Giveaway: A Bookstore Gift Card For Your Help

July 1, 2017 |

I shared this image on social media last week after I did my monthly review session on Amazon. I’ve made it a real point to go there each month and drop a short — seriously, short — review of the books I’ve read and enjoyed. This practice has become a habit, and knowing now from the other side that those reviews really DO matter, I like to think I’m doing my part as a reader and supporter of the book world by leaving a few words.

Most of the response to the image post was positive. But of course, there was a comment that rubbed me wrong as both a reader and an author/editor: why should the responsibility fall upon readers to do this work to help authors?

That was followed by another question/comment about how unfair the burden is but that they enjoy the reviews other people leave since they’re helpful.

While certainly, the onus IS on the reader to do the work in writing a tiny review in order to boost a book’s profile on Amazon (and Amazon is the one we’re focusing on since it’s the largest and most based on the all mighty algorithm), part of the support and success of a book comes through non-financial opportunities like short reviews. Like checking out the book from the library. Like talking about the book with people you know and saying how much you love it.

It’s called word of mouth (or in the case of library check outs, circulation numbers, which culminate in statistics and data). We live in a world that data matters, which means we also live in a world that the responsibility CAN fall on those who are consumers to do a little work. Fortunately, it costs nothing to leave a short sentence or two review.

You don’t even have to have bought the book to do so.

All of that is an introduction to a giveaway.

Here We Are: Feminism For The Real World has been hovering below the 30 reviews mark for a couple of months now, and I’d love some help getting it to that 50 review hump. And this is more than just a way to get my book over that magical number. It’s about putting into practice a tiny habit that helps a whole reading community — if you love a book and share your thoughts on it on Amazon, you’ll help other readers who don’t know the book find it and fall in love. The book world is much wider than those of us who talk online and on social media, and those are the readers for whom reviews are so valuable. It’s not the mega readers. It’s those who are a little more selective, tighter on time, and/or who really don’t have a whole book community in which to derive their recommendations.

So here goes.

Up for grabs is a $30US gift card to the online bookstore retailer of your choice. It can be Amazon. It can be B&N. It can be Indie Bound or your own local indie. It can be Book Depository. As long as I can buy it online and get it to you, that’s fine. Which means this giveaway is open worldwide, as well.

How to enter: write a review of Here We Are on Amazon. Ten words is fine. Ten sentences is fine. I am hoping they’ll be positive reviews, but I’ll be honest: I’m not going to read them, since reviews are not for me. They’re for other readers who have yet to discover the book.

Simple, right? After your review goes up, come back here with either the link to your Amazon review OR to the name you used to sign the review.

If you’ve already taken the time to review the book and want to enter, just drop your name/link in the form. It’s open to you, too.

Want to be entered multiple times for this giveaway? Leave a review for another book you’ve read this year and loved. This giveaway will allow up to 5 entries per person, meaning you can review Here We Are and up to 4 more titles for a grand total of 5 entries into the giveaway. They can be titles with 50 or fewer reviews or titles with over 50 reviews. Ideally, they’d be for books published in 2017, but I’m not going to police it. Use your judgment and follow your passion.

For a little frame of reference, if it’s helpful, when I sit down to do this every month, it takes me 10 to 15 minutes. If you write reviews on Goodreads, you are welcome to copy/paste the relevant info right into the Amazon review.

If there are more than 200 entries for this giveaway, I’ll sweeten the pot and add a second $30 gift card giveaway.

This giveaway runs July 1 through July 31. I’ll accept entries through midnight on the 31 and draw a winner (or winners!) on August 1. Winners will have 48 hours to respond and let me know where they’d like their gift card.

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Review and Giveaway: 5 Worlds: The Sand Warrior by Mark Siegel and Alexis Siegel

May 24, 2017 |

Oona Lee is possibly the worst sand dancer in her whole class, which wouldn’t be such a terrible thing if her older sister, disappeared now for many years, weren’t the best, destined to light five ancient beacons and save the Five Worlds from extinction. But she has talents of her own, ones she brings to bear when she joins forces with An Tzu, a boy from a slum with his own history, and Jax Amboy, the Five Worlds’ greatest Starball player. They all live on Mon Domani, at the center of the Five Worlds, a planet now being threatened by war as well as climate change so dire it could cause mass starvation.

The Sand Warrior is the first book in a new graphic novel series by Mark Siegel and Alexis Siegel, with art by Xanthe Bouma, Matt Rockefeller, and Boya Sun. That’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen for one graphic novel, and it shows in a few ways. The story is fairly complicated for a middle grade graphic novel, and it will take both adults and kids a bit of time to really fall into it. But that’s also part of the joy: the world the Siegels have created is complex, and the story has many moving parts that require more careful attention (or perhaps re-reads) than some readers may be accustomed to. It’s a fantasy lover’s dream, in other words.

