#children'sbooks — Blog — Sandra Bennett

Last week I revealed the cover for the next book in my children’s chapter book series, the Adamson Adventures. I knew this cover would excite future readers, but how was I going to share it with a wide audience?

The Adamson Adventures, books 1,2,3. Suitable for children aged 7 -12 years.

I did my research first. Googled how to do a cover reveal? I couldn’t find anything much that was helpful. The key words took me to cover reveals of other books, but didn’t show if they had been successful or gained much interest.

So I put on my thinking cap, and this is what I discovered worked.

I chose three quotes from my book and added photos on Canva. To this I also added the date on which I would reveal the cover.

Fossil Frenzy, The Adamson Adventures 3. Chapter book for children aged 7 -12 years.

I pre-scheduled each image to post at the same time each morning. Adding a comment to count down the days.

I shared these three images, three consecutive days and shared them as widely on social media as I could.

This built interest and intrigue for my story and the book’s cover. I had plenty of engagement and curiosity.

Finally I produced a video to reveal the cover using the Publishing Tools on my Facebook Author page. For those not sure how to do this, it’s really quite simple. Go to your Manage Page and click on Publishing tools. Scroll down and click Creator Studio. Then click Create Post. Select Multimedia , Create Slideshow. It’s easy to follow the prompts from there. You can choose the time frame for each slide and music to go along with it. Once complete, you can schedule the date and time you wish your video to go live.

Once my video was live on my author page, I also shared it to my personal page and as many groups as i felt were suitable.

The result was the cover reveal reached nearly 2,000 people and had 114 engagements on my author page alone. Add to this all the comments and likes within the various groups and I had the most engagement with a post than I have ever had before. A huge range of people have now seen my cover and know that Fossil Frenzy is coming soon.

I did a follow-up post the next day to thank everyone for all the amazing support and wonderful comments. I am so grateful to my brilliant cover designer Nikki Matthews, https://www.facebook.com/nikkijanedesign/. Nikki has produced the covers for all three books in the series. I adore her work.

Fossil Frenzy, the Adamson Adventures 3

A Lighthouse in Time, the Adamson Adventures 2

Secrets Hidden Below, the Adamson Adventures 1

Whether this translates into readers, only time will tell, but I can say that it did produce a lot of excitement and therefore had a huge impact. It is the best cover reveal I have ever done, and would certainly do it again.

I don’t have a release date yet, but Fossil Frenzy, The Adamson Adventures 3, will be available in time for Christmas 2020. Follow my Facebook page for updates.

Have you ever done a cover reveal?

How did you go about it?

Was it successful?

I am curious to learn your thoughts. Please leave a comment below.

Did you find this post helpful? If so, you might also like to read a few of my previous posts.

https://sandrabennettauthor.com/blog/2020/5/4/tips-on-preparing-a-perfect-pitch

https://sandrabennettauthor.com/blog/2020/6/1/how-will-you-choose-to-be-published

https://sandrabennettauthor.com/blog/2020/6/29/selfindie-or-traditional-publishing-the-pros-and-cons

August has been a busy month with lots happening for authors of children's books. With Book Week in the middle of the month, we have all been busy launching books and attending school functions. This years theme was 'Find Your Treasure.' So hang on to your pirate hat me matey,, lads and lassies, this is going to be one amazing adventure into the world of children's books. You may even want to make a cup of tea, this was a long month.

Children's Book Council of Australia

It all started back in July, 25th July to be precise. The ACT branch of CBCA held their Romancing The Stars meeting here in Canberra. Craig Cormick encouraged us with his stories about writing books in a series, those that are successful and those that are not quite so successful. Jacqueline de Rose-Ahem discussed ways to broaden your books reach internationally. Kerry Malone took us along on her journey to self-publication. Jack Heath brought us to tears with laughter as he looked back on his teenage years searching for books he wanted to read which became his reason for writing. Pauline Deeves discussed the abundance of research necessary when writing for the NLA (National Library of Australia and Maura Pierlot delved into her interest in dramatic play writing.. It was an inspirational evening, we all came away filled with information and motivation to continue our writing journey.

May Gibbs Exhibition

Still in July, but at the end, 30th July, I attended the opening of the 100 year anniversary exhibition of the works of May Gibbs at Queanbeyan Library. There hasn't been a generation in Australia in the last 100 years that hasn't grown up reading about May Gibbs much loved and iconic characters Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and the rest of the Gumnut Babies. To my international readers, if you have never heard of these adorable stories I highly recommend you find yourself a copy and learn about these beautifully illustrated Australian bush characters. May Gibbs was a magnificent and much loved author and illustrator. Author Tania McCartney had the fantastic opportunity to open the exhibition. She has spent years researching the life of May Gibbs to be able to have the honour of writing a children's picture book somewhat loosely based on her life story.

Wyrd Book launch

Cate Whittle held her book launch for her new chapter book, Wyrd, to a great crowd at Harry Hartog, Woden on August 11. The audience was enthralled to listen to Cate read an enchanting chapter full of magical wishes. Followed by delicious cupcakes, colouring-in for the little ones and plenty of books to be signed. I couldn't wait to take my signed copy home and start reading. Cate didn't disappoint. The story was wonderful. Imagine the horror of two girls who can't stand each other suddenly discovering their parents are planning to marry. Add to that mistakenly becoming a reluctant witch and you have the potential for disaster. Cate Whittle handles the story with both gentle humour and sensitivity.

