It's Today! Our first-class with Ketchupedia our outreach to writers from Flying Ketchup Press. So honored to have author and friend JoAnneh Nagler guide us through our first workshop. Sign up on our events page. Spaces limited. 6:30 pm Central tonight!
JoAnneh Nagler author of Naked Marriage (Skyhorse Publishing); How to Be an Artist Without Losing Your Mind, Your Shirt, or Your Creative Compass (W.W. Norton); and The Debt-Free Spending Plan (Harper-Collins) and our upcoming book Stay With Me, Wisconsin, presents a 90-Minute Course on How to Promote Your Book with Easy-on-the-Soul, Simple Strategies. Does the thought of having to promote your upcoming or newly-released book make you want to run, scream, or take a fast flight, never to return? Would you rather scrub your grout, clean grime off your hubcaps, dust every baseboard in your house than face the prospect of figuring out how to do your own PR? You’re not alone. Here is help, advice and simple strategies you can use to promote your work!
More Classes coming soon! Check out our events on our website news page! Here.
Our Upcoming book Hitch A Ride on the Color Express is coming out This Fall! We are so honored to have author-illustrator Danielle D. Williams. Her first book is called, "Hitch a Ride on the Color Express."
Meet Chuck, a creative kid, stuck inside on a rainy day! His mom calls his art a mess, but with some paint and a box, he builds a train to visit The Colorful Places! Hitch a ride with Lion, Hippo, Giraffe, and Chuck on The Color Express to discover imagination can take us anywhere. More than a concept book, this hand-cut paper adventure created by classroom art teacher Danielle D. Williams will empower young children to explore the concept of color as a journey through the five senses.
As an art teacher, I love sharing my knowledge with the students. And I love that the purpose behind teaching is to help others grow. The teacher is rewarded with the student's success. I completed my Master’s in Teaching and Learning in 2016. Back in 2006, I earned a BFA in Animation from Massachusetts College of Art & Design and afterward went on to teach art at private schools, churches, early education centers, and workshops, and the like.
What is your home like? I live with my awesome husband and my son, and we have quite a few pets: a dog named Rocky, a frog who-- I forget his name, a bird named Houdini because he always tries to get out of his cage, and has successfully done so on a number of occasions… We had a cat named Butterfields who we really loved but he is gone now. So I named my art business after him, Butterfield's Books LLC. We recently added to our family, however, a flirtatious Cockatiel named Mister, who loves to send me kisses whenever I'm around. I've told him I'm spoken for, but he insists, so I send kisses back. He's a lot of fun; we're really enjoying him. (He also whistles, and I've been told can talk a little, although I've not heard him speak yet.)
Things you were proud of as a kid? I was most proud of reading. I once read 400 pages in 4 hours. I was often at the Kansas City Kansas Public Library; I still remember that. Libraries are so important. My favorite books were The Big Fart – which I still can’t find a copy of, and Amelia Bedelia, and Eat your Peas, Louise. It’s not just the books, I remember the teachers that read them to me.
And your fave movie? Pride and Prejudice with Kira Knightly.
Strongest childhood memory? I Got cancer just before my 9th birthday. It was a four-year battle. My dad was a musician, and he left shortly after I relapsed. However, my Mom took great care of me and my sisters…So I had a difficult childhood. My passion for art developed shortly after being diagnosed with Leukemia as a little girl. My therapist used expressive drawing to help me cope through treatments. You know, I’ve never stopped drawing and painting since.
Tell me how did you get involved in writing for kids? My experiences as an art student, artist, and art teacher led me to start writing children's books. It was when I taught kindergarten that I began to write my book called Get on Board the Color Train. I had a student who learned by many methods, not just by writing on worksheets. I wanted to create a book a teacher might read at school to reach students in a way they could understand by using their imagination. I'm a visual learner with a wild imagination—so I thought, why not share my imagination in a way that children can learn from, visually, by text, or both?
I’m glad you decided to do just that, Danielle. Your books are full of life and creativity. We can’t wait to see how those cut paper illustrations come together with your first book next month!
Flying Ketchup Press ® founded in 2018 to champion new and diverse voices in short fiction and poetry. We publish books, anthologies, podcasts, magazines, and contemporary media. Each year, Flying Ketchup Press produces collections of short stories and poetry by select authors, as well as an anthology dedicated to adult and teen readers. Our dream, to share worlds of wonder and delight.
Ketchupedia is an outreach of Flying Ketchup Press ® began in 2020 a grassroots network to connect the Kansas City & regional writers community through weekly blogs, a writer's word of the day podcast, a live poetry radio show, and two annual poet-in-residences including open mics, classes, and events to allow regional artists to explore motivation, creative goals, and advocacy. Our editorial mentorships create an exponential artist-tree effect. Instead of one poetry book a year, we add another poetry editor each year; each new editor is able to empower more poets, making room for poetry, as a space for personal narrative that empowers, heals, and unites diverse audiences. You can find us at Home | Flying Ketchup Press
Make friends with your inner editor. Just a dash.