Hola, my friends! and Happy Fourth of July!!!
Thank you all for your patience while I was on vacation! I missed you all dreadfully!
There is nothing like a week away from your desk to make you realize just how fast you can get utterly and completely behind, but being swamped upon return was totally worth 7 days of sun and sand, wind and waves, frisbee and family dinners and flashlight tag and feeding ducklings off the dock, Madagascar III on the only rainy afternoon and marshmallows roasted over a very sketchy-looking grill 🙂 Sometimes I’m really not sure there’s anywhere on earth as beautiful as Nantucket…
… but then I get home, and it’s so beautiful here too 🙂
… and I have two little friends who are very glad we’re back 🙂 Woof 🙂
And I am glad to see you all again!
Before we get to our pitch today, I want to remind anyone who hasn’t had a chance yet to please take a minute and check out the self-publishing mini-series. Suzanne McGovern, Vivian Kirkfield, Patrick Milne, and Rita Borg generously shared a wealth of hard-won wisdom about their experiences self-publishing, and even more generously donated books for giveaways which you can still qualify for by commenting before Thursday July 5 at 11:59 PM EDT!
Now then, grab your Something Chocolate and get ready for Would You Read It! 🙂
Today’s pitch comes to us from Carrie. She says, I worked in educational software publishing for about 10 years, and wrote content (mostly nonfiction) for children as part of my job. It was wonderful and creative but left me little time or energy for my own writing. Like many parents, my real writing journey began when my son was born and I started reading to him. I started trying to write what I was reading to him, mostly picture books and poetry in magazines like Babybug. I committed myself to practicing as much as I could, took some classes, read some books, and started to submit some of my work to magazines. Four years later, my poems have appeared (or are forthcoming) in Babybug, Ladybug, and High Five magazines. I feel lucky to have found some fabulous critique groups and supportive communities like the 12×12 group that are helping me grow as a writer in so many ways. Please pop over and visit her website 🙂
Working Title: Friendly Sam, The Ice Cream Man
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)
The Pitch: Sam loves dishing out ice cream to his favorite customers at the park each afternoon. But when a rival ice cream truck shows up on ‘his’ corner, Sam must find a way to out-sing, out-scoop, and out-serve the competition to keep his customers — and himself — happy.
Susanna Leonard Hill 
A pretty unbeatable combo 🙂
Oh yes, I would read this. A competition between ice cream vendors? I really liked your pitch, too. Can't wait to find out what this flavorful character will serve up for us!
Thanks, Pamela! I'm glad you liked it.
Carrie,
Sounds like a yummy, delightful book, featuring my favorite dessert, too!! When we lived in CA 2 yrs ago, there were plenty of ice cream trucks roaming the streets! Your pitch is great, gets our curiosity peaked. I think the title could be a little more snazzy. Maybe drop the word “friendly” from the title, too. Best wishes on this story!
Susanna,
Looks like a fun, very relaxing vacation. I so miss the beaches in CA. Your property is very beautiful, too!
Thank you, Tina! I'm glad the pitch appealed to you. Thanks for your great feedback.
I'm a yes. I've read through the comments and agree about the title. Good luck. And Susanna, glad you had a great vacation.
Thanks, Stacy!
It was a lovely vacation, Tina, thanks 🙂 And I am very lucky to live in such a beautiful place on top of Blueberry Hill 🙂
Thanks for your comments, Pam 🙂
I would definitely read this because I took a class with Carrie and was fortunate enough to read the first draft 🙂 It's a fun story with an appealing topic…who doesn't love ice cream?!
Thanks for stopping by, Kim, and for your comment for Carrie 🙂
Hi Kim! Good to see you here. Thanks for weighing in!
Thank you, Stacy.
I've never been to Nantucket. It sounds nice 🙂
It is 🙂
This Kid Reviews Bks wrote, in response to Susanna Leonard Hill:
I've never been to Nantucket. It sounds nice 🙂
User's website
Link to comment
IP address: 173.86.23.128
Hi Susanna! I missed reading your posts (will have to catch up on the self pub series). Your vacation sounds great! My husband and son got some frisbee time in too on ours 🙂
And I am also happy to be home–isn't vacation great that way?
I like the pitch–the conflict makes me curious to read the outcome!
Happy 4th! Nice vacation photos!
The pitch is DELICIOUSLY good! Definitely would read it.
LOL, Miranda. Thanks for your comments!
Thank you, Coleen.
Loved the pitch. I love the idea of Sam having to come up with creative ways to be more successful in his business.
Welcome back Susanna! Wow! Nantucket is gorgeous. I was hoping you would post pics 🙂 Thanks.
Thanks for your comments for Carrie, Loni! And yes, Nantucket really is beautiful – I would have posted more pictures but then I might never have gotten around to the point of the post 🙂
Thanks, Miranda! Love your comment 🙂
Thanks, Loni!
Our frisbee time also included some poison ivy time but it was still fun! 🙂 Thanks for your comment for Carrie!
So glad you had some quality R&R, Susanna! I just got back from my Chicago vacation…it was hard to leave. 🙂 I LOVE this pitch and would definitely read it, Carrie…great story idea…and ice cream is always a winner with kids…and me! 🙂
Thanks, Vivian, and so glad you had a nice vacation too! 🙂
I'd read it. The pitch is really tight, and the concept seems to lend itself to all kinds of hijinks! Well done, Carrie!
Susanna…looks like you have quite a lot of green and sun and peace around where you are…kind of all the perfect ingredients for a poetry video, if you ask me….;)
You have done such a beautiful job with your blog – I wouldn't want to scare everyone away with my video ineptitude 🙂 But you are right – the way it looks right now it would make a pretty video… maybe if I can think up something that rhymes I'll try again 🙂 Thanks for your comments for Carrie!
Thanks so much, Renee. Hijinks…love it!
Thank you, Vivian. We're all big ice cream fans around here, too.
I'm late to the pitch party, having just come home from vacation in Maine, but wanted to chime in with a Huzzah! for Carrie's fun pitch and the helpful comments already listed.
So glad the ice cream man sings and doesn't rely solely upon his truck tune. We have 2 ice cream trucks that stalk our neighborhood; my DD says the “real” one plays When The Saints Go Marching In and the one that plays Do Your Ears Hang Low is NOT a real ice cream truck because the song is wrong, LOL!
Susanna I am craving the Cafe Lejois dessert but after indulging in lots of buttery lobster for a week I am taking a dessert hiatus…
So glad you had a nice vacation! And thanks for finding time to stop by and comment for Carrie – I know how crazy busy it is after a week away! I still feel like I'm playing catch up 🙂
Thank you, Cathy! Believe it or not, my son was terrified of the ice cream truck when he was about three. He couldn't stand the out-of-key tunes it played. (He has very sensitive hearing.) When all the kids were screaming and running toward the truck, he would scream and run in the other direction. He's gotten over it by now — not sure that's a good thing or not. 😉
Carrie, I would say yes, especially if there are colorful illustrations of tasty looking ice cream. Yum! Children do like ice cream and competition. The title needs a little fine tuning but the rest sounds great! Good luck on your book.
Susanna, I am glad you had a great time on your vacation. Also, I enjoyed reading Erin Molta's interview. Keep up the great work on your blogs!
Thanks for your comments for Carrie, Anna, and for your kind words about my blog – I'm so glad you like it 🙂 Glad you enjoyed Erin's answers, too – it was so nice of her to jump in and do that!