Behind Our Eyes Book Launch Presents Author Feather Chelle June 7, 2023 Readers Note: If you have found this transcript to be helpful, please take a moment to let us know by sending a brief message to Marlene Mesot at: Marl.Mesot@gmail.com. You may also contact someone you know in our writers’ group. Thank you very much. Ann Chiappetta: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the June seventh Behind Our Eyes Book Launch. I'm your host, Annie Chiappetta, and tonight we have a very special guest, author, Feather Celle. But before we get started, and although we are here tonight to launch Feather’s illustrated children's book People Safari, I want to say I'm going to give a plug for Whispers, extraordinary book one. If you haven't read it, please read it because it is awesome. Feather Chelle: Thank you. Ann: Yup. So the team assisting Feather tonight is Lisa Busch, who will read excerpts, Leonore Dvorkin, who will describe some of the illustrations, and myself, who will be talking with Feather before the Q&A opens for other questions, and my co-host tonight is Marlene Mesot, who is helping me out with technical stuff. So I'm going to read a little bit of Feather’s bio, and a little bit about her book, and then we're gonna get going. Ann: Okay, she says, I am a single mother living in Texas with my children, two grand puppies, and a grand piggy guinea pig. I'm totally blind, due to a battle with Retinal Blastoma, and I love to teach, and I've been writing since the first grade, starting out my grandma's old typewriter. Although my first book wasn't published until the very end of twenty-twenty, the pandemic forced me to slow down from many activities, and I decided to use some of my newly acquired spare time to focus on publishing books that I had written throughout the years to date. I've managed to publish eight books, and there are twenty more books in various stages of production. Ann; About the book. Take a journey to spy upon the peculiarities of the world of people through the eyes of animals, with a fresh perspective on human behavior as seen by a deer family, and their raccoon guide. This book will get you thinking like an animal scientist and have you laughing as well. Not only are these musings fun, but they just might bring us closer to the natural world and deepen our respect for it, making us better stewards of our environment in the future. Ann: Alrighty! So. Hello, Feather! How are you? Feather: Hello! Annie. I am well, how are you? Ann: I'm doing good. Well, it's great to have you here tonight. I'm so excited. I've interviewed you before. It's always a pleasure to have you on and talk about yourself. Feather: Well, thank you. Ann: Your creativity. And what makes you such a wonderful author, and makes you connected with so many readers, both young and adult. That's a unique talent, my friend. Feather: Thank you. Ann: You're welcome. So, at this point we talked about earlier, maybe having Lisa read an excerpt, and having Leonore follow that up with maybe the cover illustrations. But before that I wanted to ask you about your illustrator, Pardu is the person's name, right? Feather: Uh, Pandu. Ann: Pandu. Feather: Pandu I think he says. Ann: How did you guys meet? And how did you just, like find him online? Feather: It’s a really funny story actually. So I was in an author illustrator group on Facebook. And it's one of those giant groups. And after I got my first book illustrated, I started looking for some alternatives cause it's very costly to illustrate properly. I think you can easily spend, you know, a thousand dollars on a page nowadays. Ann: Oh! Yeah. Feather: Yeah, so I thought, there have to be some talented artists out there who would be willing to split profits and so I've posted in this illustrating and author group, and it was terrible. Actually I had a horrible response. People were very indignant. They were like you want an artist to work with, you know, for you, for free, and you know, blah blah blah! I was like. No, no, no! They're like well, you hire illustrators to do your vision, you know, and I said, that's true, but I could also write something that they enjoyed drawing, you know. So, although there were a lot of indignant people, I did get Pandu to respond, and he was like, “Yes, I would love to illustrate something and split the profits.” Ann: Okay. Feather: So we did one book together that he finished last year, and then. Now I'm paying him to do more cause my other ones aren't selling enough. But he gives me a really good deal, and he's amazing. So. Ann: Yes. It sounds like you found the right person. Yeah, networking really paid off. Feather: Yeah. Ann: So that's wonderful. Okay, Lisa. Are you ready? And, Leonore, are you ready? Leonore