Hottest Book Giveaway Ever is OVER!

Well folks, the hottest eBook giveaway ever is over. I seriously thought that such a crazy and simple contest would draw more participants. I mean who gives away a new Kindle Fire loaded with FIVE kindles from some of the greatest writers in America?

I did. And with only a few dozen entrants the odds were pretty amazing.  Half the participants were from rural Alaska, where my novel The Raven's Gift was set, and the grand prize winner, Debbie Hagedorn, a teacher at the Kuskokwim Learning Academy in Bethel won the Kindle Fire! While Bethel is my hometown, I haven't lived there in about ten years, which is when Debbie moved to this little oasis on the tundra. I was pleasantly surprised to find the winner happened to be living there where I once lived and where a portion of the novel takes place. The winner of print copy of the novel was Kent Johnson from Arizona, and The Raven's Gift Kindle winner was Cindy Bell (who doesn't have a Kindle, so we might be having another giveaway!).

True to my promise, Debbie scored a Kindle Fire AND five Kindles from authors who blurbed my novel! This was no easy selection, as she had way too many great authors to choose from. Who would you pick from in this list of amazing authors?

Seth Kantner, Jodi Picoult, Daniel Quinn, Craig Johnson, Pete Fromm, Kris Farmen, Eowyn Ivey, Bill Streever, Lesley Thomas, David Vann, Jo-Ann Mapson, and Ron Carlson.

A tough list to choose from, no doubt. Yet Debbie is bush teacher, she's tough, and was up to the challenge. Her selections, close to home and all West of the Missouri. Three Alaskans, one Montana, and one Wyoming cowboy.  Debbie will now have a Kindle Fire loaded with some great reading: Seth Kantner's Ordinary Wolves, Kris Farmen's Turnagain, Eowyn Ivey's Snow Child, Pete Fromm Indian Creek Chronicles, and Craig Johnson's Messenger. 

Authors and Bloggers! Join my Kindle Fire Giveaway!

Authors and Book Bloggers have the opportunity to join in the hottest book and Kindle giveaway ever! Read more to find out how to participate!

Sorry, this Give Away is too Hot for Polar Bears!

First, let me get you up to speed. On August 30th, I'll be drawing to see who wins a Kindle Fire loaded with great authors who have blurbed my novel The Raven's Gift. If you're an author you could join the likes of Jodi Picoult, Daniel Quinn, Eowyn Ivey, Craig Johnson, David Vann, Pete Fromm, Seth Kantner, Bill Streever, Kris Farmen, Jo Ann Mapson, Lesley Thomas, and Alaska Quarterly Review Editor Ronald Spatz!  All you need to do is get your hands on a copy of the novel and read it and post on via your own social media and tag me or send me your blurb for the novel before August 30th and I'll include your novel in the list of authors that the winner of the Kindle Fire can choose from!

If you're a book blogger, all you need to do is feature this contest on your blog and promote it to your readership, or better yet write a short review of the book! Either way will get you entered to win yourself (just be sure to let me know!).

And what about the author/bloggers? You over achievers...pick which one works for you! The blurb option gives you a chance to have your ebook promoted in the contest, so you decide! Or do both?

Here is a recap of the contest:

The Kindle Fire that I give away will also come with a copy of The Raven's Gift AND the winner's choice of FIVE --- you read that correctly FIVE ebooks from the authors who have blurbed the novel.

I'll also be giving away e-editions of my novel and some actual old fashion and totally burnable editions of The Raven's Gift!

So you've read this far --- thanks --- now how do you win? It's simple!!! There are THREE ways to win! You can do ONE or all THREE!

1. Read the first chapter of the book for free on my website.
Then answer the following question:  The main characters nearly 1000 mile trek will begin on what river? Send your answer to ravensgift.thebook@gmail.com

2. Post a photo of yourself with your copy of The Raven's Gift on the Facebook page here.

3. Order your Kindle, iBook, or Nook copy of The Raven's Gift and tell your friends and family on your Facebook page, Twitter, or wherever and email a link to your posting at ravensgift.thebook@gmail.com

But wait!!! There will be more ways to win will coming over the coming weeks. I'll draw a winner of the grand prize for the Kindle Fire on August 30th. Books and ebooks will be given away from now until then!

Cool book for a Hot Giveaway!

The concept for the giveaway is simple. One lucky reader will play along and get a Kindle Fire and his or her choice of five of the dozen or so amazing authors who have written blurbs for The Raven's Gift.

Are you a fan of non-fiction? How about some totally cool science writing from my friend, best selling writer, Bill Streever --- author of Cold: Adventures in the World's Coldest Places and Heat: Adventures in the World's Fiery Places, both are great reads with the perfect mix of science and story and will leave you either chilled or sweating but definitely jealous of Bill's incredible adventures around the world.

Here is what Bill had to say about The Raven's Gift:

"The Raven's Gift is a page turner with a message: We Alaskans are lost if we cannot find our own way." Bill Streever, author of Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places

Streever is just one of the authors the winner could choose to have put on the new Kindle Fire. 

