Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld

Supporting our LGBTQIA Kids

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Guest post by Afsaneh Moradian

 

Our story 

About two years ago, my child informed us that they are nonbinary. That they don’t identify as either boy or girl and that their pronouns are now they/them.  Of course, this was fine with me. But, it did take a lot of work to stop using she/her in reference to my child. I’d been doing that for so many years, I was on autopilot. I tried and made a lot of mistakes in the beginning. Then I saw my child’s face when someone called them she. My child cringed and felt so uncomfortable. 

[Read more…]

Sky-Diving to Success Through the Sliding Glass Doors of Picture Books

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Women’s History Month is celebrated throughout the whole month and we are thrilled to share with you this guest post by author Vivian Kirkfield.

SKY-DIVING TO SUCCESS

THROUGH THE SLIDING GLASS DOORS OF PICTURE BOOKS

I had a lucky childhood.

I didn’t have to worry about food or shelter or safety. And growing up on the Lower East Side of New York City, I learned early on that people came in all shapes, sizes, and colors. I didn’t need books to introduce me to different cultures – I just played with the neighborhood kids – their family backgrounds spanned the globe. [Read more…]

A July Flash Sponsorship Sale Tutorial+ The Power of Collaboration

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As I type this, I am so proud that  Multicultural Children’s Book Day is in its eighth year. Eight years!

Time flies when you are loving your work! If you are new to this initiative, Multicultural Children’s Book Day (MCBD) is a non-profit initiative that is dedicated to supporting and shining the spotlight on diversity in children’s literature and their authors and publishers. Read more about our mission here.

The MCBD on and offline celebration occurs on the last Friday of January and our next celebration will be 1/29/2021.

So many amazing things have occurred over the last eight years and notable headway has been made in raising awareness on the importance of diversity in kid and YA literature. Check out our past post, 5 Ways that Increasing the Awareness of Diverse Books is Paying Off for more facts and victories.

But, I am also keenly aware that today’s world is not what it was 12 months ago.

If you are an Author or Publisher, I’m sure you have noticed that it seems that people are pulling back from buying a bit. And rightfully so. People are scared and unsure about where the next paycheck is coming from. I also know adults and kids alike need distractions, escape, and positivity that reading a book can provide. So if it feels like your book promotions/launches/sales are falling flat, don’t despair.

Keep going. Keep writing. Keep sharing.

I was recently doing some reading on innovative ways to marketing books during uncertain times and every.single.article mentioned collaboration as one of the most powerful ways to get your work in front of new eyeballs and pocketbooks.

THAT, is what MCBD is; collaboration. Authors and publishers support our non-profit with Sponsorship purchases so we can continue to donate books to organizations, centers, classrooms, and under-served readers.

In return, these same authors and publishers are tapping into a monstrous social reach and powerful name-recognition that we have worked 8 years to build.

It’s a win/win.

So, if you are a diverse children’s book author or publisher, being part of this epic online celebration is yet another unique and exceptional way to be seen.

To be heard. To be discovered. And our July Flash Sale is a way to save some moolah while locking in either a Platinum Level or Author Sponsor Level for 2021.

If you are a diverse children’s book author or publisher, go here to download our Sponsorship Packet for 2021 to see all the perks that are included in the different levels of participation.

**Our Super Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Levels will be available September 1, 2020***

If you want to save some $$ and get on board for our 2021 celebration….

Go here to read more details about the Flash Sale.

Go here to secure a Flash Sale Platinum Level (only 2 spots left!)

Go here to secure a Flash Sale Author Sponsorship spot for 2021 (unlimited)

**Our Super Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Levels will be available September 1, 2020***

In a nutshell, ALL MCBD sponsorships provide participants with an amplified level of visibility and recognition for their multicultural/diverse children’s and YA books.

