Monthly Archives: October 2007
CCBR’s Great Big Book Giveaway!
In just two days Christian Children’s Book Review will begin its very first book giveaway!! We have OVER 40 books to giveaway — at least one each day from November 1st through November 30th. To win, you only need to leave a comment on the appropriate post. You can enter once a day, every day next month. Oh, and there’s a grand prize valued at $95!
If you’ve not been to this site, you need to give it a visit. I along with four other moms scour the shelves of Christian children’s publishing to help readers find the very best books for the young minds in their lives. We focus primarily on picture books, but also cover early readers, Bibles and more. It’s a fantastic (award-winning!) site.
Check out the site for full details then tell your friends. Everyone can benefit from more children’s books – especially if they’re free. 
You could keep them for yourself or give them as Christmas gifts. Donate them to your local library! So, spread the word and good luck!
Trouble with my feed.
Hey folks! There is currently a problem with my RSS feed. If you subscribe to the site through the link to the right (FeedBlitz), then it probably hasn’t affected you and won’t affect you. Everything is running fine with them — or at least seems to be at the moment. If, however, you subscribe to the feed through another service, you may be redirected to a “Blue Box Blog.” I have no idea what this is, but I’ve contacted blogger regarding the problem. Hopefully we’ll have it fixed soon. Sorry for the inconvenience and THANKS for reading!
Ellie-isms & Zach Attacks
It was brought to my attention that I’ve not posted any Ellie-isms in a while. Well, here’s a bundle for you. Enjoy!
Isabel, sung to the tune of “Jesus Loves the Little Children: “Mommy loves the little children, all the little children of the world. Red mommies love Isabels, yellow mommies love Zachs! Black mommies and white mommies too!”
Isabel, with arms straight up: “I’m up and down lines.” Then, with arms out, one raised high and the other low: “Now I’m a danogononigal line!”
Me: “Nervous? What does that mean?”
Isabel: “Nervous means you don’t want to go to sleep.”
Zachary: “Sorry face! Sorry Ellie’s face!”
Isabel: “Hi, Miss Karen!”
Zachary: “Hi, Miss Kenya!”
Isabel: “Her name is Miss Karen. Her last name is “Miss”. N-O-B-L-I-S-M MISS KARE-EN!!”
Zachary: “Oh. Okay. Hi, Miss Kenya!”
Me: “Try it. You’ll like it. It has sugar in it.”
Isabel: “I don’t like sugar.”
Me: “Yes, you do! Sugar is in all the things you like best, like ice cream.”
Isabel: “Does it have ice cream in it?”
Zachary: “LION!”
Me: “M is for …”
Zachary: “MONKEY!”
Me: “N is for …”
Zachary: “BURGER KING!!” In his defense, the picture of a nest does look a little like a hamburger.
One thing I do well
Parents can always tell how they’re doing by watching their children. I’m not talking about the children’s behavior, but the children’s imitation.
A Tale of Two Books
Half the free world is now aware of Jessica Seinfeld’s book: Deceptively Delicious. Last week she was on Oprah and The Today Show. This week she was on Live with Regis and Kelly. Next it’s The View. The book has been featured in seven major glossies and countless blogs, newspapers, and more. The publisher (Harper-Collins) expects to sell at least 1 million copies by Christmas. And with good reason! It’s a great book. Yes, I have a copy. As far as cookbooks go, this is by far one of the most attractive packages. It’s spiral bound (as all cookbooks should be!) and filled with vintage 50′s style artwork and colors, quality photographs and healthy recipes. What’s more, the book goes beyond recipes with tips on making family mealtimes a treat rather than torture. An instant success – right? Obviously! But why?
Jeffrey Trachtenberg wrote an article in today’s Wall Street Journal about the success of this book and complaints from the author of a similar book. It’s got me thinking. I won’t share the whole article; you can read it online, but I do want to point out a few details.
