Dellani's Tea Time with Kinsy McVay and Russ Cox| Blog Talk Radio

I had a great time today talking with Dellani Oakes, the host of "Dellani's Tea Time" on blogtalkradio.com. Fellow illustrator, Russ Cox, and I talked about our careers as illustrators, the types of pictures we like to draw, our inspiration, and our works-in-progress. Have a listen below. I'd love to hear what you think!

-Kinsy

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Free Author Visit Program

My Free School Visit Program

As a parent and teacher, I understand the vital importance of encouraging reading and creativity in children, and a visiting author can be a great way to add excitement to your literacy program. An author visited my school at the beginning of this school year, and I still hear the kids talking about it!

If you or someone you know may be interested in scheduling a FREE visit to your school, please contact me or visit my website for more information. You can see an online version of my children's book, Just Line Around, by clicking here.

I look forward to hearing from you.

-Kinsy
kmcvay@kinsymcvay.com

Stew Heads to Abilene

Stop by and see Stew and I as we join more than 50 other Texas authors at this years West Texas Book and Music Festival.

Here's the information:

Where: Abilene Civic Center,

6100 N. 6th St

Abilene, TX

When: Saturday, September 25th

10 am - 4 pm

Feel free to register for this event on my Facebook page.

Stew and I hope to see you there!

-Kinsy

"Dog Loves Books" Children's book giveaway

Hey All,
The Children's Book Review is giving away a free children's book called "Dog Loves Books" by Louise Yates. It looks to be a great story about a dog who loves books so much, he opens his own book store. A wonderful story for book lovers and dog lovers alike! For more info on the book or to enter the contest, click here. Best of luck!

-Kinsy

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

Contest for Free Children's Books

Interested in some free children's books? Leave a comment on this blog for your chance to win $100 in free books! Good luck and happy reading!

-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

Gift Guide Suggestions

Stew's getting some good PR out there! He was recently added to a holiday gift guide on Mommy Brain Reports. Check it out here: http://www.mommybrainreports.com/gift-guide-books-for-everyone/.

-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