters . . . and that’s where my memory failed me.
And I was horrified.
Though l grew up in a very un-diverse neighborhood, I always craved to know more about other cultures and people. As a child, I grew up with 2 Tiawanese exchange students who I now consider to be my brother and sister. Before 2014, I lived in a Melanesian country for a year-and-a-half. I learned French and Spanish. I lived in South America for 3 months. I got a Master’s degree in French that focused on the French works from Africa and Haiti and Tahiti and anywhere else French was spoken outside of France. I LOVE other cultures . . .
. . . but I still hadn’t seen the lack of diversity in children’s literature. I hadn’t see it. Even when an editor told me my Ecuador book would have no place in American publishing, I didn’t question that.
I was blinded by privilege that I hadn’t even realized I had.
It is a no-brainer to me that all people deserve respect. That skin color means nothing. I never saw myself as racist, but I also never acknowledged the inherent racism that permeates the world we live in.
I remember the night I first understood. I was out with my dear friend and neighbor. She grew up in Nigeria, but came to the USA for university. She is beautiful and intelligent, and compassionate. When I first met her she’d recently finished her family medicine residency. We were almost home when we noticed our neighbor’s garage door was open. It was late, so we stopped to let them know. Since I was driving, my friend ran to the door, then immediately ran back. She didn’t dare knock at the door for fear of their reaction to her skin color. And it wasn’t a silly fear. Because I was afraid for her, too.
No one deserves to feel that way.
Which is why diverse books are so important. Books and stories bring empathy, compassion, and comfort. They help us understand the Other and the Unknown. They eradicate the fear that leads to hatred and racism and bigotry.
We have all heard that everyone deserves to read about people like themselves. But diverse books are not just for them. We all need these books. All of us. We need to read about characters from all over the world, from all walks of life, living through all sorts of experiences. Because understanding and sympathizing and empathizing with an Other makes us better humans.
We. Need. Diversity.
It has taken me nearly two years of listening to understand just how much I have to learn. Just how much I wasn’t seeing. So I will be continuing to listen.
To those of you know who are speaking out, your voices are being heard. You are making a difference.
But please don’t forget how important it is to still listen. Because it takes both speaking and listening for the world to change.
The Truth About Authoring
When I tell people I went on a book tour, I get that look that says they are impressed. That if I’m going on tour, I must have “made it” as an author. A few people dare to dig a little deeper and ask, “So who pays for the tour? You or your publisher?”
And this is where I smile.
Book tour shenanigans – Kansas City
So much of what it’s like to be an author is shrouded in mystery. We have old school views of how things work, and when we think “author,” we tend to think Stephen King, or J.K. Rowling, who are anything but typical.
Today I’m going to share what it’s like being a mid-list author. Because the reality is very different than what I always imagined. So below I’m going to answer some of the more common questions I get:
- Do you get paid for writing a book?
Yes! I most definitely get paid. Buuut, it’s not very much. Numbers vary widely depending on who the author is as well as who the publisher is. 12% of net profits for hardback books, and 25% for ebooks, is pretty common. Especially for a debut author such as myself.
Basically what that means is I get paid less than a dollar per book. So can I retire all my other jobs now that I’ve been published? I really can’t. Maybe if I had enough books out, but “enough” is a questionable number, and it’s higher than you would guess.
- How is your book doing?
This is a bit of an awkward question. Because honestly, I really don’t know. You would think that as an author I should know. But I don’t. Twice yearly (and for some, this is quarterly), I get what is called a “Royalty Statement.” This statement tells me how many of my books sold (and in what format – hardback vs. ebook) during the 6 months of the reporting period.
So if you caught me at just the right time of year, I could tell you how many of my books have sold (though I probably still wouldn’t), but even that is not an answer to how my book is doing. There are just so many things at play, it’s not an easy answer.
- Who pays for the tour? You or your publisher?
Fan Art for PB&J Society
This really depends on who you are. For me, as a mid-list author of a smaller publisher, I pay for my tours. This is why I have chosen to do tours in places that I have a connection to . . . whether I was already planning to go there, so I set up some book events because I could. Or I used to live there and know there will be people interested in my book. Or maybe I have a friend who lives there and so that gives me a reason to want to go. But in any case, the cost of a book tour is a big deal, because it is all coming from me.
This is why authors who do school visits outside of their home area require travel fees. Because tours take a lot of time and energy and money! And even though I want to promote my book, I also want to spend time with my family and be there for them (not to mention spending time on writing the next book!).
- Who sets up your school visits, library panels, and other promotional events?
Again, depending on who you are, how big your publisher thinks your book will be, or even the business model of your publisher, your publisher might set up some of these things. For me (and for most other mid-list authors that I know), I set these up.
