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As a kid, I remember having the impression that a lot of middle class families in my town were divided in a very easy to understand way.  You either subscribed to Newsweek or you subscribed to TIME.  This is one of those perceptions that you look back on in later years and just kinda sigh over.  In any case, my family was a Newsweek family, which suited me as a kid because each issue had a page of three comics and a lot of quotes I didn’t understand.  I didn’t understand the comics either, but that’s neither here nor there.

Now the years have passed.  Magazine subscriptions have fallen.  Newsweek trundles along its merry way, but TIME has looked at the marketplace and seen a need.  So for the past 17 years TIME has created TIME for Kids.  It’s an imprint that produces books for the educational/school market so if you haven’t heard of it, that’s why.  I certainly hadn’t.  As a public librarian, if you asked me what major periodical had a children’s book imprint that served non-fiction fare my answer would be “National Geographic” (which is true) or maybe “I dunno . . . Sports Illustrated?” (also, as it happens, true).

This year, for the first time, TIME for Kids is publishing books for the trade book marketplace as well.  Since I knew next to nothing about this imprint anyway I sat down with Bob Der, Editorial Director of TIME for Kids.  Fun Fact: He also overseas some aspects of Sports Illustrated for Kids as well.  Small world/big corporation.  I sat down with him at Lily O’Brien’s Cafe, which is a chocolate shop next to my library.  I did this because I’ve always wanted to meet someone there.  I mean, come on!  I’ve got a high end chocolateria next to me and I NEVER go in?  Crazytalk.

The sharp eyed amongst you will notice that I didn’t call this post a “librarian preview”.  That’s because it’s hard to justify calling something a preview when the books presented to you are all of two.  Yup.  Two little books.  TIME, as I say, is starting slow and so they’ve just come out with two books for starters. 

First up, you’ve got your The BIG Book of Why.  It’s one of those fun fact books, but with a twist.  Advertising that it, “answers the biggest questions kids commonly ask and adults can rarely answer” the book reminds me quite a bit of Stephen Law’s Really, Really Big Questions.  The difference (aside from the fact that this book doesn’t deal with some of the more philosophical aspects of Law’s title) is the size.   There are 1,001 facts inside and the page count rounds out to a cool 192.  Here’s something for the organized amongst you as well.  Says its press: “Divided by subject area – humans, animals, environment/nature, technology, science, and space – and written in an exciting and engaging manner, each answer is accompanied by either a photo or an illustration to prove the reasons why.”

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Today, I stopped by WriteOnCon to talk about Author Branding.

Come by and say hi!

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I’m still recovering from the 48 Hour Book Challenge, with emails to write, packages to prepare, and books to clean off of my living room floor. I seem to have attacked the challenge with the organization of a teen getting ready for a big date — tossing books like T-shirts all over the room in search of the right one. I did well, in that I hit a run of eight great books. Amazing! But now I have to put everything back in order. Wah.

I do have a post up at PBS Booklights on books about bedtime. They aren’t the newest titles, and maybe not my absolute, all-time favorites, but some strong choices. Head over and add your suggestions to the comments.

This weekend I’ll be spending some time on Bloggiesta — writing up reviews (yes, of all those 48HBC books) and posts and presentations. If you need some time for blog housekeeping, head over to Maw Books to sign up.

Branding has come up again as a blogosphere topic. I saw it first with Maureen Johnson’s post — excuse me, manifesto — and I can just hear her whisper of “I am not a brand.” Important reading. Chasing Ray is taking up the topic, and wondering about the idea of blogger and author branding — like we can all be labeled like breakfast cereals. I’ll say that there are aspects of branding that are easy and helpful. My blog name, commenting name, and Twitter name are all MotherReader. No one has to think too hard about who I am in any of those places. But where I start to push back — or at least would ask us all to step back and think — is when I see that it is to publishers’ advantage that we be nicely, neatly branded. It certainly makes it easier for them to promote authors and to evaluate bloggers. And I’m not saying that it’s an absolute wrong. But is it good for the bloggers?

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Just saw this over at Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog and had to pass it on: MT Anderson's post at Cynsations

Here's a sneak peak:

What do you think about the pressure on authors to brand themselves by writing a certain kind of book?


