How important are book awards?
Most of us would agree that a book that has won an award is more likely to be picked up and viewed by the general public than one which has not... Especially if they are sitting next to one another on a shelf.
That being true, I try to give the "other guy" a look as well, out of general respect and the fact that I don't know who gave the award, or why.
I also have  experience in the art show world. I am constantly astonished at some people's bad taste, and complete lack of any taste whatsoever. I'm not talking about a difference in style, I'm talking about a basic level of quality that has just not matured in any unique way.  I have seen people overpay to purchase "art" that is just plain bad;  yet they hand over their hard earned money and smile as they leave the booth.
It frustrates me.
I feel the same way when I see some of the picture books that win awards. Awards should exemplify excellence achieved, not attempted. I recently read a number of gold medal winners of the "award-not-to-be-named".  One book was rhyming. I found the meter and rhythm to be off in a number of places and the settling for near-rhymes infuriating.  Another wasn't really for children at all, or young people of any age (I don't know who the target is). The art was fair but did not illustrate, and I could not bring myself to read the whole thing, it was that bad. It might have included some interesting sermon concepts or therapy group questions, but I couldn't get through more than a few pages because the author used a passive voice in her writing.
And yet they had beautiful gold seal stickers proudly on their covers.

I guess my point is this: ignore the awards. They help sell the book, but they don't make the book good. Take the time to look at it before you buy it, and look at those without the fancy seal as well! Demand and buy quality, regardless of who the mysterious "they" give the award to.

Chasing Watermelons is officially for sale at this site and at Amazon. I don't know what's wrong with Barnes and Noble, but I wish they'd get it together so we could sell through them as well.   Personally, I'd prefer you bought it from me here so I don't have to give Amazon their huge percentage...
We used Kickstarter.com to help us fund the printing costs of "Chasing Watermelons". It was an interesting experience. We had to try twice. The first time, our video focused on giving the whole first part of the book, so people could see that the writing and illustrations were both good. They didn't care, and the project did not succeed. The second time, we talked more about ourselves and our plans, and only gave a snippet from the book, and the project was successfully funded (with some help). We'll use Kickstarter again in the future, and continue to experiment with how to influence people to support quality books for children.
Now it's time to send copies to reviewers, find holiday sale opportunities, promote for school presentations, register with the Library of Congress, etc..

I'd like people's opinion...
I'm considering making the books available as eBooks. Cheap. A dollar or less. I'm hoping that people who enjoy the book in that format may buy the hard cover as well. At the least, I hope it will grow our name recognition. Considering that an eBook costs nothing to produce (if I can figure it our myself), is this a good idea?

One illustrator came in on time, and Chasing Watermelons is currently being produced for release October 20, 2012.  Thanks Rex.  I am as excited this time as I was for the first book.
The second illustrator doesn't seem to have the same passion for  the projects that I have.  He wasn't close to meeting the deadline, and I'm not sure he will be reliable in the future when it comes to meeting deadlines.  He is an extremely gifted artist, but not focused in a professional, business-like manner.
Things I have recently learned:
A. It is difficult to get people invested in your dreams. They will ooh and aah over it, they will congratulate you, they will even tell you how amazing you and your project are, but very few will choose to invest in it in any way. If the dream is not a part of them, they hesitate to join the chase.
B. Inviting others to participate in the dream is not enough to create action, even if they agree to it.  There must be a way for our excitement to be so contagious that they can't help be be involved to a "want it now" degree. How do we create some passion for the dream?
C. That I don't know what to do about A and B...I'm open to suggestions.

On the plus side, one book will be easier to finance than two, and it will be done in time for the PA Reading Convention in October.
Sometimes the best you can do is simply keep faith in the dream yourself.

Onward!

I have two great stories almost ready for print. Both illustrators will be done within two weeks, then the files will be sent to the printer. The printer, however, would like to get paid for his work when he delivers the product, not when I sell it. Even small runs of 1000 are going to require some creative accounting, and a small amount of flat out begging to come up with the capital necessary.
Large publishers have quite an advantage: brand recognition, distribution, and money.
I've run into a classic situation where it takes money to make money. I have to sell books to make money, but I have to have money to print the books, in order to sell the books, in order to have money... Argh!
However, I'm a writer, and that means I'm creative and tend to revise things until they turn out the way I want them too. So success is right around the corner... though I don't know quite when we'll get there, or what it will look like, or how may hoops I'll have to jump through... but I can smell it.
Onward!

