Jennifer Blecher, CAMP FAMOUS and SUDDENLY FAMOUS

Summary

Totally Booked with Zibby: Episode Summary Featuring Jennifer Bletcher on Camp Famous and Suddenly Famous

Episode Title: Jennifer Bletcher, CAMP FAMOUS and SUDDENLY FAMOUS
Release Date: May 9, 2025
Host: Zibby Owens

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of Totally Booked with Zibby, host Zibby Owens delves into a compelling conversation with Jennifer Bletcher, the acclaimed author behind the middle-grade novels Camp Famous and its sequel, Suddenly Famous. Jennifer provides a deep dive into her creative process, the inspiration behind her stories, the challenges of self-publishing, and her aspirations for future projects, including potential movie adaptations.

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Author’s Background

Jennifer Bletcher is a Boston-based author renowned for her contemporary middle-grade novels that explore themes of friendship, fitting in, and first crushes. With a rich background as a parent to three daughters, Jennifer channels her personal experiences and observations into her writing, crafting relatable and engaging stories for children aged 8 to 12.

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Exploring Camp Famous and Suddenly Famous

Camp Famous introduces readers to Abby Herman, a girl who dreams of attending sleepover camp. When her parents finally consent, Abby discovers that she’s headed to a prestigious camp where the most famous kids in the world—princesses, pop stars, scientists—gather. The story centers on Abby’s journey to understand how she ended up at Camp Famous and how far she’s willing to go to fit in ([02:11]).

Suddenly Famous, the sequel, continues Abby's adventures, delving deeper into her relationships and the dynamics at Camp Famous. Jennifer emphasizes that the sequel was a natural progression of the story, motivated by both her creative desire and encouragement from her youngest daughter ([09:08]).

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Writing Process and Inspiration

Jennifer articulates her approach to writing, stating, “I want to throw a book at a kid, have them fall in love with a story, not be able to stop reading and keep turning the pages” ([05:11]). She begins with a core emotion—such as the desire to fit in—and amplifies it with drama and excitement within a contemporary setting. Writing in the first person allows her to create a deep connection between Abby and her readers.

While Jennifer draws inspiration from her own experiences and observations as a mother, she maintains a clear boundary by not writing directly about her daughters. Instead, she reflects on the feelings and challenges they face, ensuring authenticity without compromising their privacy ([07:21]).

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The Sequel: Suddenly Famous

The creation of Suddenly Famous was fueled by Jennifer’s enthusiasm for the Camp Famous universe and the persistent encouragement from her youngest daughter. Initially perceived by her publisher as a standalone novel, Jennifer’s determination led her to self-publish the sequel. She shares, “I decided to do Suddenly Famous on my own... I couldn’t let it go” ([13:21]).

Jennifer reveals plans for a potential third installment, tentatively titled Royally Famous, which would explore Abby’s adventures visiting Belle’s palace and navigating intense, possibly romantic scenarios ([10:31]). While the third book is still in conceptual stages, Jennifer is eager to continue expanding the Camp Famous series.

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Embracing Self-Publishing

Faced with her publisher’s decision to treat Camp Famous as a standalone, Jennifer chose to self-publish Suddenly Famous to fulfill her vision of a continuing series. This move allowed her creative control and the ability to respond directly to her readers’ desires.

Jennifer discusses the challenges of self-publishing, particularly in distribution: “It’s hard to get books into independent bookstores... but if things continue the way they're going with Suddenly Famous, I’m just going to keep going” ([23:22]). Despite formidable obstacles, her books enjoy steady sales driven by word-of-mouth and support from independent bookstores where she has established strong relationships.

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Future Projects and Collaborations

In addition to her novels, Jennifer is working on a graphic novel project with her daughter, Sadie. Although faced with multiple rejections from publishers, the project has garnered positive reviews and sales through self-publishing via Amazon print on demand ([14:44]). This experience has further solidified Jennifer’s advocacy for self-publishing as a viable path for authors committed to their stories.

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Marketing Strategies and Challenges

Jennifer candidly addresses her struggles with marketing, especially within the middle-grade segment. She notes the difficulty in reaching young readers directly due to the reliance on gatekeepers like teachers and librarians. To overcome this, she explores innovative ideas such as leveraging YouTube shorts and collaborating with independent filmmakers to adapt her books into engaging video content ([24:37]).

Jennifer also highlights the importance of word-of-mouth marketing and school book talks as effective strategies to broaden her readership beyond local circles ([28:37]).