There are people who want to brand themselves. There are publishers and agents who want to brand their authors. There are authors who love one kind of genre, and find constant renewal in it. That's great, but I'm not one of them.
Stop by and read Natalie Bahm's take on the same topic: Why We Should Diversify

sneak peak:

There's a lot out there about the need to brand yourself, to stick to your genre and build your reputation on it, but maybe there's some good to be said for occasionally reinventing your writing.

What do you think?

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Brand New offers up a look at the most relevant identity work of the decade. Not simply a best-of list, this look at the last ten years of corporate branding includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’m looking at you, Pepsi.

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Tags: branding, Design, logos

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Hey guys!

Come see my new website! Just launched today - took longer than I thought!

Thanks to hubby for spending so much time finishing it for me!!!!! (Love you babe!)

S.R.Johannes

Let me know what you think.

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My New Book Trailer - On the Bright Side

I'll talk more about my rebranding in a little bit. First things first, in celebration of Finishing On the Bright Side. Here is my new book trailer - enjoy! :)

My Other Book Trailer - Grace Under Fire

For those who haven't seen it - my trailer for Grace Under Fire is still up. This is the book I am going back to know and I must say, I am excited to talk to Grace again. I've missed her!


Rebranding

O.K. so as you can tell by now, I am in the process of rebranding. I tend to rebrand every few years because it's fun. Of course, once any of us become authors, you don't want to rebrand that often but It's good to keep it fresh.

So, I thought it was time to rebrand and have something fresh as I got out to market for the first time. For good luck!

First - big round of applause for Hubby at Graphic Cat for all the great flash and design. I admit I get some great concepts, but none of them would come to life if it wasn't for him. He's like my genie - I say "I wish I could have this because of this." And POOF - he makes it happen! (Thanks hubby!)

Also - he busted his humpster to get this done for me (late nights, sacrificed work, no sleep) so we could launch everything this weekend!

I think I'll keep him ;)


Why the design??

I thought I would explain a little about why I did what I did for my branding look.

I think all of this represents me and my writing.

If you look at my web site - here is what I did. Maybe this will spark some ideas in you for your "platform".

Colors

• I decided to go with peach, purples and white. I do have a some dark colors on my web site.
• I like the idea of peach being the light tone of my books representing the humor,
• The shades of purple represent my darker side. I do have some dark tones running underneath my stories.
• The white represents the pure side of my characters

Elements

• The girl represents my strong female protagonist. I shadowed her because I don't want you to see any one of my characters. It could really be any of my protagonists. You also cant tell her age. She's mysterious, yet playful. She's serious, yet she's still finds time to blow a dandelion and enjoy the small things in life. She's dark, yet feminine. She's strong and dominate in her life (hence the large size). She takes charge.
• The dandelion symbolizes the "magic" in my books. There is always some type of universal magic that I try to weave into my stories.
  
• The plants/flowers represent my eco-themes. All of my books have some type of "environmentally friendly message. I would not say they are dominate or preachy but nature is always a character in my book.
  
• The daisy (in my name) is something I have always used. It is my signature. It the "110% of me" that I put into all of my books. No matter what I give all of me to every character and every edit. Every process along the way.
  
• My web site tagline - which is not up yet - is "planting seeds in the imaginations of children" - I think the planting metaphor relates to the dandelion seeds floating off to wherever and whoever is (will be) touched by my words.This phrase is why I write.
  

So what's next?

Check out my web site teaser - my full web site will be launched this coming Monday! I know you will all mark your calendars. :)

My twitter template (and of course my blog) has changed as well.Because if you rebrand - it all needs to sync up! (Im sure you have heard me say this before.

Obviously there are still some kinks but they'll be worked out by Monday. But I wanted you to get an idea of the things that go into branding.

I'd love to hear any feedback or if you have any questions about branding in general (or even on mine), leave me a comment and I will answer them for you :)

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I will explain my absence and my lack of posting. Life has been as busy as it can be over the last 12 months and in May I got married and became a mum of three extra kiddies. Lucky me! With commitments spread over many areas including my graphic & web work, CRE teaching & church activities, family and art, I have been stretched pretty thin. Life is far from boring.

