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The flip book version of Alfie is featured in the January Firefly catalog. The flip book version isn't available in stores, so get 'em while they last.

I didn't realize Please Write Back! was on Google Books with a nice looking preview. So is May I Please Have a Cookie? but without the preview pages. It was really nice to see all the user reviews out there. Wow, thank you everyone!

Ooo and look, and I'm in a reference book too. I have never actually seen my entry. The local libraries don't have these books, one of these days I'll to track it down.

I volunteered to help out at the primary school book fair last week and although I enjoy helping out at the school I also had a selfish motive. I wanted to get my hands on a copy of the Alfie flip book that Scholastic is selling at the book fairs this spring. It was hard not to stuff my book into the hands of every little kindergarten kid that came through but I controlled myself and let them choose their own books. But I bet they'll regret buying those Sparkle Magic Glitter Kitty Princess books someday. Well, "Sparkle Magic Glitter Kitty Princess" might not have been the exact title but I'm sure it was something like that. ;)

I heard a rumor that Scholastic may publish a version of "Please Write Back!" that flipped over and had "May I Please Have a Cookie?" on the other side (is there an official name for this type of book - is it called a flip book?). Anyways, I'm so happy, because it looks like they did print them. Even better it's a featured book on the Scholastic Book Fairs website.

Go Alfie!

I was so excited when my first book was published and I saw it posted on Amazon for the very first time. To me, it really seemed like the big leagues to be listed on Amazon with the likes of J.K. Rowling and Dr. Seuss. But as a first time author, no one ever told me, or should I say warned me, about Amazon sales rankings. If I wasn't an author I probably wouldn't even have noticed the sales ranking number. It's tucked the customer review rating under the benign heading, "Product Details". But once your book has a sales ranking, it's very hard not to check it now and again, like say, every waking minute of the day. I wasted a lot of time those first few weeks waiting for my easy reader book to shoot up to number one. But like most things, it got a little boring after a while, especially once I realized "May I Please Have a Cookie?" would never beat "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." These days, I consider myself a recovering sales-ranking addict and I only check once or twice a week.

But today, my friends, is the day! Now mind you, the sales ranking number change every hour or so, so this may be a total fluke, but darn it, I don't care. Currently "May I Please Have a Cookie?" has a Amazon sales rank is 4,795. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" has a sales ranking of 16,640. Alfie is actually ahead of Harry Potter! Maybe Daniel Radcliffe would be interested in playing a little green alligator in his next movie (grin!)

Yipee! it's official. It won't be out until April, but I just noticed that Alfie's new book, "Please Write Back!" is now available on a few internet sites for pre-order. Amazon has it, and hopefully other will soon.

Okay I usually don't post three blog entries in a row but I've got lots of news this week. The last big chunk of news that I would like to announce is that Alfie has returned, or should I say, will be returning in April 2010 in a new Scholastic Reader. I received a preview copy in the mail the other day. It's so exciting to see my story actually looking like a real book. Look for more info to come as the release date gets closer.

I ordered some copies of "May I Please Have a Cookie?" this week and was surprised to see that there was no red border on the covers. I guess after four years, Alfie was ready for a face lift. Well, it's not just Alfie that's getting a face lift. Scholastic is in the process of changing the cover format of all their easy reader books.

I finished my gift basket for the PTO fundraiser next weekend. Along with both of my books, I added an Alfie T-Shirt and an Alfie Mug both of which I ordered from Zazzle. I made an Alfie keyring from Shrinky Dink material that you can put through your inkjet printer (very cool stuff!) And I added a few bookmarks. I'm not very good at arranging gift baskets but I think it turned out okay.