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Movie Adaptation Ideas

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around the potential adaptation of Camp Famous into a movie. Jennifer expresses enthusiasm for transforming her book into a film, envisioning a summer movie set at a vibrant sleepover camp filled with diverse and dynamic characters. She envisages creating "proof of concept" YouTube shorts to generate interest and possibly attract a professional producer to bring the story to the big screen ([19:47]).

Her daughter supports the idea, suggesting practical steps like adapting scenes into short clips and utilizing platforms popular among young audiences [[20:35]].

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Engaging Young Readers

Jennifer emphasizes the importance of connecting with young readers through platforms they frequent. She considers partnering with sleepover camps for summer reading programs, offering incentives for reading her books, and encouraging creative projects inspired by her stories. These initiatives aim to foster a deep and lasting engagement with her audience ([30:53]).

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Conclusion

Jennifer Bletcher's conversation with Zibby Owens offers a vivid insight into the life of a middle-grade author navigating the complexities of storytelling, publishing, and marketing. Her dedication to creating relatable and captivating narratives for children is evident, as well as her resilience in overcoming publishing challenges. Jennifer’s openness about her journey serves as inspiration for aspiring authors and underscores the importance of perseverance and innovation in the literary world.

As Jennifer aptly puts it, “I love writing middle grade fiction. It’s my favorite” ([07:56]), a passion that continues to drive her to bring more stories to life for young readers everywhere.

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Notable Quotes:

• “I want to throw a book at a kid, have them fall in love with a story, not be able to stop reading and keep turning the pages.” — Jennifer Bletcher ([05:11])

• “Marketing is not my strength. I struggle with it because I find part of what we were talking about with like the gatekeepers... I would love to be able to talk to people like your daughter all day long, but it's hard when you're trying to reach a 10-year-old or an 11-year-old.” — Jennifer Bletcher ([23:22])

• “I think very clearly there needs to be more [middle-grade books like mine].” — Jennifer Bletcher ([13:33])

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Jennifer Bletcher’s journey underscores the vibrant possibilities within the realm of middle-grade literature, inspiring both readers and fellow authors to pursue their creative visions with passion and determination.

Transcript

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Hi.

[Zibby Owens]

This is Zibby Owens and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly Moms don't have Time to Read Books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest, best selling, buzziest or underrated authors and story creators whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't have to stay in the know, get insider insights and connect with guests like I do every single day. For more information, go to zibbymedia.com and follow me on Instagram Ibbeowens Jennifer Bletcher is the author of Suddenly Camp Famous, book two. Jennifer is the author of out of Place. Stick with me, Camp Famous. Listen to this. And Suddenly Famous, she writes contemporary middle grade novels about friendship, fitting in, and first crushes. Jennifer lives in Boston with her husband and three daughters.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Welcome back to Jennifer Bletcher, who is here this time for both Camp Famous and Suddenly Famous. Suddenly Famous and I have a very special guest host. My daughter is here with us today. My younger daughter. Welcome to both of you.

Such an honor. It's so good to talk to both of you. Thanks for having me.

Our pleasure. So, Jen, we've known each other now for many years. We read out of Place, which my older kids read. And now my second set of has fallen in love with your work again. So this is great for us. You just keep writing and we'll keep reading.

Try my best. That's what I'm here for.

But why don't you tell us a little bit about what your books are about for those who are joining, and then I will turn it over to my lovely daughter.

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Great.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Yes. So generally speaking, I write books for kids ages 8 to 12, and I write about friendship, fitting in, and first crushes. So I write contemporary middle grade novels. What we're here to talk about today is Camp Famous, which is the story of Abby Herman, who for years and years and years was desperate to go to sleepover camp. And her parents kept saying no. And then one summer, they caved and they said, good news, Abby. You're going to sleepover camp. But it wasn't until Abby got to the airport that they threw a new twist at her and told her she was going to a camp called Camp Famous, which is where the most famous kids in the world go to get away from it all for a summer. So Abby found out that she was going to camp with princesses and pop stars and scientists and all these other fabulous kids. And she has to find out first of all how she got there, but most importantly, how far she's willing to go to fit in. And then Suddenly Famous is the sequel to that story, so the continuation.

Very exciting. Go ahead.

[Child Guest]

Okay, so the first question is, how do you come up with your ideas for books?

