Happy Birthday A. A. Milne

Alan Alexander Milne was born on this day in 1882 in London, England. He was an English author, best known for his Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh) books and a boy named Christopher Robin after his son Christopher Robin Milne (1920-1996).

Pooh first appeared in the London Evening News on Christmas Eve, 1925 in a story called “The Wrong Sort of Bees.” Winnie-the-Pooh  was published in 1926 followed by The House at Pooh Corner in 1928.

Today is Winnie-the-Pooh Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3 Goals and 8 Principles for Disney

During the Christmas break, I read The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger.  This is a leadership seminar in the form of a book.  Every leader, including you if you are self-employed, should read this book.

The dust jacket of the book covers these eight principles:

• Optimism
• Courage
• Focus
• Decisiveness
• Curiosity
• Fairness
• Thoughtfulness
• Integrity

The Appendix is titled “Lessons to Lead By.”

After reading the book, I started reminiscing about watching The Wonderful World of Disney (it has been known by other names) when I was a child. We didn’t have a color television so I could only imagine the color of Tinkerbell’s outfit, her wand, and the fairy dust she sprinkled around.  I don’t recall ever wondering about the color of the magical castle.

Disney brought to life the stories of Davy Crockett, Alice in Wonderland, Bambi, Dumbo,  Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, and many more.

All these shows brought forth many emotions: tears (when Bambi’s mother got killed), laughter when Wilby Daniels was transformed into a shaggy sheepdog, cheered on Dumbo and giggled when Lady and the Tramp were slurping spaghetti.

Robert Iger inherited these stories and more when he took over as CEO of the Walt Disney Company.  He stressed innovate or die. Iger never looked back, only forward. He developed three goals for the company: build a good quality brand, embrace technology, and go internationally.

Every writer should strive for the same three goals (of course you can have others, but hey, these have worked for Disney).  Your work and your reputation become your brand.  Technology is always changing with new software to use in creating your work and new platforms on which to promote it. If an author can go internationally, he/she will probably become a best-selling author.  What more can an individual strive for?

 

Thank you for stopping by!

Please take a moment to click on the top link in the right-hand column and sign up for my newsletter to learn about upcoming books, old books, book promotion tips, and other information.

 

Looking for Authors to Interview

I hope those who read this blog post today will share with all your author friends.

I am looking for authors to interview in order to help them promote their books.

If you are interested, please contact me at cyannris at gmail dot com.

Holiday Book Magazine

Hop on over to my Page “Holiday Magazine” and see the information I need if you wish to have your book(s) listed in the 2017 Holiday Gift Magazine I will be sending to all my newsletter subscribers.

If you participate by having your book(s) in the magazine, I will give you a pdf file of the magazine to share with your newsletter subscribers.

This is a great way to promote your book(s) FREE of charge…well, you will need to spend a little bit of time getting me the information for the magazine then sending it out to your readers.

The more that participate the more circulation your books will have!

And, I will feature a book a day on this blog throughout the Holiday Season!

 

 

Spring Forward Book Attack

Do you like to read? Do you like free books? Of course, you do! This is Goodreads!
Support for Indie Authors is proud to announce our first Free & Bargain Book event of 2017!

Load up your Kindle with more than 125 free and 99¢ book deals in a wide variety of genres!

Details: For three days beginning Friday, March 31st and running through Sunday, April 2nd, visit our event website to nab a whack load of free and 99¢ Kindle ebooks by our indie author members.

That’s it! No RSVP, no obligation, and best of all, no need to put on pants!* Some books will be offered all three days, but there are many one day only freebies, so make sure to check the site each day!

*Pants are only optional if you are browsing our event from the comfort of your home. SIAFBB is not responsible for pantsless readers wandering aimlessly in public spaces.

Featuring Children, Tweens & YA Authors

Are you a Children’s Author?

Do you write for tweens?

What about Young Adults?

I am paying it forward in 2017 by featuring authors on my blog.

Sign up for me to feature you on the Feature Calendar page!

Occasionally, there will be bonus material, giveaways, reviews and more!

American Book Awards Program

From the website of – Before Columbus Foundation

The American Book Awards Program is not associated with any industry group or trade organization. The American Book Awards offer no cash prize nor do they require any financial commitments from the authors or their publishers. The Award winners are nominated and selected by a panel of writers, editors, and publishers who also represent the diversity of American literary culture.

