Earth Day Fun!

Happy Earth Day everyone! Actually, every day is Earth Day! While Spring is bursting out all over, many of you are mostly keeping indoors to stay safe. I am too! So here’s a reading of my picture book GREEN GREEN: A COMMUNITY GARDENING STORY that you can see at home, along with ways that kids big and small can help our planet right now. Cozy up and just click on the link here.

And here’s a fun craft that you can do at home – make a butterfly finger puppet!

All you need is scissors, paper or card stock, a pipe cleaner or a twisty tie for the antennae, and stuff to decorate your butterfly with. You can use colored pencils, markers, crayons, stickers, glitter glue – use your imagination! For step by step directions and a butterfly template you can print out and trace, click here.

Another important Earth Day Everyday thing you can do to save the bees and butterflies – and the Earth – is to conquer all those new weeds popping up NOT with chemicals but with a simple to make at home Bee Friendly Weed Killer spray.  Got weeds? Yup, I’m sure you do! Then please check out how to get rid of weeds and keep our bees and butterflies safe by clicking here. Not only is it good for the Earth, but you’ll save money too. Win win win!

And for more ways to be GREEN GREEN, you can check out my picture book GREEN GREEN: A COMMUNITY GARDENING STORY for inspiration, which is available online through stores, by clicking here.

 

*Marie is an author of YA novels and of picture books, and she’s a Literary Agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency in New York City. To keep up with all her posts, subscribe to her site.

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Agent Monday: Free Ways to Help an Author Friend’s Book Succeed

Happy Agent Monday, everyone! Phew, it’s been quite a summer. My debut picture book GREEN GREEN: A COMMUNITY GARDENING STORY (FSG/Macmillan, co-authored with my husband Baldev, and illustrated by Sonia Sanchez) just came out. That means I’ve been doing a number of book signings and radio interviews and author appearances. Simply put, a book must be found by readers if it’s going to be successful — so authors must do promotion. The truth, however, is that an author can only do so much, and because of this, many books are just never found by readers — even readers who would really want that book. What we really need for our book to be found and to succeed is reader promotion. Do you have a friend or family member with a new book out? Then they and their book need your help – big time! You can make a huge difference fast, no matter where you live. Best of all, it won’t cost you a cent. Here are six simple ways that you can be their book hero :

(1) Have a library card? Then you can tell your library to order the book. Simply go onto your library’s website, and request that they order it! On my library’s site, I can click on Catalog, and there on the right side of the page is “Item Request.” Imagine if every friend and relative that knew your author buddy did that? And imagine how great it will be for readers all over the country to discover that book on their library shelves!

(2) On Goodreads? If you mark the book as “to read,” all your followers on Goodreads will see it! Give it a bunch of stars as a rating, and they’ll see that, too. Or go for the whole enchilada and write a review! These all really matter, because nothing is more valuable than word of mouth, and making a book visible to potential readers. You can also enter it on various lists on the site that apply, like Best New Picture Books, or something like that? 😉

(3) Read the book and loved it? Then say so – to your friends, to your book group, to your librarian, and bookseller. Write up a review – even if it’s something REALLY simple and short, like “Wow, loved this!” And don’t feel you have to write that review over and over on different sites — just copy and paste your review in. Where can you put it? Go for Goodreads, barnesandnoble.com, amazon, librarything.com, etc. And don’t forget your social media spots, like Facebook and Twitter.

(4) Stopping by a bookshop? Then find the book on the shelf, pull the copy out and re-position it so that it is cover out, vs. spine out, so it’ll be seen easier. That simple move can make the difference of someone skimming past it, vs. noticing it, picking it up and buying it. You could ask the bookseller if you could do this, or, sssh, go covert and just do it on the sly…

(5) Support your author by retweeting their posts and reviews, and plain old showing up at a signing just to show you are on their team. Don’t feel you have to buy the book if you don’t want to or can’t afford it. Just showing up and cheering the author on will be much appreciated, believe me.

(6) Have a blog? Perhaps invite the author to guest post or do a Q&A on your site. It’s all about being seen by others.

So there you have it – 6 simple, easy and FREE ways you can be your author buddy’s book hero.  It isn’t about spreading money around. It’s about helping to spread the word. And if you get a few others in on doing this with you, it’ll magnify the positive results for your author in HUGE WAY.

Your author friend will definitely feel the love. And their wonderful book will make it into more hands, all because of you. I hope you’ll share these tips with others. And I sincerely hope this info helps those wonderful books written by the wonderful people you care about.  And to all the wonderful people who continue to support my books – I send my deep and heartfelt thanks!

