I had the great pleasure to be part of a promotional effort just prior to Christmas organized by Jillian Dodd. Jillian had an idea to gather 99 authors together to join forces to promote 99 books all for 99 cents. Jillian’s plan not only included step-by-step instructions for developing a plan for marketing, sample tweets & Facebook posts, but she also planned to include fabulous prizes for bloggers who helped to spread the word as well as readers. It was a WIN-WIN-WIN experience for all involved.

During the December 21st sale, ten of us made the top 100 in the Kindle store. The majority of us sold hundreds of books and saw our rankings soar. Many were in the top five of their specific category genres. We occupied eighteen of the first 21 slots on Amazon’s Movers and Shakers list. We were excited, and readers loved getting a deal on quality e-books and the chance to win fabulous prizes.

An event such as this takes a lot of planning, tireless effort, and the skills of a good field general to keep everyone on track and marching in the same direction. Sometimes a quiet, private thank you doesn’t seem enough. We authors wanted to show our appreciation, but what was the best way? Author Charles Sheehan-Miles came up with the idea of a coordinated “thank you,” from authors and bloggers on the same day. A surprise for Jillian, because everyone loves surprises. A public thank you to a wonderful lady. So the public salute:

THANK YOU, JILLIAN DODD

You are a very special lady. It was a wonderful experience and I hope to be able to participate with the wonderful authors who were involved in the event again in the future.

She’s the author of the young adult Keatyn Chronicles. Book one, Stalk Me, published in August 2012, has 139 reviews with an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Book two, Kiss Me, published November 2012, already has 157 reviews with an average of 4.8 out of 5 stars. Also by Jillian Dodd, That Boy, with 141 reviews with an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars, and the sequel That Wedding, 64 reviews, 4.7 out of 5 stars.

It was such a great experience and Jillian was so fantastic, I’d like you to meet her as well. To do so, just visit one of the sites below:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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From the mobile unit of ZSC Commander-in-Chief Juliette Terzieff:

After months of anticipation the day has finally come when we can release the cover art for Undead Uncensored, the second Zombie Survival Crew anthology. This year’s anthology is a vibrant collection of short fiction, poetry and non-fiction pieces designed to help you get your zombie freak on and prepare for what we might all face if the zombipocalypse hits!

Undead Uncensored features the work of yours truly alongside other ZSC Commanders actor Michael Rooker, award winning author LK Griffie, and authors Jinxie G, R.C. Murphy and Amy Sundberg. ZSC crew members including Wendy Sparrow, Jessica Capelle, Robin Sellman, Amber Revelt, Stephanie Allen, Christopher De Voss and many others contributed their artistic endeavors to this creeptastic collection!!

Undead Uncensored is already available for pre-order here and orders will begin shipping on December 1, 2012.

Now without further ado… (yes, you can stop holding your breath now)

The cover for Undead Uncensored

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Stuck in bed with a broken ankle and reeling from the loss of her father, her home, and life as she knew it, Katie McCabe must deal with her anger toward the town bully and a world that’s fallen apart. Being cooped up in the house with Uncle Charley and three overprotective cousins isn’t helping. Despite her new family’s good intentions, Katie feels like a lonely outsider. Will she ever be happy again?

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In addition to the interactive reading experience, Rowling promises not only audio books, but Pottermore will be the only place to obtain Harry Potter ebooks, which have been long awaited. Anyway, check out the video below, and join in the excitement for the release of Pottermore in October.

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So if you have that special someone on your list who likes to read, you can now purchase the award winning books in the Misfit McCabe series directly from my website – if you look up at the very top of the page where the menu is, you’ll see the BookStore link. I have made the books available in a few different ways: Plain, Signed, or Inscribed.