Dvorkin: Oh yes. Ann: Okay, so I don't know which one of you wants to go first. Lisa Busch: I can start, maybe. Ann: Okay. Lisa: Okay. “I also believe that people stand on their back feet in order to see the world around them from a higher vantage point”, says Ranger Marco. Lisa: “Huh! Stand on your back hooves and tell us how much further you can see.” Fawn tries and tries to stand on her back legs, but she keeps toppling over. Lisa: “Here”, says Ranger Marco. “Put your front hooves on this tree, and we will help you to not fall over. Now, how far can you see?” Lisa: “Whoa!” exclaimes Fawn. “I really can see farther. I wish I could stand on my back hooves all the time, even if it would make me look funny.” Lisa: As a roar built in the distance Fawn collapses onto her back in fright. Lisa: “There is a beast larger than I have ever seen coming this way,” she pants. Lisa: Doe and Buck help Fawn to her hooves. Lisa: Okay. That's the first section. Ann: Okay. Lisa: Okay. Ann: Okay. Leonore, you wanna start with the cover and then maybe pick another illustration? Leonore: Yes, thank you. I'll be happy to do that. I am just filled with admiration for Pandu's work. Feather? Is he in Indonesia? Is that where he lives? Feather: Yeah. He's in Asia. Leonore: And it's just very kind of exotic the way he has so what to me looks like very tropical foliage, and the whole front cover is so colorful. The animals, the family of deer are standing together. The father buck at the top, and the mother doe to the right, and then the girl child fawn to the left, and then Ranger Marco is down below them with his arms lifted, and he's wearing a brown Ranger hat and then all around them is this very lush foliage, big green leaves and berries and flowers, and it's just totally lovely. It's very, very colorful, and really, I'm just filled with admiration for his work. I think he's so talented, and Feather, I believe you told me he, at least at this time he only charges like seventy-five dollars an illustration. Feather: Yeah. Leonore: Which is just an amazing price. Feather: It is. Leonore: I mean, I'm sure here in America you would probably pay at least, you know, a few hundred per illustration. Feather: Yeah. Leonore: So, okay, so the one with Fawn trying to stand on her back hooves, let me find this. Okay, that's on page 19 is the illustration. And in the background there are lots of buildings in the sky and a tree, and in the foreground there's Fawn to the left, and Ranger Marco to the right, and he's got like a big tree branch that he's trying to help her get up on. She's got her hooves lifted you know, as though she's trying to get up on the branch. So that's the first one, and then the one where she topples over. She is falling backwards, and it's like he's looking kind of distressed and trying to catch her and what has frightened her in the background, what she calls a beast is a big truck that's seen there. So they're quite intimidated by the truck with good reason. Okay, so that's the first one there. Yeah, because the next part Fawn and Ranger Marco are still together. But the next part has a bus coming, a school bus. Feather: Okay. Lisa: Just then a torrent of small humans pours from their dens and begins running and screeching toward the second beast. Lisa: “Oh,” cries Fawn. “Are they afraid?” Lisa: “Just watch.” says Ranger Marco, as they quickly disappear inside the beast. The maw of the beast swishes shut and it roars off into the distance. Lisa: “Oh, my,” whispers Doe faintly. “The beast swallowed all the fawns.” Lisa: “Human fawns are called children or kids,” explains Ranger Marco. Lisa: “Like goats? How could you be so unfeeling?” protests Doe. “We have just seen children eaten by an enormous beast.” Lisa: “Don't worry,” says Ranger Marco. “The beast will return in the afternoon and spit them back out again. I believe the beast minds the children during the day, so that adult humans can find food and rest, and…um…whatever else they busy themselves with.” Lisa: “Wouldn't it be lovely to have a beast to swallow Fawn for a bit?” asks Buck. Lisa: “Hush!” cries Doe. “Would you say such a thing?” Lisa: “Don't worry, though,” says Fox. “The beast would spit her out again in the afternoon.” Lisa: “Yes,” squeals Fawn, “I would love to explore the belly of such a beast. Can I, can I, can I?” Lisa: “Absolutely not.” says Doe firmly. “Deer keep all four hooves on the ground. We will not train monstrous beasts to look after our fawns.” Leonore: Laughs. Very good. Feather: I love your voice reading. That's awesome. Leonore: Very good job. Feather: So, laughing at my own writing, but it's really your reading that's great. Leonore: Oh, yes. It is very humorous. Okay. So for the first picture with the torrent of small