THERE IS NO CHARGE TO BE LISTED on this blog, however... I do ask for a reciprocal link. (To my own website, www.kimnormanbooks.com, not this author-by-state site. Why invite competition on your own site, right?)
MY DEFINITION OF "TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED"... If you're with a publisher you know I'll recognize, (established pros will know) then... not to worry. Write to me and I'll add you. If you have any doubts, rather than haggle over what qualifies as traditional, I'm going to simplify things. CLICK THIS LINK and scroll down to a list of publishers approved by SCBWI to be included in their Publishers Market Survey. If you see your publisher on this list, write to me. If not, then you're with a publisher that's too obscure for you to be added to this site. I'm sorry to make this distinction, but with over 700 links already, I don't want the site to become so unwieldy that it loses its original intent: to save educators time when "shopping" for an author. And... paper books only, please, not e-books.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Thank you, Courtland Elementary!


What a fun author visit I had yesterday at Courtland Elementary School in Fredericksburg, Virginia! Thank you a thousand times over to Tammy Jones, who coordinated the visit. Also a big thank you to Mrs. Steele, the principal, who was a good sport about manning the cute new Crocodaddy puppet I bought in Florida last month. I was delighted to learn that the students knew every word of "The Storytime Boogie," so another thank you to Mrs. Lipscomb for taking the time to teach it to the students before I arrived. And of course, an extra big thank you to the PTO for making the event possible. God bless them. What would we do without our school PTOs?

And now, most charming of all, a collection of thank you notes from 2nd graders, some of whom got to hold up some of the colored papers I use when we do a read-aloud of I KNOW A WEE PIGGY WHO WALLOWED IN BROWN. (Still 2 years away from publication.)

I wish I'd had time to scan them all, but here is a sampling. I love how accurately some of them drew my "Crocodaddy-colored" green suit... all the way down to my green sandals! Thank YOU, Courtland students, for making me feel so welcome!


I love that this student used artistic license and added a green bow to my hair. Maybe I need to add that to my outfit!


The above is a reference to my "Evil Inner Editors" who say ugly things inside my head when I'm struggling with a first draft. Kids really seem to get the concept, especially since I pair the sayings with funny, distorted images of myself saying things like "What makes you think YOU can write a book?"













Kim Norman