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Encouraging Children to Write

Award Winning Author Kathleen J Shields educational books hamilton troll

As a children’s book author, I have found it incredibly important to be active in schools as my audience is there 75% of the year.  Yet that being said, how do you make it worth the teacher’s time? One of the key things I like to do upon reading a book to the students is […]

Doing business without advertising is li...

I like this one: Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does. Steuart H. Britt I find that hilariously true… and yet, can not do anything about it.  When you don’t have the economic means to advertise your product(s) to […]

Bullying: What are the answers to the qu...

I did some major research for a children’s bullying story I was writing for the Hamilton Troll series and what wowed me were the statistics. The in-depth research that was done as to the various types of bullying, the various reasons bullies are created, the various reasons bullies attack, but the ‘how to stop the […]

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do

What a great quote! Yes I like quotes – they are great inspirational writing starter topics – perfect for blogs – but this one is truly amazing… Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and environment had these words to encourage your efforts; “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and […]

Start your own Troll Patrol

Award Winning Author Kathleen J Shields educational books hamilton troll

What is the Troll Patrol? Hamilton Troll realizes in our next book “Hamilton Troll meets Rudy Rat” (available July 4th) that there are some children out there that are ‘mean’ to others…. You see Rudy Rat wasn’t a very nice rat to the other children.  He didn’t know how to make friends so he took their […]

It’s not Education if it’s Fun… It’s Enl

Education – acquiring knowledge through teaching and instruction. Enlightenment – giving or imparting knowledge by removing the dimness from one’s eyes or heart. These two definitions talk about gaining knowledge, the difference is the means to the end. Learning lessons, through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or […]

It takes hard work, for this dance!

I love watching dance movies. Whether it is ballet, or hip hop, I simply love them. Why? Because the hero must endure. They must work hard, practice, face the challenges, keep struggling and then in the end – they succeed! They give the best performance of their life and win! It’s a feel-good moment that […]

Using Amazon and Buy Now links

In this post I’m actually going to combine questions 8 and 10 together because they truly go hand in hand. Q. Do I need links to Amazon for my books on my author web site? A. I would! I would link to absolutely every bookstore and online shop I can. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell […]

How to market your author website

While I am not an expert on marketing, I do know enough to get by. I know that a website that doesn’t change grows stagnant. I know that Google is going to drop you down if you don’t add new content every once in a while. And I know that a website takes work, a […]

The importance of keywords

Award Winning Author Kathleen J Shields educational books hamilton troll

Keywords are the words and phrases that Internet users type into search box of a search engine, such as Google, to find what websites that match what are looking for. Keywords are the same in books when you publish them. The keywords you choose for your book(s) is just as important as the keywords you […]