humans, he's drawn four kids. They look like, oh, I don't know. Middle school age sort of, heading toward the school bus, and what I like about all his illustrations when he draws people is, he has them all different races. Feather: Oh, yes, I told him to do that. Leonore: Yes. Feather: He said no one's ever asked him to do that before, and I was just like… Leonore: Really. Interesting. Feather: Yeah, I'd like to have all, everyone included. Leonore: Well, that's great, because yeah, he does a good job with that. And that even kids with disabilities and all different sizes and shapes. So that's what we try for, anyway. And then, you know, the kids are simply heading toward a big yellow school bus, and in the background are the houses, yeah, I mean they're on the sidewalk, of course, but again there's some foliage in the front there, some pretty leaves and berries, and then for the, that long part that you read, it's simply the back of the school bus. The school bus is heading away and on the sides are the houses there. So that one's a relatively plain illustration compared to most of the others, but very well done. Lisa: Well, thank you. Ann: This is Annie. I was wondering, why did you choose deer and a raccoon? Feather: Ooh. Well, I don't know. Honestly. Well, I really like raccoons, and this is gonna be a series. And so he's the only character probably that's gonna be in all of them, because he'll take different families on safari to different places. But I named him after one of my best friends, who passed away during Covid. His name was Marco. So it’s Ranger Marco for that, and then I just picked deer for the first one, since they're gonna be on the outskirts of town, and I won't be able to do bigger animals when they go further in. Ann: Yeah, that's what I was kind of getting at with my question was deer are fairly urbanized species now, and so are raccoons and possums and coyote. So I think that was a a brilliant... Feather: Yeah. Maybe I kind of thought of, you know, him being around people more being a raccoon and kind of being used to it. Ann: Yeah, sure. Right. Feather: And then the deer coming in from the forest. Maybe they haven't been in much. Ann: Right. I think that was just a great idea, especially like you said. They're, you know, on the outskirts of life, you know, with humans. But they're not really, you know, not really there yet. So yeah, all right. So I'm sorry I interrupted. You guys want to continue, okay? Lisa: Yeah, there's just one more. So alright. Lisa: “How peculiar,” says Doe, “I have not seen human poo anywhere. Do they poo inside their den?” Lisa: “Yes!” explains Fawn. “Where do humans poo?” Lisa: “That is the biggest mystery of all,” says Ranger Marco. “I once thought that they must do it inside their den, but we should be able to smell it. Then I thought that they may feed it to their pets. Who knows? Maybe we will discover the truth someday. Who knows?” Lisa: “Gross!” cries Fawn. Lisa: “How uncivilized!” cries Buck. Leonore: Laughs. And this is a very amusing illustration here. The deer families on the left, and they're all looking puzzled. And then Ranger Marco is to the right, and he's got his hand on his chin, you know, like he's thinking. And then behind them is a pink house, Collective: Laugh. Leonore: …and then again in the front the same foliage there. Feather: Yeah. Leonore: And I do want to say that Ranger Marco, is rather larger than he would be in real life, compared to a deer family. But they are all just wonderfully drawn. You know, the differentiation between the father and the mother, and Fawn. It's really great. Feather: Thank you. Leonore: So that's what that one shows. And could I then just describe a few others, the ones that don't have the text, rather in the text… Feather: Sure! Leonore: It's not mentioned, what is in that illustration. Feather: I'm curious, too. Leonore: Yeah, okay, so let's see, on page sixteen. So that's fairly early in the book. Let me find it here, right. It's where Ranger Marco is talking about people having hands and fingers, and what all they can do with those hands. So he says, “Like me, they have fingers, and these are very useful for opening things, washing food, picking up bits of food that are hard to get with their mouths, and so much more.” Leonore: So they're sort of like bubbles above him that show just a person's hands opening a jar, and then to the right of that is another hand washing under a kitchen faucet what appears to be a tomato. Collective: Laughing. Leonore: So that’s that one. And then let's see. Page twenty-nine. Okay, this is very interesting section where the lady comes out of the house with this little dog and the dog is on a leash of course, and they simply talk about the dog having