Submissions

There are no application forms, fees, or any other restrictions for submissions, nominations, or recommendations to the panel. The book is what matters, not the procedure. The only requirement is that two copies of the book must be mailed to the Before Columbus Foundation by December 31st for consideration for the following year’s Awards. Anyone may make a submission (it does not have to be the publisher). There is no limit on the number of titles that may be submitted. All genres are accepted (including anthologies, children’s books, and multimedia). You may include reviews, publicity, or other informational material with your submission if you wish.

American Book Awards
Before Columbus Foundation 
The Raymond House
655-13th Street, Suite 302
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 268-9775
beforecolumbusfoundation@gmail.com

For more information visit – http://www.beforecolumbusfoundation.com/american-book-awards/

Something New For 2015

I have been busy with work, the farm, writing, the grandkids, and all the crafts that I like to do.

This year I have spent time spotlighting authors for Virtual Book Tours.

In 2015, I want to do something new.  I want to take a look at books that no one has seen for a while.

Did you publish a book prior to January 1, 2012?

If so, how is it doing?   Not too many, if any sales these days.

No one wants to buy it.  No one sees it.  It is no longer on the bookshelves.  It is not high on Amazon’s list.

In 2015, I will be creating an online magazine that showcases older books.  This will be a FREE service to authors, promoting your older work.

How can I offer a FREE service like this?

With your help, by spreading the word and me offering “advertising space” in the magazine.

The magazine will be quarterly – March, June, September, December.  It could grow to bi-monthly or even monthly depending on how many books are sent in.

What else will be in the magazine?

• Book promotion hacks/tips
• Book marketing hacks/tips
• Articles pertaining to writing
• Author Interviews
• Advertisements
• And so much more

If this is something you are interested in download the form below, fill it out, and send it to me at

cyannris@gmail.com

Subject Line: 2015 Book Re-Launch Magazine  (no this is not the name of the magazine)

Download

2015 Magazine  or visit my web site

www.cynharris.com/magazine.html

and fill out the online form

 

 

 

Multi-Award Winning Artist, Rich Arons and Turbie the Turtle-Duck

Turbie the Turtle-Duck by Rich Arons.

Young Richie Evans receives a unique pet that has the head and feet of a duck with the shell of a turtle Richie cares for his Turbie responsibly.  The cupcake eating turtle-duck grows up rather quickly, and reveals his amazing gift of flight by spinning his four duck feet like propellers!  The boy rides his pet on a trip to the creature’s home, the lost isle of Anomoxie, where they meet never before seen creatures like flying Rocket-idles, a Pea-cocker-spaniels and the mysterious creature that lives in Lake Deep.  After an exciting day of exploration and near extinction, they fly home for a well-deserved rest and some more cupcakes!

About the Author:

Rich Arons is a distinguished and accomplished artist, working in the Animation industry since 1978. Trained in classical drawing, he studied animation and earned his degree at the Disney school at the California Institute of the Arts, under several great Disney artists of animation’s golden era.

As a founding member of Gang of Seven Animation, Rich has directed dozens of TV shows, commercials and has co-directed the CGI feature film, “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.” Rich developed, directed and produced hundreds of television cartoons for Steven Spielberg including such hits as “Tiny Toon Adventures”, “Animaniacs”, “Freakazoid!” and “Toonsylvania”, winning 2 Emmy awards, a George Foster Peabody award and a Cartoons on the Bay award.

He’s also written songs for several memorable musical cartoons he directed such as “Plucky’s Video Blues,” “Toon Out Toon In” (aka the Tiny Toons Rap) and “The Albert Einstein Song.”Rich has also worked on story for several major feature films, in both traditional and CG animation styles. He has co-directed the CG feature film “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.”

Arons story directed on Warner Brothers’ Space Jam starring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny and has helped story develop Twentieth Century Fox’s Ice Age as well as computer animated for Steven Spielberg’s production of Casper The Motion Picture.

He has written and illustrated his first in a series of children’s books named Turbie the Turtle-Duck. His YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/richarons has original cartoons such as his “Binky and Little Treezer Series” as well as his “Birthday Happy to You” Cartoon greeting cards. His musical cartoon, “Do the Buck” pokes fun at dollar deflation and our economic issues.

 

The book is available on Amazon for $7.99.

• Paperback: 36 pages
• Publisher: Bluewater Productions (December 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0988247739
• ISBN-13: 978-0988247734
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 1 inches