Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

Though I haven't published any new books this year, I have been busy boosting my library of audiobooks. Here is what I have available on Audible, Amazon, iTunes under both my pseudonyms: The Weaver Tales series by Kai Strand The Weaver Finalist in the 2012 EPIC Ebook Awards and the 2012 Global Ebook Awards In a town of word weavers, Mary suffers through her third year of Novice Word Weaving. Mary thinks her troubles are over when she meets a gnome-elf who grants her a wish. But instead of weaving a better story, she's weaving strange yarn charms to accompany her still pathetic tales. The Wishing Well Molly Minstrel is treated worse than Cinderella by her mom and sisters. When Molly meets the magical creature, Unwanted, she wishes her problems away. However, you must first understand what you need before knowing what to ask for. Molly will have to look within for the solution to her troubles.  The Lumpy Duckling Lumpy may be hefty with a misshap...

This month #InkRipples is talking about book covers and I’m exploring the making of a book cover. Last week I shared the progression of a couple covers as I worked with digital artists. This week I want to share the experience of working with an illustrator. Oh my gosh! So cool. (It’s all cool, actually, but whatever.) My first published novel was The Weaver , published by Guardian Angel Publishing, a publisher of books for children from 0 – 12. The majority of the books they publish are picture books, which require heavy illustrating, but my book was a middle grade novel – no illustrations required. Or so I thought. The publisher paired me with illustrator K.C. Snider for my cover art, because we live close to each other. K.C. invited me to her house to see her studio. Then we went to lunch and talked about my book and what I might want on the cover. Keep in mind this is my first book. I’ve never collaborated over a cover before. Never thought about what a cover should lo...

For more info & for a complete list of blogs, visit the #IWSG site Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! The co-hosts for November are: Tyrean Martinson   http://tyreanswritingspot.blogspot.com/ Karen Walker   http://karenfollowingthewhispers.blogspot.com/ Denise Covey   http://dencovey.blogspot.com/    Stephen Tremp    http://authorstephentremp.blogspot.com/ Please be sure to visit their sites to thank them for hosting! *** Today I'm insecure about book signings! I have an event coming up in a real live bookstore. I've done bookstore events before and I really, really enjoy them-when people show up! Those of you who've had events before know it's hard to attract guests to book signings, plus this one is t...

If you'll be participating in Cyber Monday, I wanted to let you know about a couple deals I'm offering on my print books. First, have you visited my MARKETPLACE ? I recently set up a storefront through Square, which allows me to offer signed copies of my books. In order to celebrate the recent release of THE LUMPY DUCKLING, I'm offering 10% off your order when you get a complete set of the Weaver Tale series. These books are written for 9 - 12 year old readers. They are individual stories, all set in the same fictional village of word weavers (storytellers). The softcover are $9.95 each and the hardcover are only $15.95 (already discounted from the Amazon price). But the 10% discount applies to the complete order, so load up on all my books or several copies of a favorite story to share with the kids, teachers, librarians in your life. As long as you have one complete set of the Weaver Tales series on your order, you qualify to use discount code #WTSDISCOUNT upon chec...

I'm excited to announce that I have signed the contract for my seventh published book! (Faints dead away) THE LUMPY DUCKLING: Another Weaver Tale will be published by Guardian Angel Publishing (date undetermined). If you couldn't tell by the name, THE LUMPY DUCKLING was inspired by The Ugly Duckling. It is a story about best friends. Since I have the best best friend in the entire world, I know how to tell a best friend story. Though the story itself is nothing like our friendship, I did make sure to incorporate letter writing into this story, because my bestie and I live 1100 miles apart and write a lot of letters to each other. Our friendship has grown deeper because of it and I wanted kids to see that there are all sorts of ways to develop a true lasting friendship. LUMPY will be the third book in my Weaver Tales series. Each book is a stand alone. They are set in the same fictional village of The Tales. The residents of The Tales speak in story and are known as Word...

