KIRKUS reviewed Cock-A-Doodle-DANCE! Although it’s not public for a few more days, here’s an excerpt:

Life on the farm is positively “Cock-a-Doodle DULL” until Rooster catches a jitterbug that starts the whole barn a shakin’ and a rollin’.

“The chickens do / the cha-cha, / as the dogs begin / ballet, / and shimmy sheep / don’t stop their / swing until / the light of day.” Barnyard beats and dancing livestock tales are a dime a dozen, but this snappy rhythm is enough to carry readers, regardless of originality. (It’s super fun to read aloud.)

YIPPEE!!! & KUDOS to my  uber-awesome illustrator, Rich Deas, as well … he really made this book FAB & FUN-tastic!!

Also, I’ve solidified my VERY 1st author appearances for Cock-A-Doodle-Dance’s book launch … double-GULP!!

I will be having a “Welcome to the World, Cock-A-Doodle-Dance!” book-launch-party on June 10th @ The Cutting Board in Warren, Mi complete with Cock-A-Doodle Dancing-lessons (given by the author…ME)! Gift & goodies, cake, punch & appetizers & a visit by the “Rooster” himself!!!

And of course the author (ME… feels amazing to be able to write that) will be there to sign copies of MY BOOK!!!

AND on June 26th @ 2:30 I will be @ the St Clair Shores Library to read Cock-A-Doodle Dance to the children & give a quick demo of the dance! I will have a book signing/sale session afterwards, as well.

May 22 is fast-approaching …. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY Cock-A-Doodle DANCE! And welcome into the wonderful world of words & READING!!!

Literary Love to all,

Christine Tricarico

But it’s for good reason …I’ve been learning-the-ropes of an author with a 1ST BOOK being released (the official book’s “bday” is MAY 22 ..YIPPEE)!! And since receiving that ‘due-date’ I have been like an expectant parent readying for the arrival of their 1ST born, but instead of nesting I have been preppping, primping, printing, party-planning, promo-ing & PRing …Phew!! It certainly is exhausting & exhilarting @ the same time!!

And as promised I am going to share some book-launch lessons that I’ve learned along the way …

1. Do NOT get ahead of youself & start planning book signings, school visits, launch parties & the like BEFORE you check with your publisher!! As a 1st time author, I assumed (BAD IDEA) that I surely could pre-order my books before the public received theirs, or @ least get my author copies!? I mean what’s a mere 2 months before release date, right!? WRONG!! Here I was planning to do school visits in March AND have a launch-party in April, since my book was being released in May, but thank goodness for my ever-understanding & informative publisher! She explained to me that with warehousing & shipping depts it was a BAD idea to plan events ahead of the publishing date because ANYTHING could go wrong, IE: delays in shipping & an event without product (your BOOK) is pretty much a moot-point! Yes ANY author would be excited & antsy to get their book out into THE WORLD …but you just can NOT rush publishing, or anything great for that matter!! So, #1 lesson: Do NOT jump-the-literary-gun!!

2. DO pre-plan all that you can on your end!! And this includes: Getting all your promo-materials, such as flyers, postcards, book plates, signs, banners designed & ordered!! I LOVE vistaprint.com …I made all my materials on their site. It’s an easy to navigate site in which you can upload your book’s cover, etc., & make your own promo-items AND I’ve even received FREE items after my 1st order …they run awesome email-specials in which I have ordered 200 postcards, 50 flyers, 50 magnets, 2 t-shirts & a coffee-mug all in one order for free (except for S&H which was only 10 bucks)! WOW you can’t bet that!! So, lesson # 2: FIND FREEBIES!!

3. Lesson #3: Do NOT forget to continue to WRITE in between all of your pre-publication planning!! You must continue to write, re-write, revise your other literary works-in-progress! Simply put: If you plan on having a SECOND book then you must continue on your quest to create, perfect & polish, so you WILL have a 2nd book to share with the wonderful world of words!!!

Literary Love to all,

Christine Tricarico

http://www.amazon.com/Cock—Doodle-Dance-Christine-Fagan-Tricarico/dp/0312382510/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317065573&sr=1-3

In Canada:

http://www.amazon.ca/Cock-Doodle-Dance-Christine-Fagan-Tricarico/dp/0312382510?_encoding=UTF8&al_rs=#al_rp

I am uberly over-the-moon to see my book-’baby’ on amazon & have been a busy-book-bee with learning pre-promotional ins & outs!!!