[Jennifer Bletcher]

So that's a great question. So I kind of think of my job as an author, particularly as an author for readers your age, is to get kids hooked on books. Like, I want to throw a book at a kid, have them fall in love with a story, not be able to stop reading and keep turning the pages. So the way I do that is I start with a core emotion that I hope is recognizable to all my readers. So in Camp Famous, for example, that core emotion was sort of feeling like you're desperate to fit in. You kind of feel like you're not up to snuff and you don't know what to do about it. But then, because my job is to keep you as a reader really engaged, I always want to take that core emotion and then blow it up with as much drama as I can possibly do within the realm of what I write, which is sort of about the real world, about, like contemporary world. So, yeah, that's how I do it. So for Camp Famous, instead of her going to a regular sleepover camp, I wanted her to go to a sleepover camp with all these kinds of outrageously wonderful, fabulous kids that she wouldn't come across sort of in her day to day life at school. So I always try. My goal is to always make it really fun and exciting for the reader.

Can I jump in with a question? What was your sleepaway camp experience like?

I was a sleepover camp fanatic. I was a sleepover camp groupie. I went all the way through. I was a cit, I was a counselor. I was in it big time. And I actually started writing Camp Famous during the COVID pandemic when my kids sleepover camps were canceled. So sleepover camp was big on my mind when I was writing this story.

Okay, back to you.

[Child Guest]

Okay. For Abby's character, did you take inspiration off yourself or someone? You know?

[Jennifer Bletcher]

I mean, I think as terrible as this sounds, all of my characters are a little bit inspired by things that I've experienced. Personally, I think I love writing in the first person, which is the way Abby's story is written. So it's when the character is telling the reader, I did this, I did that. And I feel like when I write for from my own experiences, that allows me to go really deep with that first person character. So I definitely draw from my own experiences. I also have three daughters and I never write directly about them. I have a very firm rule that I don't want them to read any of my stories when they're my age and think that I wrote directly about their life. But I do get inspired or I do remember the way I felt at that age when I watched them sort of go through things that they're dealing with in their own lives.

How old are your daughters?

So right now. So right now they are ages 12, 15, and 17. But when I first started writing for this Middle grade age group. You will not be surprised that my oldest daughter was 8 years old at the time. So I've had a good run, Zibby. I've had this good run of, like, kids exactly the right age as my readers in my own home.

Does this mean you're going to start writing for older readers?

I don't know. I mean, I think. I mean, part of what to go back to your daughter's question about what inspires me. I'm inspired by them. But I also have this terrible habit as a writer, which is going to sound a little creepy, but may sound familiar to you in your own home, where I'll come up with an idea for a book and I'll think it's fabulous and I'll spend a lot of time thinking about it. I'll write a few chapters and then I'll sort of very casually like, slide the pages to one of my daughters and just say, hey, what do you think about this? Can you take a look? And then I lurk very awkwardly in the background while they're reading. And if they like a story, I am like, golden. I feel so inspired. I feel so good to go. I feel like I can't wait to tackle the whole book. But if I slide them some pages and their eyes start to wander or like their phone rings and they actually pick it up instead of continuing to read, I kind of know I'm off course. So I feel like I have somewhat of an advantage living with my own readers. And it's sad to think, I don't know, maybe I'll have to move up with them in time. But I love. I love writing middle grade fiction. It's my favorite.

[Child Guest]

Was the sequel easier or harder for you to write?

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Yeah, that's a great question. This sequel was easier for me to write, mostly because I was dying to write it. So when I wrote Kim Famous, I kind of always envisioned it as a series because it was. Most of my books are much more reality based. Camp Famous doesn't actually exist, even though I kind of think, like, it might and we just all don't know about it because it's so top secret. But as far as I know, Camp Famous does not actually exist. But I loved this great group of kids that had such different experiences that I could all throw together in one space. And I don't know about you, but as I was writing it, I knew there was something up. The entire time with Abby and Kai, I just knew it. Like, I felt it in my bones and. And I felt very compelled to write about what is their first sort of hint of love for each of them, which is the sequel of Suddenly Famous. And also, to be frank with you, my youngest daughter wouldn't let me not write it. That was one of those books where I had written a chapter or two, and I showed it to her, and then I kind of put it aside for a little while, and she kept on asking for the sequel. So she wore me down. And I wrote it for her. And I'm very glad that I did, but it was a process.

[Child Guest]

Okay. Are you already planning the third book?