something… Feather: Wearing something. Leonore: Yeah. And one of them says, “Why is it so tiny?” Leonore: I guess this is Fawn speaking. “Why is it so tiny? And why is the skin so bright around its middle?” Leonore: Okay. And so the dog is wearing a red sweater so. But it's never called a sweater. Feather: Okay, right. Leonore: So, you know it wouldn't necessarily be clear what the dog is wearing. And then let's see, page forty-nine. Let me find that. Okay, this is part of the section where Fawn is lost and afraid. She can't get back to her family. She's in the middle of the city, and there's traffic all over. And so it says: Fawn hears the constant roar in the distance, and she slowly goes to investigate. Ahead she sees a long, smooth path, which is, of course, the street, with countless beasts roaring past in both directions. She never imagined that there could be so many different sizes, shapes, and colors. So the beast, the roaring beasts, are the cars, and it shows quite a few cars, you know, crossing in front of her there. So I think that was about…Oh, wait, one more. Oh, yes, this is important. I think, on page fifty-two, right toward the end, Ranger Marco is trying to give Fawn a present of something that he has found on the forest floor. Leonore: So it says, as they walk back toward the group of bushes, Ranger Marco picks up a bright object from the ground. Leonore: “Look,” he says, “here is something bright for you to wear, in memory of your great adventure.” Leonore: “No, thank you,” sighs Fawn. Etc. Leonore: Well, what he has picked up is a heart shaped pendant on a chain. So it's a red heart shaped pendant so, but then… Feather: Oh. I wasn't sure what he picked to go there. Leonore: So, again that… Feather: I wasn't sure what he picked. I just told him to pick up something. Leonore: Yeah. Feather: So he's creative. I like that. Leonore: Yeah. Well, it's sweet because I think, because not only do I like heart shape things myself, but, Marco, you know, obviously feels affection for them. Feather: Yeah, that's cute. Leonore: And I thought it was quite appropriate. So those are the ones that I could find. Feather: Yeah. Leonore: I mean. I read through it quickly again today and those were the ones that I could find that, you know didn't have precisely matching you know the text and the pictures. Feather: Sure! Yeah, thank you. Thank you both so much for doing that. Ann: Yes, that gave extra context to what your book is, and how meaningful it will be to all readers, and give us extra insight into how the illustrations are going to impact young folks when they read the book. Oh, my goodness, sounds adorable. Feather: Thank you. I've gotten a couple of complaints about how long it is. Ann: What? No! Feather: I'm like. Well, if you don't like to read that long of a story at bedtime, just split it up. Ann: Yeah, they're very, children's books tend to be very formulaic. They're really short. Feather: Short. Ann: Yeah, short. And yeah, but that's okay. That's why, being an independent author has… Feather: Yeah, you don't have to go with those yeah. Feather laughs. Ann: Yeah, yeah, you can experiment. And you can set your own parameters. Feather: Oh, and I think someone did say the language was too big for kids. And I was like my kids understand all those words. That's fine. Leonore: Of course, and that's how children learn new words. Feather: Right. Leonore: Good heavens! I mean, how else are they going to learn new vocabulary words unless they learn them in context, and I don't think it's too long at all. Feather: I like it. Leonore: I gave a copy of the book to my student Shane… Feather: Yes, thank you. Leonore: …to give to his niece and nephew, who are three and seven, and he said he thought it would be perfect for them. Oh, oh, heavens! Don't listen to anybody saying it's too long or too…No, it's great! Feather: That's right. I do love when people put in their reviews like what children think that always makes me smile, because, you know, I get little comments about what the kids’ reactions are. And I think that's the best feedback we can get, because kiddos are really honest. Leonore: Right. Ann: Yeah. They tell you what they like and what they don't like. Feather: And they're also, well, it's straight to the point. Ann: Their comments and everything. Do you know? Right? Yeah, Feather: I like that. Ann: Yeah, so, Feather, you had mentioned series. So how many books in this series? Feather: Oh, goodness! I got on a brainstorming kick, and I have like thirty outlined. But I haven’t written the next one yet. Ann: Wow! Feather: Well, because Pandu already has three more of my projects, and I've already hired two other illustrators that are working and I'm really getting far behind. It