Gads, I can't wait...
Giveaway Winner!
Jan Farnsworth is the winner of the free signed copy of THE LITTLE BITTY BAKERY by Leslie Muir! I've sent her an email and the book should be on its way soon. CONGRATULATIONS JAN!
Thanksgiving Coloring Page Ideas - help!
Okay guys, I've drawn a ton of turkeys for Coloring Page Tuesdays and I'm kind of over those. So, make me some suggestions for Thanksgiving coloring pages you'd like to see this year! Here's what I've done for you so far: Thanksgiving-themed coloring pages.
Speaking at LaGrange College
Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of speaking at LaGrange College, a little over an hour south of Atlanta. The drive down was non-eventful and flew by as I'm still listening to Vicky Alvear Shecter's CLEOPATRA'S MOON on audio (I was one of her early readers too). SO good.
I drove through the very sweet and very clean little downtown of LaGrange, Georgia to the college campus where the head of security, Michael, met me, escorted me to a parking space on campus, then gave me a guided tour of the college in his golf cart. (Thank you Michael!) What a BEAUTIFUL campus, with hanging swings everywhere and relaxing places for students to hang out. He also gave me a few minutes to walk around the art building which was truly stunning. The building was newly renovated and shone like the architectural masterpiece that it was. Their main art collection was also on display, including a sculpture by my fave, Henry Moore.
Then back to the library where I met my host, Charlene Baxter. She's invited so many of my fellow children's book author friends to speak at LaGrange, we're all fans of hers!
She led me to the most beautiful lecture hall I've ever had the pleasure to speak in:
No media carts in this room! A screen dropped down from the ceiling and synced up with a laptop by the podium. I shared my online slideshow and while it worked fine, I will definitely bring a backup powerpoint on a thumb drive next time as the connection was a bit slower than I would have liked. I had a full room as I talked about being a children's book author/illustrator, how I work, and how much of what I do can apply to their lives as well.
One attendee even drove an hour to be there (he was a former student) and asked advice. I was so flattered and hope I gave him some good information (he had nice work).
My only disappointment was that I was still in my boot (and only ONE crutch) and wasn't able to be as dynamic and walk around like I usually do. I hope they enjoyed it anyway. I got some nice comments afterwards.
Lunch was catered sammies with the Education Faculty, (Hi Margie, Becky, Eric, and Rachel!) and we had a great discussion about strong female protagonists in Young Adult fiction.
Next I got to speak to a classroom of education students about Technology and the Future of Reading. Have I mentioned that I adore talking to college students? I forget how young they are and how much they have to learn, because they all sit there looking like little adults. And I often assume that because people are young, they must be plugged in to all the technology. Well, that isn't always the case and I had the great pleasure of showing the students things that made their heads nearly explode. (Lots of wide eyes and "Wow!"s.) It was a smaller environment so I was able to move around a bit more and felt much more at home talking to these guys. Their many, many questions were great too, so I had an absolute blast with that group.
They also did a write up at the LaGrange blog (CLICK HERE).
All said, I fell in love with LaGrange college. It truly is a gem in Georgia with dedicated teachers, excellent facilities and a generally great vibe. I hope I get to visit again soon!
Photos by Rachel Evans - thanks Rachel!
I drove through the very sweet and very clean little downtown of LaGrange, Georgia to the college campus where the head of security, Michael, met me, escorted me to a parking space on campus, then gave me a guided tour of the college in his golf cart. (Thank you Michael!) What a BEAUTIFUL campus, with hanging swings everywhere and relaxing places for students to hang out. He also gave me a few minutes to walk around the art building which was truly stunning. The building was newly renovated and shone like the architectural masterpiece that it was. Their main art collection was also on display, including a sculpture by my fave, Henry Moore.
Then back to the library where I met my host, Charlene Baxter. She's invited so many of my fellow children's book author friends to speak at LaGrange, we're all fans of hers!
She led me to the most beautiful lecture hall I've ever had the pleasure to speak in:
No media carts in this room! A screen dropped down from the ceiling and synced up with a laptop by the podium. I shared my online slideshow and while it worked fine, I will definitely bring a backup powerpoint on a thumb drive next time as the connection was a bit slower than I would have liked. I had a full room as I talked about being a children's book author/illustrator, how I work, and how much of what I do can apply to their lives as well.