For the first leg of my tour, I joined a group of authors, and they set up our panels and visits (since I was coming from out of town). But it was up to me to find the group and help with planning for discussion topics, etc. Group author visits are wonderful because you not only share the work load, but you can pull in a larger audience and have someone to talk to in case you don’t have an audience (and yes, that really happens).
Library Panel in Winchester, VA
The last two legs of my tour, it was up to me to contact schools, teachers, librarians, and bookstores to find those who were interested in having me come. I contacted people I already knew, and this worked great for my first tour, but this won’t always be the case. The art of cold-contacting is something I am learning.
Launch Party – Klamath Falls, OR
For blog interviews, I have been fortunate enough to be contacted by the bloggers to ask if I was interested in participating. Also, I have a publicist (hired by my publisher) who works to get my book in front of the right readers who can best help spread the word, including to industry reviewers (School Library Journal, Booklist, etc.).
Promoting a book is a lot of work! And since this is not my area of expertise, it has been a steep learning curve. But for me, the reward really comes when I’ve gotten to meet my readers and see the excitement in their faces at meeting a “real, live author.” (Which I still can’t believe means me!)
So wow, this post went a lot longer than I intended, but I hope you have a little bit better idea about what it means to be an author. It’s hard work. It’s a lot more than just writing. The pay isn’t great. But I love what I do so much, and that’s why I keep doing it!
If you have other questions for me, don’t hesitate to ask!
Book Tour Shenanigans & Failed Plans
About a month before the release of The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society, Brenda Drake introduced me to the song “Peanut Butter Jelly Time!” Before that, I had no clue it existed. Like zero.
Of course, once I knew about it, I had big plans to use it on launch day and get all kinds of crazy. I planned to video myself and my family dancing to it. Then I decided that we needed a choreographed dance. But between moving, the book tour, and life, none of that ever happened.
Then I travelled to Maryland as part of the Beyond the Pages Book Tour, and spent all kinds of time with authors Laura Shovan, Ava Jae, and Kathy MacMillan.
During that trip, we got up to some crazy shenanigans. We spoke at panels, we signed books, and we spent like 87 hours driving in Maryland traffic. In short, we had an amazing time! So when I told them of my plans for Peanut Butter Jelly Time, they jumped aboard the good ship PB&J without a second thought. After a late night of pizza and s’mores, we got out our sharpies, created Harry Potter dancing bananas in homage to THIS awesome Peanut Butter Jelly Time video, and went for it! We even tweeted this teaser picture:
Alas, when I got back from that tour, I upgraded my failing phone, left 2 days later for the next leg of the tour, and totally spaced posting the AWESOME video that we’d made.
Today I am going to rectify that oversight. And so, without further ado, I present the debut of the Beyond the Pages Book Tour Peanut Butter Jelly Time Video!
Have an awesome day, and good luck getting that song out of your head! It’s pretty much permanently stuck in mine.
My Launch in Review
My head is still buzzing over all the excitement of the last few days. On Friday, my book headed out to the world! My twitter feed went wild, and I conducted a couple of polls on two very important topics:
Team Grape vs. Team Strawberry (Team Grape: 25% vs. Team Strawberry: 75%)
&
Chunky Peanut Butter vs. Creamy Peanut Butter (Chunky: 27% vs. Creamy: 73%)
I’m still in shock over the tragic defeat of Team Grape!
On Saturday I had a wonderful launch party at The King’s English Bookshop, so today I wanted to share the excitement of the party with a few pictures:
I couldn’t have open food, so we had PEANUT BUTTER cups and JELLY beans.
My parents and sister surprised me with a beautiful framed picture of my cover. It was just perfect to display at the signing.
I brought my very first ever rejection from 21 years ago. (Isn’t that amazing?!) As a teen I sent a story idea to Disney, and that envelope contains their polite refusal to even look at it.
I told some stories. I read a few passages from my book . . .
We drew winners for some Pirate Prize Packs and a PB&J Prize Pack.
And I couldn’t resist throwing in a booby prize (or should I say Gooby prize?)!
And the whole thing concluded with the signing of lots and lots of books.
Thank you so much to everyone who came both in body and spirit! You’ve made me feel so special, and I’m grateful to have shared this amazing moment in my life with so many people I care about.
I wish you all a wonderful week, and much happiness!
Launch Day: The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society
It’s official!!! The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society is out in the world!! Huzzah!!!
To celebrate, I wrangled my dad (a.k.a. the PB&J guru) into doing a vlog with me. Because everyone should know how to make a PB&J the RIGHT way. Enjoy!
And for anyone who happens to be in the Salt Lake City, UT area, you are all invited to my launch party! It will be tomorrow, April 2nd, at 4:00 pm at The King’s English Bookshop (1511 S. 1500 E.).
Have a wonderful day! And don’t forget to comment with your vote for Team Grape or Team Strawberry!! 🙂