BBAB 214: Is It Actually Better to Be Traditionally Published?

Brain Burps About Books Podcast #213

• Just a quick note to let you know that I’m starting a new podcast soon if I haven’t already started by the time you hear this. Want to know more? It’s going to be pretty awesome and very different from this show. Go to writeakidsbook.com/podcast to learn more.
• There's still time to join Crank It Up with Katie! It's a great opportunity to get coaching for your writer business in a small group format. Join HERE.
• I’m inviting you to a party! Join the KidLit.TV Pinterest Party on January 29th at 9pm EST. Be sure to follow for the latest resources on KidLit and a chance to WIN! Comment, Like, Repin... it's like a visual Twitter Chat on Pinterest! Have you ever been to a Pinterest party? One for writers? One that will grow your followers? RSVP HERE.
• Sign up for a FREE 15 minute Pinterest Session HERE!
• Plus, receive $20 Off a Pinterest Consulting Session by click HERE.

This Week's Guest is Kim Vij!

Kim Vij is a Pinterest Consultant, Educator, Blogger, Freelance Writer and Speaker. Using The Educators' Spin On It, she has created award winning boards on Pinterest with over 1.6 Million followers by focusing pins on Education and Parenting. She’s successfully partnered with leading children’s educational bloggers and brands to create powerful Pinterest boards for early childhood education. In the past three years she has discovered how to reach out to parents to encourage them to become their child’s first teacher by blogging and pinning resources and tips onto her Pinterest Boards. As a mom of 3, Kim enjoys sharing simple ways to make every day moments into learning opportunities.

• What to name your author board. (Hint: Use Pinterest Name-author) • How to pick a niche topic. • How create a character building board. • Naming your boards. • What to use for board descriptions and how tabs connect. • The educational aspects of Pinterest. • How often should you change your board covers? • Promoted pins – paying for pins to be promoted. • Picmonkey.com and Canva.com • What is the maximum size image you can use? • How to pin to secret boards and release later. • Should you use Tailwind or Viraltag or Ahalogy? • Can you change the name of your board? • How to embed your boards on your site. • The steps to a perfect pin. • What should be in your pin description? Answer: Title for the blog post, plus one more sentence, about 100 characters total. • What are the Pinterest don’ts?

When I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR I thought, "Hey! I could do that, but with children's publishing as my focus!" That's how Brain Burps About Books got started. Writing is so solitary. I thought it would be a great way to get to talk to my friends and make new ones, plus I could help others learn. Maybe I'd learn some stuff myself, too. I've had the privilege of talking to the first three National Ambassadors for Young People's Literature, to librarians and New York Time's bestselling authors. I've interviewed to booksellers and publishers, writers, illustrators, app creators, and app distributors, and more! There is always something new on the horizon to learn and to share. So many listeners have asked how to support the show, and actually, now you can. I've installed a donate button to help defray the costs of producing the show. What do you learn or get out of Brain Burps every week? If it's worth donating a dollar, two dollars, five, or whatever you think the show is worth to you, it would help enormously. The show costs $20 a month to keep on the server, and that's only if there are four shorter episodes in a month. That number doesn't include other costs like my time to research and record, post, edit the intros and outros, web hosting, and equipment and software to do all this. I ended up loving podcasting. I love my listeners. My "Burpers!" This is my gig, I know. and like I said, it's an incredible experience for me. But if you've you've been helped, or just love it too, and y...