One attendee even drove an hour to be there (he was a former student) and asked advice. I was so flattered and hope I gave him some good information (he had nice work).
My only disappointment was that I was still in my boot (and only ONE crutch) and wasn't able to be as dynamic and walk around like I usually do. I hope they enjoyed it anyway. I got some nice comments afterwards.
Lunch was catered sammies with the Education Faculty, (Hi Margie, Becky, Eric, and Rachel!) and we had a great discussion about strong female protagonists in Young Adult fiction.
Next I got to speak to a classroom of education students about Technology and the Future of Reading. Have I mentioned that I adore talking to college students? I forget how young they are and how much they have to learn, because they all sit there looking like little adults. And I often assume that because people are young, they must be plugged in to all the technology. Well, that isn't always the case and I had the great pleasure of showing the students things that made their heads nearly explode. (Lots of wide eyes and "Wow!"s.) It was a smaller environment so I was able to move around a bit more and felt much more at home talking to these guys. Their many, many questions were great too, so I had an absolute blast with that group.
They also did a write up at the LaGrange blog (CLICK HERE).
All said, I fell in love with LaGrange college. It truly is a gem in Georgia with dedicated teachers, excellent facilities and a generally great vibe. I hope I get to visit again soon!
Photos by Rachel Evans - thanks Rachel!
Katie Davis at Picture Book Month today
One of the founders of Picture Book Month (#PictureBookMonth), Katie Davis, talks about why she thinks picture books are important today. (Click the logo to go read.)
Coloring Page Tuesday - Another Reading Fairy!
Sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week and/or click here to view more coloring pages!
I thought you were due another fairy. And of course this one loves to read as well!
On another note - most of you have been so incredibly respectful of my Copyright Guidelines - I can't thank you enough. Sadly, not everybody is and I could really use you guys on my front line. Please read "Calvin & Hobbes and Copyright Infringement" on MY BLOG to read why and how you can help! It's going to take a grass roots effort to get the word out. THANK YOU for helping to educate people!!!
CLICK HERE to find lots more Fall Images! CLICK HERE for Thanksgiving images. And for Election Day images CLICK HERE!
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA, just in time for the holidays!
I thought you were due another fairy. And of course this one loves to read as well!
On another note - most of you have been so incredibly respectful of my Copyright Guidelines - I can't thank you enough. Sadly, not everybody is and I could really use you guys on my front line. Please read "Calvin & Hobbes and Copyright Infringement" on MY BLOG to read why and how you can help! It's going to take a grass roots effort to get the word out. THANK YOU for helping to educate people!!!
CLICK HERE to find lots more Fall Images! CLICK HERE for Thanksgiving images. And for Election Day images CLICK HERE!
Click the image to open a .jpg to print and color. Send your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpages@dulemba.com and I'll post it to my blog! Click here to find more coloring pages.
Click the cover to learn about my newest picture book THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA, just in time for the holidays!
10 Ways to Protect Your Art Online
Thank you for the wonderful feedback on my article "Calvin & Hobbes and Copyright Infringement" - you guys truly are the reason I still post my images at Coloring Page Tuesdays. It warms my heart to know they bring so much joy to so many of you!Along with all your solidarity and support, I received an offline email from Cindy P. asking HOW to protect your art online. It's a good question and one I felt I should answer publicly.
The short answer is, you can't protect your work from thievery. Obviously, people have no problem erasing copyrights or photoshopping out watermarks, and then using your art as their own. It's rampant, it happens all the time.
However, there are some things you can do to make sure you have as much protection around you as possible so that you have a case when you go after offenders. Here are some tips:
1) Put your copyright line on everything. I put © Elizabeth O. Dulemba, www.dulemba.com - my name and website. I don't ever want to hear "I couldn't find you!"
2) Ask that people keep your copyright information on everything so that the images don't float away into the ether unattributed.
3) You can put a watermark on images, although that can stop an Art Director from hiring you if the watermark is too obnoxious to really see the artwork.
