Super excited to announce that our Bee Bully is being featured in Bookbub today and is only $.99 for a limited time. To celebrate we have some free gifts to tell you about. From April 1st – April 5th you can download our latest release, Caterpillar Shoes, absolutely free from Amazon. Check out what’s troubling Patches the caterpillar and the silly decision she makes to live her life to the full. There are some interesting caterpillar facts in the back of this book.
I’ve also got more surprises to share. My friend, Laura Yirak, is also giving away a copy of her delightful bee book, Bumble Babees during this same period.
Scott Gordon has another treat for you. His book, The Most Beautiful Flower will be FREE April 2-April 6. This book is only $.99 on April 1st. Don’t you just love spring! Enjoy these goodies while they last.
Here is a nice write up KDP did on my in their latest newsletter. So cool!
Your Voice
KDP Author Angela Muse
Angela Muse, author of The Bee Bully, shares her experience with Kindle Direct Publishing.
“I wrote my very first children’s book in 2009 as a gift to my two young children. If not for my son and KDP, my experience as an author would have ended right there. One day in 2011, he asked me why I wasn’t publishing any more children’s books, and I didn’t have a good answer. The stories were there. In fact, I’d written several that were just gathering dust in my closet. The platform for indie publishing was there. Amazon had launched KDP, and many authors were finding success. Of course, those voices that keep us from following our dreams began to mount in my head. What if people can’t find my stories? What if people do find my stories and they hate them? What if I can’t find a good illustrator that I can afford? After quashing all those voices, I decided to go nuts…literally.
“While collecting acorns with my children in the fall of 2011, I created a story entitled The Nutt Family: An Acorny Adventure and decided that this would be my next release. I found a brilliant illustrator in Poland, held my breath, and hit the publish button. In 2012, my journey as an independent author began by publishing more titles including The Bee Bully, The Pig Princess, and Suzy Snowflake.
“When I first started, I didn’t have a clue about where to find good illustrators, how to get book reviews, and most importantly, how to effectively market my books. In the beginning, I researched and networked with other authors to gather as much data as I could to help me in all these areas. The biggest hurdle was the marketing. I tried many different techniques, but one of the most effective was utilizing the free promotion days in KDP Select. Once my books were free, there were lots of websites and social media outlets that were willing to promote them. I also tried to focus on my audience as much as possible. For the most part, I write children’s picture books, but the children are not the ones who will purchase them. I focused on the parents and finding blogs and sites specific to that audience who would want to promote or feature my books.
“I wasn’t one of those people who sought out an agent for my work and tried to go the traditional route. With KDP, I have a golden opportunity to go at this myself and do things my own way. I can set my own goals and deadlines. I can market my books in the manner I choose. I can decide my price structure. I have full control.
“Did I make mistakes along the way? You bet, but I also learned a lot in making those mistakes. I found support from many great authors who were also forging ahead in the indie publishing world, and we were all doing this together. It felt like we were all out in this big ocean trying to catch oysters, each of us looking for our own pearls.
“It’s been almost three years since I began this journey, and I’m so grateful to KDP and the KDP Select program for giving indie authors a chance, that not long ago, we never would have had. I wouldn’t have received fan mail from preschool aged children who enjoyed my stories if not for KDP. One of my goals as a children’s author is to get kids to read. KDP allows me to publish quality children’s picture books to help me accomplish that goal. The smiles and giggles from the kids who read my books are just the icing on my indie publishing cake.”
Just announced today Amazon has a new subscription service for e-books called Kindle Unlimited. For a flat monthly fee of $9.99 you can enroll and download up to ten e-books at one time. When you are done, just return them and then you can download more. We know young children can be voracious readers and we are excited about the opportunity to reach new readers with this program. Now parents can download books for themselves and load up on some quality children’s books too for one low price. There are over 600,000 titles currently available and they can be loaded onto any device. What a bargain!
Try the new Kindle Unlimited FREE for 30 days HERE
We are so proud of our children’s book, The Bee Bully. He is being featured currently on Bookbub.com through April 17th and he is being very well received. He is currently #4 on Amazon’s Movers and Shakers List for kindle and he is #1 in the Children’s Ebook category. He has been reduced to $.99 during this promotion period and has over 80 five-star reviews. Be sure to get a copy today and see what all the buzz is about!
Today I had the privilege of being a reader at a local elementary school. I got to read one of my favorite books, The Bee Bully, and talk to the kids about being an author. The energetic kindergartners made me feel very welcome and I really enjoyed spending some time with them. We talked a little bit about what it means to be a bully and how important reading is.
Three reasons why reading is important to young children:
1). Reading exercises our brains. That’s right, our brains need a workout too. Reading strengthens brain connections and can even create new ones so pick up a book and help your brain exercise.
2). Reading improves concentration. Kids have to focus when they read which can sometimes be a difficult task. The more you read the longer you can extend that concentration time which will continue to improve.
3). Reading helps develop imagination. When you read your brain translates what is read to pictures. Did you know you can create a movie in your head while you read? We become engrossed in the story and we can connect with the characters. We can sympathize with how a character feels and reflect on how we would feel in that same situation.
Now go grab a book and BEE A READER!