takes a long time to get it formatted and edited, and all that anyway. So it's just an ongoing deal. Ann: So what are your hopes for the book in terms of the marketing? Feather: Oh, marketing is my least favorite part of everything. I've kind of mastered getting reviews. Ann: Yeah. Feather: I'm doing pretty good at that. So far, this one has, I think, fifty-seven. Ann: Yeah. Feather: So that was exciting. And it's just a couple of weeks old. Ann: When you first got a decent amount of reviews as well. Feather: As far as marketing, yeah, it's kind of stalled out at sixty-one. Ann: Oh, well, that's all. Huh! Feather: It's harder to get people to review a chapter book, though it's longer, so if it's a picture book, people are like, Oh, sure, I'll read that. I'll review it, and you know. Ann: So do you want the educators to be the primary people that get this book or… Feather: Yeah. Ann: …do you want it to be in libraries? Do you want both? Sure we… Feather: Yeah. Ann: …want it everywhere. But where do you want to impact the most? Feather: I think schools for sure. They’re my targeted audience, but I do have a connection with a good friend who is a librarian, so I’m getting a little bit schooled on how to do all that. So I get to start working on this. Ann: Yeah. Feather: It's a lot to work on. But. Ann: Good. Yeah. Yeah, you got to know a lot about a little bit of things to get started. And then you've got to try to make yourself an expert, or know how to. Feather: My public library and nearby, we're in a really tiny town, but the bigger town nearby, they've bought all of my budget for the library, and they want me to do a presentation at their summer meeting program. So that's exciting. Ann: Oh, yeah. Oh, that'd be wonderful. I hope they record it. Feather: Yeah. And I'm getting some school visits together for next year, too. So that'd be good. Ann: Oh, good! That's wonderful! Do you read your own books to your kids? Feather: Eh. Sometimes I gotta get over this, but I don't really like reading my own. I read to them all the time, but I don't like reading my own for some reason, so they read them, but. Ann: Oh, they read them right? Right? Okay. So who do you like to read, when you read to your kids? Who are the authors you like, or your go to. Feather: Oh, we read everything. We like the classics. We were just reading Charlotte's Web the other day, Ann: Yeah. Oh, great book. Feather: and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and uh, my older kiddos want to read Island of the Blue Dolphins. That’s a great favorite, and that's one of the best. Ann: Right. Feather: And, we just, I don't know. We read a little bit of everything, and then I've made a lot of connections with independent authors, and so we've started reading quite a bit of those. I order their paperbacks to support them and there’s some really talented independent authors out there so, and I'm always trying to recommend them, you know, in Facebook groups and home school groups and stuff like that. You know, they could all use some more exposure. Ann: So you just mentioned your favorite children's book. Are there any more? Feather: That's my favorite, like middle grade. Ann: Are there any more? Okay? Alright. So there's any other favorites from when you were young, that you know? Feather: All the fudge books! Those are fantastic. Those are so fun. My kids really love the Boxcar Children and all different ones. We just of course, Dr. Seuss is fun for littler kiddoes, but I kind of write for the whole age gambit anyway. So I have some tiny, tiny kids, the book that Pandu is working on now is for babies. And, older, elementary middle grades. Ann: Right. Feather: And I'm still working on a young adult series. Uh, I’m kind of scattered actually. Feather laughs. Ann: Sounds like, you're just very creative. And you like to go where… Feather: I get these ideas, and they just keep going, going, going. And I'm just like, and then at one point it'll just stall out and not be like, Oh, but I wasn't finished with that idea. It's just part of creativity, I guess. Ann: While exploring. Exploring. Yeah. I'm gonna ask you a couple more questions. Then we're gonna open it up. Talk about your Beta readers, and how you got into looking for Beta readers, and maybe some of the advantages and disadvantages of Beta reading. Feather: Well, I was reading a lot about the whole process. When I published my first book, I didn't know anything about it at all. I just thought, oh, I can publish for free now. We're gonna do this. Ann: Right, yeah. Feather: And it was we press published, and I was so excited. And I was like, what do I do now? And so it's just been, throwing things at the wall and reading everything I can get my hands on about marketing