My own book got reviewed!

As it happens - and it's just a coincidence, I promise - the first review on this web site is my own book.  I'm re-posting here from http://kiddielit.blogspot.com/2009/10/hal-unwashed-dragon-book-review.html a children's lit blog byJanette Fuller of Houston, Texas that kindly reviewed my book Hal the Unwashed Dragon.

Here is her post:

I just read Hal The Unwashed Dragon by Marc Archambault. This children's book is illustrated by Lorna Foot and self-published via Lulu.com. This is the first published book for both the author and the illustrator.

Hal has a problem. He is cute and friendly but he seems to scare everything and everybody away from him. The flowers wilt and the animals run away when Hal comes near. He doesn't know what is wrong.

Hal feels hurt and sad and confused. Why is everyone treating him like this? Why can't he make any friends?

Hal finally meets an honest bobcat who tells Hall that he STINKS! Hal has bad breath and body odor. He runs home and takes a shower and brushes his teeth. He is soon a clean, happy dragon with plenty of friends.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It deals with a common skill that all children must learn. The subject of personal hygiene is presented in a very humorous and engaging manner. Hal exhibits very realistic emotions when his friends reject him. Children will relate to Hal and will understand how important it is to develop good grooming and hygiene habits. The colorful illustrations in this book are just outstanding. The facial expressions on Hal and the other characters in the story are just delightful.

I predict that this author/illustrator team will soon receive offers from established book publishers. I look forward to many more books to come.

***

Thanks Janette!

If you would like to purchase Hal - there's link in the side-bar.

Welcome to My Indy book review

As everyone knows, Indy music is hot and has a loyal following.  Indy films are also popular and even have their own cable channel.  But what about Indy books?  As an independent author who has just released a self-published kid's picture book, I ran into something of a stigma.  People have the impression that self-published books are, by definition, of lesser quality than those published by traditional publishing houses.  This is just not true.  As I'm sure you're aware there are some traditionally published titles that are just terrible, and some that are excellent.  It's the same with self-published books.  Some are great, some are horrible, some are just OK.  Some are polished, some need more work.  There are many reasons people chose to self-publish and it's usually not because the book "isn't good enough" to be published.  We can get into that in other posts.

My aim here is to provide a two-fold service.  1.  To promote independent authors and their books by reviewing their books.
2.  To help readers discover some of these wonderful books that they may otherwise pass over.

Now I'm just getting started, so if you're an Indy author, email me and I'll review your book.  In return, you tell everyone you can about this blog.