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Okay, so I personally feel as though the third book should be royally famous will be when Abby goes to visit Belles at her palace. And because she's Abby, things go wrong, and she kind of has to work her way out of a very intense, also romantic situation that might happen to coincide with the wedding of Belles older brother, which has been well publicized because he is the crown prince of the country where Belles lives. But I have not started writing it yet. So if you think that's a good idea. I always do well with encouragement because I'm insecure like that, but that's what I'm thinking. So I have not started writing it, but that story is very much in my mind as something that I would like to pursue.

[Child Guest]

I think that's a very, very good idea, and I would really like to read it. And is it like each book will be based on one of the girls in cabin Tranquility?

[Jennifer Bletcher]

I mean, I think so.

I think that they all.

There was a world in which I was gonna write different books from each of the. Of her bunkmates perspectives. But I just love Abby's voice so much. I just kind of hear it in my head. So if I'm going to keep going with this Camp Famous series, I think I'm gonna keep going with. And because these kids are famous, like, honestly, they can send private planes to go pick Abby up wherever she is and bring them to her. So the world is kind of my oyster with this series. And I don't know Abby's. I'm lucky that way, and Abby's lucky that way. So we'll see if there's more adventures in the future.

[Child Guest]

So if the third were to come out, it would take like 5, 4, 3 ish years.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Yes, that is absolutely accurate. So I think so I actually did Suddenly Famous on my own. So Camp Famous was published with my editor and a whole, whole big team behind me. And they ended up seeing. They ended up thinking of Camp Famous more as a standalone book, whereas I really saw it as a series. And because I am a little bit stubborn and I am even more motivated to keep putting more books on the shelves for readers like you who like these kind of contemporary, lightly romantic, very, very sparkly books, I decided to do Suddenly Famous on my own. And because you two are sitting there in front of me, I will tell you that my oldest daughter did the COVID for me. She's a really talented artist, so she drew the COVID which I think is fantastic. So I do probably have the ability to push them out a little bit faster. I keep having more conversations like this that are wonderful and motivate me to do so.

When you say you did it on your own, did you self publish it?

Self published it?

No way.

Yep, I self published it. I did, yeah.

I'm surprised because normally once you write a follow up book like you gave, you didn't even need an advance, you could just handed it in. They're foolish not to publish.

I tried really, really hard. Yeah. I mean middle grade is tough right now. And they saw it as a standalone and I saw it as a series. So I wrote the whole book. My daughter loved it, her friends loved it. I couldn't let it go. And I mean I basically, I really did. I asked myself two questions. I said like, do I think there needs to be more books like this in the world or fewer. And I think very clearly there needs to be more. And then I asked like, did I think I had the ability to put this book out and have it shine the way I want it to and have it be received the way my other books have been received? And when the answer to both of those questions were yes, I was like, I'm doing it. So here we are. And I'm so excited that you didn't know that because I hope that it read just as beautifully as my other books because I did put a lot of work into it.

Well, actually, Sadie and I wrote a book together. We're almost done with it. We did a graphic novel.

Not really.

What do you mean not really?

[Child Guest]

We're not very far into it.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

We're far enough. We can just kind of wrap it up at this point.

[Child Guest]

70 pages.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

We've written 70 pages of a graphic novel. Doesn't have to be that long.

[Child Guest]

It should be.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

We've been sending it out, we've been rejected kind of a bunch of times, which is sad. So we've can. I've been thinking about us just self publishing it, but I didn't have a role model but now we do. How is it going? What should we know?

Yeah, I mean, it's going. I mean, so the finished product is so. I'm so proud of the finished product, the print quality and the COVID The reviews have been fantastic. My readers are absolutely loving it. Sales have been good. Distribution is hard. It's hard when you self publish to get your books into independent bookstores like yours, Zibby. And that's something that has been sad for me because I have developed really great relationships with a lot of independent bookstores, and I want to keep those going, but it's. It's challenging from a distribution side. But if things continue the way they're going with Suddenly Famous, I'm just going to keep going. I mean, this is sort of a conversation that I don't want to bore your daughter with, but middle grade is tricky. I don't know if this is what you guys are finding, but there aren't. People are cutting back with middle grade, which is the publishing term for the age group that I write for. And the other thing is, there are so many gatekeepers for middle grade. There are, you know, to get. To get from the story you write, to get your book into the hands of the people that you're writing for, to get your hands in the book into the hands of your readers, you often have to get through sort of teachers, librarians, professional book reviewers, editors, and a lot of those people are decades older than the readers that you as a writer are writing for. And I think sometimes all of that gatekeeping stands in the way of getting more books out there, or at least books that kids really, really enjoy. I mean, I think the majority of the time the gatekeepers get it right, but sometimes, sometimes they don't. And I think if you're a writer who loves your story, if you guys love this graphic novel and you believe in it, put it out there. I mean, that's been my takeaway from all of this.