What I CAN share with my writer friends & followers is that I’ve found vistaprint.com to be a AMAZING source for creating & printing materials, such as postcards & flyers!!! Also, Listia.com has come in handy for WINNING (yes, it’s a FREE bidding site) some items that I plan on using as give-aways to the children @ book signings, author visits (stickers, book marks, etc)!! BUT beware …this site can be a bit addictive & therefore take away from writing-time! So, everything in moderation, as the saying goes!

MORE, soon ….

Literary love to all,

Christine Tricarico

Oh, & on a totally unrelated note:

I’m now a vista.com GROUPIE!! I’m not kidding, I created & purchased a poster & banners from them & then received FREEBIE-offers, so I made magnets, postcards, flyers, etc., all for free!! It’s a great resource for authors starting to promote their book(s)! My stuff arrived pretty promptly & came out AWESOME!

Will post more promo tid-bits as I learn them …

Literary Love

-Christine T –

http://youtu.be/60DNSy6PaQ0

Now, just counting down the months ( 6 1/2) until it’s release!! Much work to be done & a plethora of pre-promotional planning! I WILL be posting on my many experiences as a 1st-time author turned PR planner/graphic artist/web designer/book promoter … as things progress (should be quite interesting for the computer-klutz that I am) & on a shoe-string-budget to boot!

Thank you to all my followers & fellow-writers of the world,

Christine Tricarico

CDD Jkt Final

This installment is pertaining to that much dreamt about euphoric-phone-call, better known as “THE CALL”!

First of all CONGRATS if you’ve found yourself in the magical moment where a literary agent has contacted you, states he/she does in fact LOVE your work, & would like to set-up a time to talk! Not email, but a real-to-goodness phone conversation. Yaay you!!!

But a few very important tips (after you’ve peeled yourself off the ceiling & have apologized to family members for scaring them silly with your shrilling shrieks)!

1. Impede the impulse to have a knee-jerk reaction, as to where you respond the same millisecond you receive the email request…RSVPing (Reacting Super Vagrant-ly & Premature) & wistfully writing YES, to any of the below …

YES! Can we speak today … in an hour … in a minute … anytime you can squeeze-me-in!?

YES! I will wait with baited-breath for your call (of course you wouldn’t say this … would you??)

YES! I will clear my schedule, call-in-sick, lock the kids in the closet …WHEN CAN WE TALK!???????

Ok, enough of the comedy! Seriously, you need to THINK before you respond. Think about when you CAN clear (give yourself about an hour here) a time that will be quiet & chaos-free, because like a job interview, you’ll need to be focused in order to listen, really listen & to ASK QUESTIONS! Which takes me to the second important preparatory point ….

2. After you have narrowed down a couple of quiet times that will work for you, email said agent back, ” Yes, I would be very interested in speaking with you (name here). Would either Wed @ noon, or Friday @ 3pm be a convenient time for you to talk? I look forward to hearing from you.”

NOW start your list of questions. This list can include (but not be limited to) relevant questions you have regarding: years as an agent, types of sales, author-clients… but most of this you should ALREADY know if you’ve done your homework!

I believe the best & most important questions you should ask an agent, to gauge your ‘compatibility’ as a good author-agent-match, are as follows …

1. Are they an editorial, or collaborative-type agent? IE: Does this agent offer revision suggestions & will he/she ‘work with you’ on the manuscript until it is shiny & polished? Most rookie writers will want & benefit from this type of hands-on agent!

2. What is their communication style? IE: Does this agent have an ‘open lines of communication’ personality, or perhaps prefers more regimented contact (monthly, bi-monthly, or only when there may be updates/news)?

3. Ask the agent what they envision for your (as in both of yours) literary-career & their tentative game-plan for its success.

I feel these two questions are VITAL! Have your notes in front of you & LISTEN very carefully. It may seem like common-sense, yet when adrenaline, serotonin & sheer nervous excitement is cursing through your veins it’s amazing how our brains can become bogged-down with fog & frenzy!

