Cinda Jo Bauman: Children's Book Writer & Illustrator, Cut-Paper Artist, and More!

Archive for the ‘Writing for children’ Category

Introducing Eli and Tucker Tenacious From My Upcoming Book Titled GALLOP (to be published by Editor-911 Books)

What I’ve Learned Creating the Book Cover Art for GALLOP

A thrilling ride on an untamed horse gives Eli a moment of peace from the anger over his parents’ divorce, especially with the setting sun on his face and the rising moon at his back. I gotta admit, I’m in love with this piece I created with cut-paper for the cover of GALLOP!

This is your sneak peek. I’ve edited the final photo to remove blemishes from glue specks and unwanted paper seams. I can’t wait for you to see the finished cover. The title will be on top and the series name on the right side!

Here are some things I’ve learned creating this piece:

  • The background composition is the hardest part and it takes me forever to decide what I want. Once I get that part figured out, I love creating the main characters. In this case, they are the boy and the horse.
  • I learned not to be afraid to play. If I trim something too small, or glue on the wrong color, I can just go over it. I’m learning not to make everything so precious!
  • It’s okay to ask for help and advice! This is SO necessary, I’m not sure why I get embarrassed asking.
      • My daughter, Brittany, has a GREAT eye. She can instantly tell me when something is off with a proportion or angle.
      • My husband, Greg, will come hang out on the giant beanbag in the art room while I work. Once in a while he’ll say, “That looks funny…” Eventually, I see what he meant and I can correct it.
      • My cousin, Teresa, was an art teacher. She has helped me with all three cover pieces. She gets to see the very rough and usually very ugly first sketches. She always has tips and suggestions that are spot on.
      • My friend, Jill, from my old illustrator’s group is a watercolor artist. She helped so much with improving contrast and suggesting changing lines that were causing confusion.
      • My friend, Martie, has owned horses and raced horses for years. The knowledge she’s shared with me has made such a difference in the final details. She has been surrounded by horses and can tell me things like, “maybe a skoosh wider at the forearm/knee junction.” This is information I can’t always get from reference photos.
    • I can use whatever colors I want and like! The colors don’t have to match what they would be in real life. Actually, I like it better when they don’t! That realization is what is making me an artist.
    • And lastly, few things compare to the feeling I get when I finish an art piece.

    You’ll be hearing more about GALLOP in future posts. Thanks for reading!

    Category:

    Book promotion, cut paper art, Middle-grade novel, News, Writing for children

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    4 DAYS UNTIL FETCH IS RELEASED

    The author’s copies of “Fetch,” the second book in the Hope and Horses series, will arrive in a week. I should be thrilled, but instead, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed about the need to promote my books. I searched “self-promotion for middle-grade horse novels,” and now I’m even more stressed out! There are so many great ideas, but honestly, I’m not comfortable with most of them. Despite that, I’ve been brainstorming to come up with a list of goals:

    1. Learn to talk about my books without freezing up.
    2. Make appointments with the local libraries to donate a copy of each book. I might even create bookmarks or stickers to leave at their check-out desks.
    3. Update the YouTube videos for “Shuffle” and create a new one for “Fetch.” I think it’d be cool to be with horses when I talk about my horse books. Something funny might even happen, but hopefully not that I step in something or get bitten! Then I need to figure out how to get the videos to schools and librarians.
    4. Compile a list of small boutique bookstores or gift shops to contact about selling my books.

    This all takes a lot of courage, and I’m still working on gathering it. I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going! If you have any tips for a shy introvert like me to market independently published books, I’d love to hear them. Thanks for listening!

    Shuffle (previously Only My Horses Know) Available now

    Fetch: Available June 18th

    Category:

    Book promotion, Middle-grade novel, Writing for children

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    Cheers!

    Yes, I am still here!  Still trying to get published, still working on improving my art, still struggling with calling myself a writer and artist.

    I have a middle grade manuscript that I’ve been submitting to literary agents quite a bit, well…tons.  I’ve read all of the articles on when to give up and drawer a manuscript, and according to the experts, this manuscript has not reached that point….yet. But there are so many rules, so many opinions, and I am certain I have gone against many of them on this journey to get published.  Just this year, I made the mistake of setting my hopes on the perfect agency. I waited, and waited on them to get back to me after they requested I send them the full manuscript; and while, yes, I was finishing another novel, I should have been sending this one on to more agents.  I’ve written before about my need for closure before I can move on, and sadly I still have that problem. So eight months later, they finally rejected me. (well not me, my manuscript) I gave myself a couple of weeks to sulk before pulling my big-girl pants on and researching a new list of agents to query.  Imagine tying your shoes with horrible hangnails on both thumbs and forefingers to get an idea of what this was like.  Maybe ‘excruciating’ is an exaggeration, but close. Because in order to find this new list, I had to go through my pile of rejections to make sure I didn’t give anyone the honor of rejecting me twice.  After that, I just wanted to delete the manuscript permanently, crawl under my covers, watch a chick-flick, and cry.  But I didn’t.  Instead, I concentrated on the ones who had requested to read the full manuscript and the ones who had sent personal positive rejections (I know, a positive rejection is an oxymoron!) Eight agents I found were looking for what I write, and they all seemed to be a good fit. So I picked the top three, took a deep breath, said a prayer, and sent a query and sample pages off to them!

    With the New Year around the corner, cheers to all the brave writers out there. May we all have a successful, published year!

    Category:

    Submitting to agents, Writing for children