Karen Collum">Australian Children's Author

All dolled up :)

Recently I did an author visit to my nephew’s school. This doesn’t sound like a particularly unusual thing to do, except that in our case, I’m in Ballarat, Australia and my nephew, Zeb, lives in Alabama, USA. Thanks to Skype, I was able to do a school visit to the other side of the world from the comfort of my own office. Keep reading →

I spent Friday morning doing an author visit at Buninyong Primary School where I read Samuel’s Kisses to four separate classes of Preps. It was an extra special author visit for me as our eldest son started at Buninyong about six weeks ago and is loving his new school. I was delighted to have the opportunity to share my book with the littlies and I must say, all the kids were absolutely beautiful and so very well behaved. Author visits are fun and relatively easy compared to running workshops, but there are still a few things you can do to make your visit a success. Keep reading →

I got a lovely phone call from my publisher a few weeks ago to say that Samuel’s Kisses had been chosen as one of the feature books for the month of June by The Little Big Book Club. It’s such a thrill for me and what’s even more exciting is that the team at TLBBC have put together some awesome activities related to the book. So pop on over and have a look at their great site.

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Serena and I cutting the yummy cake

This is just a really quick post as we’re in the middle of packing up the house and getting ready to move halfway across the country. Throw into the mix a newborn baby and three other kids, not to mention a book launch, and life is a little crazy, but in the best possible way. Keep reading →

I like reading book reviews and they do often influence my buying decisions. Reading a good review makes me excited about a book. But now I’m more than just an observer, reviews are slightly terrifying! I can’t expect everyone to like SAMUEL’S KISSES, however it’s a little daunting to think about other people critically reading my book and writing their honest opinion for the world to see. Keep reading →

What an amazing day I’ve had! The launch was a wonderful success and plain fun to boot. I got to read SAMUEL’S KISSES in public for the very first time and my audience happened to be a group of the cutest 4 and 5 year olds you’ve ever seen. It was a real privilege to witness their reactions to the story first-hand, especially as the book targets this particular age group. The kids were so attentive and giggled in all the right places and were so quiet! That alone tells me they were engaged with the story. It was such a thrill for me and I feel very blessed to be a picture book author. I’ve waffled on enough, so I’ll let some photos tell the story of the launch… Keep reading →

The chocolates are collected, the cupcakes are ordered and the cake is ready to be picked up tomorrow morning. That means one thing: SAMUEL’S KISSES is ready to be launched! In honour of this auspicious occasion, I’m embarking on a one-week pre-Christmas blog tour to talk about all sorts of things related to the writing and publication of my picture book. Keep reading →

Look what I just got…

I’m officially a published picture book author now! Did you hear me squeal from where you are?!

“I’m planning a book launch.” Those are five words I always dreamed of saying but never quite dared to believe would come true. Well, they are indeed true, and on Wednesday, December 1 I’m holding a mini-book launch for my debut picture book, SAMUEL’S KISSES at my son’s Kindergarten. The official launch won’t be until February next year. We had originally planned a late November launch but there were some clashes of dates that meant we had to postpone. It was simply getting too close to Christmas and too close to the arrival of my baby girl! However, SAMUEL’S KISSES will be in book stores over the next few weeks. In fact, my lovely author-friend Katrina Germein sent me an e-newsletter from her local Angus & Robertson book store that featured my book! It was a giddy experience to see my book promoted. As this is my first book launch, I thought it might be helpful to share the process that I’ve gone through to plan my launch. It might help you plan yours! Keep reading →

I’m so excited to be able to give you a little sneak peek into the finished version of SAMUEL’S KISSES. Illustrator Serena Geddes has done an amazing job, capturing the heart and warmth of the story and adding so much more. I’m absolutely delighted and can’t wait until I get to hold that first copy in my hands soon. SAMUEL’S KISSES should be available before Christmas. Keep reading →