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…]

Leveraging the Social Buzz! MCBD’s Marketing Tips Authors & Publishers

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The calendar just flipped to December and Multicultural Children’s Book Day Headquarters is humming right along! As we gear up for an EPIC 8th year of Multicultural Children’s Book Day, we want to remind everyone involved in this vibrant online celebration to share the excitement we work so hard to create far-n-wide.

As we always say, we’ve created the buzz, what YOU do with that energy is up to YOU!

Marketing Tips & Ways to Leverage Your MCBD2021 Participation

  1. Tribe Build: Click over to the Author Sponsor and Medallion Level Sponsor Pages and take the time to Like, Follow, Visit, and Connect on social media with all of our Sponsors.
  2. Connect with Influencers like our CoHosts: Our MCBD CoHosts are picked for a reason–they are “heavy-hitters” in the online world and VERY passionate about literacy and children’s books. As with the Sponsor Pages, take the time to Like, Follow, and connect with our CoHosts.
  3. HASHTAG!: Multicultural Children’s Book Day’s official hashtag is #ReadYourWorld and we encourage everyone to only use that hashtag (and #MCBD2020 as well) when sharing and connecting. On the flip side, searching this hashtag on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest will give everyone a front-row seat to all that is happening with this online celebration. Like, Share, Comment, and RePin whenever possible and the favor will be returned with your information!
  4. Get the Swag: If you are a CoHost, Sponsor, Book Donator or Reviewer, we have special social-media-ready badges/images that you can add to your website and social media efforts. If you don’t have one, email me (Becky) and I will hook you up 🙂 Becky (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com. These images can also be found in the Files section of the MCBD Facebook Group.
  5. Network: Our private MCBD Facebook Group is 1400+ strong and comprised of reviewers, parents, teachers, authors, publishers, caregivers, and librarians. It’s an amazing place to meet like-minded folks, participate in our weekly sharing prompts, and get/give advice and support to others.
  6. Spread Your Brand: As we enter our 7th season of MCBD, I can tell you with complete honesty that the months leading up to the 1/31/20 event are vibrant, buzzing, exciting, and an exceptional way to gain visibility for your work (whether it’s a review, an award, the fact you are a Sponsor or participant, or just diverse book-related news). TAP INTO THAT BUZZ by PARTICIPATING!!
  7. Be Loud-n-Proud about MCBD: We ask that everyone does their part to spread the #ReadYourWorld news and event details whenever possible. If you would like a list of pre-made social media updates that you can just copy-n-paste, we have that! Just let me know and I will email you that info. Becky (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com. **Don’t forget about sharing on Goodreads! It’s the only social platform 100% dedicated to book lovers! Read this article on KidLitTV about the Good Things About Goodreads.
  8. Amazon: If you are an Author or Publisher, make sure your Amazon Author Profile is up to date and invite folks to follow your page. That way, when you add a new title or run a sale, those who “follow” your Author Profile on Amazon will get an email update.
  9. Guest Posts: All of our MCBD participants have such a deep passion for diversity in children’s literature and there are some amazingly knowledgeable people involved in this event (including YOU). Guest posts are an excellent way to share your knowledge and work with a fresh audience. MCBD is always looking for book/education/language-related guest posts on our site.
  10. Follow MCBD on Social Media: FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE, AND PINTEREST!

 

How 2021 The Book Matching Process Works {Reviewers and Sponsors}

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Those who are new to this vibrant online event may not understand how the Book Matching Process works so here is a quickie tutorial.

Book reviewing is a big part of this annual on and offline event. What better ways to share awesome diverse picture, chapter, and YA books than to fill the social media channels with book/author recommendations and beautiful book covers and illustrations.

All reviews shared on blogs, Facebook Pages, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and even TikToc ultimately become part of our Big Giant Linky: an online book review resource for hundreds of multicultural and diverse books for kids and teens.

How The Book Matching Process Works for Reviewers

The first step in this process begins with our Team asking all Sponsors and Book Donators how many reviewers they would like to be matched with. Using that number, reviewer’s details including special requests, we match people to books with as much accuracy as possible.

Then, a member of the MCBD Team will then send an intro email to the chosen reviewers and the author/publisher of the book they are matched with. For privacy purposes, only names and email addresses will be supplied to the author or publisher that a book reviewer is matched with.