 
There are THREE ways to win! You can try ONE or all THREE!

1. Read the first chapter of the book for free on my website.
Then answer the following question:  The main characters nearly 1000 mile trek will begin on what river? Send your answer to ravensgift.thebook@gmail.com

2. Post a photo of yourself with your copy of The Raven's Gift on the Facebook page here.

3. Order your Kindle, iBook, or Nook copy of The Raven's Gift and tell your friends and family on your Facebook page, Twitter, or wherever and email a link to your posting at ravensgift.thebook@gmail.com

The Magic of an Anonymous Donor

This week marks a pretty important milestone for me, publication of my novel here in my own country on the 25th and an awesome combo book launch and fundraiser for the Alaska Red Cross's Disaster Relief fund for this spring's devastating floods in rural Alaska. I didn't really anticipate the possibility of anything more amazing happening this week --- why should I? --- and then I awake today to an email in my inbox notifying me of that an anonymous donor gave a $1000 to the campaign for Galena on CrowdRise!

Until today, I'd never really given too much thought about the magic of an anonymous donor and a donation. I often give this way myself, usually playing with the moniker, "Anony-moose," but never with that many zeroes! What strikes me about such a generous anonymous donation is that it leaves folks wondering just who did it. Who was so kind and caring they could give so much? And better yet is that once that name, "Anonymous" is placed the donor could be anyone and everyone. Such acts of are beyond heart-warming, they force us to reconsider what we do and why we do it. They make us look into the faces of complete strangers and ask ourselves, "Could it be her?" These acts also force  us to look in the mirror and wonder how we might be able to have such an impact as well.

I did not expect to wake up this morning with a totally different outlook on the week, moreover on the world. I want to thank Anonymous personally. I want hug him or her. Share my thoughts on such kindness. Say how grateful I am. Assure that the donation will help folks who are desperately in need in Galena and surrounding villages. So if you're reading this Anonymous --- quyana-cakneq, to you, Yup'ik for "Many thanks." Your generosity will be spread throughout this week and beyond by myself and others --- as I discover once again how The Raven's Gift gives not just to my readers, but also to myself as I learn more about the lengths real human beings will go to help one another.

Quyana,

Don
6/23/13

Party, Booklaunch, & Now a Fundraiser for Galena!

John "Hannibal" Smith from the A-Team pretty much said it best with, "I love it when a plan comes together."  And the plan, my friends is shaping up nicely. Good fun will be had at Anchorage's Tap Root the June 27th launch of The Raven's Gift, but more importantly good will also be accomplished that evening.

As many of you know, this novel is about a horrific catastrophe striking rural Alaska --- and no one from the outside comes to help. Well --- we can't let that be the case in the real life tragedy that has struck the village of Galena, recently destroyed by an unprecedented flood.  The state and federal government's response has been slow, but outside organizations and surrounding villages are doing all they can to help. And now we can offer our help as well and have a good time for a good cause.

More info will be coming shortly about the fund-raising efforts, and the fun is already in place with great music acts by Bethel's Kevin Morgan, Homer's blue grass trio Burnt Down House, Steve Blanchett from Pamyua, and Anchorage's Jonathan Bower. Our MC for the evening will be the one and only Eskimo Bob.

The overly generous David Cheezem, owner of Fireside Books, will be donating a percent of the book sales from the launch to the fund for the people of Galena! So when you buy a copy at the launch you'll be helping Alaskans in need! 

This is a family event, so bring the kids and the grand parents. There will be plenty of door prizes, including some sweet swag from Raven's Brew Coffee!

Mark your calender -- June 27th, 6-9pm. Tap Root. Anchorage. If you can't make it, or live out of town, stay tuned. You may be able to join us streaming and/or help the folks in Galena with one of my giveaways and win some cool stuff online!

More info or RSVP here!  And if you're into it "Like" The Raven's Gift FB page while you're at it!

Thanks! 

Don
www.donrearden.com

Book Launch 101 --- A Kick Ass Planning Guide

I'm about to launch my debut novel The Raven's Gift in the US. It's a long story, that I'll tell somewhere else, but this will be my second time throwing a book party for the novel here in Alaska. Let's just say I was so happy when the novel came out in Canada a few years back that I threw a giant party to celebrate publication.  What I'm going to share with you here is what I did then, and what I am planning to do now, so that if you are so fortunate as to have a party of your own, you can hopefully get a few ideas and learn a little about what I did.

First let me tell you that the first party was successful.  What I mean by successful is this: when the party was over I'd sold all the books (over 100), people thanked me for the good time, and I had several press write-ups about the party within the week. I can't guarantee the same results for you if you follow the steps below, nor can I guarantee the same steps will work for me in a few weeks, but a little event planning and forethought will go a long ways; however, I can guarantee you one thing in today's publishing paradigm, the party is on you. Don't expect your publisher to foot the bill or plan your launch. Sure, if you name is Dan Brown or Grisham --- then maybe someone will do the work for you, but don't count on it.

