New Happenings

Hello there...it's been a while! A lot has happened since my last post! A lady from Oriole Beach Elementary in Gulf Breeze Florida contacted me about speaking to some of the students during Florida literacy week. I was thrilled for this opportunity (Thank you Denothras for passing my book along! I look forward to meeting you next week!). I will be speaking on Monday, January 13th with the children and am excited to share Shoo Fly Shoo with them!

I really wanted to make Shoo Fly Shoo more affordable for the children and wanted to make sure I had enough copies on hand...so I decided to order books from Tate for this event. I know, it won't go towards my 1000...but if it means getting my book into more hands then I think it's worth it! This allows me to charge a more reasonable price for the book (retails for $15.99...I'll have it available to the children for $12.00). I ended up ordering 300 because Tate was having a Christmas special at the time. I thought that would be more than enough since I will be speaking to around 450 students and don't plan on selling to even 1/4 of them...just thought I could use them for future events like this. Travis, my marketing rep, assured me they would be in on time...SURPRISE...only 100 have arrived and I leave today! Well, I wasn't surprised, and 100 should be plenty so I'm not too upset about it.

I was also contacted by Barbara Coloroso (Author of The Bully, the Bullied and the Bystander) and she so sweetly purchased my book as a possible resource in her latest revision of her international best-seller. She also gave me some great advice and tips on publishing and mentioned a publisher (Free Spirit) that I should look into for my newest book as our themes are very similar. I am very thankful to her for taking the time to contact me and for her support and encouragement! :)

Barnes and Noble in San Pedro, San Antonio also contacted me with an invitation to the New Authors Event February 22 at 2pm. I will be there with a few other authors giving a brief speech with a book-signing to follow. Thank you to Angela and Jennifer who so sweetly said they would be willing to help pass out rack cards and tell their friends about the event! I am overwhelmed by all the love and support from everybody! :)

I'm so excited for what the New Year has in store! Here's a picture of my husband and I on our Christmas cruise! We had a blast with the in-laws...below the pic is a video for proof! :)

Book Signing, Barnes and Noble in Baton Rouge

I booked an event in Baton Rouge so my Louisiana family could come and show their support! It didn't even cross my mind that it was going to be on the same weekend as the LSU/Auburn game...yikes! Despite the game and the dreary rain, I had a great turnout! It was so nice seeing everybody and catching up! Thank you to everyone who came! It meant so much to me that you cared enough to come!

I'm sure you are wondering how many books I sold...well, there was a little problem. I was under the impression Barnes and Noble was going to have 25 books. I brought 8 books myself just in case we sold out. Upon arriving I noticed there were only 9 books on the table in the story time area. I thought surely they had more somewhere else and they just hadn't gotten around to setting them out yet. I continued on as normal...

This was my first story-time, so I was excited to see all the smiling, eager faces! I can't remember the exact number of children that showed up...maybe 12? I read to them and asked questions afterwards. I tried to drill in their heads the theme of the book-"Everybody has worth!"

Barnes and Noble had prepared a little craft for the kids to do afterwards! They made little flies, using their hand-cut-outs as wings!

Here's Sophia making her fly! This is my cousins little girl...such a sweetie! After craft-time they brought out little slushies for the kids, and I had cookies and lollipops...I'm sure their parents were happy! :)

During snack-time I signed books for anybody wanting one. I noticed the pile of books dwindling fast and asked the lady who had been helping me if they had anymore books. She went and asked the manager and surprisingly they did not...they only had 9 books to begin with!! I sold out quickly and was told that I could not just sell the ones I had brought...Barnes and Noble would have to go through a process to get them into the system and the money I spent to buy them would be lost. There was nothing else I could do so I just chatted with my family for a little while.

My Granny (who helped pass out event cards and spread the word) and my sister!

I finally got to meet Andrew, my cousin's son! Such a cutie...I got to snuggle with him later that night! 

I also read the book again since some of the kids missed the reading! Sophia knows all the words and was mouthing them as I read! :)

I also got to meet sweet Clara for the first time! This is another cousin's baby girl! I could pinch those cheeks all day!

Then I remembered that I had a birthday gift for my dad!

And here is my announcement...Book #2 is finished!!! It is titled "What About Me" and is based off of my little brothers. My dad has been telling me to write this one for a while now, so I finished it just in time for his birthday. My youngest brother, Nick, always says, "What About Me?" because Paul is better than Nick at a lot of things. The story is written in the perspective of the little brother pig who feels like he can't live up to his older brother. It ends on a happy note, of course, and he discovers that he is good at many other things and doesn't have to be good at the same things his brother is good at. I was so excited to show it to my dad! We actually had a little story time for the adults with this book, lol! I read aloud to my family as they circled around me in Barnes and Noble. My dad loved it and is now the sole owner of 2 originals! I will be looking for a different publisher this time around! Wish me luck! 