Art and story work in tandem to build a multicultural world (or five worlds, really) with a detailed backstory and a unique magic system. Within the pages of this graphic novel you’ll find, for example, some people who are more plant than human, advanced robotic technology that conquers the uncanny valley, and sand castles big enough (and magical enough) for people to live in. It’s a really fun mixture of fantasy and science fiction, with all the creativity and weird names – one of the planets is called Grimbo(E) – that go along with that.

I’m a sucker for full-color art in graphic novels, and the art in The Sand Warrior is gorgeous. Even if readers have a hard time following all the nuances of the story, they’ll be riveted by the detailed landscapes and diverse cast of characters, each of whom is distinct and recognizable from panel to panel. The coloring is beautiful; the three artists work seamlessly together, eschewing the bold colors of a traditional superhero book for a softer but no less vibrant palette.

This should appeal to readers who like Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet (Kibuishi has blurbed this, and it’s fitting), Faith Erin Hicks’ The Nameless City, and Ben Hatke’s Zita the Spacegirl.

We’re giving away a finished copy of 5 Worlds: The Sand Warrior, courtesy of Random House Children’s Books (who also sent me an unfinished review copy). To enter, fill out this form. I’ll pick a winner in two weeks. US only, please.

Piper Perish by Kayla Cagan: A Slice of Life of a Young Artist (Giveaway!)

March 20, 2017 |

After last week’s non-stop fun, let’s take this week to recalibrate.

I’ve found myself slowing down in my reading. I was going at a really fast speed for the first couple of months of the year, but as soon as March hit, it’s almost like everything in my life decided to grind to a halt. I’ve picked up some light reading, the kind of self-help/self-comfort stuff that’s primarily list-based, with no narrative structure, that’s given me the freedom to bounce around. And while that’s been nice, I do miss sinking into a book and hope when this month of travel and talking — which I’ve loved! — comes to an end, I can curl up with a pile of novels.

That said, one of the more recent titles I’ve finished is Kayla Cagan’s debut Piper Perish. It’s not really the kind of book worthy of an in-depth review here. That’s not because it’s not good or that it’s bad. It’s a slice-of-life story, set over the course of a school year, about a girl who learns how to navigate shifting friendships, shifting romances, and the possibility of leaving home in Houston, Texas, for the dream life she’s always wanted in New York City.

The book is set up diary-style, so everything that we know comes straight from Piper’s perspective. For many readers, this can be jarring in the sense that Piper does and says things that are mean and hurtful; to her, though, they aren’t. They’re her reality and because the book’s purpose is to give us her view from the inside, it’s going to be that way. There are times, for example, where the budget challenges her family faces come off as non-issues to her, and that things like getting a summer job to help save for college are things she thinks are silly. But, and I speak from experience as well as from the experiences I know of others, this tends to be a perfect example of life as a 17-year-old who is ready to get out of town.

Perhaps one of the places in the book where Piper’s voice has been a challenge for many readers (if it’s not obvious, I’ve read many reader reviews of this one with fascination!) is where it comes to her sister. Her sister, who was away in her first year of college, finds herself pregnant and having to move back home. There is a lot of sibling rivalry between them, as there had been for years. But with the change in family situation and her sister’s need to live at home has a drastic effect on Piper’s future. Money is one of the challenges. The other is that Piper dislikes — HATES — her sister’s boyfriend and as the book progresses, it becomes clear why that’s the case.

My only concern about the book is its length, as I think it might be a turnoff to some readers, even though this is a story they will be familiar with and that might resonate with them. Being on that cusp of freedom and feeling the ropes that hold you back is something many teens at that 16, 17, 18 feel. I do think, though, the readers who pick this up despite the length will find, like I did, that it’s a quick read, in part because of the format. Piper writes her diary in fun, non-linear ways that allow the reader to really understand how her artistic brain works.

Piper Perish is an excellent read to hand to fans of Susan Juby’s The Truth Commission, as well as readers who cannot get enough of Amy Spalding — the humor in Cagan’s debut is on par with both of those authors and so is the way that art is treated as an important, imperative part of many teen lives. Cagan includes a bisexual character who plays a big role in the story, and it’s also fair in depicting a variety of races and ethnicities among Piper’s friends and classmates in an arts school in Houston.

If you’re curious, you can read an excerpt of the book here to get a sense of the tone and humor.