and all that stuff. I read that you should use the things that you excel in, are things that you're most interested in, or the groups that you're already a part of, to write to those audiences, or to you know use information in those to give more credibility. It's easier to find beta readers that share those interests.So I was already in a ton of home school groups because I home school with my kiddos, and I kinda write educational books anyway. So I was able to find quite a few home schooling mommas, thank who will beta read for me, and it's a neat project for the kids, and I even have a couple of the kiddos that I'm going to mentor because they want to become authors. So it's kind of a, you know, mutually beneficial arrangements. Ann: Yeah, it doesn't sound like it has any disadvantages at all. It's a win-win for everybody involved. Feather: I guess with beta readers the only downfall to that is that you really can't please everybody, even though you try. Ann: Hmm, yeah. Feather: And you know people will have suggestions, and I have once or twice had someone who I didn't take their suggestion, and they got a little hurt about it, and they kind of fell off the list. But you know, you're just never gonna be able to make everyone happy. That's just part of life, I guess. Ann: Yeah, I think that's one of the lessons that we learn as authors or as creative people, performers. Feather: Yeah. Right. Ann: You're not going to please everybody, and there is going to be criticism, whether it's constructive criticism to help you move forward, or whether it's the kind of criticism that you want to leave behind. Feather: Right. Ann: It's totally up to you. You know you're the one that's creating the material and Feather: Right. Ann: It's your decision in the end, and it happens, can't please everybody. And sometimes it's a hard lesson to learn. Yeah. Feather: It is. It's hurtful at first, I think, when especially if you're a person pleaser, I'm terrible about that. Yeah. Ann: Yeah, so, yeah, I know, I agree with you. I have a hard time saying, No, it's one of those things I work on in life. So let's see here. So we're at seven thirty-seven. I think we're gonna open to questions. And if you have a question, please raise your hand. Alright, Alice you can unmute and ask your question. Alice Massa: Alright! Thank you, Annie, and I so enjoyed Lisa. Your reading, and Leonore, your descriptions of the… Feather: They’re wonderful. Alice: …pages, the illustrations, and so nice to hear you, Feather, and congratulations on a truly wonderful book. Feather: Oh, thank you! Alice: I've read it a few times, and it's absolutely delightful. And I wanted to ask Feather, did you make a list of all these encounters that the main characters, the deer family had, and then write the book? Or did you just start writing because it Feather: Well, I'm an outliner for sure, so I outlined quite a bit of it. But some of it just comes about when you're writing, something will strike, and you'll be like, oh, that's cool, you know. Put that in so it's a little of both. I guess. Alice: And Leonore, I've got a question for you. The illustrations? Are they the type that are painting? Oil painting or acrylic, and then photographed. Or are they pen and ink? Or, you said the colors, so I mean with colored pencils, and then photographed. Or can you describe what kind of materials the artist used? Leonore: You know, I really can’t tell. Feather: It's a digital art that he uses. Leonore: Oh, he uses digital mark well, for Heaven's sake, okay. Feather: I think that he has a pad, a drawing pad that he uses. Ann: A stylus, yes. Feather: He connects to his computer and he draws it on there and he’s able to color it in and all that. Leonore: Oh. Feather: With the computer, so he does the sketches on that pad and then he colors it all in. Leonore: Well, how interesting, if I didn't know that I would guess probably that they were watercolors. That's what it kind of seems like to me. But, just lovely, lovely colors, I mean, pretty, dense colors for the most part. Oh, gosh! That surprises me that he does it with computer art. But it's excellently done. I would have guessed that this was all original. Feather: Yeah, I mean, he does draw it all himself. But it's, you know, on the computer. Leonore: Yeah. Well, very very well done. Alice: And then, do they bleed off the page or is there a frame around the… Leonore: Yeah. They're all in a frame in a fact, I mean, like, as I said, the text is on the left. And then each illustration is a full page illustration on the right hand side, and then it just has a, you know, white frame around it. I mean the page. So no, they're very clear. Feather: Just the margins. Leonore: They're very clearly, you know, in