Chris Bauer, from Radio to Children’s Author
Russ Baldwin | Aug 05, 2014 | Comments 0
Chris Bauer owned and operated KVAY in Lamar with her husband Larry for a number of years. Both continued their careers in different aspects of the broadcast realm since they sold the station. Larry is self-employed as a broadcast sales consultant and Chris continued to stay behind the microphone as a syndicated radio host and wrote and did voice-overs for commercials. She’s recently expanded her horizons to include writing books for children, based on her experiences as a mother to two daughters and a grand-mother to five grandchildren.
Chris’ first venture is Out of Sight Makes it Right? It’s the first of three children’s books that show by example, some fundamental life lessons for such simple events as properly putting away toys. The books are geared for ages from three to five and are based on events in the lives of her family. More stories are promised including, Tommy Loves Pancakes and There’s a Hero in Every Box, with each episode focusing on more learning events for the principal character, Tommy and his puppy sidekick, Paco. Chris is also working on a fourth book, “This one contains a little more humor and is entitled, Why are Grandpa’s Ears Furry?, she said. Basically, Tommy is visiting his grandfather and notices a unique feature about him. I’m only into the second page on this one, but I think the idea will be fun.”
Chris said she was aware of the difference between writing for the ear for a radio audience and for the eye for a reading audience. She says she received some help on her first venture from long time acquaintances. “Ava and Tom Betz gave me some valuable help as this couple comes from a long-lived newspaper publishing family, the former Lamar Daily News, from our old hometown. Ava helped me with editing the stories and Tom provided contacts and information on how to find a publisher,” she explained, adding, “Dealing with a publisher was a learning experience in itself.”
Chris has also been working on a full scale novel for the past 18 months. “This is a fictional account about life on our island, Big Stone Lake in South Dakota, as seen through the eyes of a middle-aged woman who became a widow and is also coming to terms with growing older. We have such a diverse group of personalities and backgrounds for all the island’s residents. It’s all fictionalized and names have been changed, but there are some personality types that could be recognized.”
Like her short stories, Chris says her works are self-published on-line. “I’m not going to be picked up through a major publishing firm like Random House,” she explained. Instead she continues to make contact with current and new readers through her blogs about everyday events. “I’ve learned that you can highlight your material through a process called organic promotion. It’s a more subtle way of reaching and establishing a clientele than telling everyone, ‘I’ve written a kid’s, book. Go out and buy it!’”
Chris said she just writes when a thought comes to her, “I’m not the kind of writer than can just sit and write out pages for a couple of hours every day. When I get a thought or idea, I try to put it down on paper, but I also find I go back and edit and sometimes re-edit those words before I’m happy with the final result.”
Her work is available under the recently formed Chodi Kid Books line at http://bookstore.authorhouse.com, at Barnes and Noble and online at Amazon.com in paperback and ebook.
By Russ Baldwin
Filed Under: Business • community • Entertainment • Featured • Lamar • Prowers County
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