My question is this: Now I am married do I change my name again? It is given that I want to take on my husband’s family name, however do I change it on my paintings? Will people find me and my work if I start changing my website and blog etc? What do I do will selling all the ones with old signatures on them? Do I sell them off cheaply and start again? What are your thoughts???

P.S I can’t remember my twitter password etc so I haven’t been able to tweet LOL

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Today we’re going to push farther in our quest to uncover our own unique brands.

Your brand is made of your core beliefs, your passions, and your abilities. It’s what stands out and what you stand for. If you’ve probed deep enough and been honest enough it will be as unique as your fingerprint.

So how do you pull this unique brand together? First pull your completed worksheet- the questions I posted on Tuesday. Study your answers. Really ponder them.

Now lets get going with a Venn Diagram. You remember these from fourth grade math. Three intersecting circles.

Are you ready?



Fill circle A with what you do better than anyone else. What really sets you apart- whether it’s comforting a friend, writing dialog, meeting deadlines, growing flowers… list them here.

In circle B list what you’re passionate about. It might be teaching, scary movies, feeding the homeless… whatever.

Finally in circle C list what your brand audience cares about. Readers pretty much all want to be entertained… but go to your response to the “imagine three audience members” answer and focus on specifics that those people want. A publisher wants creative, marketable work delivered promptly, for example. A librarian wants engaging literature. A third grade reluctant reader may want to get through chapters fast.

So… now you’re going to write your personal brand statement. This takes a good long time, even for us accomplished writers. It's not supposed to be a slogan. It's a distillation of your promise

Where does the content in those circles intersect? Do you love to garden and write snappy dialog better than anyone? And your reluctant potential readers want a book they can finish along with the rest of the class? There’s good synergy there. You could say “Organic author delivers stories kids are proud to read”.

I’ll give you a couple examples from the non-writing world. Let’s visit the Food Network.



Rachel Ray’s might be something like “regular gal makes cooking fast and fun”.


Paula Deen could be “Southern momma nurtures with home cooked recipes”.  Is Paula Deen really who she appears to be? I'd say yes. Her personality is as warm as a buttermilk biscuit fresh from the oven. Having a defined personal brand hasn't made her fake. It's made her authentic qualities stand out and project.

It’s interesting that those Food Network personalities are easy to tag… why do you think that is? Because television- and the Food Network, particularly- puts a high value on their host’s personal brands. It works for them. It’s a very big part of what made these stars into household names. HONESTLY AND TRULY it can work for you, too.

Your personal brand statement will become your compass- the guide for everything you do. The books your write, your website, your appearance... all will reflect this personal brand statement because it is a word picture of who you are and what you're about. Paula Deen doesn't have to strain to keep up the "Southern mamma" image because she's the real deal.

Let's move on to a children's writer. Today, I'm talking to Shawn Stout, a fellow Vermont College alum, and later this year, a debut author. Shawn's new website is up and it's a doozy. Once you visit I challenge you to get that whistling cow song out of your head.
 
Most writers come to branding through their website, so let's start there. Shawn, what was your goal when you began to think about your new site?

I have to say, it is such a weird thing for me to have a Web site. I never got into the whole personal blogging about yourself thing…what you ate for breakfast, what you did on the drive to work, etc. I just don’t think I’m that interesting. I’m also a very private person – I’m much more comfortable talking about anything or anybody other than me. So, the idea of having a Web site about me, promoting myself—hey, check me out!—goes against the grain. But I thought back to the olden days—before the Internet—when I was a kid reading Judy Blume and how I wanted to know more about her, not so much about her writing necessarily, but her as a person. Did she think peanut butter and jelly sandwiches without the peanut butter were much better than with it, just like me? To me, writers were like stars in the sky – mysterious and unreachable. Web sites, as I see them, serve to reveal a bit of the mystery, making you more relatable to your audience—an extended hand to readers, so to speak—to bring them in closer. So, my marketing strategy is to be myself, and present myself in an accessible and (hopefully) fun way to my readers.

That's a great thing to remember, Shawn. Websites and our personal brands are ways we reach out to child readers, make them more excited about our books and reading in general. Whenever I do a school visit I'm reminded how special it is for a kid to actually get to know someone who writes books- and especially to see I'm just an ordinary person. They see they can follow their personal dreams- even write books. Reaching kids in this way changes lives.