And then, I mean, we can follow up with you after for specific questions, but did you do it through Amazon or how did you do it?

I did it through Amazon print on demand. It's tricky to figure out all the formatting, but once you get it, it becomes easier in the future. And the. The print quality is excellent. And I'm sure you guys can see from holding the book. So.

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[Child Guest]

So this is very out there. But I feel like maybe like a couple years Camp Famous would be a very good like movie.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Same. Oh yeah. Oh, sorry to interrupt you. I think Camp Famous would be such a fun movie because who doesn't love a summer movie. Right. And you could set it at a sleepover camp there. Like, there's so many different kids that are all put together in this one outdoor, super great environment. And then obviously, because we've already decided there can be spinoff series of Suddenly famous and Royally famous and Tragically famous and however far, you know, we want to take this.

So, yeah, maybe newly famous. Newly famous. Maybe somebody becomes famous. No, it doesn't work. No. Okay, forget.

[Child Guest]

Would be tragically famous. Would that be like Hazel's because of her mom posting stuff about her?

[Jennifer Bletcher]

It's either Hazel because of her mom, or on the flip side, it's Shira who accidentally does something really, really terrible with her slime business. I don't know.

Are you selling the slime that goes with the slime business?

I mean, I would. Right. If someone. If someone can help me make that.

For sure.

That's. I like that. Outside the box thinking.

[Child Guest]

So we know actually a movie producer and a team. We can maybe bring it up.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

I honestly, I love writing and I love telling these stories, and I need all the help I can get, so I will. I'm gonna. I mean, we can talk, like, plots after this, and then we can also talk representation. You'll.

You'll get your first producer credit if you make this happen. Yeah, you'll get a. You'll get a.

You're. You'd be. You'll get a cameo on the show. I feel like if you like to act.

[Child Guest]

I. I do. Who knows?

[Jennifer Bletcher]

But no, it's been, It's. I know Zibby. Like, I know we've, we've talked for. Over the years a lot, and I just. I love this middle grade space. I want to do what I can to keep. To keep it going and to keep giving readers who like the way I write more books to read. Because I, I, as a parent, I appreciate that when my kids find an author they like or a series they like, and they can just sort of keep diving back into it. So that's what. That's what I'm here to do.

I love it.

[Child Guest]

I have one last question. Yes. When you were Abby's age, did you also have a journal or notebook that you wrote in?

[Jennifer Bletcher]

I did. I had a journal that I wrote in. I still have it. And a lot of times when I go on school visits, people will ask me what recommendation I have for anyone who wants to write or become a writer. And I used to have kind of a stock answer, but now I've changed my mind and I Think my answer is is that anybody who loves books or wants to become a wr should have a private place to write. And I know we don't want to give this away, but it didn't work out quite that way for Abby. But in an ideal world, everyone who wants to be a writer should have some kind of secret private place. They write, whether it's a journal or whether it's a document on their computer that they save and they title it like math homework so that no one ever gets interested enough to read it. Yeah, I think that's really important for people your age and then people the same ages as your mom and I.

[Child Guest]

Those were all my questions for now.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Amazing.

[Child Guest]

Do you have any questions?

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Do I have any questions? Those were, those were really good. I'm totally fascinated with this. How have sales been and how has marketing been now that you've taken it all on your own versus having the support of a publisher?

So sales have been really steady, which is great. They were great in the beginning because everybody I knew bought the book and I was very excited and then I got very nervous. But they're continuing on slow and steady, which I know is all word of mouth because I haven't gotten a single trade review because it's self published. Sales have also been really good at the independent bookstores where I have personal relationships, because I'm able to go to those booksellers, show them the book, explain the story, and then they have been really great about putting it on the shelves. Marketing is not my strength. I struggle with it because I find part of what we were talking about with like the gatekeepers, like I, I would love to be able to talk to people like your daughter all day long, but it's hard when you're trying to reach a 10 year old or an 11 year old. It's hard to reach them. Right. Like if you're writing YA or young adult, you know, or adult fiction, you can get on TikTok or you can get on Instagram and you can talk directly to your readers. So middle grade is different. So whenever I can talk directly to readers, I feel like the marketing goes well. But I am struggling to figure out how to really strike that balance of reaching enough people or enough, enough kids, enough young girls.