It is the book reviewer’s responsibility to send their author/publisher their mailing address in a timely manner to ensure they get their book in time for the 1/29/21 event.

All reviewers are required to post their reviews towards the end of January (preferably on the actual celebration day of 1.29.21) on at least one (as many as possible is appreciated) of these social media channels: a blog, Facebook (Page, not a Profile), Instagram (no private accounts), Twitter (no private accounts) and YouTube. Additional reviews on Goodreads and Amazon are also very appreciated.

WE PREFER that all reviewers wait until closer to the actual Celebration Day (1/29/21) to start sharing their reviews on social media, but anytime between 1/15/21 and 1/29/21 is acceptable.

Don’t forget to use the #ReadYourWorld hashtag! This helps us (and others) find your review and Like, Tweet, Share, Comment, and Pin!

On 1/29/21, everyone is asked to link up their reviews on our Big Giant Linky to create a huge resource that lives on our website forever (go here and scroll down to see the 2020 Linky). **more details on how to use a Linky to come!**

**Please note, not everyone is guaranteed to receive a book! We will do our best, but sometimes demand exceeds our supply of available diverse books**

How The Book Matching Process Works If you are a Sponsor 

If you are a returning Sponsor, you know “how we roll” when it comes to the Book Matching process.

BUT, if you are new to the MCBD Celebration, here is the 411 on how this monumental task works. Book Matching is the process where our team combs through our pool of 600+ Book Reviewers to find people who would be the best fit for the books your sponsorship is focusing on this year.

**Providing a free book to a reviewer(s) is a completely optional perk to all levels of Sponsorship, but it is undeniably an excellent way to raise awareness for your company, authors, or book titles.

How it works with both physical and PDFs review copies:

Our Project Manager, Becky, will send a “book matching” email introducing our Sponsors to their reviewers. The ones receiving a physical book will share their mailing address with whom they are assigned to. We do this for privacy reasons and as a “checks-n-balances” and so the reviewer knows a book is coming.

Sponsors can supply their reviewers with a book description, images, backstory, buy links, etc. at that time as well. The same applies to using PDFs as review copies–only this time a PDF (or a link to where they can find it) will be emailed directly to the assigned reviewer along with availability info and Pre-order links, etc.

More details to come! We appreciate you all!

**If you have questions about Multicultural Children’s Book Day, how to get involved, or how to get free books for your school or classroom, email Kristi at Admin (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com **

 

Memorable Moments of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020

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It’s a wrap!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 is officially over and we think it was the Best.Celebration.YET.

Over the last years, our online and offline diverse kidlit initiative has enabled us to not only shine the spotlight on exceptional diverse books for kids and teens but to also get to know the amazing people who bring those books to life.

Another thing that has touched our hearts and made our eyes leak with happiness is the overwhelming support from young readers, parents, caregivers, educators, and librarians. Here are some examples of the Memorable Moments of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020.

Memorable Moments of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020


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!

ONE MORE THING

Show some social media love while marketing your book (or an author you admire) in a creative and far-reaching way!

Social Media Shout-Outs

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Social Media Shout-Outs

Our Social Media Shout-Outs has escalated in popularity over the last few months because folks see that it an affordable way to show some online love to their own work, an author they admire, or a book they admire. MCBD Social Media Shout-Outs also acts as a fundraiser for this non-profit.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Social Media Shout-Out =$25 (sale price good until 2/28/20)

Anyone with a PayPal account can gift an online “shout-out” to an author friend who has a  kid’s or YA book with a diversity theme OR use it as an effective tool for their own book marketing and book promotion.

Using a custom image created by the MCBD Team, we will provide one share/post our Twitter feed (over 13.7K followers) on our Instagram Feed (over 10.500 followers), within our Multicultural Children’s Book Day Private Facebook Group (over 1500 Members) and our Facebook page (over 4K followers) as well.

That’s a LOT of eyeballs!

AND, right now, everyone has a chance to lock in a Social Media Shout Out at the $25 rate before the price goes up on March 1, 2020. (Purchasers have 30 days from the date of the Shout Out purchase to redeem their purchase).

GO HERE to get more details, see more samples of past Shout-Outs, and to purchase your own Social Media Shout Out to honor someone in the world of diverse books for kids and teens! #ReadYourWorld