It seems that funding a good picture book on Kickstarter is more difficult than I thought. It appears that we will fall far short of our goal, and thus get none of the money pledged. I have been studying elements of successful projects though, and will launch another attempt a week or two after this one ends.
Note to emerging authors: The writing is the easy part. Gaining personal and brand recognition is hard! Not impossible, just hard. The market is flooded with material, and gaining a following takes creative thinking and perseverance.
One thing is for certain, self-publishing is not for the faint of heart or those afraid to learn. It's like getting another Masters degree without the credits... and no one tells you what you courses to take; you have to discover them.
So here's to perseverance and discovery!

Our First Review for Stubby Pencil Noodlehead is back!
Please follow the link to Kid Lit Reviews and see our 5 star rating!

http://kid-lit-reviews.com/2012/07/18/stubby-pencil-noodlehead-by-kevin-white/

We have ventured into the wonderful world of crowd-funding.
Basically, people contribute to your project (in our case it's book printing) and in return they get great rewards when the project is finished. It is a lot like per-ordering, but there are extra's offered too.
We have posted at two of the largest sites: Kickstarter, and Indiegogo.
Some very poor projects have been fully funded, and some very good projects have missed by a mile. I don't know the determining factor, but will post regular updates regarding the progress of our project.
Printing cost and distribution are two of the biggest obstacles for independent presses with 3-8 books in a two year span. This has definite potential to solve the printing cost difficulty.
For now, check out our projects at:  
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1590909946/chasing-watermelons-chimeric-press
or
http://www.indiegogo.com/chasingwatermelons?a=844926

Even if you can't contribute yourself, please share this with your friends and change the face of publishing today.

Anyone can write a story. Anyone can draw pictures. Everyone who does so, loves the stories and pictures they've created, and they should. I want to point out though, that even if they are very good, they are not necessarily professional, and ready for publication.This is the great evil of "self" publishing: Anyone with a story can have a book printed if they are capable of paying the "self-publishing" companies for their services.

Unfortunately, the true and stringent editing services that should be provided by these companies (resulting in multiple improved revisions of text) is counterproductive to their main goal: getting people's books into print quickly. All "self-publishing" companies who do not require you to improve your "good" story into a "professional" story, is merely a vanity press in disguise. Their greatest fear is that if they require too much of you, you will simply do business with a different company. So, they make it easy to produce a mediocre book, rather than difficult to produce a great one. The price is the same for them.

When you self publish, you have removed the natural quality filters that competition with other authors provides. Too often this results in lower quality books. Face it, big publishers aren't the only ones producing crappy books; very few self-published books reach the level of "professional". You can, however, overcome this problem. Probably the easiest thing to do is join a writers group where you can exchange manuscripts for revision suggestions. SCBWI has manuscript sharing, and a few of the comment contributors are very good.

If self publishers want to be taken seriously by other authors, publishers, and the consumer, it is vital that we be diligent and ever-mindful in our attempt to produce truly professional level material. Always expect the very best from yourself, then verify that it is as good as you think. Revise, revise, revise!

Chimeric Press will release its second book May 8, 2012

The world of marketing and distribution looms before me, and I feel like a fly about to be shmucked by a fly-swatter, only perhaps less confident in my ability to emerge unscathed. While the fly only needs to avoid the swatter long enough to be forgotten, I, on the other hand, must wrest the swatter from the hands of the bearer and turn it back on them in significant enough form to drive then from the room.

But I am just a fly. There is no way I am going to beat the giants at their own game. I can afford to do less than winning, because winning implies that they have lost, and that is just not going to happen. I can afford to do less than win because I am a fly. I am more versatile, agile, and maneuverable. I can fly. They can not fly, and by virtue of this, I can go places they can’t. Soon they’ll get tired of waving the swatter around uselessly, and sooth themselves by pretending I am gone. They may own the floor and walls, cluttered as they are, but I own the ceiling.

There is significant symbolism to that truth, and that is the key to small press distribution. There are many outlets out of reach to the large publishers that are just waiting to be discovered. It’s also important to remember that places are only one aspect of marketing and distribution; methods too must be discovered and exploited.  We flies will be successful so long as we continue to think like flies, and not giants.

We are writers because we have an innate ability to consider possibilities, and find successful stories in unlikely places. Use that gift as you face the distribution monsters.