I feel like I've barely started down the road to personal branding but our week is almost up. We'll finish the branding exercises tomorrow and I'll have suggestions for how you can project your personal brand to the world. I'll also answer your questions. So what is it that still confuses or confounds you about finding your personal brand?

~TLB

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Michael Jordan was amazing- the best basketball player ever. And certainly the most naturally talented. What was his brand? Smack down superiority. Consistent championship-winning ability. Natural talent that couldn’t be stopped.

I’m originally from Kentucky where basketball is king

but this image pretty well sums up my basketball ability.

A basketball player is NOT who I am- as a person or as a brand. When it comes to defining my own brand I don’t want to be like Mike- or anybody else. I want- in fact I MUST- be ME and only me.

But why is authenticity so important? Why can’t I photoshop a few pictures and portray myself on my website as the sportiest kid’s writer on the block? Why can’t I recolor everything pink and say I’m the next Meg Cabot or Cecily von Ziegesar? They have successful recognizable brands. They’re really successful. Or even better why can’t I just think up my own very commercial brand and say that’s who I am?

“An inauthentic brand is not sustainable,” says Joelle Ziemian, vice president of the international marketing firm Lipman Hearne. “Your brand must be authentic because over and over you are going to have to bring it to life. The second you try to fake it everybody knows and you lose credibility.”

Lately the big buzz in the world of branding is both Barack and Michelle Obama’s success at defining and communicating their brands. William Arruda, author of Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand recently said “Obama is ‘perhaps the best example of personal branding we have today.’ Effective branding is ‘based in authenticity, and the thing that makes [Obama] so successful and so confident is that he is being who he is.’ “

Obama has won over many supporters in part because they believe he is the person they see- smart, perhaps a bit nerdy, ethical, trustworthy, forceful and practical. We regard him as an authentic leader so we are willing to follow.

All right. I know I’m not Michael Jordan, Meg Cabot, or Barak Obama (big surprises there) and I know it’s no good faking it.

SO WHO AM I?

Some writers say they are afraid of branding because they’re afraid of being pigeonholed.
I believe that’s a cover up for their real fear. A brand that doesn’t pigeonhole you- that in fact frees you to be everything you are and everything you dream of being- is based on the authentic you.

But who is that authentic you?
This is the question that terrifies most writers. We’re used to coming up with personality traits and defining our characters by their actions, but sometimes we hide behind those imaginary characters. We’re scared to take a long hard look at ourselves.

Start looking, honey. 

I promised you a branding worksheet today so let’s get started.

I’m taking a fantastic class at MediaBistro, Brand Yourself, taught by Laurie Sheer. Some of these questions I’ve derived, in part, from work we’re doing in class. Most are questions I’ve come to from reading dozens of branding articles and speaking to a variety of media experts, agents and editors. Again I’m not a branding professional- I’m a children’s writer. But I think this checklist can send you on your way to knowing your own personal brand.

1) Describe your five most significant qualities?

Fine. I’m sometimes lazy. I procrastinate. I spend too much time on the web and I eat way too much pasta. Oh and apparently I can’t count. What kind of brand is that?

Stop right there. The other thing I see almost every day in writers is massive insecurity and a violent desire to be way too hard on themselves. Give yourself a break. What are your good qualities? If you truly have none- well that’s a symptom of something way more serious than needing to define your brand.

Start again. For today focus on positives- although don’t turn a blind eye to negatives. Be honest and specific. Your answers don’t have to have anything to do with your writing or books, although they may.

1)    Describe your five most significant qualities. (things like efficient, well organized, nosey, quiet… )
2)    What are five things you are an expert at? (for example model trains, nursing, cactus growing, cats, punctuation) (um have you noticed I’m making these lists up? Okay. Nosey is true. But punctuation clearly defies understanding in my world. Spelling too. Cactus? yeck!)
3)    What are five other things you enjoy a lot? (lemonade, snow skiing, a well balanced checkbook…)

Stop here. Do these things relate to each other in any way? Write a paragraph about consistencies and inconsistencies.

Start again.
4)    In a short paragraph describe yourself as you see yourself.
5)    In a short paragraph describe yourself as you believe others see you.
6)    Take a deep breath. Contact four or five friends or colleagues and ask them to describe you or to list five qualities/attributes you possess.

