Book Event Season is here
![Book Event Season is here by CK Van Dam](https://ckvandam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/worthington-book-fair-1024x680.jpg)
We’re moving into “Book Event Season,” when authors meet with readers at book fairs and speaking events. You can find me at the following events.
Top Ten Books for 2023
![Top Ten Books for 2023 by CK Van Dam](https://ckvandam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Blog-header-author-talk-1024x577.png)
It’s the time of year when Top Ten Lists start popping up, so I decided to look through my GoodReads list for 2023 and see which books I rated the highest. Interestingly, my list contained a good mix of fiction and non-fiction books
The SD Humanities Council Speakers Bureau
![South Dakota Humanities Council Speakers Bureau](https://ckvandam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Blog-header-author-talk-e1699991472230-1024x525.png)
The Speakers Bureau is the collection of humanities scholars who present on a variety of topics comprising the humanities – including, but not limited to, history, culture, language, literature, philosophy, arts and sciences, and heritages.
First Book Talk for Lone Tree Claim
![First Book Talk for Lone Tree Claim by CK Van Dam](https://ckvandam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-14-at-11.22.18 AM-1024x574.png)
During the talk, I introduced the new characters and briefly summarized the plot. Then, I read an excerpt from the book that encapsulates Katie’s and Jake’s personalities and relationships.
Happy 70th Anniversary, KELOLand
![](https://ckvandam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/KELO-archive-edited-1536x864-1-1024x576.jpg)
If you live in South Dakota, northwestern Iowa or western Minnesota, you live in KELOLand. “KELOLand” was the invention of KELO-TV’s founder, Joe L. Floyd. He took the new station’s “call letters” and created a brand that is still dominant today. The station will celebrate 70 years of broadcasting on May 19, 2023. That’s a milestone in […]
Conversation with readers
![](https://ckvandam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/AgHeritage-1024x528-1.jpg)
Part of publishing a book is going out and talking about the book — having conversations with readers. That’s where I am in my “publishing journey” as I refer to it. I must confess that I prefer to write words on paper than speak words to groups of people. So, I ask the audience if we can […]
Obsessed with printing presses
![](https://ckvandam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Cali_Job_cases-1024x683-1.jpg)
The Printing Revolution started in Germany around 1440, when Johannes Gutenberg invented moveable-type printing presses. As a Journalism major, I spent hundreds of hours at the Printing and Journalism Building on the campus of South Dakota State University. Even the building name put “printing” before “journalism.” We toured the now-ancient press room, learned the basics of […]
Podcast questions: What’s your favorite book?
![](https://ckvandam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/WrinkleInTime.jpg)
Answer to the podcast interviewer: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Part of marketing a book includes being a guest on podcasts. I must admit that it’s kinda fun. The podcast questions have also given me a new insight into myself. One of the questions that podcasters like to ask authors is “What’s your favorite book?” […]
What motivates you?
![](https://ckvandam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Manuscript-1024x631-1.jpg)
I volunteer on several boards, and at a recent meeting the organizer asked a “warm up” question to get the group ready for work. She asked: “Tell us about a meaningful extra curricular activity you did as a child or teen.” Not being athletic or musical, my extra curriculars were mostly academic — like the […]