Sponsorship Level Perks also include:

  • Social proof that publishers, book reviewers, book buyers, and educators take note of for years to come
  • Those who participate as a Sponsor during this wildly successful event also know they are tapping into epic buzz and visibility on social media.
  • Our Sponsors are also matched with as many or as few vetted book reviewers who will read, review, and share the book on their social channels.
  • The opportunity to be of service and work towards the greater goal of getting diverse books into the hands of under-served readers.
  • As a non-profit, MCBD also works tirelessly to get those books in front of parents, caregivers, educators, and librarians while also getting them into the hands of young readers. Read more about our mission here.

Proof of Success and Warm Fuzzies from our 2020 Event

Maybe it’s just us, but the MCBD Team felt that our 2020 on and offline diverse kidlit celebration reached a whole new level of “Epic-ness!”

Needless to say, there were many, many examples of Multicultural Children’s Book Day Celebrations that made our eyes leak with happiness. Here are three stand-outs:

#1-Heartwarming Classroom celebrations: Over the last seven years, support and recognition from educators and librarians have continued to increase. This makes us incredibly happy. Some of the best rewards for the hard-working MCBD Team are to see all of the smiling faces and little hands clutching multicultural books and enjoying a classroom celebration.

Find a plethora of examples that will make your heart sing and give you the warm fuzzies for weeks on the Multicultural Children’s Book Day blog here!

#2-We Trended on Twitter!

January 31st was a tough day to try to trend on Twitter against a trifecta of disturbing and sad (Kobe Bryant, Coronavirus, Impeachment)…but we did it! During our #ReadYourWorld Twitter Party, we slightly broke the Internet with all of our diverse book-loving magic and trended on Twitter. Yay us!

Multicultural Children's Book Day 2020 Trends on Twitter!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 Trends on Twitter!


From Super Platinum Sponsor, Make A Way Media

This is just a small sample of the global fun and book-inspired participation. Search #ReadYourWorld on any social media channel to discover MORE memorable moments of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020. THANK YOU, everyone!

Ways To Get Involved

Some other things you can do to not only stay in the loop on what Multicultural Children’s Book Day is up to but also raise awareness for your work in affordable ways. Here are a few ideas:

1. Join our private Facebook Group of over 1500 like-minded book reviewers, publishers, authors, and educators. Just be sure and note the rules (book promotion is limited to Monday Marketing only).
Multicultural Children's Book Day Facebook Group
2. View our timeline for event planning HERE. This will give you an idea of what our process is and know when and where to look for signups and updates.
4. Participants and supporters can also stay in the loop with the festivities via the event’s hashtag #ReadYourWorld on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media.

5. Social Media Shout-Outs! Leverage the robust social media presence of MCBD with the uber-affordable Social Media Shout-out to shine the spotlight on your book (or an author or book you admire). Multicultural Children’s Book Day has some serious social media juice on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and shout-outs are a marketing nugget of gold for authors and publishers! Get all the details HERE.

 

6. Guest Posts on the MCBD Blog: Tell us the story of your author’s journey. Tell us why YOU think diversity in kidlit is important. Tell us about a diverse book-related topic that you believe in, have experience in, or one that simply needs deeper discussion. Connect with the Project Manager at Becky (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com with your idea and to request our Guest Post Guidelines.

Have questions on How You Can Get Involved In Multicultural Children’s Book Day? Connect with the Project Manager at Becky (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com.

Others ways to participate in the Multicultural Children’s Book Day Initiative:

    1. 1. {Teachers} Multicultural Children’s Book Day FREE Book for Your Classroom Campaign-If you know of a classroom or library that would like a free hardcover, library-approved, diversity children’s book, have them sign up HERE.
    2. {Parents/Librarians/Teachers/KidLit Lovers} Free Book to Review. MCBD offers a free diverse children’s book to parents, grandparents, and educators that are willing to write a review and this year we are not limiting reviewers to just bloggers. Just share on your review on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or your blog. Get sign up details here.
    3. {Everyone} Be an MCBD2021 Sponsor: Sponsorship is not only a great way to support this event; it is an excellent way to get an author’s name and books in front of thousands of readers. Sponsorship levels range from Platinum to Author Level and a Friends of MCBD option is also available for those who would like to support the initiative with a monetary donation. MCBD Sponsors not only keep the MCBD machine humming, it enables us to support underserved readers, libraries, and schools all year long.
    4. {Everyone} Multicultural Children’s Book Day Free Resources, Booklists, and Extension Activities for Teachers and Parents. Enjoy this vast resource list of diverse children’s books categorized by culture, religion, sexual orientation, special needs or ethnicity.
    5. Check out the MCBD2020 Big Giant Linky for HUNDREDS of diverse kids’ and teen book recommends and reviews to help expand your home or classroom bookcase. Go HERE and scroll down.