margins. Yes. Alice: Well, Feather, I'm glad you had such a good illustrator, because the text is so good, perfect. Feather: Oh, thank you. Yeah. I'm very lucky to have found him, very happy with him. Yeah. Alice: Thank you very much. Feather: Thank you. Alice. Marlene: There are no hands at this time. Leonore: Oh, could I say one more thing about the marketing, sort of related to the marketing? Ann: Sure! Leonore: Okay, Feather, I want you to know that you should be extremely happy with the number of reviews that you have so far on Amazon. Feather: Oh, thank you. Yes! Leonore: Believe me, very, very few of our clients ever get anywhere close to that, and for you to have sixty-one for Whispers, which, by the way, everybody, I just thought was a wonderful book, and I could hardly wait for the next in the series but to have that, to have fifty-five or fifty-six or whatever already for… Feather: Yeah. Leonore: …this book, with the book, only having been published about two weeks ago, I mean, that's fantastic. Feather: Yeah. I'm a little floored with that myself. I'm like that is really, yeah. I'm so excited. Okay, yeah, I keep looking. Ann: I’m excited for you. Feather: That was a lot faster than my other books, too, so I was excited. Leonore: Yeah. I keep looking every day to see how many you have. Feather: I know. Leonore: Yeah, on everybody’s. Some of her other books, she has well over a hundred, you know. Feather: Yeah. Leonore: Rave reviews. So I think you're doing extremely well with the marketing Feather, whatever it is you're doing. Feather: Thank you. I am writing. It's taken me a little bit sorry. I have my little seven-month-old niece every day, and her mama comes later and later every day. Leonore: Aw oh! Feather: But I don't have much time for working, but I am putting together what I've discovered about marketing and getting reviews so far to share with the group, because this is just an amazing group of people and speaking of beta readers, I think that you guys are probably my most important beta readers when I said that to the list I get the best feedback from you guys. So I always appreciate that. Ann: Well, that's great to hear. Yeah, you're speaking of the Writers’ Partyline right? Feather: Yes. Yeah. Ann: Yeah, oh, I wanted to ask you do you want to talk about Author's Dream Team? Feather: Yeah. Oh, yeah, of course. We're filling it all out, but I've kind of created an author group, and it's not even all independent authors. It's a mix. Some of our authors are from small presses as well. But they, you know, with small presses they have to do a lot of their own marketing, and stuff, too, but we've got some really talented people on our team, and I had about sixty-seven, something like... Ann: Yeah. Feather: So sixty, something people sign up. But you know, as people do, they kind of fall off when they realize that they have to do something and not just take from the groups. So it's tapered off a little bit. But it's just a support group for authors where we, you know, bounce ideas off each other. We support each other's work, and if you want more information about it, you can contact me. Right now we're just doing a book feature every week, so we'll feature a book for one of our authors, and people will read it or post about it on social media, or recommend it on Amazon, or just anything you know. Leave a review if they have time. That's a little more time consuming. But there's about fifteen, I would say, really active authors in that group, and starting in July, each week we're gonna work with a different author and create kind of a business plan. I've put together a lot of materials for working out specific marketing plans for people, and so we'll just do like a brainstorming session. Probably once a week with whoever can attend and kinda see, you know, find different angles for people, and help everyone kind of reach their full potential. Ann: That sounds like something to really work towards. Get a core group of people that, you know, really feels passionate about that. Feather: Right. Ann: I could see that is a way of helping a lot of other people, you know, with marketing questions, and because it does depend on who you are and what your resources are, and how you network, or… Feather: Yeah. Right, your background and your talents, or your hobbies, even. or you know, yeah, Ann: Yeah. Feather: Yeah. All different avenues to go with marketing. Leonore: And Feather, I believe I told you that if you do draw up a list of marketing tips that you have, I will be more than happy to send that list to our group of clients. Feather: Yes, that would be great. I would love for you to do that. Leonore: Happy to do that. Collective: Laughing. Ann: Yeah. I'm sure we would all be really