If you are in or around Central Oregon this weekend, be sure to stop at the Redmond Street Festival to visit with Kai Strand. She'll be in attendance with her books and some beloved SWAG. Just look for the Central Oregon Authors booth and stop in to say "HI" When: June 15 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, June 16 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Where: 6th Street, Downtown Redmond, OR Between Forest and Deschutes.

This time of year it can be difficult to choose which books to buy for the children in your life. Well, I want to make my books just a bit more desirable for you. Naturally that means SWAG! Awesome, epic swag that you can include with your gift. If you buy either of The Weaver Tales ( The Weaver or The Wishing Well ) your swag pack will include: Greeting cards featuring Unwanted (blank inside) Sticker featuring Unwanted Book lover sticker Bookmark Pencil(s) Signed, personalized bookplate If you buy Save the Lemmings your swag pack will include: I Love Lemmings magnet Lemmings sticker Book lover sticker Bookmark Pencil(s) Signed, personalized bookplate Oh, imagine the sparkle in your child’s eye when they can ‘join’ the Save the Lemmings cause, or defend the poor misunderstood Unwanted! Not only will they have hours of joy reading the books, but they will also have lasting, coordinating keepsakes – straight from the author. How do you ...

There are many ways to support your favorite authors. I’ve discussed this previously in the post How To HelpYour Favorite Authors/Books . Another big way is to make sure their books end up in your local library. Most libraries have an online request form, such as this one for Hillsboro’s Main library: http://www.hillsboro.plinkit.org/web-forms/purchase-req . If it isn't immediately available on the front page of the library's website, it is usually found on the 'Contact Us' tab. In order to complete the form you will need information such as, your library card #, the title of the book, author’s name and the reason why you think they should add it to their shelves. Example: The Wishing Well: Another Weaver Tale Kai Strand Second book in the series and you already carry The Weaver Or Save the Lemmings Kai Strand Main character has a refreshingly positive attitude You can even request they place the title on hold so that you can r...

I’m beyond thrilled to announce the sale of my middle grade fantasy, A New Being , to MuseItUp Publishing! Facts about A New Being : 1.      First novel I ever wrote. 2.      Current version is nothing close to the original version (Duh and thank goodness!) 3.      Longest novel I’ve written. 4.      I have a crush on the main guy character, even though that isn’t really his purpose in the story. 5.      The main girl character in the book has long brown hair and lives in Wisconsin. 6.      I have long brown hair and grew up in Wisconsin (that’s where similarities end.) Blanco 7.      My lizard is named after the main villain. 8.      Tentatively scheduled for release mid 2013-ish. 9.      Title may or may not change. 10.  Book i...

I'm excited to announce that my World of Ink virtual book tour starts today! I hope you'll tour along with me over the next two months as either me or my books visit several different blogs around the internet. My tour stops are listed below. If you find a review or a particular guest post or interview that you really enjoy, feel free to share the link with your friends and family members. I also invite you to join in on any conversations by commenting. And please try your luck in the giveaways. You can click on the tour banner to visit my tour page on the World of Ink site. Below is where you will find me over the next couple of months. See you around the internet! World of Ink Tour Schedule for Kai Strand (October/November 2012) October 1 st World of Ink Network – Spotlight http://worldofinknetwork.blogspot.com October 5 th Bless Their Hearts Mom – Interview http://blesstheirheartsmom.blogspot.com October 8 th Writing to the Hearts of Children—Spot...

I tried to do some R andom A ct of P ublicity during the September event, but I fell off. So I'm gonna make up for it now. I've talked before about easy ways to help your favorite authors sell their books. There is no denying that the current hot spot online for book buying is Amazon and Amazon makes it easy for readers to support their favorite books and authors. First you can click the like button on the author's page and also on the book's page. The more likes an author or book has, the more confident a browsing reader is in making the investment on a book they are interested in. When clicking like on a book, be sure to get all the versions, hardcover, paperback and kindle editions. One like does not like all. Also, you can tag a book with related words and phrases. The more times a book is tagged with that word or phrase, the more it will come up when a browsing reader is doing a search for books related to those tagged words. As an example, my Weaver Tales...