4) On my mac, I'm able to open an info field about each file. I can type in information into that field. Granted, if an infringer edits the file and saves it under a new name, that information is gone.
5) Don't put high res images on the web (300 ppi). 72 ppi (pixels per inch) is fine for online viewing resolution. I also keep my files a manageable size - none of my images are larger than 1,000 to 1,500 pixels. That's the biggest I get. Granted, people are often stealing images for web use rather than print use, so that only protects you so far.
6) Make your copyright guidelines clear and easy to find. CLICK HERE to see mine. I have the link at the very top of my Coloring Page Tuesdays page, and I put a badge link with every blog post/image.
7) I use Statcounter to follow my stats, and I often check "Recently Came From." Become familiar with the URLs that are normal so that odd, new or strange URLs stand out. I check them almost daily and often find infringers that way.
8) Google Images. You can drag and drop your image in the search field, or type in a descriptor. I find I have more luck typing in an actual name. I'll usually only scan the first page of images that comes up, but often will find two or three offenders each time I do that. (For instance, I caught another violator this week when I typed in "Reading Witch" and found my art being used on a t-shirt through Zazzle.) I do this as often as I can stand - which honestly, isn't very often because it's so depressing.
9) Prosecute violators. If word gets out that you could get sued for using errant images from the web, I bet some infringement would slow down! Power in numbers! Take a screen capture of the abuse (on my Mac I hit "command>shift>4" and drag my mouse. To report abuse on a Blogger Blog, CLICK HERE. Here is some advice form ArtChain on how to prosecute violators (or at least get your artwork off their sites).
10) Finally, artists are required to have online portfolios these days to advertise for new business. That means we have to take that risk of people stealing our art. It's quite the Catch-22, but tell your friends - JUST BECAUSE IT'S ONLINE DOESN'T MEAN IT'S FREE OR OKAY TO USE!!!
It's a shame, truly, but the only way to truly protect your work from copyright thievery, is to keep it offline. And even then, people sometimes scan art they like and use it online anyway. Our best defense as artists is education.
Here are links for more information. (Please share more in the comments!)
Lorelle on Wordpress: What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content
Calvin & Hobbes and Copyright Infringement - PLEASE READ!!
We've all seen the stickers of Calvin peeing on competing truck logos - but did you know that Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes, did not create that image? It was copyright infringement. And sadly, by the time Mr. Watterson realized he needed to stop the thievery, it was too late. They were plastered on nearly every truck window in America. As he said, "I clearly miscalculated how popular it would be to show Calvin urinating on a Ford logo." Heck, in researching this topic, the second site that came up in Google was "Bootleg Calvin and Hobbes Items" - products people made using Mr. Watterson's art that he did not approve (and is probably not getting paid for).
Infringers (thieves) have made millions of dollars off of Mr. Watterson's art. And perhaps saddest of all, a wonderful and pure comic strip was sullied by an image that has perhaps become more iconic than the artist's creation itself.
I try very hard to avoid the same thing happening to my own art. I put my copyright information on everything I post online. However, people constantly download my art, literally remove my copyright and put my art back on the internet as if it were their own. My "Coloring Page Tuesdays" collection has grown so large, it could easily become my full time job just tracking down copyright infringers. With every search I make, several infringements come up every time (often on the first search).
That's where you come in. My awesome followers (nearly 3,000 subscribers to my newsletter and well over a million hits each year) often let me know about infringements they see - thank you! Just this week Amy alerted me to a MAJOR retailer who gave out one of my images as Halloween coloring pages (without permission or compensation and my copyright line was removed). This clearly goes against my copyright guidelines (check #6). I alerted the company to the infringement, it went to their legal department, and I quickly received a very apologetic phone call and an offer to pay up. (In other words, they knew they'd done something wrong and I could have sued them for a lot more money than I actually requested.)
Others I find through "Google Images," through following my stats, or just by typing in the name of an image and seeing what comes up.