Stop again and think. See any themes? Any surprises? Do others see you as you want to be seen? Are there changes you want or need to make on either side of the equation- either as far as living up to people’s perceptions or changing their expectations? How does this analysis make you feel? Happy? Satisfied? Despondent? Ready to ditch a couple alleged “friends”?

Start again

7)    What themes or areas do you tend to explore in your writing?
8)    What kinds of books would you like to write in the future? What audience?
9)    Describe three of your ideal readers/ consumers (might be a parent or librarian but that’s up to you), with the kinds of detail you’d give characters in your books. Don’t necessarily limit yourself to books you’ve already written or sold.


Great.  Gathering this data should take a while. It should be a real exploration- a mixture of off the top of your head reactions and soul searching. Tomorrow we’ll look at a few familiar authors and see how their brands convey the promise. And we’ll start taking all that information you’ve developed to shake it, bake it and reveal your brand.

NOW IN THE CENTER RING …..

So now I’m climbing up on the hire wire... My assignment for branding class this week is to ask friends and colleagues to describe me. Some people who read this blog know me personally. Some know me from my posts here or from the work I do with Vermont College. 
Tollbooth readers- help me with my homework! List a few words that describe me in the comments.

~TLB

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Anywhere you find a cluster of children’s writers you’ll hear rumbles. Publishing is changing. They want more from us. It’s not enough to write a book and sell it to an editor. Now they don’t just want us to market the book-- They expect us to market OURSELVES.

Who do they think I am? A product?  A brand?


Are you afraid of being branded? If so, you’re not alone.  In the New York Times article Putting Yourself Out There On A Shelf To Buy, journalist Alina Tugend says "I HEAR the word “brand,” as in “learn how to brand yourself,” and my heart sinks. I became a journalist rather than a salesperson because I do not like selling anything — including myself."
Get a grip Alina! Since when did a newspaper columnist not project a public image? Last I heard the point was to sell newspapers- admittedly a confounding goal these days!  But even if I do find her attitude a little frustrating reading her take and her struggles with branding is both informative and enlightening. Take a look. You might see a bit of yourself there. Some of her successes may resonate.

This week I'm here to tell you (and Alina) YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AFRAID. Really. Truly. It’s not hard. It doesn’t hurt. And saying "that's not in my job description" doesn't cut it anymore. As author's we are the owners and entrepreneurs of our own (small or large) businesses. We have to be willing to do everything from write the darn book to change the ink in the printer to present ourselves to our readers, our publishers, and the world.

But wait--
In fact, you already have a brand, whether you know it or not. Jeff Bezos, Amazon impresario and branding genius has reportedly said something like “your brand is what people say about you when you leave the room.”

Joelle Ziemian, vice-president of marketing firm Lipman Hearne (and a fantastic children’s writer herself) explains what a brand is and what it isn’t-
“When most people think of a brand they think of a product or service: the Sunkist orange or the Hyatt hotel. That is the wrong definition. A brand is not a logo or a color palette, but rather a PROMISE that is the basis of your relationship with your audience. In the case of Sunkist or Hyatt, that promise is quality delivered consistently."

The idea of author branding doesn’t appeal to everyone. Some writers are appalled at its commercial flavor. “What I’m creating is ART. Was Picasso a ‘brand’?”   Uh. Yes, he was. He still is.

Look at branding from this light- do you want your readers to (figuratively) notice when you leave a room? Or are you content to be anonymous? Do you want to deliver on the promise you’ve made when they rush to the store for your next book? Or do you want to be so scattered no one knows (or cares) what Jane Doe, author, writes?

This week in the Tollbooth we’re confronting many authors’ greatest fear- WHAT IS MY BRAND? Does your brand pigeonhole you into one type of work? Or can it free you to create all the books you dream of writing? How do you begin to understand your own personal and unique brand?

I’m not marketing guru but I’ve taken classes, read up, and done lots of fieldwork and I'm wrestling with these issues myself. I’ll share tips I’ve gathered on how to discover and cultivate an author’s brand. I’ll interview Joelle for more details on the professional’s take on branding. And talk to children’s authors Shawn Stout and Julie Berry, two emerging writers who’ve seized on the value of branding from the get go.

