TRI Studio LLC Announces Winners of the 2008
Out of the Box Promotion Idea Contest for Writers
Judged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
And hey -
I am an Honorable Mention Winner!!
TRI Studio LLC in cooperation with
Authors’ Coalition announces the winners of
The 2008 Out of the Box Promotion Contest for Writers, in an e-book that publishes their winning ideas.
The top winners include promotional experts
Janet Elaine Smith, Allyn Evans, Phil Harris and
Billie Williams. Ideas range from a
Book-of-the-Week Club that partners the publisher and author with an Internet radio program, to an
Amazon Tour Group, a
Video Tour Group, and an idea that allows readers to watch the progress as an author writes a book.
The e-book is available from TRI Studio and Authors’ Coalition as a free download.
It is also available from this BLOG - see on the RIGHT
======>>Winners of the Honorable Mention awards are presented in random order, and include authors
Mindy P. Lawrence, Dorothea Buckingham, Nikki Leigh, Margot Finke, Karina Fabian and
Jessica Kennedy.
The contest was sponsored and created by TRI Studio LLC, producer of
The Fiction Flyer, a free e-zine for writers of fiction.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of
The Frugal Book Promoter and
The Frugal Editor, judged the contest based on the following criteria:1) the originality of the idea, 2) The breadth of applicability, and 3) the ease of use.
Says Johnson, “There were some very interesting ideas which made judging extremely difficult.” According to
Kathe Gogolewski, author and President of TRI Studio LLC, the contest was created as a way to showcase new and interesting promotion ideas by authors and for authors.
“We wanted to create a tool to help writers in their craft,” she adds.
The e-book, listing
The Winners of The 2008 Out of the Box Promotions Contest for Writers is also available for download and distribution
HERE .
(Comments Welcome)
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Someone queried me last month asking me, “What does your plan book look like?” I scanned-in my plan book and emailed them back.
However, in the past week, I’ve gotten a few more requests for the same thing. Honestly, it’s nothing that special, but I’m posting what one week’s plan looks like. [...]
Are you looking for lesson plans that incorporate American Indians? Here's a post from last year that you will find helpful...
With Thanksgiving approaching, teachers across the country are getting ready to teach children about Native Americans. Unfortunately, far too often, November and Thanksgiving (and Columbus Day) are the only times of the year that Native peoples make an appearance in the curriculum. That is not "best practice!" I urge teachers to teach about American Indians throughout the year. Here's one book to help you do that.
A terrific resource for early childhood teachers is Lessons from Turtle Island: Native Curriculum in Early Childhood Classrooms, by Guy W. Jones and Sally Moomaw.
Published in 2002 by Redleaf Press, the book has a lot to offer. Here's an excerpt from the introduction:
"Throughout this book, we have often relied on outstanding children's literature, usually by Native authors, to introduce positive, accurate images of Native peoples to children. It is our view that, with the possible exception of classroom visits by American Indian people, excellent children's literature is the most effective way to counter deeply held stereotypes and help children focus on similarities among peoples as well as cultural differences. The literature serves as a catalyst to extend related activities into other areas of the curriculum."
And here's an excerpt from Chapter 1:
"Omission of Native peoples from the curriculum, inaccurate curriculum, and stereotyping all amount to cultural insensitivity. This is heightened, however, when well-meaning teachers introduce projects that are culturally inappropriate."
Jones and Moomaw go on to discuss projects such as feathers and headdresses, peace pipes, totem poles, dream catchers, sand paintings, pictographs, rattles, drums, and brown bag vests.
Chapter 2 includes a lesson plan called "Children and Shoes" that uses Bernelda Wheeler's Where Did You Get Your Moccasins? and Esther Sanderson's Two Pairs of Shoes. It includes suggested activities in dramatic play (Shoe Store), math (Shoe Graph) and science (Shoe Prints), all of which convey similarities across cultures.
Chapter 6 is about the environment. Featured are two of Jan Bourdeau Waboose's books, SkySisters and Morning on the Lake. In the "not recommended" section that closes each chapter, this chapter says it is not recommended to ask children to make up Indian stories, and explains why.
As a former first grade teacher, I highly recommend this book to anyone working with young children. It is available from Oyate for $30.
With November approaching, teachers across the country are getting ready to teach about Thanksgiving and the "Indians."
In some classes, students will dress up to reenact the "First Thanksgiving." But... What "Indians" will they dress like? What will they "wear" for this reenactment? Will they emulate stereotypical "Indians" or, is the teacher among those who know how crucial it is to be specific----to identify a tribe, to make certain anything taught is correct with respect to that tribe's location, history, clothing, food, politics, etc.
Teachers have good intentions, but with respect to the ways they were trained and socialized to think about American Indian, their good intentions are actually contributing to misperceptions about who we are. I wrote about a flawed lesson plan last year. Click here to read that post.
My colleagues at Oyate prepared some excellent resources on "Thanksgiving." The resources are on-line. Please download them. Read and think. If you're a teacher, there is still time to revise your lesson plans. If you're a parent, give the materials to your child's teachers and librarian.
To find the materials, click here.
Look, especially at the "Books to Avoid" page on Thanksgiving... You will be dismayed to see how many there are, and further dismayed to realize that you have those books on your shelves right now.
To order books that counter those on the "Books to Avoid" list, to help all children learn about American Indians, look through Oyate's catalog. Order books from Oyate. It is the best source for these materials, and it is a not-for-profit organization, too.
Thank you...looks like a good resource! I am currently teaching an Ojibwe culture class as part of the GT program I teach...I love teaching about native cultures and find it very important :) The kids also love it.