Here's the plan:

1. Write out what your idea scenario for the launch will be. What are you expecting or hoping for? What will be a successful event? What do you think a launch will do for your book sales? 
2. Find a venue. Choose a place that fits your vision for a launch. Are you looking for a casual setting or something more raucous. Think outside the box. I held my first launch in a brewery pub that had a large theater. This killed two birds with one stone --- good beer and a performance area. This suited my vision for the launch. I was hoping for an eclectic mix of music and literary performances from my gifted Alaskan friends. (More on having gifted friends below.) Don't break the bank. Find a place that will benefit from your patronage. See if they'll donate space or give you a break on the usual rate. It doesn't hurt to ask. I didn't and later felt stupid for not doing so because I know the venue made a great deal of money from the bar, not to mention the appetizers I'd purchased for those in attendance. 
3. Set a Date. This seems obvious, but also should be something you've thought out. The date needs to fit with your book's publication date, but should also work for your venue and your friends, family, and fans. Check local event calenders so that you're not competing with other cool events. Think about work schedules and holidays. Then set the date and get the date posted on those same local calendars. Most of those are free and often lead to publication in local papers.
4. Talent. What is this? Talent? Yes. Ideally you are signing books. People want to see you and hear you, but they also want some face time with you. The best way to cover this is to have cool artists, remember those gifted friends I mentioned earlier? This is the time to call them and invite them to your event and ask if they'd sing a song or two, tell a joke, read a poem, or ride a unicycle around the stage. Seriously. The best thing I ever did for my launch was to make it enjoyable for the audience and for myself. I'm lucky that I do have talented friends. I had amazing poets read, like Joan Kane and Jeremy Pataky. I had a crazy gifted musicians play, guitarist and singer song-writer Kevin Morgan. I had the Blanchet brothers sing, both members of the world famous indigenous group Pamyua. And to tie it all together I had "Eskimo Bob" from Eskimo Bob Lives as the funny and at times painful roast-master MC the whole thing. While you don't need such a smorgasbord of talent, you should think of someone to at least MC besides yourself. The more time you can have others on stage, entertaining the more time you get to spend enjoying yourself, celebrating your special occasion really, and more importantly conversing with the people who will become a part of your marketing and publicity machine --- those friends, family, fans, journalists, and dignitaries you've invited. 
5. Invite list and press release. Make your party public and free. Use social media to invite everyone you can. Send a press release to local media outlets. Invite politicians and anyone related thematically to your book. You've written a book about zombies? Make a special effort to invite zombies and those who hunt them. 
6. Tie in or theme? Is there something clever and inexpensive you can do to make the party more memorable? For my first launch I purchased giant cans of fruit and a few cases of Spam as centerpieces on the tables. This fit with the survivalist theme of the novel and those cans served as hilarious and cheap door prizes. And let me tell you, people were damn excited to win a gallon can of pears! For my book launch in a few weeks I've managed to get some cool companies to sponsor the giveaways --- more on that in the coming days, but the tie-ins fit thematically with the novel and are killer.  Remember, people like free stuff and if you can do a few door prizes and offer some actual quality prizes to go with the fun or funny stuff more folks will leave happy and talking about your book. 
7. Leave them wanting more. Plan for a fun event. Research what others have done and what has worked and have fun. If you have fun, the people who attend probably will to. Oddly this party really isn't about you or for you, or at least it shouldn't be. This isn't really even about you selling all the books you bring. The book launch is to do just that --- launch your book into the world. No single person ever launched a rocket-ship successfully, right? It takes a team. So too does launching a book. You need the help of friends and family. You need your community. Celebrate those people you love and who love you and let them share in your publication. If you have a good party you'll leave them wanting more, and perhaps, if you're lucky, you'll be planning a second launch like I am!

[More to come on Launch planning, including what I have in store for the US debut of The Raven's Gift and what not to do and/or lessons learned.]

Wilderness Boys, Bug & Novel Jackets

 I don't normally post photos of myself with my boy, but today this photo from an adventure in the Alaskan wilderness a few weeks ago popped up on my screen and I thought I would share it. The scenic backdrop of this particular location (somewhere up the Takotna River) looks strangely similar to the first jacket cover of The Raven's Gift from Penguin Canada with the black spruce, taiga, tundra, and mountains in the background. 

The strange jacket I've got on is a bug suit, as the mosquitoes and no-see-ums were vicious, but they could have been worse, as we were actually able to uncover and snap a quick photo in the tundra cotton. The bugs in Alaska can be so thick at times that they will literally drive you mad. The little blood suckers fly into your eyes and nose and ears, and the hum can be unnerving, as if the very air around you has transformed into some sort of monster trying to devour any exposed flesh. I have seen caribou who have been driven crazy by the bugs. They run themselves to near death. Not a pleasant sight, and I've been there a few times myself. Had I the energy or the ability to run crazy across the tundra I would have. We humans don't have that option. All we can do is cover up and hope for a strong wind. You could bathe in 100% DEET until your nervous system failed, and the bugs would still feed on your carcass. Alaska bugs are no joke, hence the reason I was holding Atticus so tight, they little bastards would have carried him away.