Find some Fantastic MG Authors and their Books during this Massive Holiday Giveaway...

About the Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition 7" Tablet

I was pretty excited to see this pretty cool new product available through Amazon. This is a HOT PRODUCT! The all-new Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition Tablet also comes with 1 year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited (which means kids get unlimited access to 5,000 books, movies, TV shows, educational apps, and games—at no additional cost!). It includes a quad-core processor for great performance, a vivid HD display, front and rear-facing cameras, and Dolby Audio PLUS comes with a Kid-Proof Case, and a 2-year worry-free guarantee - if they break it, return it and Amazon replaces it for free. No questions asked! Um... can you say Christmas present?   

Fabulous Sponsors (Bloggers)

Thank you to the following bloggers who are sponsoring this giveaway. Please consider visiting at least one or two and thanking them personally.

  Mother Daughter Book Reviews 

  Enter Here Canada

Lavender Likes, Loves, Finds and Dreams

I am a Reader 

  Addicted Readers 

  Crystal's Tiny Treasures

A Bit Bookish 

 Home on Deranged

Book, Reviews and Giveaways

Tales of a Bookworm 

  BeachBoundBooks 

  A Leisure Moment  

Fabulous Sponsors (Authors and Publishers)

A big thank you to all of the participating authors and publishers who are sponsoring this giveaway. Below you will find their fabulous books broken down by category. Please note that these categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, some of the middle grade books featuring dogs also feature a great adventure or some great tween books also have a hint of magical realism.

* PLEASE READ *

Under each category you will see a button to "Add to Amazon Wish List" and "Add to Goodreads". If you click on these buttons, you will be directed to a Listmania list or one of my bookshelves where you can add each book to either your wish list (Amazon) or want-to-read shelf (Goodreads). Doing this will earn you entries in the giveaway below. 

AMAZON: Hint...if you scroll to the bottom of the list on Amazon, you will see a button "Add All Items to Your Wish List". One click is all it takes! 

GOODREADS: If you do not see the column entitled "my rating", click on "settings" and make sure that the "shelves" box is checked. This will make it super-easy to add the books to your "to-read" shelf. 

Please consider purchasing one, two or more books that interest you as a "Thank You" to these generous sponsors. Some books are free, others only 99 cents!   

★★★★★★★

Picture Books for the Holidays

         

★★★★★★★

Rhyming Picture Books

          

★★★★★★★

Award Winning Picture Books

         

★★★★★★★

Picture Books (Life Lessons)

         

★★★★★★★

Picture Books (Non-Fiction)

          

★★★★★★★

Great Books for Tweens

         

★★★★★★★

Chapter Books for Newly Independent Readers

         

★★★★★★★

Chapter Books for Reluctant Readers

         

★★★★★★★

Middle Grade Books Featuring Dogs

         

★★★★★★★

Middle Grade (Magical Realism)

         

★★★★★★★

Middle Grade (Science Fiction/Time Travel)

               

★★★★★★★

Books for Tween/Teen Girls

         

★★★★★★★

Middle Grade (Adventure)

          

★★★★★★★

Giveaway Details

Prize: One winner will receive either a new Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition 7" Tablet (US only) a $200 Amazon gift card (International) or $200 PayPal cash prize (International)

Contest closes: November 30, 11:59 pm, 2014

Open to: Internationally

How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.

NOTE: When the winner is chosen, ALL of their entries will be verified. If ANY of the winner's entries is invalid, they will be disqualified and a new winner will be chosen. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Opportunity to Win a New Touch Screen Kindle Preloaded with 50 Tween Lit Books...

Attention teachers, librarians, tweens, and parents of tweens! Announcing a contest just for you... The Emblazon authors are giving away a brand new touch screen Kindle loaded with over 50 of their books. That’s a $300 value and hours of reading entertainment! Emblazon is a collection of authors who seek to create lifelong readers by creating top-notch literature for kids. They have a particular focus on ages 11 to 14. They’re hosting this fabulous giveaway to celebrate their first year and to treat you, the readers. The Rafflecopter contest runs November 3 through November 17 and is open to anyone who loves tween literature. a Rafflecopter giveaway Note: Signing up for the catalog is required for entry. Current subscribers are also eligible for entry. Winners must reside in the United States or Canada. 