Do you have any ideas about how authors who are targeting younger kids can reach them?

[Child Guest]

Well, like a lot of people that are like my age are on like, not like Instagram or TikTok, but like more so YouTube.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

I know, YouTube shorts. Yeah, I know. Well, that's where we need the movie to come into play. Because if we could just get a professional producer to, like, help me film some YouTube shorts, I feel like we'd be golden. But I don't know how to do it. And I spend so much time telling my kids to get off of YouTube that then when I'm like, hey, guys, like, can someone help me figure out this YouTube short stuff? I feel really hypocritical, but I might have to just get over that. Do you use Cap cut? Do you know what cap cut is?

[Child Guest]

I actually do use Capcut, and I help mom make a lot of her edits on Capcut.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Okay, so. And that's worked for you guys to sort of. Okay, I might. I think.

[Child Guest]

I. Yeah, it's not as hard as it looks. I mean, it's. You have to press a lot of buttons and that kind of stuff, but once you get used to it, it's really cool.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Okay.

[Child Guest]

And there's, like, AI features, so it's easy.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

I know. I wish we could, like, cast Camp Famous right now and sort of act it out right, like in Central park or something, and then put it up on YouTube shorts.

But why don't you do it? Why don't you adapt it?

Oh, I mean, I'm serious. Just try.

[Zibby Owens]

Like, just try to take out all.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

The descriptions and just keep the dialogue and see what happens. And, like, put your daughter, like, get her friends and just, like, do it.

Yeah, I mean, I could definitely think about that.

Do, like, one scene. Don't do the whole book. Do, like, the first scene. See how it goes. Film it on an iPhone with, like, cinematic. Yeah, and then at least you'd have the shorts.

Yeah. No, I mean, I guess I do have a whole crew of girls that I could draw from if they would indulge me. Or we could do some, like, really awesome. Oh, man. Some, like, Suddenly Famous would be good on the screen, too. Yeah, but that scene, you know, that scene at the. We can't talk about it, but, like, towards the end, what do you think.

Would happen if she went on YouTube and said, I'm casting for a YouTube special and an adaptation of this book. Would anyone be interested? And then have random kids apply and have them do it with their friends.

[Child Guest]

They could do that. Or, like, I think that would be a good idea. You can set up, like, a website or, like. Yeah, there's, like, some websites and apps that you can use for casting. But also, I feel like if you have. So there are a lot of videos on YouTube where it's, like, clips of a movie. And that gets like. Well, at least it gets me really hooked and try to find the rest of the movie or something like that. So I would say you can make the shorts, but then eventually turn it into a movie.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Yeah.

Yeah.

But this would be good proof of concept.

[Child Guest]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Why not? Could be fun.

I mean, honestly, that's how Suddenly Famous is here. Because I was like, why not do it? Like, I'm not. I. I want. I believe in this story. I believe in these characters. I want to get them out to more kids. And I just did it in book form. And you guys are just thinking outside the box in terms of, like, theatrical form. And that's just something I haven't thought about yet.

But that's a good idea, actually, now that we're saying this out loud, we should do Diary Hoppers this way.

Why?

[Child Guest]

It's meant to be a book.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

She doesn't want to adapt our book.

[Child Guest]

I think Camp Famous would be a really good movie.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Thanks. Me too.

[Child Guest]

I used to be, like, not a book person. I'm not really that much book person, but I really like this book series that you wrote. But, like, a lot of kids don't, like, love books, but get really hooked on, like, movies.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Yep.

[Child Guest]

So I think it would be a really good idea.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Do you think there's a way for kids who love the book to spread the word to their friends? Because word of mouth, as Jen was saying, is such a good idea.

I know. I've got. I've got all, like. I've got a good crew of, like. I live in Boston. I've got a lot of great Boston readers, and they all talk and they spread the word, but I need to get outside of Boston.

[Child Guest]

So actually, at my school, we do, like, book talks every Wednesday, and I actually did one on Camp Famous recently.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

So we've spread the word here.

