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How Do YOU Book?

A Wild Reader, mixed media collage, by Bernice Seward

Happy Children’s Book Week! I’m here with Andrew, a young monster from the wilds of Rumpusland. He has agreed to answer a few questions from the How Do You Book? Challenge. Thank you, Andrew, for meeting with me today.

Andrew: No problem! I like talkin’ about books.

Bernice: Me, too. My first question is: What do you book?

Andrew: ‘Scuse me. Did you mean to ask “What do you do with a book?” ‘Cuz if so, I read it.

Bernice: (chuckles) Sorry about that. I should have explained. The question “What do you book?” means “What do you read?” We just treat the word “book” as an action word.

Andrew: Cool! Well, I book just about anything–but my favorite books to book are adventure stories. Right now, I’m booking about a dragon trying to rescue his princess friend from a tower.

Bernice: That sounds like a great story. My next question is: Where do you book?

Andrew: (snorts) That’s easy! Wherever I want to! See these claws?

Bernice: They’re really big!

Andrew: And they’re super good at climbing. Sometimes I put my books and lunch in my pack-a-back and shimmy to the top of a tree. Other times I climb up Rocky Snout Cliff and book by the tumbleberry bushes–they’re a little poky, but the berries are tasty.

Bernice: Wow. You book in a lot of exciting places.

Andrew: Yep! What about you?

Bernice: Me? I book in a lot of places, but none are as exciting as yours. I have booked at the ocean and while flying above the clouds, though.

Andrew: That’s okay. You do the best you can.

Bernice: Thank you. I have one final question for you today. And it is: How do you book?

Andrew: Mostly with my eyes. But sometimes Pappy books out loud, and then I close my eyes and listen so I can make a movie in my mind.

Bernice: That sounds like a lot of fun.

Andrew: It is! I really like it when Pappy books with me.

Bernice: I’m sure your pappy enjoys it, too. What I actually meant to ask with that question was what position you book in. Do you like sitting, or laying down, or maybe hanging upside down?

Andrew: Once I tried booking upside down like my friend Battilda, but that didn’t last long ‘cuz my toes lost their grip. Sometimes I stretch out on my tummy and sometimes I sit down in a sunny spot and sometimes I lean up against a tree trunk or a boulder. I just wiggle around until I get comfortable.

Bernice: Those are all great ways to book!

Andrew: I know.

Bernice: Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions about reading. I hope you continue to enjoy booking lots of great stories in lots of exciting places from lots of comfortable positions.

Andrew: I will. Bye!

Bernice: Goodbye.

What about you? How do YOU book? I’d love to hear about what you book, where you book, and how you book in the comment section.

Happy booking! –Bernice

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Hello My Name is Bernice

Hello. My name is Bernice.

You may recognize me, but you may not.

Although this is my little corner of the webiverse, I haven’t shown up in a while.

I mean, look at the date of my last blog post.

After finishing two books in quick succession in April of 2019, I took a break for two weeks . . . which turned into two months . . . which turned into two years (and then some).

You may ask, “What’s up with that?”

Then again, you may not. Because it’s not like we didn’t go through a major pandemic in the meantime.

The short answer is that that time marked a planned shift in focus from creating stuff like crazy to building my platform and marketing the stuff I’d been creating.

And that scared me.

Because I’m not good at marketing. I don’t know how to do it well. I’m not a salesperson. And I don’t want to sell things—I want to create content. Content that entertains, educates, and/or inspires.

The good news is, marketing isn’t about selling things. In his book Tribes, Seth Godin says, “Marketing is the act of telling stories about the things we make—stories that sell and stories that spread.” (page 15).

Telling stories? I can do that. In fact, I LOVE doing that!

Making things? I can do that. In fact, I LOVE doing that, as well!

As for the stories selling and spreading, I’ll trust what Austin Kleon says— “Share what you love, and the people who love the same things will find you.” (Show Your Work, page 19).

So, please allow me to reintroduce myself.

Hello. My name is Bernice. I write and illustrate children’s books, and I share about the process in this little corner of the webiverse. If you have a moment, please introduce yourself in the comment section. I’d be delighted to meet you (or to meet you again, as the case may be).