Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Sup With Me? Why Zompoemz and Catherine Johnson, Of Course.

Everyone welcome Catherine Johnson, the kid’s poet extraordinaire. YEAH! WAHOO! Look at you! There she is. Wave to her everyone. She's pretty inside and out. :-)

Catherine has published THREE books of poetry for children. The latest is the wacky, wonderful Zompoemz. I highly recommend it, y’all. Have kidlets? Grandkidlets? Then you need these books. I will give links at the end of this post for you. Here she is. Isn't she pretty? And her personality matches her pretty. :-) Here's Zompoemz. It's pretty too. Check it out! :-) BTW, Zompoemz is FREE for Kindle until Halloween night. So go snag it. And tell your friends and even strangers to buy Zompoemz. 

       My review:
      We have Catherine's first two children's poetry books in our LIBRARY so it just stands to reason that we should have Zompoemz too. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her poetry. I think Catherine did a service to kids everywhere. She is getting them interested in poetry. What a great thing! Kids who normally wouldn't touch a poetry book are interested in more poetry after having read these books of hers. This is not your ordinary zombie poetry book (is there even one of those?). This is a funny and wacky and kooky and deliciously wonderful read. It starts out with a drawing of a zombied out Bruce the Moose. It says: Bruce the Moose can really dance. But not when he's in a zombie trance. Kids LOVE that stuff. The art is so kid-friendly. Just look at the cover, and you can see that. There's zombies playing baseball, and the head comes off and so they play catch the head instead. It's a tickle your funny bone book that all kids should have access to. It's a sweet, short (for those reluctant readers that you know), and too fun to put down book. I'm going to buy a copy for our library. I hope a lot of people do that. The kids are going to love you for it.



        So Catherine, tell us where you got the idea for Zompoemz.
It was probably a mix of my kids talking about them and being a regular reader of Jack Flacco’s blog. He writes zombie books for adults. They are also a lot easier to draw than normal human faces. ;-)

        Didn’t you use the new Kindle Kids' Book Creator Tool when you published Zompoemz? Was it hard to figure out?

             Nope. It was dead easy or should I say undead easy bwa ha ha! There is a fab new thing you can do where you type the text of the page into a box and it automatically shows the enlarged text on whatever device you are reading off. I only used it for pages with tiny text but next time I might do it all. You don’t have to worry about pixels or anything as long as your photos are of a decent quality you are sorted. I couldn’t believe how easy it was.

       What influenced your decision to pursue publication on your own, rather than submitting your poetry books for acquisition by traditional publishing houses using standard 'advance against royalty' contracts? (Although you’re lucky because you can illustrate.)

             For Weirdo Zoo a long time ago I did submit them to a couple of good publishers that I had researched to see if they would be interested. It is super difficult to get a whole book traditionally published if you are not an established poet. Out of a whole book full of publishers poetry really narrowed the field down. I have several poems traditionally published through the Poetry Institute of Canada’s yearly competition but I feel that for my quirky style I’ll have to stick to self-published. I realize many people look down on you for it and I probably used to be like that, but since I’m always wanting to be on with the next thing, I think it will suit me in the long run. I was also about to be sent out to get a proper job if I’d have still been just submitting poems. I don’t know how I would have fit in the blogging if I worked as well. Yikes! The pressure lol.

       What are the advantages of self-publishing in an economic and a creative sense?

             I think I need to get better at getting my work and my blog out there before I can make any money doing this. I don’t really know yet of I’ve broken even. Better get my accounts in order ;) I’m in awe at my friend Nata and her book launch she really nailed it. I hammered it lol.

          What new book idea do you have up that sleeve of yours? (Dare I ask?) *wink*

          Yes, you dare Robyn. I’m sketching some kids lighthouses and in November I’ll be taking Renee’s wonderful poetry course to try and write poems to go with the pictures. The next book will be more girly but hopefully still be fun for boys.

         It was so nice to have you here, my friend. I hope Zompoemz is a BEST SELLER! 
         Thanks so much Robyn. You are the best!
         When we moved from New Zealand to Canada, we initially didn’t know which part
we were moving to so we were very lucky to get to see Vancouver and climb Grouse mountain in a gondola. It was the first time Matthew had set foot in snow, and it was the first time we saw zombies.An innocent drive turned interesting when we took a wrong turn and encountered a scene from Shaun of the Dead. Let’s get out of here! There were zombies everywhere. Not costumes. Not cartoon zombies. Real ones.There was a little old lady hunched over looking in a window carrying a basket. Men hunched over sat on the sidewalk. At first I thought they were poor beggars. And then…. A zombie crossed the road right in front of our car and stopped in the middle and just shouted. Not at us. Oh no. At nobody, himself, who knows. We held our breath, hoping he would move on. He did, phew. Not because we were terrified, because I was creased up laughing. He could have gotten real angry. Tears streamed down my face. We’d only watched Shaun of the Dead a few weeks previous.
So please take a map everywhere. Be especially careful in Vancouver, and believe me 
zombies are real.




Linkage, y'all. 