Thank you, guys. Thanks. New York City. Now we have Boston and New York City covered. There's just so much these out there we need to tackle. Yeah. Well, I'm happy. I know. I think. I think that's why I think series are great, because when you find one you love and that if the author keeps providing more and more, then you can just. It's just more books, like, it's more stories to read before you go to sleep at night. And I'm sure you've tried. I'm sure you try a lot of books and keep an open mind, but some books hit differently with different readers, you know, and if you love. I feel like at your Age. If you love fantasy, you're kind of golden. There's a lot of wonderful, wonderful fantasy series. It's a little bit harder, honestly. I think if you like contemporary fiction, especially if it's sort of lighter contemporary fiction, which is what I like to read as an adult.

We've had some Wings of Fire recently. Recently too.

[Child Guest]

Just with my, like my younger brother.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Yeah, her younger brother is obsessed. So we've all started reading a little bit to see what the, what the big deal is.

Wings of Fire is incredible. Percy Jackson is incredible. There's land of stories. Like there's so many great big fantasy series. But why can't we also do that for contemporary fiction? I think, right. If we've got this big, like Wings of Fire has an amazing cast of big dragons with loads of different personalities and huge epic adventures. That's something to aspire to as far as I'm concerned. Like a series with lots of kids, lots of adventures, lots of big challenges. Like we can have that in the real, real world too. As far I. It's. That's been my experience. Like, who knows what life is going to throw at you.

Maybe. Okay, I'll stop with ideas.

But maybe I love them because I don't think I'm not as good. I love to write. Like I could write all day. I struggle thinking outside the box with marketing. I get like a little bit tied up and self conscious and then I kind of stop.

I feel like with the summer camp audience. Right. Partnering with the different camps, partnering with camp advisors and maybe giving the book to like 50 campers at a certain camp and telling them to do something creative with it and see what comes out of it.

[Child Guest]

Yeah, it's kind of like you could do like a summer reading at like a sleepaway camp.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

That's a great idea.

[Child Guest]

But it's like it's camp famous.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Yeah. Summer reading at sleepaway camp. And maybe you could. Maybe there'd be some incentives or something. What incentives? Like prizes or things that kids would get if they read it as their summer reading at the camp. Would that help you read if you weren't like, yeah, probably. I don't know. Well, this is all very exciting and congratulations on figuring out how to totally entertain my daughter for hours, which I have about a two minute time where she tolerates me. No, I'm kidding.

I hear you. Well, it's different when it's not your mom. It's like automatically amnesia time. So if I write royally famous, if I send you a rough draft, will you give me some Honest feedback.

[Child Guest]

Yes.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Okay.

She would be very excited.

Oh, gosh. Now I just have to do it. See, but this is, like, good kind of pressure. But that's the problem with marketing, is marketing also takes up a lot of time. So when you're trying to do it all yourself, when you're trying, like, that's. I think, the biggest challenge of independently publishing that I'm finding right now is that when I'm trying to write, produce content, produce the book itself physically and do the marketing, it's pretty overwhelming.

Well, if you wouldn't mind just finishing the rough draft before she goes to sleepaway camp this summer, that would be great.

It's April 22nd.

You have, like, you have a couple months.

Okay.

She's actually going in July. Oh, even better.

[Child Guest]

July 15th.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

July 15th. We could give it to her as a gift and she could read it at camp.

Okay. It might have to be, like, printed out on my printer at home, but we'll spiral bind it and send it on its way, and then you can pass it off to all your bunk mates. And then that's how we. That's how we roll.

Love it. Now everybody has a deadline. All right. Perfect.

Nothing better than a deadline.

Oh, my gosh. All right. Congratulations on camp Famous. Suddenly Famous, which is by her bed, so we forgot to bring it in. And yes, congrats. We're so excited and in your corner and here for all of it. Right?

Thanks. Okay, next up is, like, Central park with a TV crew.

You got it.

And a whole slew of actors. Yes.

Okay, good luck.

Thanks so much, guys. It was lovely talking to you, and thanks for the motivation, because this is why I do it. So keep going.

[Ad Sponsor]

Thank you.

[Jennifer Bletcher]

Thank you reading. I'll keep writing books for you to keep reading them. Bye. Bye, guys. Nice talking to you. Bye.

[Zibby Owens]

Thank you for listening to Totally booked with Siby, formerly Moms don't have time to read books. If you loved the show, tell a friend, leave a review. Follow me on Instagram iippyowens and spread the word. Thanks so much. Oh, and buy the books.

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