List of Stops on the Blog Tour:

November 3^rd:

This Kid Reviews Books

Christina Mercer, Author Blog

D. Robert Pease, Author Blog

Ali Cross, Story Ninja

November 5^th:

Jaclyn Weist, Author Blog

November 10^th:

Bookworm Blather

Min Reads and Reviews

Sharon Ledwith: I came. I saw. I wrote.

November 11^th:

The Novel Mage

November 12^th:

R.K. Grow The Author

My Keys On: Writing, Illustrating, and More

November 15^th:

Monique's Musings

You can help even more by sharing this post with your friends and family. If you know teachers or librarians let them know about how awesome the Emblazoners are by sharing the link to their website: http://emblazoners.com/

November Happenings, Goodreads Giveaways, and other Great Stuff…

This month will prove to be a busy one for me! I’m already sweating buckets. First up, I’ve got two Goodreads Giveaways happening for each of my time travel books, The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, and the prequel to the series, Legend of the Timekeepers beginning November 1^st and running until midnight on November 22^nd. The giveaway is open Worldwide, which gives me plenty of time to mail the winners their signed paperback copies before the end of holiday season. BTW – I’m including a set of signed trading cards to go along with the books, so go to the end of this post to enter these giveaways!

Second up, I’ve signed on as a participating author with the Mother Daughter Book Reviews for their Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition Tablet Holiday Giveaway. I know, that’s a mouthful to say! This is a fantastic opportunity for authors and book bloggers to reach new readers and put a smile on a child’s face at the same time. Here’s what Renee, the hostess of this event has to say:

"I was pretty excited to see this pretty cool new product available through Amazon starting October 21. This is a HOT PRODUCT! The all-new Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition Tablet also comes with 1 year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited (which means kids get unlimited access to 5,000 books, movies, TV shows, educational apps, and games—at no additional cost!). It includes a quad-core processor for great performance, a vivid HD display, front and rear-facing cameras, and Dolby Audio PLUS comes with a Kid-Proof Case, and a 2-year worry-free guarantee – if they break it, return it and Amazon replaces it for free. No questions asked! Um… can you say Christmas present?"

Wow, now I want one! Here’s the gist of the giveaway: One winner will receive either a new Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition 7” Tablet (US only), a $200 Amazon gift card (International) or $200 PayPal cash prize (International). The event will take place from November 1^st to 30^th, 2014. The giveaway is open Worldwide.

Third up, I’ve got a two week Mini Social Media Blitz set up with Mother Daughter Book Reviews starting on November 24^th. This will be an experiment for me, as I’ve never used this type of service before. This particular book promotion includes 10 Tweets (provided by me), 2 Facebook shares, 1 Google+ share, Pinterest Pins to at least 2 Mother Daughter Book Reviews boards, and adding my book (I choose The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis) to Goodreads “Want-to-Read” shelf. It should be interesting to see if this promotion generates interest in my books. BTW—their monthly page views range from 45,000 to 55,000 so it seems like a win-win to me.

Fourth up, I’m part of this fantastic tween writers group called Emblazon. We Emblazoners are planning a HUGE Rafflecopter giveaway which will run for 2 weeks beginning Monday, November 3^rd. There will be books, ebooks, and book swag up for grabs. Oh, did I mention the Kindle preloaded with 40 of the Emblazoners middle grade books? There will also be a Facebook party where readers can interact with authors and win great prizes. Any teachers or librarians out there will benefit from this fun event as we release our newest catalogue into the world just in time for the holiday season!

