Month: May 2014

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Ideas for new covers

During the blog tour last year for The Princelings of the East, one comment made by a reviewer suggested I should rethink the covers for the trilogy, or at least for the first book.  Joshua, at Published Bestsellers said “Overall outwardly the book title and cover is very deceiving however the plot is absolutely brilliant.”

Asking around, I think the problem is the covers don’t imply action, although they might be slightly mysterious.  Danielle English (my illustrator) and I have been working on this off and on, and Dani has come up with these concept sketches.  I suggested we should be thinking about electrical sparks from Castle Marsh in the first one, and more action at sea for the second.  I’m still not sure about the third, since I love the original Lost City cover.  We’ve just gone more 3D with it, and Dani suggested trying it central.

PrincelingsThumbs

I also like the titling.  In many ways I love the freshness of the drawing, but then as you know from the illustrations, I tend to be a bit scribbly myself!  They will of course be tidied up and in colour for the final versions.

What do you think?

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Special Guests for Children’s Book Week: Stanley & Katrina’s Pawsome Giveaway

Dear Teachers/Parents/Librarians/Principals/Superintendents/PTA Representives and Others: 

Stanley & Katrina’s paws are dancing because they are offering their Virtual Author Visit Package Giveaway for the second year in a row, as a part of the paw-some Children’s Book Week Kid Lit Giveaway Hop.

All of the details are below. Scroll down to view the Rafflecopter entry form or click here to enter now, and then take a look at the Kid Lit Giveaway Hop hosted by Mother Daughter Book Reviews & Youth Literature Reviews for many more children’s book giveaways going on this week. 

 

Thank you..

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post and visiting, today.

Prize: One winner will receive a 20 minute virtual author visit with Neighbor Girl (of Stanley&Katrina) via Skype or Google+ Hangouts for the group of their choice (classroom, family, homeschool group, etc.) AND a Kindle copy of The Perpetual Papers of the Pack of Pets for every member of the group.* If the winner is located within the US, they will also receive one print and signed copy of The Perpetual Papers of the Pack of Pets. 

*Group size is a max of 30 individuals for this prize. 
Contest Ends: May 18, 11:59 pm 2014, EST 
Open: Internationally, please note that Neighbor Girl only speaks English. 
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, Twitter, Google+, or Pinterest. This giveaway is sponsored by Stanley & Katrina and is hosted and managed by Cool Mom/Christine. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send an email to StanleyandKatrina(at)gmail(dot)com. 
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Princelings in Children’s Book week

Yes, it’s Children’s Book Week starting today and finishing on Sunday!

Mother Daughter Book Reviews and Youth Literature Reviews have joined forces to provide you with the opportunity to take part in the Children’s Book Week Giveaway Hop 2014, featuring links to giveaways for fabulous children/teen’s books, gift cards, cash, or other prizes.  Scroll down for details.   What better way to celebrate Children’s Book Week?

First, though I have an exclusive  SPECIAL OFFER on the first three books in the Princelings of the East series during May:

Click the book name to go to Smashwords where you can buy the ebook(s) of your choice in your preferred format, and add the coupon code before the final checkout.  You can read more about the books by clicking the title in the black box at the top left of this page.

What else is happening during Children’s Book Week?

If you go to the Children’s Book Week website you can vote for the Children’s Choice Book Award – I hope you will! You can also download posters and bookmarks, including this lovely one:

CBW_2014 bookmark

Also on the Princelings website…

Watch out for a special appearance on Wednesday by the famous Stanley & Katrina, authors of The Perpetual Papers of the Pack of Pets, who have a very special prize competition for you to enter.

And now for the Kid Lit Giveaway Hop

Princelings Trilogy Final front & spineMy Giveaway is running all week 12-18th May (EST), with prizes open worldwide – so even if it isn’t Children’s Book Week where you are, you can still join in the fun.

  • First prize is a signed copy of the Princelings of the East – The Trilogy (paperback), sent worldwide.
  • Three runners-up will have their choice of a print of a chapter illustration from any of the books, signed by the author.  Prints are about A5 size (half US letter size)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
  And now – join the rest of the participants 🙂

 

 

 

 

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Bravo Victor is here!

It’s here!  And TODAY, to celebrate the launch of my sixth book, BRAVO VICTOR will be FREE today, May 6 2014, worldwide (subject to Amazon’s Pacific Coast timings).

The Princelings of the East is a scifi/mystery adventure series set in a feudal world with advanced technology.  Thanks partly to Princeling George’s inventions, society is changing.  New tensions are born from the deceit and prejudice rife in many places.  Familiar characters stumble across plots to upset the carefully laid plans that emerged from the first book in the series.  And the movers and shakers need humble people like Victor, a star of four out of the five books to date, to do their dirty work for them.

BravoVictor webIn Book 6: Bravo Victor, our simple bartender (Victor) has grown up and is trying to make his way as a business guru. He encounters a shady traveller selling a banned drink, and seeks advice from King Fred at Castle Marsh. Victor is sent on a mission to aid the mysterious Sundance and his beautiful accomplice, and to find Fred’s brother, George, overdue after a visit to a flying festival in the Rhinelands. Victor tells how he uncovers a tangled web of lies and deceit, and an old friend from the past, or is it his future?

Bravo Victor is published as an ebook on Amazon for Kindle.  It is approximately 49,000 words or 160 pages, reading level grade 5.0.  It is suitable for young people but contains business meetings which add to the intrigue but may not fascinate. Budding politicians, economists, sociologists, engineers and inventors will love it!

Get it here for your kindle eReader:

Amazon com – Amazon.co.uk – Amazon.ca – Amazon.com.au – Amazon.de – Amazon.fr – Amazon.in – Amazon.co.jp
and also on Amazon sites in Spain, Italy, Mexico and Brazil.

Want it for a different eReader?  It should be available in all formats during August.

Enter to win!!

OK, Bravo Victor‘s FREE today, but you can also win goodies like prints of chapter illustrations and a full colour 4×6 inch print of the cover, just by leaving a blog comment below.  Enter a second time with a comment on Jemima’s blog! http://jemimapett.com

THREE winners will be chosen from all comments listed by Thursday, 6 pm, UK time.

Lost for what to comment on? What do you think of the cover?  Who’s your favourite character? Where should you start with the books? What’s Victor’s favourite colour?  Anything you like, really!