HELPFUL, HAPPY & REALITY SNIPPETS

I have a few varied snippets to share with you this month. First, happy spring! The season of renewal is upon us. As I’m writing, windows are open with temperatures in the mid 70s! We started our outdoor garden and lawn cleanup today.

For the benefit of bees and other wildlife
We walked the lawn before mowing, looking for rabbit nests. We waited until the weather was 50s and above for about a week so that beneficial insects wintering in the garden debris aren’t disturbed. These are tips I’ve learned fairly recently. I’ve also heard to be careful about burn piles before setting them on fire. Creatures could have made homes in these piles (they often do). A discard pile we have back in our woods looks like a little condo. We’ve stopped using harmful chemical fertilizers and insecticides on our lawn. This was a big win for me because Tim loves a pristine lawn. The first year he agreed, I was out there with the dandelion weeder (as I’d promised). We’ve come to the realization that it’s all about a shift in perspective (what makes a pretty lawn? I now see the dandelion as an environmental badge of honor). Dandelions are good for the bees and they’re early spring flowers that are pretty! We still pull some, but not most.

BRONZE MEDAL
We are delighted to share that Into the Thicket won a BRONZE MEDAL from The Wishing Shelf Awards, a notable program for self-published books based in the United Kingdom. The contest, run by a successful author, enlists primary school teachers and their students to read and judge the children’s books. The finalists and winners are decided by the intended readers and their feedback is shared with the authors. We’re getting actual bronze medals in the mail! 

Bunny book list for spring
Into the Thicket is on a short list of bunny books recommended by The Children’s Book Review for Easter and springtime! Full disclosure, this is as a result of paid marketing, but I still think it’s pretty cool, especially being on a list with the likes of these books, including Kenan Thompson’s new The Unfunny Bunny, one of my all-time favorite authors Charlotte Zolotow’s Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present, a book featuring the beloved Max and Ruby by Rosemary Wells called Bunny Cakes, and the treasured, A Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

“Hilarious”
A favorite line from a recent review we received: “My kid thought the pictures where everyone turned into a rabbit was hilarious!” (Amazon, Shopper 456) It’s hard to describe just how happy it made me to think of a child cracking up while reading our book! This is the sort of thing that writing for children is all about and is absolutely why we do this.

Sales — not so much
I was hoping to share a semi-big number of sales for December — and this is a good reminder of why I need to focus on happenings like the previous paragraph. So far, BookBaby’s accounting shows one sale in Dec. (I’m double and triple checking with them about this). Granted, between October and November, we had 16, but with our virtual book tour ongoing, I was hopeful. Alas, it’s a tough business. As I’ve heard from others, we do best in person.

Events
Speaking of in person, I have an Local Author Event at Novella Bound, Tecumseh from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Sunday, April 19. Events are listed on my website if you’re ever interested in meeting me and getting signed copies of one or both of my books. This is their pilot event, to see how it goes. I happened to see a posting about it on Facebook and sent them my information. There are several other events already booked this year, including the Detroit Bookfest (with my son, again) that are on my website and I’ll write about them in future posts.

Ebook & paperback
An Into the Thicket ebook is newly available through Amazon Kindle! It’s free if you have Kindle Unlimited (we get paid through page reads) and $5.99 otherwise. We’re in the process of creating a paperback version to make it more widely available and to lower the price. I’ll be receiving a hard copy proof any day now to review.

As I’ve probably said in previous blog posts, I was unhappy with the price of the hardcover from the beginning. I was given a minimum amount to charge of $27 and some cents, in order to make any profit, based on the printing costs. It’s a long picture book at 60 pages with premium color on every page. The hardcover is a beautiful book and makes a special gift. Stay tuned, I’ll provide updates about when and where the paperback will be available. I just created a new promotional code for $5.99 off the price on BookBaby. Use the word SPRING through May 31, 2026. As always, a portion of our proceeds goes to Out-Back Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.