happy to get something like that. Right. Feather: I'm not saying I, you know, I don't draw a big paycheck from Amazon every month or something, so I'm just, you know I'm not. I don't have the answers to all your questions. But I yeah, I can help you get reviews. I think, at least, and you know, get a little more exposure hopefully. Ann: Yeah. Feather: Yeah, that's the key. And I'm kind of going through the whole getting into libraries thing now, so I can write my experiences on that once I go through all of it. Leonore: Yeah, I think it's helping a great deal that we are now, you know, that David and I are now putting out our clients’ books and e-books, in paperback and hardcover, because, of course, the libraries want the hard covers. They're very lovely, even just the case laminate hard covers instead of the old kind, you know, with the paper. Feather: Yeah. Ann: They're more durable. Yeah. Leonore: Dust jacket and the type, and, in fact, it's perfect for you, Feather. I mean the case laminate hardcover, because that's what's typically used for children's books. Yes, it is. Feather: Yeah. Leonore: And they're so beautiful, and shiny, and sturdy, and not that much more expensive than the paperback for people. Ann : Yeah. Feather: They're a lot more affordable to make. Ann: Yeah. Leonore: Right. Ann: Alright. Well, we’re at seven forty-seven. So anybody have any last questions for Feather before we get Carol on to talk about Behind Our Eyes a little bit? Marlene: There's no hands. Feather: Thank you so much for having me. Ann: Yeah. Why don't you give us your website and any other contact information that you have before Carol gets on. And that way we have it for the recording. Feather: So I'm on the DLD Book's website, with all of David and Leonore's clients, which they are amazing. Leonore: Thank you. Feather: I have to say they're the best. So it's gonna be http colon slash, slash DLD books dot com slash feather shell, which is, you know, like the bird feather, F E A T H E R and then shell like the end of Michelle C. H E L L E. Leonore: Just a a little correction to that. It's https colon slash, slash, then it's www dot DLD books, all written together, DLD books dot com, and then slash, and then Feather Chelle. So all, and the name all written together, and then a final slash. I'm not sure the final step is necessary. Ann: No, it's not. Leonore: Yeah. Feather: Thank you. Ann: Alright. Leonore: Yeah, that's it. And all her books are there, I mean the ones we've done. I don't think there are any others. Are there? Feather? Feather: I think all eight of them are on there. Leonore: Yeah, I believe so. That's what we have listed in the book for you. Yeah. Feather: Thank you. Ann: Well, thank you. Alright, Carol. Carol Farnsworth: I am the Vice President of the Behind Our Eyes writers with disabilities, and we are so pleased to have you here, and listening to the wonderful work about Feather. I enjoy her books every time she puts one on, I've got to read it from beginning to end. So thank you, Feather, and I would like to tell you a little bit about our program for writers with disabilities. First of all, we have a writer's party line that you can post up to two of your poems, writings for the group to comment on and to make suggestions. We have a writers’ network where writers will propose and show different ways to write in small courses. And that's something you can sign up for. We have the Magnets and Ladders, which is our magazine that is published twice a year, where we also invite other people with disabilities to just write. You don't have to be a member of Behind Our Eyes to submit something to Magnets and Ladders. We have critique groups, small groups, and they meet monthly, and we have a large critique group that anyone can put something on and that meets quarterly. Ann: You can go to www dot behind our eyes dot org, and you can find a link to join. You can find links to listen to recordings. Both the book launches, our special events and our telephonic meetings that are archived as well. Ann: Sure I'd like to thank everybody for being here tonight, and especially to our guest author, Feather, and for Lisa and Leonore for bringing this book to life. Feather: Oh, you guys were amazing. Ann: I think this has been a wonderful event. I know that, just having the advantage of the description and the narration is, it is a tremendous gift. Ann: So thank you very much for a wonderful hour of People Safari. Feather: Thank you for having me. Readers Note: If you have found this transcript to be helpful, please take a moment to let us know by sending a brief message to Marlene Mesot at: Marl.Mesot@gmail.com. You may also contact someone you know in our writers’ group. Thank you very much.