I’ve got a copy of the book available for one lucky US reader who’d like one. In addition to the book, this giveaway is complete with a fun tote bag and bookmark. To enter, fill out the form below, and I’ll pick a winner on or around April 3.

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Preorder Prize Pack Giveaway for HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD

January 2, 2017 |

I thought for a long time about what a nice “thank you” might be for those who preordered Here We Are: Feminism For The Real World. I wanted to do something special but tied into the book in some capacity, in a way that would make this a unique and special giveaway.

As I did a little searching around the internet, I realized my most amazing resources would be right in the book itself. Why reinvent the wheel when I can thank both those who preorder the book and those who took part in making the book what it is?

I’m giving away 2 amazing prize packs to 2 US residents who send proof of preordering Here We Are: Feminism For The Real World that look like this:

From left to right: a beautiful, full-color print of the piece that artist Michelle Hiraishi created for the anthology, a “Feminist with a To-Do List” pin (pictured up close below), a blank notebook with #feminist on the cover, and a lovely canvas tote bag featuring Tyler Feder’s intersectional Rosie art, which is also in the anthology.

The rules to enter this giveaway are simple, but because of legalities, they’re going to sound much more complex than they are. Dig? Here we go:

Open to US residents only, ages 18 and older. If you’re under 18 and want to enter, have a parent, guardian, or trusted adult enter on your behalf.

To enter, send proof of purchase of Here We Are: Feminism For The Real World to kelly@stackedbooks.org. Photos of receipts or computer screen purchases are acceptable, and those who order through vendors, such as librarians, can just shoot proof from your vendor receipt. If you took advantage of getting a bookmark, you can submit your proof of purchase for this giveaway, too.

Giveaway closes on January 25, 2017 at 12:00 pm, central time. If you purchase the book on publication date, January 24, you’re eligible, so long as the proof of purchase is in my inbox by this time.

Two winners will be randomly selected and contacted on the 25th and will have 72 hours to respond with their mailing information. If there’s no response in that time frame, another winner/s will be randomly selected.

Winners will receive all four of the items pictured above.

Thanks to everyone for sharing in the excitement of this book. I cannot wait until it’s out there and cannot wait to hear how and where teens find themselves fitting into the feminism party.

Giveaway: The Haters by Jesse Andrews

April 18, 2016 |

The only downside of choosing to read only books by women is that books by favorite male authors that I’ve been looking forward to aren’t priority right now. That doesn’t mean I won’t read them in the future or that I won’t talk about them. Rather, I’ll be waiting a bit longer to pick them up.

One of the books in that category of “excited but not reading yet” is Jesse Andrews’s The Haters. I loved his first book when it came out, and I loved the film adaptation of it, too. I’ve been eager to dig into his sophomore effort, but since I won’t be reading it immediately, I thought it’d be worth taking the opportunity presented by Abrams Books to give away a copy of Andrews’s new book, as well as a bumper sticker for the book, and a copy of his debut, Me and Earl and The Dying Girl. It’s a pretty sweet prize pack for one US winner. So while I don’t have much I can say about The Haters myself, I think Andrews does killer dialog and captures teen boys really well — I suspect this book won’t be different.

Here’s the official description for The Haters:

From Jesse Andrews, author of the New York Times bestselling Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and screenwriter of the Sundance award–winning motion picture of the same name, comes a groundbreaking young adult novel about music, love, friendship, and freedom as three young musicians follow a quest to escape the law long enough to play the amazing show they hope (but also doubt) they have in them.

Inspired by the years he spent playing bass in a band himself, The Hatersis Jesse Andrews’s road trip adventure about a trio of jazz-camp escapees who, against every realistic expectation, become a band.

For Wes and his best friend, Corey, jazz camp turns out to be lame. It’s pretty much all dudes talking in Jazz Voice. But then they jam with Ash, a charismatic girl with an unusual sound, and the three just click. It’s three and a half hours of pure musical magic, and Ash makes a decision: They need to hit the road. Because the road, not summer camp, is where bands get good. Before Wes and Corey know it, they’re in Ash’s SUV heading south, and The Haters Summer of Hate Tour has begun.

In his second novel, Andrews again brings his brilliant and distinctive voice to YA, in the perfect book for music lovers, fans of The Commitments and High Fidelity, or anyone who has ever loved—and hated—a song or a band. This witty, funny coming-of-age novel is contemporary fiction at its best.

You can find out more about The Haters, including a teaser trailer, by clicking here.

Entries for this giveaway are limited to US residents, and one winner will be picked on or around April 30. Good luck!

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