*Marie is a Literary Agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency in New York City. To keep up with all her Agent Monday posts, subscribe to her site.

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GREEN GREEN’s Book Birthday!

“They say it’s your BIRTHDAY!” Yup, it’s true. Today is the official publication day of GREEN GREEN: A Community Gardening Story!!!  It’s my debut picture book, co-authored with my husband, Landscape Architect Baldev Lamba, and illustrated by the phenomenal artist Sonia Sanchez. School Library Journal calls it, “An attractive read-aloud for beginning lessons on gardening.” This book is available everywhere books are sold. To purchase it, please contact your wonderful local bookstore — they will be happy to help you! Or, to order online, click here for a number of choices.

In the book, green grass is wide and fresh and clean for a family to play in, and brown dirt is perfect for digging a garden. But when gray buildings start to rise up and a whole city builds, can there be any room for green space? The neighborhood children think so, and they inspire the community to join together and build a garden for everyone to share in the middle of the city.

This is a fun and busy book, full of action, digging, construction stuff, nature, silliness and engrossing pictures. Every time I look through the pages, I discover something new and delightful! Can I just say I’m in awe of Sonia’s illustrations?

And at the end of the story, the book includes easy ways children and families can be more GREEN GREEN, including ways to help threatened honeybees and Monarch butterflies. There’s even a fun craft for kids!

Community gardening is such an important movement throughout the country, bringing together people and transforming the ground into lush gardens that feed and delight. GREEN GREEN is all about sustainability, something so close to my heart. And this book shows how children can make a real difference in our world. I especially love the diverse cast of children throughout the pages.

Just as a community garden needs many busy hands in order to grow, GREEN GREEN required the care and talent of so many wonderful folk. Thank you to my amazing agent, Jennifer De Chiara, to my editor Susan Dobinick, who planted the seeds, to my editor Grace Kendall, who helped this book grow, and to the wonderful team at Farrar Straus Giroux/Macmillan for, oh, just EVERYTHING they have done to bring GREEN GREEN into the hands of children across the world.

And thank you to the many folks in my life who continue to support this wacky writer! My family, my wonderful friends, my network of amazing writer buddies…my community! You’ve all helped me grow. 🙂  And thank you to the fabulous network of bookstore friends, librarians, and schools who are sharing GREEN GREEN!  And to readers out there? Adults who take the time to sit with a child in their lap and make a book come to life for a child? Wow. You are the real heroes of any book.

Yup – I’m a bit gushy here. But, hey, it is a birthday party, after all. 😉  Okay… just wanted to close with a huge THANK YOU to the fabulous indie bookstores Doylestown Bookshop in Doylestown, PA, and Clinton Books in Clinton, NJ for hosting us on our book launch weekend! (Both stores have author-signed copies of GREEN GREEN on their shelves right now for sale. To snag one, call or stop in at these stores.) And for an updated listing of where I’ll be doing future book signings and story times, you can check out my appearances page here.

*Marie is a Literary Agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency in New York City. To keep up with all her Agent Monday posts, subscribe to her site.

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Be GREEN GREEN!: Bee Friendly Weed Spray

GREEN GREEN – a new picture book by Marie and Baldev Lamba, for more info click here

Honeybees are dying off. One of the reasons? The use of herbicides, chemicals and pesticides. Honeybees play a vital role in pollinating fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Did you know that about a third of all food Americans eat is directly or indirectly derived from honeybees? Now imagine our world without them. Yikes! We need them, and now they need us! What can you do to help? Ditch those harsh chemicals!

Here’s an easy formula for a BEE FRIENDLY WEED SPRAY. You’ll help save the bees, you won’t have to worry about spraying gunk that will be dangerous for kids and pets, AND you’ll save a ton of money, too.  Win win all around.

BEE FRIENDLY WEED SPRAY RECIPE:

Fill a spray bottle with…
1 gallon of vinegar
1 ounce of liquid dish soap

Some tips: This spray works best in full sun. Spray on a day without rain to let it take effect. You’ll see results almost immediately. When weeds die down, it’s a good opportunity to remove any extra soil or plant debris from sidewalk and walkway cracks that would encourage future weeds. Keep a spray bottle on hand to zap any weeds that come back.

How well does this work?  Here’s my sidewalk’s BEFORE:

And just a few hours later:

And the next day… a great AFTER:

I just removed the dead vegetation. Best of all – no bees were harmed! No animals either. Please spread the word and share this post with others. You can Bee the solution!

