Oddly Normal marked a rare foray for Image Comics into the children’s book market, and it appears to have been a successful one. Image got the series into the well-known, widely attended Scholastic Book Fair, which opens Oddly Normal up to a whole new audience and expands its commercial options. Creatively, Oddly Normal is a […]
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Scholastic Book Fair, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 5 of 5
Blog: PW -The Beat (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Interviews, Comics, Image, scholastic book fair, Image Comics, matt chats, oddly normal, otis frampton, Add a tag
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Read Across America, Jeanne Marie Grunwell Ford, Scholastic Book Fair, Add a tag
After nearly ten years with my bachelorette car (an adorable two-door Cabrio convertible), we regrettably parted company when kid #1 began throwing up with every ride and kid #2 needed to be turned upside down to be hoisted over his sister and dropped into his rear-facing seat. So I have my 'Mommy' vehicle.
I am a very bad driver, and I always had a notion that in a smaller car, I was less likely to hit anything (even if more likely to be crushed on impact). Now I have a minivan -- but please humor me and call it a micro-minivan. It is a Mazda5. It is really not all that big, but it does handle the carpooling duties. (Though I must admit, it was always handy to be able to say, 'No, honey, you may not have Olivia over for a play date because, gosh, she won't fit in the car...') I have also hit two mailboxes this year and replaced my passenger mirror, yes, twice. In short, if you see a blue Mazda5 in the environs of Frederick, Maryland... you might want to change lanes.
As a consequence of this major life change, I find myself on the Mazda email list... and, strangely -- given that I am teaching author and parent of two little ones -- this is the only reason I know that Read Across America week is fast approaching. Brought to you by The Lorax... and Mazda.
I do have a deep appreciation for my Mazda, don't get me wrong. And I write for a soap opera. Clearly, I have nothing against commercialism. In fact, I think we writers and publishers would do well to embrace it whenever we can. Go, Mazda!
And Go, Scholastic, which is having a book fair at my daughter's school this week. I have been secretly shopping for myself from my kids' fliers all year long. (My daughter, who is afraid of everything -- most especially books with scary covers -- was quite traumatized by my recent purchase of a book called Deadly.) While I love supporting local booksellers and of course I patronize the library regularly, who can resist all those shiny new books? I can't.
My daughter brought just home a list of the books she wants, to which I have quietly added the books I think she will love if only she will open them. (How many Rainbow Magic books are there? Does anyone know? Now that my son is daily proclaiming that he is a fairy, I think we're ready to move on.)
The marketing people at Scholastic are geniuses! Yes, we have bought our fair share of cupcake recipe books and cute little erasers, but they are also getting great books into kids' homes -- and very affordably, I might add. Like Mazda, Scholastic also gives back to the schools, which earn many classroom books in return for purchases made. This is an awesome thing. And any author who's been fortunate enough to have a Scholastic Book Club book knows that the royalties can be prodigious.
Sadly, one of my daughter's schoolmates died this week after a long illness. When her teacher talked to the children about what they wanted to do in his memory, the verdict was unaminous -- at the book fair, they will buy books in Peter's memory. And every child who opens those books through all the years will be touched by Peter's life. God Bless them all. --Jeanne Marie
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Lauren Thompson, Matthew Cordell, Leap Frog, Scholastic Book Fair, Leap Back Home to Me, Add a tag
Blog: Barbara O'Connor (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Scholastic Book Fair, The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester, Add a tag
Blog: Barbara O'Connor (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Book Talks, Scholastic Book Fair, The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester, Add a tag
What you said made a bunch of sense. However, what about this?
what if you composed a catchier title? I mean, I don’t want to tell you how
to run your website, however what if you added a post title to maybe get people’s attention? I mean MATT CHATS: Otis Frampton on ‘Oddly Normal’ and its Atypical Journey to Publication — The Beat
is a little plain. You might look at Yahoo’s front page and see how
they create article titles to get people to click.
You might add a related video or a related picture or
two to get readers excited about everything’ve got to say.
In my opinion, it might bring your blog a little livelier.