Pot-O-Gold Awards: Author Platform Includes Websites

The Pot-O-Gold "Blogger" Award is now the Pot-O-Gold Award, for blogs, authors, books, and websites.

Today I'd like to share a "new" changed-up (edited and completely revised) feature with you, the Pot-O-Gold Awards! This month, the Pot-O-Gold Award goes out to the following people for the following four categories. Welcome to the NEW Pot-O-Gold AWARDS!!!

BLOG: All News, No Schmooze

• All News, No Schmooze (News and Notes for Busy Children's Book Writers) by Laurie Wallmark. It is super simple and straightforward. Nearly every day for the past 5 years (since May 2009), Laurie has linked to powerful articles in the kidlit industry. If you haven't heard of this blog, it's worth putting on your blog reader radar. I've learned many things from Laurie's links.

AUTHOR: Jane Yolen

• Jane Yolen. And why not? She's my Maurice. One of the founders of SCBWI. 330+ books to her name. If you are a children's writer and you have not heard of Jane Yolen, you might not actually be able to call yourself a writer at all. Seriously. If you haven't heard of Jane Yolen, get thee to a library! Some of my favorite books of hers are much older than her How Do Dinosaurs... series. Owl Moon, Where Have All the Unicorns Gone, Welcome to the Ice House, Color Me a Rhyme, Dinosaur Dances, Miz Berlin Walks, Raising Yoder's Barn, and many many more, including middle grade novels.

BOOK: Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae 

• The book award always goes to a book I actually bought. WHY I BUY! It won't have a summary, be a review, or include a lesson. It's simply why I bought this book. I think it's interesting. I'm picky when I plunk down the dough. Aren't you? I'm curious about why people buy the books they do and thought you might enjoy reading why I buy the books I do. 
• This book was one of the first picture books I ever bought, long before I ever had any children of my own. I remember standing in a bookstore in the mall, reading over several different picture books. This was cute and fun to read, with great illustrations. But the selling factor? It touched me. I felt I was a better person for having read this book. We ALL can dance, ....? And I do love to dance! What a great message that truly does not hit you over the head.

WEBSITE: Jackie Urbanovic

"...If you’re not sure what your platform-building priorities should be, think about your long-term goals, or where you want to be in 1-5 years. This can quickly become a paralyzing task, so keep it simple. For instance, if you envision having several books published in five years, but you don’t yet have a website, then a platform priority would be establishing one. If you want to grow your reach online, becoming involved in social media or writing online articles (or a blog) is a common step. 

Here’s what I use as a general rule of thumb for platform-building priorities, specifically for new and mid-career writers: 

1. Establishing or improving your website and/or blog. Sometimes this means investing a little money in design or development...." ~Jane Friedman (TweetSpeakPoetry.com)

• I'm quite positive Jackie Urbanovic invested some money in her website. Since Jackie is an author and an illustrator, her art is easily able to give her website a more personal flair. Here are a few positive things about her site that could be incorporated into yours as well. The navigation links to other pages on her site are fun with arrows and handwritten fonts. Her picture is displayed and is a clear quality image, including a fun border. Her books' main character, Max the Duck, visits the pages too! Her name is prominently displayed in a bold and legible font at the top of the home page. It is color coordinated and has a nice subtle background image of paper texture to go along with the notepad theme. Way to go, Jackie. Not only do I love your books, I also love your site design!

Who would YOU like to see receive the Pot-O-Gold Award? 

Hope you enjoyed the Pot-O-Gold Awards and come back next month on the 30th to see who earns the coveted spots for blog, author, book, and website. Thanks!

Keep on keepin' on...