‼️PLEASE READ‼️This @wsj article by Ellen Gamerman came across my table today and I feel like it deserves a thread...It's clear that @epic4kids doesn't understand the creative forces on both sides of the coin-- the book creator and the readers. Here's why...
Sure it takes some creative sense to sit on a virtual stage taking requests from an audience of 1 algorithm but think about this. how is this process going to give us the next GIVING TREE? or @VashtiHarrison or any of those unique perspectives that shift our mindset as a culture?
Spoiler alert! It won't! Epic is in the business of scaling, not telling great stories.
Just because something is seen or wanted by millions of people doesn't make it good. Giving kids candy will always increase engagement, but wait until that sugar high comes down and you realize they haven't eaten a single veggie. I have a different philosophy...
Entire careers have been spent operating by one core desire to tell stories which arise from somewhere else.
An old editor of mine once told me that if you tell a story that arises from within you then you are talking to the widest audience; the reader senses, like an ancient Turing test, the human hand — this will always be true.
Epic is on the verge of creating an echo chamber within the children's market by providing what the machine thinks it wants. Then all of this stuff gets pureed into chum which gets recycled, resulting in more of the same from/for the reader.
Epic, Google, and YouTube are nothing more than mirrors which we ask billions of times, the question: what do they see when they look at us? Are we ok drinking this chum soup?
Show me a place where I can find stories that live outside of this and challenge me to think differently.
Imagine a place where human storytelling is the apex, that what we consume as readers is the stuff of a core human truth—emanating from within a system that is devoid of interference from a few search terms. Or it can go the way of Epic. What do you think?
🎁 Holiday Giveaway 🎁 2020 has been a challenging year for many so it's time to beef up the giveaway. That's why this year I'm selecting 5 lucky fans (at random) to win a signed copy of Speak Up, Molly Lou Melon. Illustrations by me, words by @pattybet64 and from the good folks at @penguinkids . Swipe to see more!
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Here's what you need to do:
1: Follow me at @davidcatrow and like this photo.
2: Tag 3 friends in the comments who love children's books.
3: Post a photo of your favorite David Catrow book with the hashtag #catrowgiveaway2020
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The giveaway begins at 1:00 PM ET on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 and ends on 12:59 PM ET on Tuesday, December 8, 2020. The winner will be selected at random and announced on here. Participation only only to public profiles and to residents of the United States, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico who are 18 or older as of date of entry. Official rules can be found at: /giveaway-2020
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#giveaway #childrensbooks #bookstagram #kidlit #raisingreaders #picturebooks #illustrations #mollyloumelon
@traceeellisross Black-ish and Girlfriends star and daughter of legendary Diana Ross, will be reading my favorite book I LIKE MYSELF on Instagram Live Tuesday, July 28 at 3 PST/ 6pm EST on the @booksandcookiesla
#childrensbooks #childrensbookworld #ilikemyself #raisingreaders
From the moment of the chain, our fates were linked forever- when one falls the other picks them up, when the one reaches the mountain top the other soars too.
Hi everyone! Just a reminder to tune into Episode 9 of Goodnight with Dolly. She’ll be reading one of my favorites “Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon”. It premiers tonight at 7pm EST.
LINK IN BIO
#stayhome #withme #readwithme #goodnightwithdolly
Sorry everyone, I hate to go all dystopian on you in this space. I have always tried to stay positive and funny while discussing my work and ideas —-but in the last few years regrettably things have, I’ll admit it, gotten a little too political for some tastes. And when I have gone rogue I always hoped I wouldn’t alienate too much causing you to stop visiting me anymore because we all like to be liked- but some things can’t stay bottled anymore - so here goes... Truth be told, if this psychopath currently occupying the White House is allowed to remain, literally everything we hold sacred as a democracy is at stake.
And if those who continue to defend, support him and give him comfort and vote for him again- after everything we know about this individual now, then frankly, they deserve everything they get.