Sooooo let’s get going for a full and furious week about a topic that makes lots of us go hmmmmm.

Your first assignment- What do you think people say about you when you leave the room? Are you making or breaking any promises?

~TLB

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How to commission artwork so you can create a memorable brand.

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The Chronicle's Wired Campus blog has an audio feature on the library building as part of their Tech Therapy segment.

Interesting, as one of my predictions from 2006 of what would extend the library brand too far--that is, treadmills in the library--has now apparently been envisioned for Goucher College.

I love to admit I was wrong about the future. Me, I have to underline things in order to read them intensively. But college students today are probably much less hung up about such things. Flexibility in thought, schedule and outlook on life reigns supreme these days.

Or maybe I just like their restaurant name so much, I am willing to concede that some people would be able to read Descartes on a treadmill.

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As many of you might already know, Lou Dorfsman, director of design and, later, senior VP at CBS for more than 40 years, died last Wednesday at the age of 90. From his NY Times obit:

Mr. Dorfsman’s work became a model for corporate communications, in the marketing discipline now called branding. In 1946, when he joined CBS as art director for its successful radio networks, the company was already a leader in both advertising and the relatively new field of corporate identity. Frank Stanton, then CBS’s president, understood the business value of sophisticated design and had earlier hired William Golden as the overall art director; in 1951 Golden designed the emblematic CBS eye, among the most identifiable logos in the world.

Mr. Dorfsman not only extended Golden’s aesthetic by combining conceptual clarity and provocative visual presentation, but developed his own signature style of graphic design.

Besides being in charge of the look & design for all of CBS, he also played a major role in the network’s headquarters on 52nd and Sixth Avenue in New York, the CBS Building. Along with architect Eero Saarinen, Lou was responsible for all of the “building’s graphics, designating the type, design and spacing for wall clocks, elevator buttons, and elevator inspection stickers.”

One interesting aspect of the building that Lou designed was a 35 ft. wide by 8 1/2 ft. tall wall for the building’s cafeteria, titled “Gastrotypographicalassemblage”. The wall has since been taken down, but there have been recent efforts to restore the wall to its original splendor by the non-profit organization The Center for Design Study. For more information on the wall and its restoration (as well as how you can donate) check the links:

Speak Up: The Wall That Lou Dorfsman Built
Honor the Legacy: Gastrotypographicalassemblage
The Center for Design Study’s Flickr showcases photos of the restoration in progress.

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(Enter Ms. Viola through the back door, wearing silencers on her stilettos)

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Just in time for the playoffs, my poem, "Football Season", was included on page three of the Winter issue of Penn & Ink.

It looks much cuter the way it's set up over at the Eastern PA SCBWI site, but here's the text:


Football Season

by Kelly Fineman

Uniform,

helmet,

shoulder pads,

cleats.

All the people

in their seats.

Huddle,

line up,

touchdown pass!

Football season's

here at last.

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Back in November, I read a post over at Laurie Purdie Salas's blog in which she called for two poems for her (now) newly released title from Compass Point Books, Write Your Own Poetry by Laura Purdie Salas.

I submitted two poems, one for each of the categories that Laura needed, and was thrilled when my bathtub-related poem was chosen for inclusion. When I was at ALA last weekend, I got to see and hold a copy of the actual book over at the Compass Point booth. My poem is there on the right-hand page, near the very small rubber ducky.

Wanna know what the poem says? Since I'm sure at least one or two folks out there might, here it is:

In the Bathtub of Possibilities
by Kelly Fineman

I am:

    a landscaper
        clearing a lake amid bubble mountains

    an admiral
        directing battles between rubber ducks
        and drakes

    a mermaid
        my hair a floating halo
        or fishnet

    Now, Alice
        in a towel
          too big for the rabbit-hole drain

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A few things going on professionally this year as I will finally be attending the SCBWI (Society of Children's Books Writers & Illustrators) winter conference in February. What took me so long? After all, I live in NY and can conveniently attend, without worrying about hotels and traveling. To be honest, I was worried if I was "good enough" to attend. But, this January marks the beginning of my third year as a working freelance illustrator. That counts for something, right? I'm excited to meet those of you who are attending. Come up to me and say "cluck cluck!"

Other news, My agent, formerly HK Portfolio, is now MB Artists. Same great agent, just under a different name!