My next scheduled event is Dec 7, 2-4pm at Barnes and Noble in The Woodlands! Bryan, the manager, called me as I was writing this and said that because they liked working with me and my book was received so well, he wanted to invite me back for the Christmas season! I'm the second person he has ever invited back! I feel so honored! Of course I said yes!!

Also, you will be seeing a lot of changes with my website, Facebook page, and this blog. I am updating everything to "Danielle Dail" instead of "Danielle Renee" since I use my first and last name as an author. On my website there is now a way you can order signed copies from me! I know many of you were asking so I've been working on that! The website is not fully updated yet, but you can still order signed copies now!

I contacted my marketing rep today asking if they had booked an event in San Antonio yet. He said they are working on it. I will let you know if anything gets booked! :)

Book Signing, Barnes and Noble in The Woodlands!

Hello all! In my last post I mentioned that my royalty check was late...well it never came in! I had wanted to update you all on how many books I've sold so far, but my royalty check is really the most accurate way to track it.

I contacted my marketing rep about the delay and he said that since my release date was so close to the end of the quarter (release date June 11, end of quarter July 31) then I would not be getting a royalty check until the next quarter (sometime in October). I emailed back and asked if he knew how many had been sold because that's really what I was wanting out of the check. He replied and said a ballpark figure is 80 which is really good at this early point! That was over a month ago, so with my sales at Barnes and Noble I'm thinking that it's closer to 150 by now! Yay!!

Now on to the book-signing at Barnes and Noble last weekend...it went great!! I really enjoyed working with Barnes and Noble, especially the manager Bryan! The staff were friendly and helpful! They sent out announcements over the intercom every 30 minutes or so about my book!

A few days before the event, Bryan called to confirm the event. He was very enthusiastic about Shoo, Fly, Shoo and said that they had already sold 4 copies! Apparently one of his employees liked it so much she hand-sold copies for me! Bryan had originally ordered 25 copies for the event, but said that after the positive feedback from the book he ordered 15 more! He also liked the look of the poster I had sent and said it was the first poster he put in the window for an event like this! After that phone call I was on cloud 9! I couldn't stop smiling! That was just what I needed...some encouragement!

The day finally came and I set up 30 minutes before starting time...I was just too eager to wait!

I'm getting emotional talking about this day...I guess because I met so many great people and everyone was so encouraging! One lady in particular was such a huge encouragement to me! She said that she had read my blog and the struggle I went through and was so excited to meet me! She had such sweet words of encouragement for me...I don't think she will ever know how much that meant to me! :)

I also met a children's author, Sandra Howatt, who is getting her first children's book Sleepyheads published soon! She was so much fun and talked with me for a while, offering some great advice! She recommended that I read Children's Writers & Illustrator's Market (2014). I purchased it that day and it is awesome!! I wish I had read this at the beginning of my journey! It tells you what to expect as an author/illustrator, gives a detailed list of publishing companies and their policies, lists conferences...and much much more!! One thing that stuck out to me was that first-time picture book authors can receive advances ranging from $500-20,000 and illustrators can receive $2,000-15,000...boy was I duped! At the least I could have received $2,500 (since I wrote and illustrated my book), but I paid them almost $4000! You live and learn!

I was excited to learn that Sandra was a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) as was I, so maybe we would see each other again at a meet up! I highly recommend new authors join SCBWI and get involved!

My sweet friends, Vivian and Arian, came to show their support (and bought a few books as well)! :) Thanks so much for coming!! Also, a special thanks to Chary (my husband's co-worker and our friend) for coming out and buying a book for his niece in India!

All in all, it was an awesome day and went much better than expected! I was a little nervous at first because Bryan had ordered an additional 15 books, and I didn't want to let him down! A few days before the event I ran across this article: 40+ Ways to Make Your Next Book Signing an Event! http://www.writing-world.com/promotion/james.shtml  Larry states "According to book store managers, on average, book sales for a non-celebrity author will range from about 4 to 7. If you sell more, you're doing great!" After reading that, I was really worried! At my first event I sold 21 books, which was all I had brought...but about half was to people that knew me or knew my parents. I didn't know very many people in Houston yet! I was hoping to sell at least the initial 25 Bryan had ordered and then a few more! I ended up selling 33 books! I was so excited, and a bit relieved, that it went so well! The 7 books that did not sell during the event are sitting in a special section by the door with other signed books. Hopefully they have sold by now! 

My next event is September 21 at Barnes and Noble in Baton Rouge (Citiplace). It starts at 2:00pm during story-time and there will be a craft afterwards! Please come out if you are in the area! I'm also trying to set up an event in San Antonio! I'm waiting to hear back from my marketing rep about that! Those of you in Mobile...I've contacted my marketing rep severals time about an event in Mobile, but since your Barnes and Noble recently closed they are having a hard time finding a place to host the event.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive and encouraging! I appreciate each and every one of you! Look for my next blog post after the event in Baton Rouge this weekend...I will have a special announcement for you all! (No, I'm not pregnant, lol)