Lastly, remember to breath, if for no other reason than to avoiding passing-out so you are able to utter, “YES!” If you’ve decided that you have in fact met your long-awaited literary-agent-ally!!

Literary Love to All,

Christine Tricarico

Cute Question # 1: (from a feisty 1st grader) “Will any of your stories turn into movies?”

Wishful Answer: LOL! I only WISH I knew the answer to that myself! To which I animatedly answered, ” Well I certainly hope so! And WHEN any of my stories make it to the big screen, I will take the whole class to the movies for a field-trip!”

Reality Answer: Nope, highly unlikely one of my picture books (here’s praying I’ll have MORE than ONE) will make it to the silver screen. Unbeknownst to most, those select succinct words that fill the few pages of a picture book can be much more painstaking to create, than say a novel. And even harder to ‘place’ with a publisher! So, for now I’ll be more than OVERJOYED to see my stories come to life … in print (& maybe an app …or two)!

Quirky Question #2: (from well-meaning relative) “OMG, your book is finally comin’ out Sugar Pie !? You could be the next J.K. Rowling, or Dr Seuss, isn’t that right Sweet Pea??????!!! We’re goin’ to have a famous & RICH relative!!”

My Answer: “Well, I’m trying Auntie Rose(-colored-glasses)! And when I do make it big, you can rest assured that y’all be remembered, don’t you fret ’bout that!!”

Reality Answer: Look, there’s only ONE J. K. Rowling … ONE Dr Seuss … there’s only one of anyONE actually! So, my advice to every writer (myself included) is to simply strive to be the best, ONE & only, you can be! That doesn’t just go for writing, but everything you are or hope to be … WILL be, if you concentrate on being the best ONE you can be!!

What I wish I said to Auntie Rose-Colored-Glasses instead??

” Hey, look Auntie Rose it’s not likely I’ll be Ms. Wonder Writer making millions, in your lifetime or mine! I’m a single, WORKING mom that has to steal single, slient-moments anywhere I can, just to fit in my #1 love …WRITING. Which often times mean these moments land in the middle of the nocturnal night, or when I should be doing chores, child-rearing, cleaning, cooking, catching up on bills, checking homework, clumping kitty litter, or maybe even “catching” Mr Write (for me)! But this is a labor of love, you see, not a labor of lucrativ-ity! Seaking of love, Auntie Rose … do you know of any witty, well-read & well-to-do single men? You concentrate on being a matchmaker; I’ll concentrate on being the best ‘book maker’ I can be!

Literary Love to all,

Christine Tricarico

I’ve been quiet, as of late (very unusual for me), yet I’ve been quietly-content & literary-ily busy!

A couple new developments in my literary-life …

I signed with a new literary agency, Wolf Literary, & have been settling in with my new agent quite nicely (she’s awesome)! We’ve done some slight editing on a couple PB mss that recently went out on their first rounds-of-submissions! I’m anxious & EXCITED!

Also, my publisher @ Feiwel & Friends forwarded to me my book draft illustrations …they’re AMAZING!! Kudos to my illustrator, Richard Deas for his wonderful works of art! Cock-A-Doodle-DANCE! is now on schedule for spring 2012 …YIPPEE!!

A little lesson to pass on to other writers, that I definitely believe is true …in line with all the cliques, “The calm before the storm”, ” In like a lamb, out like a lion” & “March madness”, I’d like to make up my own saying, “Literary-lulls are usually followed by literary-loves!” Meaning just when you may feel you’ve been lost in the literary slush-piles, or by-passed from the publishing population … then suddenly, swoosh, your inbox is inundated with emails (they may not all be positive), yet you will be receiving responses & that is always a GOOD thing!

Remember: forge AHEAD, not behind!

Literary love to all,

xo- Christine Tricarico -

10 Turkeys In The Road, by Brenda Reeves Sturgis, published by Marshall Cavendish,  is now available for pre-order …

http://www.amazon.com/Turkeys-Road-Brenda-Reeves-Sturgis/dp/0761458476/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297882619&sr=1-1

Order your copy of this terrific, turkey trottin’ tale, that will not only leave little ones COUNTING, but counting on many read alongs!!

xo - Christine Tricarico -