Sadly, along with several other copyright violations (one in a language I can't even figure out), the worst infringement I've ever found also happened this week. A woman downloaded nearly my entire Coloring Page Tuesday collection, removed my copyright, colored the images and then sold them through several Stock Image sites as her own creations. And she made a lot of money doing it. Yes, I'm going after her - I'm disgusted and horrified that she could steal four years of hard work from me like that. But perhaps the worst of it is, there are now hundreds of people out there who purchased "her art" thinking it was legal, and under the rights stated on the stock sites, they may employ the images for commercial use, logos, you name it.
Lets put this in perspective. I do get requests for usage of my images outside my copyright terms (usually by businesses) and I am happy to work with people. You'll notice tag lines on some of my art mentioning that "this image is used as a logo for..." Those are companies or organizations who have paid for the right to use those images - in some cases, they become the owner of the copyright and I maintain usage rights to continue sharing the image with you as a coloring page (in other words, I don't own it anymore).
Depending on the usage needs and the business (and whether I'm hearing from them up front, or after I've caught them), I charge anywhere from $250 to $1500 for single usage of my images. And again, depending on the usage needs and the organization/corporation, I charge anywhere from $1,500 to $5,500 for my logo work. (That's average pricing for my industry.)
With that in mind, lets consider over the life of "Coloring Page Tuesdays" I will have commercial buyers for every single one of my nearly 250 images. But they don't come to me because they can find my work online someplace else, without my copyright restrictions attached. That means this one copyright infringer could potentially cost me as little as $62,500 or as much as $1,375,000. You read that right. That's income that I won't get.
Never mind that the entire reason I create my coloring pages is to draw attention to MY BOOKS, and when they are separated from my website, the intention is completely undone.
THAT is why I take copyright infringement so seriously. And I so appreciate your help. When you email me with usage questions "just to make sure you're doing it right" - I want to hug you. When you alert me to businesses using my images in ways that don't look right to you - I want to hug you again.
There's a lot of ignorance out there about copyright, what it means and why it's important (by individuals and major corporations - you'd be amazed). But the bottom line is, just because artwork is on the internet, does not mean that it's free or that it's okay to use it. If you do want/need to use artwork you find online, please check with the creator of that artwork, make sure its okay first. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and the roof I have to pay for to keep over my head.
Update: Thank you for all your great comments and support. I've followed up this article with a new post: "10 Ways to Protect Your Art Online."
Infringers (thieves) have made millions of dollars off of Mr. Watterson's art. And perhaps saddest of all, a wonderful and pure comic strip was sullied by an image that has perhaps become more iconic than the artist's creation itself.
I try very hard to avoid the same thing happening to my own art. I put my copyright information on everything I post online. However, people constantly download my art, literally remove my copyright and put my art back on the internet as if it were their own. My "Coloring Page Tuesdays" collection has grown so large, it could easily become my full time job just tracking down copyright infringers. With every search I make, several infringements come up every time (often on the first search).
That's where you come in. My awesome followers (nearly 3,000 subscribers to my newsletter and well over a million hits each year) often let me know about infringements they see - thank you! Just this week Amy alerted me to a MAJOR retailer who gave out one of my images as Halloween coloring pages (without permission or compensation and my copyright line was removed). This clearly goes against my copyright guidelines (check #6). I alerted the company to the infringement, it went to their legal department, and I quickly received a very apologetic phone call and an offer to pay up. (In other words, they knew they'd done something wrong and I could have sued them for a lot more money than I actually requested.)
Others I find through "Google Images," through following my stats, or just by typing in the name of an image and seeing what comes up.
Sadly, along with several other copyright violations (one in a language I can't even figure out), the worst infringement I've ever found also happened this week. A woman downloaded nearly my entire Coloring Page Tuesday collection, removed my copyright, colored the images and then sold them through several Stock Image sites as her own creations. And she made a lot of money doing it. Yes, I'm going after her - I'm disgusted and horrified that she could steal four years of hard work from me like that. But perhaps the worst of it is, there are now hundreds of people out there who purchased "her art" thinking it was legal, and under the rights stated on the stock sites, they may employ the images for commercial use, logos, you name it.