Both books are founded on the premise of hiding veggies in meals kids will eat. Both contain recipes for sneaking squash into macaroni and cheese and avacado into chocolate pudding. There are actually 12 “same” recipes between the two books, but who cares? Trying to trick kids into eating vegetables is not a new concept. Parents have been doing it for centuries. As a writer I’m interested in the marketing of books. I want to know what makes one a household name while the other is found in the B-section of the Times months after it’s release.
The difference? Jessica Seinfeld is married to Jerry Seinfeld. According to Amazon, Deceptively Delicious (Seinfeld’s book) is #1 for bestsellers, but The Sneaky Chef (by Missy Chase Lapine) has quantitatively and qualitatively higher reviews. In fact, a number of reviews for Seinfeld’s book are simply urging readers to get Lapine’s book instead.
Back to the WSJ article. Both books were submitted to the same publisher. Harper-Collins rejected Lapine’s Sneaky Chef, but two weeks later accepted Seinfeld’s book. Lapine took her proposal elsewhere and was eventually published by Perseus Books, a small independant publisher. Now, Lapine is not suffering as far as sales go. Her book has been named a New York Times Bestseller. She even has a television pilot being shopped around under the same name as her book. But why wasn’t she on Oprah? She’s worked for Eating Well and Gourmet magazines and now teaches at a culinary institute on top of being a “mom-prenuer”.
The moral of the story is: marry a celebrity before you write your book. No, I’m just kidding. Partially. Jay Leno’s celebrity status didn’t help his book at all. But if Jessica weren’t married to Jerry, would anyone care that she wrote a cookbook with her personal nutrionist?
What bothers me about this is that both books are good! But Seinfeld has the edge because of who she is and who she knows. I have never heard of an author being invited to the editorial review of his proposal, but Mrs. Seinfeld was not only invited, she brought food for the board to try while she, her agent and her editor pitched the book. If Lapine had been able to bring her food to the board, would they have bought her book instead? Jessica gets on Live! because she’s neighbors with Kelly. She gets on Oprah because everybody knows Jerry and wants to know what his wife is doing. She gets a bigger publisher with a bigger publicity budget. She has influential friends who push her book to the limits. Everyone wants to buy it! It’s exactly the solution everyone has been hunting, but maybe that’s because Missy Lapine was interviewed by Al Roker instead of headliner Matt Lauer.
I’m not putting down Jessica or trying to elevate Missy; I’m just highlighting an injustice of publication. You may have the best, most fascinating book, but if you don’t package it well and get it into the right hands, it doesn’t matter how well you’ve written it. Marketing is everything. Authors need to be diligent in promoting their books, but in the end it’s not really in our hands. The book The Tipping Point is all about this. One little thing can make all the difference. The people you know and the ones you don’t can greatly influence sales.
So, what’s my point? I don’t really know. The article provokes much thought. One thing is for sure: I’m glad we have a sovereign Lord who cares about these details. I need to work hard, but I don’t need to worry. As long as I follow Him, the plans He has made for me will come to pass. The same is true for you.
“Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established. … The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” — Proverbs 16:3, 9 (NAS)
For more information on these two books and their authors, visit The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious online.
More thoughts on Faith
I’m going to bounce you all back to Dale’s site today: Pyretic Ponderings. This blogging friend started our discussion on faith and healing last week. She posted more this week. The post is concise, but insightful. I’m still thinking on it and would love to hear your thoughts as well.
Update on "Fall into Reading"
It’s been less than a week and I’m already making changes to my self-imposed reading challenge. Since setting my goals, I have purchased three new books (for myself; I purchased a few more for the kids) and picked up a couple “new” books from a dusty bookshelf on our second floor. This is what I’ll do: I’ll list the new additions to my list here and, if I finish half of them (half of the list, not half of each book) by Christmas Eve, I’ll be thrilled. This is quite a mighty feat for a dyslexic mother of two!
- Choosing Forgiveness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss — nonfiction — I don’t really know much about this book, but forgiveness is one of those mysterious doctrines for me. I have a tough time understanding it. I’m hoping this book with help me not only understand it, but live it as well.
- How Children Raise Parents by Dan Allender — nonfiction, parenting — A biblical approach to parenting; not just for the benefits of the children, but also for the parents to learn from their children what God wants to teach them.
- Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin — nonfiction, current events; NYT bestseller — A mountaineer stumbles into an impoverished Pakistan village. He promises to return to build them a school. This book is about that promise and what results of keeping it.
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini — fiction; NYT bestseller — I can’t ignore this novel any longer. Too many people have read and recommended it.
- Come to Papa by Gary Wiens — nonfiction; theology — This book is actually research for one of my writing projects.
Wish me many quiet nights and hours of happy reading.
High Calling Blogs
Faith, Healing and Prayer
My friend Dale wrote a thought-provoking post on her blog this week. I wanted to leave a comment for her, but discovered I had too much to say about it. Her church recently hosted a guest speaker who proclaimed the necessity of faith in healing. It’s true Jesus spoke of a relationship between the two; He said several times “Your faith has healed you.” Dale’s question looks at the other side: What about those who are not healed? Is their faith less than sufficient?
Every day is becoming Sunday
I can’t stand monotony. I need different things to do at different times. Routines bore me and having a boss … well, my children are not strong-willed by accident. So, being a stay-at-home mom suits me perfectly. If I want to spend the day making cookies then delivering them to elderly neighbors (for no reason whatsoever), I do it. If I want to spend the morning coloring with the kids and the afternoon hunting for bugs, I do it. If I want to stay in my pjs all day, no one cares and I’m a happy, comfy person. Please do not think I use my kids as a license to be lazy. Far from it! I’m plenty busy, but fully without a solid schedule. Or so it has been until recently.
Until recently, Rick was the only person who had to be out of this house at a regular time. The kids and I could hang until 8, 9, 10 or 2 if we wanted. That is, except for Sunday. Sunday was the only day of the week when we all had to be ready and out the door at the same time. Well, now Isabel that is in school, every day is becoming Sunday.
I am gently moving into this new life paradigm. It took me a while to adjust from working to being at home; now it is taking a while to adjust from being at home to being a school mom. Two things have been a huge help to me —- (Please give me suggestions for what else will be helpful!! I’ll take anything I can get!) —- lists and accountability.
Lists are fabulous because I can keep track of what time I need to be where and what I need to have in hand when I get there. They also help me feel productive. There is nothing quite like a list of completed tasks!
As for accountability … well, if goals are not spoken, they’re just wishes. I’ve started a writers’ accountability group and have a couple solid prayer partners to keep me in check. That’s writing and prayer/parenting in line. How ’bout my reading? Well, I found a cool site for that, too!
Between now and December 24th I aim to finish the following books (listed in no specific order):
- Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka — nonfiction parenting book; I’m about a third through now.
- I Sold My Soul on eBay by Hemant Mehta — nonfiction; The subtitle is “Viewing Faith Through an Atheist’s Eyes”. The forward is by Rob Bell (bestselling author of Velvet Elvis). It looks really good. I have not yet started it.
- Sins of the Fathers by James Scott Bell — fiction legal drama from a Christian perspective; I’ve only read the prologue.
- Playing for Pizza by John Grisham — fiction; completely unlike Grisham’s other books! I love his writing, so I have no doubt I’ll love this book. I’ve only read the excerpt on Amazon, which amounts to the first seven pages of the book.
- Hearing God’s Voice by Henry and Richard Blackaby — nonfiction; I’m currently reading this one. I’m about a fifth through.
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser — nonfiction writing book; I started this months and months ago, but then the book got stuck under my bed. I just pulled it out. Literally. (Anna, that “literally” was for you! *grin*)
- Writers on Writing by various christian authors — nonfiction writing book; I’m a third through this one.
- Prayer by Philip Yancey — nonfiction; This is another current read. I’ve just sunk my teeth into it. I’m not very far yet, but am already enjoying it greatly.
Bonus Book: Splash the Living Water by Esther Burroughs — nonfiction; haven’t started it yet, but look forward to reading it!
Check back in December to see how I’ve done and which additional books I’ve completed before the deadline. Oh, and feel free to join the challenge! I’d love to know what you’re reading. Visit Callapidder Days to get in on the action.