To prepare for the conference, first things up- some new business cards.
I wasn't crazy about the old design. I wanted to take the emphasis off of the big text that read Chickengirl Design, and more of my actual name and style. I won't abandon the chicken branding anytime soon, it has worked well for me. But as I get older, I wonder, is it too immature for me to be "chickengirl?" Anyways, the new design suits me, for now!

By the way, there is a nice little deal going on now over at psprint where you can get 50 business cards for $4.95 plus shipping. (the offer ends 1/31!). 50 cards are plenty for me, so thats where I will be getting them done!

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Yesterday, I was having an email conversation with a friend who teaches English at a community college down south. She welcomed a bunch of kids to Intro to Literature, and decided to open her class by saying "So what is fiction?" and someone in the class answered "B.S.!" In her first email, though, all she said to me was that she had been "off befuddling students about 'Why we need fiction'"; the details about the B.S. came later. Wise woman that she is, she is hoping to convey that "'fact and fiction are different truths.' (As seen in Patricia MacLachlan's MG The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt.)"

Smart-ass that I am, I decided to write her an essay. Which I at first intended to be flip, but in reality, I believe what I said pretty much 100%. And so I'm sharing it with you all today. Feel free to imagine me reading this aloud to a class full of kids who are taking Intro to Lit., who probably don't really care about being there.

"Why we need fiction", by Kelly Fineman

We need fiction because in fiction, things have to make sense, which is a nice change of pace from life, where things don't have to make sense all the time. Or sometimes ever.

We need fiction because it allows us to create an artificial barrier, behind which we can examine Big Important Issues in a hypothetical setting, instead of beating people's brains out, possibly literally, by addressing those issues in the real world.

We need fiction because there are places the mind can go that the body can't actually follow, like the past, or the future, or to a different world where different natural laws apply, and fiction is a way of taking us there, if only for a little while, and allowing us to imagine how things were, or could be.

We need fiction because sometimes, facts suck.

We need fiction because it is a form of exercise. It may not help us lose weight or get in shape (unless it is a Very Heavy Book, in which case it may build a bit of muscle tone), but it helps us exercise our minds. And not just our imaginations, which are not just allowed, but encouraged, to picture what the author has described for us: fiction allows us to exercise our understanding of other people and cultures; it can educate us in a meaningful way about places and people we may never see or meet in real life.

An example: if you read or watch the news, you may have some idea what illegal immigrants from Mexico go through to get here. You may have some idea about torture and wartime atrocities in other countries. What you've read may have influenced your opinions on issue like immigration policy and use of torture and involvement in "civil" disputes in other countries. However, if you're like me, you don't really know what those experiences feel like, and while you may bemoan the awfulness of a particular circumstance, you've given little thought to the long-term effects of them.

If, like me, you went out after the CYBILS finalists were announced to track down some of the titles I hadn't heard of before, you might have read the heartwrending/heartmending Red Glass by Laura Resau. If so, then you have "seen", first-hand, what people's lives in those circumstances are like, their hopes and dreams and fears and how they've overcome tremendous odds. You understand their motivations, and see the beauty of the human spirit. You have thought about the "real" issues, but in a far more experiential way than simply reading "the facts" in a news article or seeing footage on TV and then quickly moving on to the next topic. And with the power of its prose, this book, like many other great works of fiction, will stick with you for a while and knock around in your head, where the news is frequently here and then on to the next thing.

My conclusion? For learning about the emotional truths and truly grasping the factual truths and learning compassion and finding out what other cultures are truly like, you can't beat fiction.

And that's a fact.

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Today, I'm doing something I rarely do — posting an original poem. Even though I write quite a lot of poems, I don't usually share here because I remain hopeful that someday, I'll be able to sell them. Even though that remains an extremely remote possibility. Which means that the only ones I'd be willing to part with for free are the ones that are less than wonderful, if you catch my drift.

This is one of those poems. It represents hours of writing and revision time, but if I've done my job properly in crafting it, you shouldn't notice that. You may, in fact, think it "slight." Poetry is like that — the cost of making it nearly always exceeds its value in the marketplace. But I digress. First, the poem; then, a discussion of its form.