Lets put this in perspective. I do get requests for usage of my images outside my copyright terms (usually by businesses) and I am happy to work with people. You'll notice tag lines on some of my art mentioning that "this image is used as a logo for..." Those are companies or organizations who have paid for the right to use those images - in some cases, they become the owner of the copyright and I maintain usage rights to continue sharing the image with you as a coloring page (in other words, I don't own it anymore).
Depending on the usage needs and the business (and whether I'm hearing from them up front, or after I've caught them), I charge anywhere from $250 to $1500 for single usage of my images. And again, depending on the usage needs and the organization/corporation, I charge anywhere from $1,500 to $5,500 for my logo work. (That's average pricing for my industry.)
With that in mind, lets consider over the life of "Coloring Page Tuesdays" I will have commercial buyers for every single one of my nearly 250 images. But they don't come to me because they can find my work online someplace else, without my copyright restrictions attached. That means this one copyright infringer could potentially cost me as little as $62,500 or as much as $1,375,000. You read that right. That's income that I won't get.
Never mind that the entire reason I create my coloring pages is to draw attention to MY BOOKS, and when they are separated from my website, the intention is completely undone.
THAT is why I take copyright infringement so seriously. And I so appreciate your help. When you email me with usage questions "just to make sure you're doing it right" - I want to hug you. When you alert me to businesses using my images in ways that don't look right to you - I want to hug you again.
There's a lot of ignorance out there about copyright, what it means and why it's important (by individuals and major corporations - you'd be amazed). But the bottom line is, just because artwork is on the internet, does not mean that it's free or that it's okay to use it. If you do want/need to use artwork you find online, please check with the creator of that artwork, make sure its okay first. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and the roof I have to pay for to keep over my head.
Update: Thank you for all your great comments and support. I've followed up this article with a new post: "10 Ways to Protect Your Art Online."
I'm a guest at Picture Book Month!
To celebrate Picture Book Month, a picture book champion is being interviewed every day in November. My lucky day to talk about why I think picture books are important is TODAY (Saturday)! So click the logo to go have a read...
Giveaway! The Little Bitty Bakery by Leslie Muir
Today I celebrate the release of THE LITTLE BITTY BAKERY, by my friend Leslie Muir. After years of waiting, she has three books coming out all in the same year (!!!) including BARRY B WARY which we talked about back in May, and GIBBUS MOONY WANTS TO BITE YOU which I featured just two weeks ago. I asked her about the latest...
Q. This is such a sweet (sorry) story! How did it come to you?
A. Thanks, e! I love France, bakeries, moonlight and surprises, so I smooshed them altogether and there you have it!
Q. This adorable tale is in rhyme. Can you talk about your process as a poet?
A. I’m not organized enough to have a process, but often I try to discern whether the story in my head is better teased out in prose or rhyme. Once I’ve decided to write something in rhyme I’ll usually find a quiet place, close my eyes and mentally tap out a couple of stanzas, feeling for a rhythm. Sometimes it sticks, and other times I end up changing the meter. I also have the story planned out ahead of time so I know where I’m going as I concoct my rhymes.
When I was learning to write in rhyme I joined an online group called SHINE, a wonderful group of poets. We were all getting our noses wet, so it was a perfect group to learn the ropes with. I think an objective set of ears is always crucial, but especially so when you write poetry. A writing partner can pick out blips in rhythm that you’ve missed or are used to reading over in your own special way, a way that masks the errors.
Q. I've seen you do one presentation for THE LITTLE BITTY BAKERY and I love your pink chef's uniform. Can you share where the recipe came from and any history behind it?
A. Thank you! We just moved and my chef’s outfit is MIA, stuffed in a box somewhere. Sigh.
There’s really no history behind the recipe. When the book was in production my then editor, Tamson Weston, suggested we put a recipe for Crumble Jumble Cake in the back. Basically, I played around until I cooked up something tasty with ingredients that would be appealing to kids. The mice also suggest a “jumble of crumbles” to top the cake with, so I’m hoping culinary masterpieces are in the making.
Click the image to open the recipe in a new window to print!
Q. I think I heard your squeeee from across town when you learned THE Betsy Lewin would be the illustrator for this book. Can you tell us about that? (And didn't you actually meet her?)