Zompoemz Kindle Free until Halloween night

Catherine's Zombie house

Catherine's Goodreads

Zompoemz in paperback

Alibris

59 comments:

  1. I just came from Catherine's site. Saw Zompoemz was free. Awesome! Hope it generates loads of activity.

    Robyn - love, love, love this look! So up my alley....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks so much for having me here Robyn and showing Zompoemz so much love. You're the best!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It IS up your alley, Sheri. Know any reluctant readers? So perfect for them. Thanks for the support, my friend. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Zompoemz is an important book. Just as all your poetry books are. YOU NEED to market them for reluctant readers too. They're short, they're fun, they're the recipe for getting reluctant readers reading. I'm buying a copy for my library. As soon as I can, I'll buy the other two for my library. I don't want to give up our copies.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cool beans! My youngest loves Zombies and poetry, so I think he's going to eat this up.

    Unleashing the Dreamworld

    ReplyDelete
  6. Crystal, he will. I PROMISE. The art matches the poems. FANTASTIC.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely to have the interview with Catherine! How cool that Zompoemz is free for Halloween! Catherine's anthologies deserve a wide and crazy audience!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am so going to put that in future bios Joanna. For a wide and crazy audience :) Thanks!

      Delete
  8. Wonderful interview, ladies! What a hoot to drive by real zombies! The book is great fun for kids and adults, both the poems and the pics. It's one my grandkids will ask me to read to them over and over and over! Congrats on Zompoemz, Catherine!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Joanna, yes, they do. I want to get her OUT there. More people need to know about her.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats to Catherine. Love the name of her new book. I'm not surprised it's hard to find publishers for poets but awesome she decided to publish her books on her own. That's a talent that shouldn't be kept hidden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Natalie that's great to hear. I never expected to dare to self-publish.

      Delete
  11. A zombie poetry book for kids - now that's funny!
    It does take a lot to launch a book, Catherine, on your own or with the help of a publisher.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey Lynn, I agree. Catherine's poetry is so good for young and old. They tickled my funny bone.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I couldn't have said it better, Natalie. These poetry books are just so much fun.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Book launches scare me, Alex. But then again, with a little help from your friends....

    You can do ANYTHING. YEAH!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sound perfect for Halloween! On my way to check-it-out! I'm also going to have to look into Kindle's Kids' Book Creator...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Bish. If I can use it anyone can. The old way I was having to re upload all the time ;)

      Delete
  16. Thank you, Bish. You'll love all of her books. Kindle Kids' Book creator is super easy to use.xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  17. Catherine - your hammering sounds good to me! Always great to get to know more about you!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Julie, you gotta love you some Catherine. What about the zombies? WHOA!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Love those Zompoemz, Catherine and Robyn. Thanks for sharing about it. Especially since they are free for Halloween. I shared the book on fb. Because I did'nt want others to be afraid of Zombies in Vancouver either. Especially since you warned us. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yay, well done on giving the fabulous poet, Catherine, a shout-out, Robyn. A great book. Just the thing to tickle kids' funny bones. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am sure kids will love this book! Such fun! And so nice to learn a bit more about Catherine.
    Thanks, ladies.
    I love your new blog design, BBF!

    ReplyDelete
  22. What fun reading more about Catherine and the inspiration for her new poetry collection!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Clar, I know. We wouldn't want folks thinking zombies aren't real, now would we? *wink* Glad you stopped by. Especially since you now know the secret about the zombies. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Yvette, it is. Kids will be howling with laughter. Big folks too. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  25. BBF, I have MISSED you something fierce. Hahaha, thanks. The blog is especially bone-chilling in a kid-friendly kinda way. xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  26. I don't think I've come across Catherine before. I enjoyed reading about her, and I'm headed to Amazon now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Medeia. I feel like I remember you from Rach Writes way back.

      Delete
  27. Teresa, and the zombies being real and all. Right? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Medeia, she's such a fun children's poet. They love her art and her way with poetry. You and she are a lot alike. Both great gals.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I just picked up my copy of Zompoemz from the wonderfully pretty Catherine! Thanks, Robyn for a fun interview. Always fun to get the inside scoops of self publishing!

    ReplyDelete
  30. *waves madly to Romelle* I'm one of the few people who can pronounce your name correctly. *wink* YaY you. For snagging a copy. WAHOO. It is interesting to get the inside scoop. I want her to sell a lot of copies. One MILLION to be exact.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Wonderful interview! This looks like an incredibly fun book--I'll have to check it out for my nephews!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hey Meradeth, they will love you even more for this. It's so much fun for kids. And adults. Ha.

    ReplyDelete
  33. How wonderful to learn about Catherine and her poetry books. I am a big fan of poems and silliness- so I will have to check out her work. Thanks for sharing. Wishing her the best of luck.
    ~Jes

    ReplyDelete
  34. Then you will love Catherine and her fun books, Jess. I promise. Her poetry is so much fun. Just right for silly folks like us.

    ReplyDelete
  35. This is such an amazing interview!

    www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. What a fun title for a kids book! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carrie I first fancied Poemz and soon realised that was already out there. I had to get creative.

      Delete
  37. I love this idea. Catherine, may you have enormous success :)

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hey Carrie, Catherine's books are so much fun. She really has a poet voice for young kids.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Michael, me too. Catherine's books are such a hoot. But the most important thing is how she will help reluctant readers to find their love of reading.

    ReplyDelete

Leave me a note! :)