Inside the Library
by Kelly R. Fineman

Jackety Stackety
Inside the Library,
Books of all genres are
Found on the shelves

History, Mystery,
Autobiography,
Journals of science and
stories of elves.


Musicians out there, including , and more, will immediately work out that this sort of poem is in 6/8 time, and is primarily counted in six (one two three four five six) with strong beats allowing it to be "conducted" in two (since the emphasis is on beats one and four, and the poem is not counted one-and-two-and-three-and). Anyone confused by this particular bit of information need not worry, all will be explained below.

My poem, "Inside the Library", is a form of poem called a double dactyl. This poem is sometimes called a "higgledy piggledy", because it involves nonsense words at the start. But let's not rush ahead.


What is a dactyl?
A dactyl is a type of poetic foot. Nearly everyone who's read Shakespeare is familiar with another sort of foot called the iamb, which has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one: ta-TUM. A dactyl is a three-syllable foot composed of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones, or, as Stephen Fry has it in his wonderful book, The Ode Less Travelled: TUM-titty.


What is a double dactyl?
A double dactyl is a single word made up of two dactyls. It's a six-syllable word in which the first and fourth syllables are stressed. TUM-titty-TUM-titty. Examples: microbiology, gubernatorial, antiestablishment, valedictorian, marketability, extracurricular, etc. Or, in my poem, "autobiography."


What are the rules for the double dactyl form?

1. It opens with gibberish (almost always).
2. The second line of the poem contains the subject of the poem, often a person, but not always.
3. It is composed of two four-line stanzas.
4. The last line of each stanza is made up of a single dactyl followed by a one-syllable word; the rest of the lines have two dactyls each.
5. The single words ending the stanzas must rhyme (e.g., "shelves, elves").
6. It must contain one single-word double dactyl in the second stanza, usually in the 6th or 7th line of the poem.


Any suggestions on how to go about writing one?
Why, I'm glad I asked myself that question. I'm full of suggestions, as this post from 2005 will attest. Only pretty much nobody was reading my blog back then, so if you haven't read it before, I quite understand.

First: Choose your topic, at least in general. For the above poem, I was trying to come up with a poem about books to submit for consideration for a particular anthology. Neither this nor any of the other poems I came up with (different forms and free verse) made it, but that's okay; the fun was in the writing, after all. I started to think about writing a poem to describe what sort of books I might find inside the library. (INside the LIbrary is dactylic, you see, so I opted for this form.)

Second: Brainstorm to figure out possible single-word double dactyls to use in the second stanza. This initially sounds daunting, but trust me, once you get started (playing that TUM-titty-TUM-titty beat in your head), you'll start to come up with some. I decided on autobiography because it's a category of books. Before that point, I'd started writing about different genres of fiction, which I wasn't liking quite as well and for which, moreover, I was unable to arrive at a single-word double dactyl.

Third: Pick your nonsense words. "Higgledy piggledy" are always up for grabs. Other popular ones include "Hey nonny, hey/ho nonny" and "Higgamus Piggamus". For my part, I try to find something a wee bit related to my topic; hence, "Jackety stackety". (Books have jackets, libraries have stacks.)

So, here's the one I free-wrote during that 2005 post on how to write them, interspersed with the writing rules:

Nonsense: Clangety, clattery
Subject: where is my frying pan
Description: I need the one with the
handle that's broke

Start of stanza 2: None of the others are
one-word dd: Super-reliable
They will all ruin my
rhyme w/line 4: fried artichoke.

You can see how that one won't win any prizes, and I toyed with redoing it because the incorrect grammar of "handle that's broke" was really bugging me, but I think it remains a useful demonstration of how the form works. And it's minorly amusing.

Which brings me to my final point: double dactyls are almost always humorous. If you Google "higgledy piggledy", you'll find some excellent ones (and some that are so bawdy as to be blushworthy). Do look for "History Lesson" by Allan Wolf and "Historical Reflections" by John Hollander, both of which can also be found in one of my favorite reference books for form poetry, A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms edited by Paul Janeczko and illustrated by Chris Raschka. Also have a look at Theodore S. Drachman's "Small Problem", a slightly bawdy poem about Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, known as the Father of Microbiology. (In addition to being terribly funny, it uses two separate instances of single-word double dactyls, one in each stanza.)

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