I Haiku You - Win A Book

With Valentine’s Day coming up next week.  I thought I would remind you of Betsy Snyder’s new book, I HAIKU YOU and give you a chance to win a copy of her book.  It is simple.  Just Tweet and link to this post and leave a comment letting me know.  All names will be placed in a box and a name announced on Feb. 14th.  Random House will send the winner I HAIKU BABY directly to your address.

Betsy is and author an illustrator, who was featured on Illustrator Saturday December 1st.  You can click here to see her books and illustrations, but today I have asked Betsy some questions about I HAIKU YOU and the road the book has taken her down.

Back in December Betsy told us that all four of the books she has written so far have been with Random House.  She had the idea for “Haiku Baby” floating around in her head for quite a while when her agent told her of an opportunity at Random House.  She jumped on that opportunity and took the time she needed to get it on paper and sent it to an editor at Random House. She worked up some additional book ideas at the same time, which turned her first writing venture into a 3-book (now 5-book) contract with Random House.

What did you do to help launch I Haiku You when it came out on December 26th?

Books that are marketed for Valentine’s Day come out right after Christmas so stores can start promoting them right away. I shared news of the Dec. 26 book release with Twitter, Facebook and blog followers, but most people aren’t ready to think about Valentine’s Day in late December. For this reason, it worked better to time “I Haiku you” book launch events closer to Valentine’s Day. The big push has just begun for my promotion efforts and will continue through mid-February.

Did you make a plan for how to market the book before it hit the book shelves?

Yes, I worked with my publicist at Random House to determine what our joint efforts would be. One thing we decided on was a week-long blog tour in early February. My publicist helped coordinate all the blog stops and arrange a schedule for me. And since “I Haiku You” is a good book for any time of year, not JUST Valentine’s Day, we’re also planning to do another wave of promotion in April for poetry month. Stay tuned!

What types of things have you done since?

For my local book launch party, I teamed up with my friend Susan Reagan, who has a new Valentine’s book out called “Tweet Hearts” (also Random House). We held a special “Valentine Story Time” for both our books at a friend’s flower and gift shop called the Urban Orchid. We had fun crafts and sweet treats—I even made my own haiku fortune cookies as party favors! Susan and I will also be signing books together at a Cleveland-area boutique called Banyon Tree for the Tremont Art Walk this Fri., Feb. 8. And all this week I’m doing a multi-stop blog tour with all kinds of Q/A’s, guest posts and even some book giveaways—this is my second stop on the tour route!

I see you have a book trailer. How did you come up with how the trailer would be laid out?

Fortunately my husband is a motion graphics artist, so he was able to help. Jeff and I brainstormed ideas together and discussed the best approach. I chose the music and prepared the art files, and Jeff did the animation. My niece Ava even did the “Who do YOU haiku?” voice-over at the end. It was a true family effort!

What other blogs are on your book tour?

www.thechildrensbookreview.com

www.uskidsmags.com

www.twowritingteachers.wordpress.com

www.nerdybookclub.wordpress.com

www.mrschureads.blogspot.com (Watch. Connect. Read.)

www.sharpread.wordpress.com 

(sorry if I’m leaving anyone out, but that’s the most current list I have)

Have you set up any school visits to help promote the book?  If so, how did you start and plan this process?

I do have a school visit this May that is part of a special book event called Claire’s Day. You can read all about it at www.clairesday.org. I initially made a contact for this event while I was a presenter at an annual SCBWI conference (Northern Ohio).

Balancing time for making new books with promoting my existing titles is always a challenge, so I haven’t been able to organize more school visits yet. But that is something I would love to find more time for in the future. Connecting with kids, teachers and parents is one of the best parts of my job—I learn so much with every experience.

Do you have any stats on how the book is selling?

I’ve been having so much fun promoting the new book that I haven’t even checked yet!

Betsy, wishing you the best of luck with your new book and thanks for making it so much fun by letting me give-a-way a book.

Don’t miss out on leaving a comment and having a chance to win a copy of I Haiku You.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy