Robots

I'm having a blast deciding on robot looks for William and the Robot Game!

Below are a couple snapshots of my sketches so far!

Square Button Books

Below is some of the final artwork I created as the fake Designer/Art Director

for our fake children's publishing house, Square Button Books in the very real

Columbia Publishing Course book workshop.

In eight days, we divided into 'houses', decided on our job positions/areas: 

Publisher, Editor(s), Sales, Business Manager, Designer, Production, 

Marketing, Publicity, and Subsidiary Rights

We have to develop almost 30 book ideas, whittling it down to six final titles.

With these books, each person has specific tasks to perform and include in the

final product: A Prospectus of our house's Fall 2014 list.

The horizontal version of our logo.

The cover design for our final prospectus.

**My cover design for our (fake) Mindy Kaling book for teen girls,

complete with my handwriting! 

I wish this book were real. I'd totally read it.

Our editors got to contact her agent to get permission to make our fake title.

**This book went through so many changes, my whole group (including myself)

were ready to scream. I'm relatively pleased with how this turned out

even though it is different from our original look.

Shakespeare meets Gossip Girl...

My cover for the first book of our Middle Grade boys' series, Pegleg Academy.

The final cover does not include the series title and instead just says

the individual book's final title: 

Sticks and Stones, Skulls and Bones

I had fun making the skull out of paper from my notebook and snapping

pictures of it on my phone in my dorm room late at night.

Harry Potter meets Treasure Island.

I illustrated this cover myself roughly in the style of the wonderful Brian Biggs.

We were allowed to use existing illustrations for our fake book covers 

during this workshop, but I thought this one needed

an original image (because there was nothing available to fit this particular title).

I thoroughly enjoyed getting so use my illustration background during

the book workshop.

Our editors contacted Helen Ketteman, who was very enthusiastic about

our proposed project!

**Now, this is a preexisting illustration done by the talented Sara Palacios. 

I borrowed it for this project and doctored it slightly, deleting, moving

 and adding things so that it will better suit the cover.

This was a picture book idea based around Sandra Cisneros' poem.

**Here is my cover design for our (fake) picture book based on the Instagram sensations: 

Tasuku and his best friend, Muu. 

Our resource team - a group of publishing professionals who graciously

donated their time to instruct us during our workshop -

suggested that I "brand" Tasuku & Muu, so the above title is how I interpreted that.

Thankfully, they liked it!

Thank you for looking through all of these!

Now, below are some of the earlier versions of the above titles:

The design supervisors and I fought for this cover for a long time.

Several of the people upstairs (literally upstairs) did not agree that it fit the

developing concept of the book. I appreciated that they did say it was a very good

cover before asking that it be changed 10000 times.

So, we went more modern, as was requested.

I actually didn't hate this as much as I thought I would.

It grew on me quite a bit.

Then, in an effort to try a different feel entirely, I tried a Playbill style

to allude to the Shakespeare aspect of the series. The buyer from

Barnes & Noble liked my Playbill cover a lot, but

she ultimately liked the original cover best, as did I.

That yellow is rough.

This was used in one of our sales packets. 

My teammate asked me to make a coloring book page of Tasuku & Muu.

This was one of my brainstorming results for a logo design. Way too corporate. 

I disliked it instantly. I found a happy medium between this

design and another, resulting in the final logo.

**I do not own the rights to this photo. As this was merely

an educational exercise, I made no financial profits from the image(s).

Love for Ava

Hello, Everyone!

I apologize for my long absence! Things have been incredibly hectic as I

prepare to attend the Columbia Publishing Course at 

Columbia University in New York this summer!

I'm so excited!

Here's an info page about the program for curious minds: CPC website

And NOW I would very much like to share with you the 

announcement of the release of I Really Love You, Ava

written by Amberly Kristen Clowe and Illustrated with great affection by yours truly.

It's a very sweet little story that demonstrates that love can be expressed

not just with words but through actions as well.

Check out Ava on Amazon!

Take a look at the Ava Book Trailer!

If you feel moved to do so, please "like" Ava's page on Amazon!

Thank you for your support!

I hope you enjoy the book!

Read All About It!

I've received the honor of an invitation to be on the Local Author Panel at this year's

 Children's Festival of Reading in Knoxville, TN.

It should be fun! Come by and join us if if you're in the area! 

For more information, click "Read On!" below:

 Read On!

Last Bite of Cake

Here's a color preview of the page I'm working on from I Really Love You Ava.

Coming soon from Willow Moon Publishing!

Meeting Ava

Here's a sneak peek at what I've been (and still am) working on in my blogging absence. 

I Really Love You, Ava 

Written by Amberly Kristen Clowe

Illustrated by Kelsey C. Roy

Willow Moon Publishing

To see the illustrations in color, be sure to get your own copy of 

this very sweet, little book with a wonderful message and a lot of heart.

Keep checking in for more information and updates!

Clever Title

Check out this cute little video teaser for The Banana Police

created by author Katy Koontz!

Watch now!

And make sure to LIKE The Banana Police on Facebook for up to date

information and deals!

Yes! Take me to Facebook! <-- Click

Come One, Come All!!

THE BANANA POLICE would like to cordially invite you to:

SOME EXCITING, UPCOMING EVENTS!!!

BOOK SIGNING EVENT!!

Thursday Dec. 13, 2012

11a.m.-1p.m.

Smart Toys & Books

9700 Kingston Pike #12 

Knoxville, TN 37922

BOOK SIGNING EVENT!!

Saturday Dec. 15, 2012

@11a.m.

Union Avenue Books

517 Union Ave. 

Knoxville, TN 37902

Books will be available for purchase at both locations. 

The author and illustrator will both be available to sign books! 

Come join us, and get the perfect gift for a little one in your life this holiday season!

ADDITIONAL UPCOMING EVENTS!!!

Book Signing Event

Thursday Jan. 10, 2012

Panera Bread

205 North Peters Road

Knoxville, TN 37923

BIG NEWS!!! 

The Banana Police may be coming to the Knoxville Zoo

in the new year!! Keep checking here and follow me

on twitter @kelseycroy for the latest news

on new and current books!!!

BUY YOUR COPY NOW!!!!
Click here for purchasing information!!

Books for Christmas!!

It's that time of year again!!! 

If you have any youngsters (or youngsters at heart) on your holiday lists this year,

 check out these fun, colorful picture books written by local, Tennessee authors! 

To help you on your quest

for the perfect gift, I've included some notes by each title with summary

and ideal audience age range! Give them a look!! 

Written & Illustrated by Kelsey C. Roy

Ideal Audience: Elementary and Up

Description: Written completely in rhyme, Nemanee offers an enjoyable read for adults and children     alike! Tongue twisters and quirky characters encourage that the story be read aloud. Some vocabulary may be advanced for younger readers, but the play on sounds of words throughout is designed to make Nemanee a silly read even for those who may not understand the trickier words. I wrote Nemanee with the idea that children could grow up with it, getting more and more out of the story and detailed illustrations every time they read/hear it.

More Information/Summary: http://www.amazon.com/Nemanee-Kelsey-C-Roy/dp/1463571259

Written by Katy Koontz   Illustrated by Kelsey C. Roy
Willow Moon Publishing

Ideal Audience: Elementary and Up

Description: A fun, silly story about a fictional jungle town where people and elephants coexist peacefully... until the townspeople start getting a little annoyed with how much room the elephants take up in the shopping aisles and how loudly they snore at night. So, what do they do? They call in the Elephant Police! But when the elephants are gone, who is going to eat all of these bananas?? As the town starts flooding with fruit, the townspeople begin to panic! "Call in the Banana Police!"cries Mayor McFoontz! But will the town be able to save themselves without the help of those pesky pachyderms? --- ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN EBOOK!!!

More Information/Summary: http://www.amazon.com/The-Banana-Police-ebook/dp/B00A45Q87A

Written by Elaine Barnes    Illustrated by Kelsey C. Roy

Ideal Audience: pre-K - Kindergarten

Description: A sweet, simple little story about Rose and her imaginary friend Yahootie who helps her learn the skills she'll need for Kindergarten. In this first installment of what author Elaine Barnes hopes will become a series, Yahootie helps Rose learn to tie her shoes. But they don't get it right the first time...or the second...in fact they don't get it right until they've gone through the entire house tying everything in sight. But practice makes perfect, and the mischief-prone duo try and try and tie until they succeed! A great read for pre-K and those learning to tie their shoes! -- Includes an illustrated how-to page in the back of the book!

More Information/Summary: http://www.amazon.com/Yahootie-Shoe-Shenanigans-Elaine-Barnes/dp/1477692231

Round two!

Last week's signing was a success! Union Avenue Books is such a cute, little bookstore. 

I'm going to go there all the time now. If you're in Knoxville, you should too!

Join us this week at the art supply wonderland that is Jerry's Artarama! 

Book Signings!

Another book signing event will be held At Jerry's Artarama @

5220 Homberg Drive

Knoxville, TN 37919

on October 20 from 10-5 

One for you, One for me

Who do you call when your town is buried by bananas?

We're on the final stretch! Keep checking in for updates!

The ebook will be available by Halloween!

Also, follow me on twitter @kelseycroy for the latest information on my current books!

In other news, my assistant Amelie was helping me with illustrations last night.

She has to have her own brush if I have any hopes of being allowed to get work done. 

Going Bananas!!

Sneak Peek!

The Banana Police

Written by Katy Koontz

Illustrations by Kelsey C. Roy

RELEASING IN NOVEMBER 2012! GET EXCITED!!

Attention! Attention!!

Marching onward...

So excited to be working on The Banana Police, to be published before the Christmas holidays!

Written by Katy Koontz     Illustrated by Kelsey C. Roy 

Willow Moon Publishing

Bring on the Bananas!

My third book is under way! I'm really looking forward to this one!

Keep visiting this blog for updates!

Title lettering and illustration by Kelsey C. Roy

To be published by WillowMoon Publishing

Yahootie on Amazon!

I am pleased to announce that Yahootie and the Shoe Shenanigans is 

now available on Amazon.com.

Rose is learning to tie her shoes. Well, she's trying to learn. 

She is joined by her imaginary friend, Yahootie, who helps her master

her shoe tying skills, though not without getting into a bit of mischief along the way.

Check it out here! 

http://www.amazon.com/Yahootie-Shoe-Shenanigans-Elaine-Barnes/dp/1477692231/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342189222&sr=8-1&keywords=yahootie

COMING SOON!!!

"Yahootie and the Shoe Shenanigans"

Written By: Elaine Barnes   Illustrated by: Kelsey C. Roy

A young girl, Rose, and her imaginary friend, Yahootie, are learning how to tie their shoes,

 but before they succeed, they must tie, tie, tie...and tie again.

(Target audience: Pre-K, K)

Coming to Amazon.com in early July, 2012.