{"id":1610,"date":"2014-01-09T02:20:22","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T02:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/?p=1610"},"modified":"2014-01-09T02:20:22","modified_gmt":"2014-01-09T02:20:22","slug":"jc-little-the-last-snowman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/","title":{"rendered":"JC Little ~ The LAST Snowman"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"JC

JC Little – The Animated Woman<\/p><\/div>\n

Hi guys, JC here, from TheAnimatedWoman.com<\/a>: animator, blogger and story artist. I just published a picture-book called\u00a0The LAST Snowman<\/a>,\u00a0<\/i>which is a true story about a teenage girl (my daughter) who builds a dangerously tall snowman.\u00a0In this guest post, I’m going to tell you how this story came to be a book.<\/p>\n

My years of animation and blogging have helped me hone my visual storytelling skills. Books seemed to be the next logical place for me to take my illustrated stories. Rather than labor to gain the interest of a publisher or book agent, I decided that I would move forward independently; self-publishing allows a story artist like me to reach my audience directly.<\/p>\n

This first book,\u00a0<\/span>The LAST Snowman<\/i><\/a>, was supposed to be the \u201ctest\u201d book. I wanted to use it just to explore the medium and to figure out how it works. But it turned into so much more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To begin with, the process of turning an illustrated blog post into a book was not a simple case of copy-and-paste. I had to rewrite and story edit the text, do additional drawings for context and conclusion, and format the drawings for both Kindle and print versions. In order to nail down the formatting, I had to first educate myself about the publishing and self-publishing worlds. It was like going back to school!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"JCFor about six weeks, I was submerged in searching, reading, asking questions, and figuring out the technical challenge of creating a digital picture-book. Everywhere I looked, it seemed that the technology to both create and view digital picture-books did not yet exist. Even so-called specialist companies that offer authors expertise in formatting services claimed that the industry just wasn’t there yet, specifically for fixed-format books in a horizontal aspect ratio.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After testing many different\u00a0<\/span>ePub options<\/a>\u00a0unsuccessfully, I eventually discovered Amazon\u2019s recently released\u00a0<\/span>Kindle Comic Creator<\/a>, also known as KC2. It\u2019s a very simple program to use and it\u2019s free to download. It can\u2019t do more complex programming, but it turned out to be perfect for my needs. I was able to import my artwork, page by page, into KC2 and export a Kindle ready book file.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From there I went through Createspace, Amazon\u2019s print on demand company, to create the print version of my book, and that was pretty straightforward. Print on demand is a good way to offer a \u2018hold it in your hands\u2019 version of the book for readers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"JCAs far as marketing a self-published book, I also researched this and discovered that I was ahead of the game, because I already have a solid online presence in social media. Four years of blogging and five years of engaging in conversations on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ meant that I had an audience for my first book. I also hired a publicist to do focused media outreach beyond my own audience, landing several book reviews on high-trafficked sites and across social media. We\u2019re planning a blog tour with giveaways in mid-winter. Giveaways are a wonderful way to reach out to people who don\u2019t know me and gain author recognition. I set up a free download through Amazon on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and gave away 422 Kindle copies of\u00a0<\/span>The LAST Snowman<\/i><\/a> in 2 days.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My goal is to bring my illustrated stories to a wider audience; social media and self-publishing is helping me do just that. Result: a few more people will know about me when my next book comes out in Spring 2014!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

JC Little<\/p>\n

@LittleAnimation<\/a>
\nFacebook<\/a>
\nGoogle+<\/a><\/p>\n

The LAST Snowman<\/a>
\n<\/i>About<\/a>
\nAmazon<\/a>\u00a0-Kindle & paperback
\nCreatespace<\/a>\u00a0– paperback<\/p>\n

To get your very own copy of\u00a0The LAST Snowman<\/em><\/a>, click on the cover art below:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

Did you know that JC Little is also a past Amused Now Featured Artist?
\nRead JC’s Featured Artist post:\u00a0http:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-animated-woman\/<\/a>
\nWatch JC’s Featured Artist video interview:\u00a0http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SMgoUGAjiYI<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi guys, JC here, from TheAnimatedWoman.com: animator, blogger and story artist. I just published a picture-book called\u00a0The LAST Snowman,\u00a0which is a true story about a teenage girl (my daughter) who builds a dangerously tall snowman.\u00a0In this guest post, I’m going to tell you how this story came to be a book. My years of animation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70,4],"tags":[52,247,248],"class_list":["post-1610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animators","category-authors","tag-jc-little","tag-the-animated-woman","tag-the-last-snowman"],"yoast_head":"\nJC Little ~ The LAST Snowman - Amused Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"JC Little, The Animated Woman, describes how she turned an illustrated blog post into a fabulous self-published picture book "The LAST Snowman."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JC Little ~ The LAST Snowman - Amused Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"JC Little, The Animated Woman, describes how she turned an illustrated blog post into a fabulous self-published picture book "The LAST Snowman."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Amused Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmusedNow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-09T02:20:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"297\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cynthia Kahn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cynthia Kahn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cynthia Kahn\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/715ddced1f46edbb7a6b2f651273b9d8\"},\"headline\":\"JC Little ~ The LAST Snowman\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-09T02:20:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":682,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"JC Little\",\"The Animated Woman\",\"The LAST Snowman\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Animators\",\"Authors\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/\",\"name\":\"JC Little ~ The LAST Snowman - Amused Now\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-09T02:20:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/715ddced1f46edbb7a6b2f651273b9d8\"},\"description\":\"JC Little, The Animated Woman, describes how she turned an illustrated blog post into a fabulous self-published picture book \\\"The LAST Snowman.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":297,\"caption\":\"JC Little - The Last Snowman Book Cover\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"JC Little ~ The LAST Snowman\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Amused Now\",\"description\":\"Shine a spotlight on indie artists\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/715ddced1f46edbb7a6b2f651273b9d8\",\"name\":\"Cynthia Kahn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/555099fc2c278d2e5096ec9be0207b3b001da38ecc607b6b54d475aac8398d37?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/555099fc2c278d2e5096ec9be0207b3b001da38ecc607b6b54d475aac8398d37?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/555099fc2c278d2e5096ec9be0207b3b001da38ecc607b6b54d475aac8398d37?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cynthia Kahn\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmusedNow\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Amused_Now\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amusednow.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/an_admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"JC Little ~ The LAST Snowman - Amused Now","description":"JC Little, The Animated Woman, describes how she turned an illustrated blog post into a fabulous self-published picture book \"The LAST Snowman.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"JC Little ~ The LAST Snowman - Amused Now","og_description":"JC Little, The Animated Woman, describes how she turned an illustrated blog post into a fabulous self-published picture book \"The LAST Snowman.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/","og_site_name":"Amused Now","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmusedNow","article_published_time":"2014-01-09T02:20:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":297,"url":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cynthia Kahn","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cynthia Kahn","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/"},"author":{"name":"Cynthia Kahn","@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/715ddced1f46edbb7a6b2f651273b9d8"},"headline":"JC Little ~ The LAST Snowman","datePublished":"2014-01-09T02:20:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/"},"wordCount":682,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg","keywords":["JC Little","The Animated Woman","The LAST Snowman"],"articleSection":["Animators","Authors"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/","url":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/","name":"JC Little ~ The LAST Snowman - Amused Now","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg","datePublished":"2014-01-09T02:20:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/715ddced1f46edbb7a6b2f651273b9d8"},"description":"JC Little, The Animated Woman, describes how she turned an illustrated blog post into a fabulous self-published picture book \"The LAST Snowman.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg","width":450,"height":297,"caption":"JC Little - The Last Snowman Book Cover"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/jc-little-the-last-snowman\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"JC Little ~ The LAST Snowman"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/","name":"Amused Now","description":"Shine a spotlight on indie artists","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/715ddced1f46edbb7a6b2f651273b9d8","name":"Cynthia Kahn","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/555099fc2c278d2e5096ec9be0207b3b001da38ecc607b6b54d475aac8398d37?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/555099fc2c278d2e5096ec9be0207b3b001da38ecc607b6b54d475aac8398d37?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/555099fc2c278d2e5096ec9be0207b3b001da38ecc607b6b54d475aac8398d37?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Cynthia Kahn"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/amusednow.com\/","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmusedNow","https:\/\/x.com\/Amused_Now"],"url":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/author\/an_admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/JC-Little-The-Last-Snowman-Book-Cover-450x297.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1610"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1614,"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610\/revisions\/1614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}