Talking Books with Sybrina Durant Author of Cleo Can Tie A Bow @sybrina_spt #Interview

Sybrina Durant is the author of The Rabbit and The Fox Learn To Tie Series of Books which include Learn To Tie A Neck Tie With The Rabbit and the Fox in English, Spanish and Tagalog; Ned Can Knot A Neck Tie; Nellie Can Knot A Neck Scarf and the newest addition, Cleo Can Tie A Bow. She also the author of The Blue Unicorn Series of books and has an online book store which features, unicorns, rabbits, foxes, and how to tie books plus gift items related to those things plus lots of bow-themed gifts.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: https://sybrinapublishing.wordpress.com/cleo-can-tie-a-bow-book/

Blog: https://sybrinapublishing.wordpress.com/cleo-can-tie-a-bow-book/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sybrina_spt

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NedandNellieKnowKnots

Welcome to The Writer's Life! Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process. Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning? When did you come up with the idea to write your book?

I have been working on my Learn To Tie With The Rabbit and Fox series of books for over 30 years. The first book, Learn To Tie a Tie With The Rabbit & The Fox, illustrated by Donna Marie Naval was inspired by a trip to a menswear store where a friendly salesman showed me a simple way to tie a neck tie. His method was accompanied by a short story about a fox chasing a rabbit through a forest. I was charmed by the idea of copying those motions for learning to tie a tie. What a great memory jogger! It wasn’t until 2012 that I was finally able to publish that book, though. It is available in English, Spanish and Tagalog. Other knotting books quickly followed. Nellie Knows How To Knot A Neck Scarf and Ned Knows How To Knot A Necktie came about because I wanted to write something that children could relate back to themselves. Both of those books are illustrated by Enrique Vignolo. Nellie is about a little girl who loves dressing up in frilly things. The Fancy Nancy books by Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser were a little bit of inspiration for her. Neck scarves are Nellie’s favorite accessory. Ned is about a young boy whose imagination is stirred by all kinds of knots. I envision him as a boy scout of sorts. He also knows that certain kinds of knots can make him look good. To him, looking good means wearing a necktie so he has neckties for every occasion. Both Ned and Nellie share the story of the rabbit and the fox with readers. For years, I wanted to write a how-to-tie a bow book, too, but the story just would not come to me. I was completely stuck on the idea of teaching the tying technique by having a fox chase a rabbit. This year, I finally broke free of that concept and was able to create the story of Cleo, a bow obsessed girl. She shares the story of a friendly fox who helps a long-eared rabbit keep her ears from dragging on the ground.

Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I am a self-published author / entrepreneur. There is too much competition these days in the struggle of trying to get a book in front of a traditional publishing company so any author who truly desires their book to be seen by potential readers must take control of the entire publishing and marketing process themselves. That’s where the entrepreneur angle kicks in. Today, there are a million ways to promote a book. If you are not trying to take advantage of at least some of them, you are not doing your book or yourself any favors.

Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

The surprise was how hard it was to get the attention of a traditional publisher and how easy it is to self-publish. Literally anyone can do it. Many avenues are available for self-publishing and distribution but KDP seems to be the most lucrative because of their close links to Amazon. That organization absolutely rules the book world today. It’s truly shocking how fast they overtook every other book seller out there. But don’t kid yourself. Just because your book is listed there, it doesn’t mean that anyone will ever find it in a keyword search…or possibly not even in a search of the actual title. It’s absolutely true that whoever spends the most on advertising gets the most results on page views. So what is an author / entrepreneur to do in their endless effort to get eyeballs on their book? Since I am an Amazon affiliate, one of the things I have done is assemble online stores on my blog that feature books and gifts based on themes from my books. For Cleo Can Tie A Bow, I recommend hundreds of unique bow-themed gifts on my Girls Love Bows Gift Shop. I market and promote that online gift shop through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn. I use a service called Postfity to automatically schedule daily posts. Most weekends are spent creating hundreds of posts that can be scheduled months in advance. I’m telling you all of this because it is something anyone can do. If you want to, you can use a similar method to promote your books, too. You may start out with nearly no followers but if you consistently work on your social media, your influence will continue to grow. One day you may wake up with thousands of followers and daily page views. You just have to keep at it.

Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?

For children’s picture books, the more accurately the cover reflects the content of the book the better. Cleo’s book features a sweet little girl sitting in a forest scene with her favorite rabbit and fox plushies. She wears her hair in a bow, has bow jewelry and all of her clothes are decorated with bows. Anyone, who looks, can tell that this book has something to do with bows. It’s the same with the title. What could be clearer than Cleo Can Tie A Bow as the title for a book about learning how to tie a bow?

How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

Since Cleo Can Tie A Bow is an instruction book for learning how to tie a bow, the hardest part to capture was how to simplify the bow tying process both in words and pictures. Luckily, I came across the most amazing illustrator, Pumudi Gardiyawasam. We collaborated very closely on the best methods to show the various movements for tying a bow. We got close to our aspiration for perfection but there are really very many ways to tie a bow and every child will respond in their own way. My main goal with this book is to generate interest in children wanting to learn to tie a bow. If after reading this book, they become inspired to work at it, then I feel I’ve accomplished a very important mission. Exercises in manual dexterity build self-esteem in children. Knowing how to tie shoe-laces, neckties, scarves or any other knot is a useful and rewarding skill. As I’ve always said, “Teach a child a useful skill. Build confidence and self-esteem that lasts a lifetime.”

What other books are you working on and when will they be published?

I think I am completely done with my Learn To Tie With The Rabbit And The Fox series of books. But then, I had just about given up on Cleo’s story ever coming to me in this life time, when it finally did. So, who knows? There may be more in the future. Though I have a few other types of story ideas dancing around in my brain, for now, I’ll concentrate most of my efforts on the entrepreneur side of promoting and marketing this book through my Girls Love Bows Gift Shop.

Thank you again for this interview! Do you have any final words?

Yes, I invite you to visit The Rabbit and The Fox Book Store on my blog, too. You’ll find lots of books about rabbits and foxes there plus a bunch of games to promote manual dexterity. Have fun browsing.

https://sybrinapublishing.wordpress.com/girls-love-bows-gift-shop-glbgs-1/

https://sybrinapublishing.wordpress.com/the-rabbit-and-the-fox-book-store/

Cleo can tie a bow. She learned what she knows from a rabbit and a fox. They can teach your child how to tie a bow, too. This fun picture book is intended to be a family bonding parent-child activity. It’s a great way to learn to tie shoe laces.

Cleo Can Tie A Bow: A Rabbit and Fox Story is an educational picture book for children written by Sybrina Durant and illustrated by Pumudi Gardiyawasam. Cleo loves bows! All of her shoes have bows, and she always has a bow in her hair. If you look at her dress, you’ll notice that it has a bow and a sash around her waist. Even her fingernails are decorated with little bows. And her bedroom? Yes, you guessed it. There are bows everywhere — on the bed, on the curtains over her windows; even her stuffed bunny’s ears are tied into a bow. Cleo learned all about tying bows from a story about a rabbit with very long, droopy ears and the friendly fox who had the perfect solution.

Sybrina Durant’s Cleo Can Tie A Bow: A Rabbit and Fox Story is two stories within a story. Children are introduced to Cleo who then introduces the story about how she learned to tie a bow. In her introduction to the book, Durant recommends that parents share the story with their children, so they can learn to tie a bow along with Cleo. She suggests using long ribbons to simulate the fox’s moves or shoelaces. Both stories are engaging and fun to read, and the instructions given by the fox work quite well. I was pleased to note the author cautions that, despite the storyline, one must never practice bow tying moves on a real bunny. Pumudi Gardiyawasam’s colorful and fun illustrations work quite well with the story, and the profusion of bows on Cleo’s wardrobe, room, and bunny will entice young readers to try their own hands at tying a bow. The author also provides a link for a video version and the “Cleo can tie a bow song.” Cleo Can Tie A Bow: A Rabbit and Fox Story is highly recommended.

–Readers Favorite