SCBWI ACT Meeting

Only a couple of days later, on the 15th August SCBW! ACT held their next development meeting, Putting Yourself in the Picture was an amazing evening of shared learning experiences. Award winning author/illustrator Caroline Magerl had us in stitches with her light-hearted journey through the publication world from before technology right up to present day with the launch of her latest beautiful picture book Maya and Cat. Emma Allen, Hannah Sommerville and Susan Hall spoke about the benefits of collaboration, while Maura Pierlot discussed the advantages of going away on a writer's retreat. We all came away from the evening enriched and inspired once again. I also came home with an armful of gorgeous irresistible picture books.

CBCA Book of the Year Awards

These were held at the National Library of Australia on 17th August and mark the beginning of Children's Book Week. I didn't have the time to attend this year, maybe next year I will make it. Congratulations to all of this years winners. Check out the list of recipients on the CBCA website.

Secrets Hidden Below Book Launch

Saturday 18th August was my turn for the official book launch at Paerchain Bookstore in Manuka of Secrets Hidden Below. Thank you so much to everyone who braved the cold wet wintry afternoon to come out and join me. My dear friend and colleague Lynne Audsley kindly agreed to launch my book for me. A small part of her wonderful speech said,

'As a child I loved reading the Famous Five books. Books that took me to a world where children had amazing adventures involving smugglers and hidden treasure. Secrets Hidden Below is that for modern children. They can experience the thrill of reading a book they can't put down. In fact it would be a good contender for dragging children from 8 years, away from their electronic devices as they get caught up in the mystery of Secrets Hidden Below.'

After Lynne's amazing speech that I appreciated very much and felt rather humbled by, I spoke about the inspiration behind the story before reading a chapter that had everyone hooked. We then went on a treasure hunt around Bali before to the delight of the kids I revealed the hidden treasure inside the treasure box. Yummy Volcano cupcakes were enjoyed by all as the signing of books began.

Official School Launch

Monday 20th August took me to Curtin Primary school to launch Secrets Hidden Below with the year 5/6 Indonesian LOTE students. We were fortunate to have Pak Baskora from the Indonesian Embassy join us for the morning. A huge thank you to Ibu Karen Kennedy for organising the event. The kids really enjoyed the presentation and were enthusiastic to read more of the book. We held a writing competition beforehand whereby I selected the best story to win a free copy of the book. The students were asked to write a story using several Indonesian words. The winning entry was titled The Berapi Harimau, (Volcano/Fire Tiger). I selected this one as I felt it read like a Balinese legend. I could see that Madison has the potential to be a great writer as she grows and learns.

Telopea Park School Visit

There was no rest, this was Book Week after all. Tuesday meant another fabulous school with more kids eager to see me, learn from me and read my new book. This time I visited year 3 students at Telopea Park School. On arrival I was surprised to find an awesome display the kids had made from their work about my earlier books. They were so excited as they entered the library, the chatter bubbled with hello's, waves and whispers. By the end of the session I was swamped with requests for my autograph. It was a beautiful moment to be able to share time with these gorgeous kids. The competition here, I asked them to come up with a title for an adventure story. The winner I selected was 'The Caves Beneath The White Cliff of Dover.' I could imagine all sorts of intriguing situations arising from that title.

Forrest Primary School Visit

Thursday 23rd August I found myself back at Forrest Primary. I have very fond memories of my teaching years at this school, but today I was not teaching, nor presenting my book. This time I was supporting fellow author Skye Davidson and illustrator Agnes Rokiczky as they launched their gorgeous and mischievous picture book Archibald the Naughtiest Elf in the World Goes to the Zoo. It was a lovely afternoon, the Kinders and year Ones had a lot of fun.

Of course there have been many children's authors launching books and presenting at schools this month. I couldn't get to all the launches, as much as I wanted to. I apologise to those I missed. I was there in spirit and hope to catch up with your amazing books soon.

My hectic schedule did not stop there. I flew to Perth for my eldest son's 30 birthday at the end of Book Week. Still can't believe he is that old! Where do the years go? Then flew to Port Moresby to attend the PNG Independence Day Ball with hubby, That takes us into September and there is still so much more to come. More school visits, more book signings. These are exciting times.

If you missed the book launch of Secrets Hidden Below at Paperchain but would like a signed copy, you have a second chance. I will be signing books Saturday 15th September from 11:00 am at Harry Hartog Bookshop in Woden. Hope to see you there. For those who are not in Canberra, books can be purchased through Elephant Tree Publishing.

I will also be returning to Forrest Primary this Friday, 7th September to do a writing workshop with students from years 5/6.

How about you? How was your August? Did you dress up for Book Week? Let me know in the comments below, add a photo too. I'd love to see those bookish costumes.

How To Do A Cover Reveal With Impact.

A Bookish Month, Engaging Book Launches & School Visits.