Fifth up, and finally, I’m participating in the Windsor-Essex Book Expo on Sunday, November 23^rd. This gives me a chance to meet and connect with readers and authors in the area. They’ve got some awesome sponsors, and there will be children’s events, autographs, and readings from local authors. I’m personally bringing Twizzlers® to hand out to the kids (and most-likely some adults), along with signed trading cards and postcards. BTW—anyone who buys one of my books scores a Last Timekeepers rubber wrist band! For more information on this event, please click HERE to go to the Windsor-Essex Authors Facebook page.

Whew! Still sweating! Thanks a heap for reading my blog. If you have time, please leave a comment and share what you’re planning to do to boost your book sales and author presence during the upcoming holiday season. If you’re a reader, what type of events would grab your interest and draw you into an author’s world? Cheers!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis

by Sharon Ledwith

Giveaway ends November 22, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

6 Steps to Creating a Master Plan for your Writing Business…

I began writing my master business plan for publishing my novel series on March 9^th, 2011. This was about 1½ years before I had a signed publishing contract under my belt. Since then, there have been many revisions to this plan. I decided to write down a business plan when I took the plunge to learn all I could about starting a blog to help me develop an author platform. After a few months of intense research, my blog launched May 4^th, 2011. Publishing my first post was the beginning of putting my plan into action, and it was truly a lift off for me and my writing career.

My business plan and strategy spans five pages. I’ve broken down the plan into headings, and what I’d like to see happen. I’ve set short term goals (next 1-5 years) and long term goals (10 plus years). I also have an objective, which helps me keep my feet on the ground and fingers on the keyboard. I review my plan quarterly, and revise it once a year. This helps me keep on track and weed out the things I’m doing that aren’t working for me.

So how do you even go about preparing a business plan for your writing career? Every writer is different of course, and I can only give you the benefit of my experience writing MG/YA novel series. But we all have to start somewhere.

First: Begin with your objective. Why are you writing in the first place, and what do you hope to accomplish. I want to give readers an experience they’ll never forget, and organize my life around what makes me happy. Figure out your objective, and get it down!

Second: List your short term goals. What do you hope to accomplish in 1, 3, 5 years? Don’t go overboard you can only handle so much. Once you figure out what these goals are break them down into headings like ‘Online Presence’, ‘Website’, ‘Novels’, ‘Work in Progress’, ‘Time Management and Commitments’, ‘Sales Plan’, ‘Promotion and Marketing Strategy’, and ‘Financial Goals’.

Third: Now for the fun part! Under your headings list the steps you need to take to accomplish your goals. For example, under my ‘Online Presence’ heading I’ve listed in point form all the tasks I need to do to keep my author name out there in cyberspace. Here are some examples:

•  I’ve joined HootSuite to help schedule my shares and tweets.
• Guest Blog on other author blogs within the same genre, and make sure to share this info on my social media groups.
• Continue to do interviews with other authors, especially when there’s a new release.
• Approach book blog reviewers, especially a month before a new release. Offer a free copy for honest review.
• Offer my blog as a platform for other YA authors—either interviews or guest posts.

Fourth: Depending on the amount of headings and steps you have, make sure you don’t pile on too much as to make this plan unmanageable. Get real with what you can handle, delegate what you can’t. I had to hire a web designer. No shame in that.

Fifth: Now onto the long term goals. Remember to dream big too! Would you like your books translated into movies? How many books do you plan on writing? What about a book series? Or graphic novels? How many books are you planning on writing in your series? Create a master plan for each series too. It will be easier on you in the long run. Intellectual property like video games or apps is also important to think about and write down. After all, you never know what the future holds if you don’t help it along.

Sixth: Finally, SIGN the bottom of your master business plan. This makes it real. Commit to it. Revise it when things aren’t working out, or your situation has changed. Be flexible, and ask for help if necessary. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is your writing career.

Here’s a formula that will keep things in perspective and keep you on track of your writing goals: TIME + BACKLIST (4 or more books) = SUSTAINABLE AUTHOR CAREER.

Thank you for reading my blog. Have you created a master business plan for your writing or anything else you’d love to pursue? If so, please comment and share your experiences. Love to hear from you! Cheers!