 

– Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay

– Twitter https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay

-Instagram https://www.instagram.com/readyourworldmcbd/

-Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/pragmaticmom/multicultural-books-for-kids/

As the next MCBD event approaches on January 29, 2021, I encourage everyone to follow along via the MCBD website and social media to win even more books, hear from authors and learn the importance of “windows and mirrors” in today’s children’s literature.

 

The differences between MCBD’s Sponsored Posts and Sponsorship Levels

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Its no secret that Multicultural Children’s Book Day is committed and passionate about shining the spotlight on diverse and multicultural kids’ and YA books in as many creative ways as possible.

Over the years, we’ve worked hard to fine-tune our paid offerings so that they give our authors, publishers, and organizations the most “bang for their buck.” Spreading the word of diverse books, authors, publishers, and resources in the most effective ways possible is what we strive for on a daily basis.

To date, our two most popular and effective options are our Sponsored Post Program and our yearly Sponsorship Level opportunities. We’d love to spread the word of diversity in children’s literature via either a Sponsored Post or a Sponsorship Level for MCBD2020, but we also know that figuring out the difference between the two can be confusing!

With that in mind, here are some of the differences between the two:

The differences between MCBD’s Sponsored Posts and Sponsorship Levels

SPONSORED POSTS:

*Are offered during February and September (what we call the “off-season”) and the article we write for you “lives” on the MCBD site forever.

*Sponsored Posts also come with robust social media. Go here for more specific information.

*Sponsored Posts are highly targeted information and shareable images that we promote heavily for a few months and then sporadically throughout the year.

*Sponsored Posts do not include any matching to book reviewers who will create their own reviews of your book.

*Currently, we only have one other Sponsored post schedule (for September) and our web traffic is still very vibrant during the off-season. You have a wide range of dates to pick to have your Sponsored post go live!

Sponsored Post Package

*I (Becky) personally love creating Sponsored Posts because they are so in-depth and personal. You would be working closely with me to create your Feature Article that will appear on the MCBD blog and have full approval over everything.

SPONSORSHIP LEVELS for MCBD2020:

*Sponsorships are only offered from October to January 1 of any given year and are a unique marketing tool to help authors, publishers, and organizations to tap into the HUGE momentum and buzz that surrounds our on and offline event. MCBD2020 is on 1/31/20, but things really start to get exciting and crazy around November 1.

*As part of your Sponsorship for MCBD2020, you will be matched with as many reviewers as you would like. We have a huge pool of over 800 people who sign up to get a free diverse book (supplied by you) and they, in turn, share their review and thoughts of your book on their own social media channels during the month of January.

*The buzz during our holiday is enormous and our hashtag #ReadYourWorld has historically trended on Twitter during the celebration day.
*If you choose a Medallion level Sponsorship, your logo and 2-3 book cover images become part of our active Pinterest Pinning initiative (Pinterest is a huge traffic driver for us)

*You will have a listing and links on either our Medallion Level Sponsor Page or Author Level  (whichever level you choose) and that information will remain on our site for one year.

*If you choose a Medallion Level (Platinum through Bronze) your linked logo will appear on the sidebar of the MCBD site and stay there for one year.

*Your information is promoted and shared via social media from the moment you sign up and the promotion of your book or business will become heavier as the online celebration nears.

*GO HERE to download our Sponsorship Packet so you will have deeper details and rates.