Want your kids to think green? Then check out my new picture book GREEN GREEN: A COMMUNITY GARDENING STORY (Farrar Straus Giroux), which is available in stores and online wherever books are sold. For more info and for links to retailers, please click here. This book celebrates the joys of gardening, and includes ways kids can help the world be more GREEN GREEN. School Library Journal calls it, “An attractive read-aloud for beginning lessons on gardening.”

*Marie is co-author of the new picture book GREEN GREEN: A COMMUNITY GARDENING STORY and a Literary Agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency in New York City. To keep up with all her posts, subscribe to her site.

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Agent Monday: Novel Editing…and News!

Agent Monday time…sending out a collective hug to everyone!

Here are some updates…I’m putting my final touches on my Writer’s Digest Webinar How to Revise Your Novel for Submission: Self-Editing Techniques that Work, which will be held live, this Thursday (11/17/16) at 2 p.m. (though you don’t have to attend it live to get the Webinar). In this class, I’ll draw on my experiences as both a novelist and a literary agent, and share with participants a solid system for making their manuscripts the best they can be. Here’s what the Webinar includes: 90 minute online class with me; all questions sent to me by participants during the Webinar answered; afterwards, send the first 5 pages of your novel, and I’ll read your pages and give you written comments about them. The price is just $89.99 (significantly less than most writer’s conferences) and registration is still open. So do you have a novel you’re working on, or one that needs revision? Definitely check this out by clicking here.

In other news… I’m happy to report that my first picture book, GREEN GREEN (Farrar Straus Giroux), is now up for pre-orders online everywhere (its publication date is May 9th). It’s co-authored with my husband, Landscape Architect Baldev Lamba, and we are both in love with the gorgeous illustrations by accomplished artist Sonia Sanchez. This picture book is a fun celebration of community gardening. If you’d like more info, or want to pre-order, just click here.

AND I’m happy to report one more bit of joyous news… the deal for my newest picture book, A DAY SO GRAY, was announced. It will be published by Clarion Books (date yet to be set), and it’s all about finding color, and joy, within a gray winter landscape.

Have a great week, everyone. I hope you each find joy in even the bleakest of winter days. And perhaps I’ll get to chat with you on Thursday during the Webinar!

*Marie is a Literary Agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency in New York City. To keep up with all her Agent Monday posts, subscribe to her site.

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News!: I’m Now Officially a Picture Book Author

Hi everyone! Okay, so you may know me as a Young Adult novelist and a Literary Agent, but today I’m excited to announce that I’m also now officially a Picture Book author!!!

My husband, Landscape Architect Baldev Lamba and I have penned a picture book text titled GREEN, GREEN, which focuses in community gardening in a city.

 

Here’s the deal announcement in Publisher’s Marketplace:

January 15, 2015

Children’s:
Picture book
Literary agent and Young Adult author Marie Lamba and landscape architect Baldev Lamba’s debut GREEN, GREEN, a celebration of community gardening that reveals how green land grows into a vibrant city, and how an unused lot is made green again, to be illustrated by Eisner Award nominee and HERE I AM illustrator Sonia Sanchez, to Susan Dobinick at Farrar, Straus Children’s, by Jennifer DeChiara at The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency (NA).

Baldev and I have collaborated on many an article in the past, all centered on garden design elements, and our pieces have appeared in national magazines including Gardens & Landscapes, Garden Design Magazine, and Your Home. It’s been a while since we’ve worked together on a piece, and this is our very first picture book together. Baldev is associate professor of Landscape Architecture at Temple University, and owner of Lamba Associates, Inc, an award-winning Landscape Architecture firm. Among his wide range of past projects are a number of urban gardens, including, most recently, the PHS Pops-Up urban garden in Center City, Philadelphia that grabbed a lot of attention. He’s also designed a number of Temple’s award-winning exhibits at The Philadelphia Flower Show, including one titled “Metromorphosis,” so urban renewal and community gardening has been floating around in both of our brains for a while now.

And speaking of “for a while,” it’s wonderful to be turning my mind back toward picture book writing after so many years. It’s where I started out, going to college to study writing and fine art and trying a few picture books, then I found myself penning novels instead. Picture book writing feels like coming home creatively for me, somehow — and I’ve got a few more in the works right now. Fingers crossed!

Special thanks go to our wonderful editor Susan Dobinick, our amazing agent Jennifer De Chiara, and to Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers for believing in this manuscript.

I think they are shooting for publication in Spring 2016. I’m SO EXCITED, and can’t wait to see the gorgeous illustrations Sonia Sanchez will produce to pull this all together.

Yippee!