Book Giveaway is Coming!

This September, I will be giving away three autographed copies of my book along with some other creative goodies. Until then, feel free to check out the site below that will be hosting the contest, they are giving away other children's books now! Good luck and stay tuned!

The Children's Book Review

-Kinsy

Creativity Crisis!

An article on Newsweek reports on the dwindling creativity in America. This article is great and addresses an issue that is usually overlooked. Send it on to every teacher, principal, and administrator you know. Creativity is essential in our children!

Click here to read the full article.

New Newsletter to Boost Creativity

In an effort to spread art and creativity, I will begin sending out a newsletter in August full of art ideas, stories, art tips, and online art games (to name a few). The newsletter is totally free and you can unsubscribe at any time. If you do sign up, though, you will be given access to a series of free videos demonstrating art projects that anyone can do!

I am always looking for new ideas for the newsletter, so if you have a story to share, a cool art project, or just about any other art related information, please feel free to comment below or pass it along to me at kmcvay@kinsymcvay.com. If you'd like to sign up for the newsletter, please click here, and you'll receive immediate access to the first FREE art video!

I look forward to your thoughts!

Just Line Around Book Review Available

Hey Everyone,



My book, Just Line Around, was just reviewed at Reader Views Kids. You can take a look at it here.



We all like to get a little recognition for what we do. Have you praised someone recently? For example, my family and I are getting ready to return home from a two week vacation. Every time that we travel, my wife packs and loads the car, and she does an awesome job. It's like a big 3-d puzzle to her, and she wins every time! :) It's a little thing, but I'm glad that she does it and does it well.



Have any of you out there read my book? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. You can drop me an e-mail at kmcvay@kinsymcvay.com or even post your review to Amazon's site or Barnes&Noble. Can't wait to hear from you!



-Kinsy

Mural Project

The school district in Fort Worth has finally loosened up on their restrictions on murals in our schools, so we decided to paint a solar system mural in ours. The students absolutely love it, and I have a hard time limiting my helpers! :) Click here to view some pictures of the mural in progress.

Have you done any murals at your school? I'd love to see some pictures, since I plan on more murals in the future.

Happy Summer!!

-Kinsy

A Visit Home

Over Christmas break, my family and I made our annual driving trip through Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas as we tried to visit everyone in our extended family. While I was back in my hometown, though, I had the great opportunity to visit the elementary schools where I grew up and share my book, Just Line Around, with them.

I spent half a day at each of the elementary schools in the area: Plains Elementary (where I went to school) and Kismet Elementary, which feeds into the high school I attended. I was able to stop and see each grade level (K-5). We read my book, asked some questions, and made some art. I especially enjoyed doing the art projects with the students since, as of right now, there is no art program in the elementary schools. The kids really seemed to have a good time, and if they enjoyed it half as much as me, I would say it was a good day!

If you would like to see more images of my visit, click here.

Oh, and if you're curious, I would love to visit your school, too! Let me know, and I bet we can figure something out. :)

-Kinsy

www.kinsymcvay.com

Preview My Book

Want to take a peek at my book, Just Line Around? Well now you can with BookBuzzr. It allows you to read the first part of my book and see what you think. Click on the title of my book to check it out.

-Kinsy

Your Comments

BTW, I'm still looking forward to any comments or questions that you might have about my new book, Just Line Around. :)

-Kinsy

Marketing is Murder!

Because my children's book was published by a relatively small publisher, a lot of the marketing effort has fallen to me. My publisher has provided me with many free and effective ways to share information about my book over the web. Some of those include signing up for Google Alerts, signing up on the website HARO (www.helpareporter.com), and receiving other free e-mail suggestions.

My goal: to read and post to at least 3 blogs per day, read the three e-mails sent by HARO each day and respond to any of the queries that apply to my book, maintain and update my personal website, and post to this blog at least once per week. Needless to say, I'm doing terrible at it! (Did you notice the last date of my blog post?)

I'll keep plugging away at it though, in the hopes that it will help out in the long run. Do you have any suggestions for me? Ideas to get the word out about my book? Do you need any suggestions or have questions about the information above? Please let me know. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

-Kinsy

Fort Worth Loves Stew!

I just found out that Fort Worth ISD is going to purchase 150 copies of my children's book for their elementary art teachers! Awesome!

Pricing Weirdness

I'm expecting my first bulk shipment of my book from Amazon.com today! Does it seem strange to anyone else that I can get my children's book cheaper from a retailer than through my publisher? I'm trying to renegotiate with them... I'll keep you posted. :)

-Kinsy