As always, don’t hesitate to email me (Becky (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com) if you have any questions. We are always available to help our participant SHINE and gain traction in the diverse children and YA book world.

We look forward to working with you!

The Author/Platinum Sponsorship July Flash Sale has BEGUN!

It’s time!

Back by popular demand is our MCBD 2020 Author Sponsorship July Flash Sale! And this year, we are throwing in a special deal on Platinum Level Sponsorships as well (limit of 3)!

Go here to see past Medallion Level Sponsors and Author Sponsors(MCBD2019)

Planning for MCBD2020 is already underway and we can’t help being in awe as to how far this non-profit initiative has come.

Mission:  Raise awareness for children’s books that celebrate diversity by getting more of these books into classrooms and libraries. Multicultural Children’s Book Day is celebrated on the last Friday of January. 2020 will be our 7th year and our much-anticipated Twitter Party on the day of the celebration grows bigger (and more fun!) every year.

From October through February, Multicultural Children’s Book Day is especially active on social media and the buzz surrounding this event gets national even global support and recognition. The whirlwind that is Multicultural Children’s Book Day is a proven way to get books into the hands of young readers while also raising awareness with parents, caregivers, teachers, and librarians.

We know Author Sponsorship is an amazing and powerful way for Authors to get visibility and readership for their work. Last year’s July Flash Sale was huge success and authors and publisher appreciated the cost savings.

NOTE: Medallion Level Sponsorship options for MCBD2020 (1/31/20) will be available by September 1, 2019…but in the meantime…

Lock in your MCBD 2020 Author Sponsorship during the July Flash Sale!

During the July Flash Sale, the Author Sponsorship price of $129 will be slashed to $89 for Author sponsorships purchased in July for MCBD2020—that’s a 30% savings!




Recognizing all of the wonderful authors and illustrators that bring multicultural children’s books to life is very important to us. As a way of acknowledging their work and shining the spotlight on specific authors, the MCBD Team has created a very special sponsorship option.

GO HERE to read deeper details and don’t let this opportunity pass you by!

**sale ends July 31, 2019

The 2020 Platinum Level & Author Sponsor July Flash Sale is COMING

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Our much-anticipated July 1st Flash Sale for Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 (1/31/20) is not far off so…

Mark.Your.Calendars!

During the July Flash Sale, the Author Sponsorship price of $129 will be slashed to $89 for Author sponsorships purchased in July for MCBD2020—that’s a 30% savings!

NEW THIS YEAR-During this popular sale we are also offering our Platinum Level Sponsorship (limit of 3) at a very, very special sale price as well. Between July 1 and July 31, 2019, our usual Platinum Sponsor price is slashed from $1579 to $1105.00. That’s a 30% savings!

PLUS, we’ve added some new perks to our Platinum Level Sponsorship for MCBD2020. You can view those perks and others here.

Remember:

  1. The sale doesn’t begin until July 1st and it will end July 31, 2019, so watch your Inbox and social media for the announcements.
  2. Your 2020 Platinum or Author Sponsorship info will not be loaded on to the Sponsor Pages and visible to the public until September 1st, 2019. Sponsors will be added in the order in which they paid (re: early buyers will be towards the TOP of the page!)
  3. There are only THREE Platinum Level Sponsorships available for MCBD2020. First come, first serve!

GO HERE to download our Sponsorship Packet and see what your Platinum or Author Sponsorship for 2020 will include.

If you haven’t already done so, join our MCBD private Facebook Group and connect with other like-minded reviewers, readers, and authors.

Sponsored Posts!

Did you know that we offer Sponsored Posts for Multicultural Children’s books?

 

Need marketing help for your multicultural children’s or YA book? We can help! The MulticulturalChildren’s Book Day Sponsored Post Package as a way to leverage our robust social media and a strong following.

Reach more than 260,000 people with a SPONSORED POST OR BOOK REVIEW: $25O

***Our Sponsored Post options are only available from February to September of any given year***

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Sponsored Post Packages get the details here 

Join our mailing list and stay in the loop!