A. Yes, it was The Squee Heard Round The World! I’ve always loved Betsy’s work, her loose lines and quirky characters. Though LITTLE BITTY BAKERY was the third book released, it was actually the first story of mine accepted for publication, so you can imagine my joy when I found out who was illustrating it.
My family and I drove from Atlanta to meet Betsy in person at a library gig she was doing in Alabama. She’s a lovely lady, full of energy and good humor, just as you’d expect. We took her to dinner at a Mexican cantina and it was there that she informed me that the French chef would be elephant! I was elated. Her idea was simply brilliant and a perfect example of how an illustrator can add their own twist to a story and make it even better.
Leslie (and son) with Betsy Lewin!
Q. This is now your third book - all released in 2011! But I know it was a long road. Can you share your publishing journey with my readers?
A. Well, I fell in love with picture books when I was completing a Master’s degree in a totally unrelated field of study. I had enrolled in a children’s literature course out of sheer curiosity. That was that: I knew that at some point in my life I wanted to write picture books. Fast forward many years later after career, marriage, and kids and I finally bit the bullet and went for it. After a couple of years of focused writing and gazillions of rejections, I nabbed my first contract and an agent all in one week. Things sort of took off from there. But publishing is slow as syrup, so there was a lot of waiting in the wings for the books to come out.
Q. Any advice for those hoping to follow in your shoes?
A. Write daily. Read mounds of kid’s books. Join SCBWI and head off to conferences. You’ll learn a ton about craft and have the opportunity to network with editors, agents and other writers. Participate in a critique group. As I mentioned above, objective feedback is invaluable. Embrace those rejections; they’re just part of getting there. I’m thinking of making a ten-gallon paper mâché hat out of mine. I might even make two.
Thanks Leslie!!!
Leslie is on an official Blog Book Tour for this title, so to read more interviews (one in rhyme!), visit:
Jules of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Greg Pincus of Gotta Book
Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup
and me! at dulemba.com
GIVEAWAY!
And yes - Leslie has kindly offered to sign a free copy of THE LITTLE BITTY BAKERY to be mailed to one of my lucky readers!!! As soon as we reach 20 comments below, I'll do a random drawing. Please remember to include a contact email address - continental US only.
#kidlitPRChat TweetChat tonight about #PictureBookMonth!
Monthly tweetchat is TONIGHT at #kidlitPRChat. This month we'll talk about Picture Book Month - #PictureBookMonth! So come join the hosts, author/illustrator Katie Davis, author Dianne de las Cassas, and author/illustrator Elizabeth O. Dulemba (Yours truly) tonight at 6 pm EST.#kidlitPRChat is the first Wednesday of every month from 6 pm to 7 pm EST.
Come visit - ask questions - maybe learn a thing or two. Hope to see you there!
The 12 Days of Christmas in Georgia - Book Trailer!!
A big shout-out to ZaPow! The new children's book PR firm out of Asheville, North Carolina who created this awesomely fantastic book trailer for THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA!!!
NEW! November is Picture Book Month!
"Picture books celebrate childhood. They speak universal truths and help children better understand the world around them. They are often a child’s first exposure to fine art and poetic language. Some picture books are so magical, they define childhood. They become a marker or a milestone in a child’s life." - Dianne de las CasasThey should be celebrated!! Hence, the creation of Picture Book Month. Here's how we're celebrating. There will be...
• A Picture Book Hero featured every day
• A themed calendar (Created by Yours Truly using Coloring Page Tuesday images!) great for teachers, parents, and librarians
• Picture Book Links and Resources
• Links to picture book publishers
• Links to picture book authors/illustrators
• Links to picture book blogs/review sites
• and Picture Book Activities
We are doing this because in this digital age where people are predicting the coming death of print books, picture books (the print kind) need love. And kids need picture books. There's nothing like the physical page turn of a beautifully crafted picture book!
In fact it's such a big deal, Katie Davis featured Picture Book Month on her podcast Brain Burps About Books (click the logo):
When you're done, please help spread the word!!! Tell everyone you know about Picture Book Month. This is our first year but we will work to get as much publicity as possible.
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