Click the following links if you’d like to read more about Misfit McCabe or Nowhere Feels Like Home

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As a host, Chris is warm and inviting, and he helps make you feel comfortable, like you’re sitting in a couple of arm chairs over coffee chatting about your book. His questions are well thought out and the half hour was over before I knew it. Of course as I told Chris, along with me, myself, and I, I bring the gift of gab with me. I even managed to get through the dreaded what is your book about question relatively unscathed. All in all I had a wonderful time, and can’t thank Chris enough for having me as a guest on his show.

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It’s official. For the second year in a row, LK Griffie has garnered Pearson Prize Teen Choice award honors with her late 2009 release, Nowhere Feels Like Home. The second book in the Misfit McCabe series captures the tumultuous emotions of the teen years through the struggles of fourteen-year-old Katie McCabe as she copes with grief and anger. By inviting teens to select their favorite books for the contest, The Pearson Prize excites teens about reading.

Author LK Griffie specializes in teen literature and Nowhere Feels Like Home continues the story of rebellious Katie. Stuck in bed with a broken ankle and reeling from the loss of her father, her home, and life as she knew it, Katie must deal with her anger toward the town bully and a world that’s fallen apart. Teens identify with Katie’s emotional journey to fit into a new school, a new home, and a new family.

The Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award started in 2008 as a way to engage Montreal teenagers in reading books. The brain child of Michael Earnest Sweet, the prize also serves as a way to bring in books for teens to read on a limited budget. Authors donate books as their entrance fee to the contest, the teens get books to read, and the authors get recognition.

LK Griffie says, “I am thrilled to have my work selected as a winner in the 2010 Pearson Prize Teen Choice awards and overjoyed that the students continue to enjoy my work and can connect with Katie.” For more information on Nowhere Feels Like Home and LK Griffie, visit www.lkgriffie.com. The Misfit McCabe series is available on Amazon.com. For more information about the Person Prize, visit www.pearsonprize.org.

Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award contest is held annually in Montreal, QC to help promote reading and obtain books for the schools. Nowhere Feels Like Home is a young adult novel and one of the 2010 Pearson Prize winners.

The post Nowhere Feels Like Home Nabs 2010 Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award appeared first on Be the Cat.

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So which picture is your favorite to see on a poster. Use the radio buttons below and cast your vote.Voting has now been closed. Picture 2 was the winner and the image has been sent to have the poster created. Thanks so much to everyone who participated. I appreciate the help.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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The photos are something that had to be done for the LA Times Festival of Books, which is coming up April 24th & April 25th. My signing times, if you’re coming down to the event, are 10-11 on both days. I am participating with AuthorsDen again, and they are going to the trouble of having some posters made of the author and the book cover and requested a professional photo. And there we have the beginning of my freak out. I don’t have any photos which meet the criteria, and knew I had to get them taken. Every author should have a head shot, just as any actor should. It is a part of the business side and is a must…I just wanted to hold off on doing it for a while longer.

AuthorsDen suggested Glamour Shots and since I had no ideas otherwise took them up on their suggestion. The Glamour Shots customer service was excellent. I booked the appointment online and they called to confirm the appointment and gave me the information on what to expect. Arrive at the appointment time with clean, dry hair, sans makeup with four outfits.

Four outfits????? My freak out went from tame little kitten variety to rampage of the wildebeasts in two seconds flat. I don’t own four outfits that fit me at the moment. If that sounds like a strange statement, you can read why here. And right at the moment, a shopping spree is out of the question (and truthfully that would make this an extremely painful experience). And they wanted shoes and my shoes would send Ivanna screaming from the room. I own ratty-tatty tennis shoes which are worn from….well, wearing them until they fall apart. I don’t do heels, I don’t do skirts or pantyhose, my wardrobe is casual in the extreme, and I have no plans of changing. Good luck to Glamour Shots, eh?

I arrived on time with eight outfits and accessories, plus props in tow. I know I freaked out about four, so why did I have eight? I threw myself on the mercy of the stylist to make the decisions for me. I had one outfit that I was certain of, and another I was fairly sure about, but as for the rest, I had nothing but question marks. My stylist, Kathleen, was a petite college girl, who was just as cute as could be. I explained my dilemma and she couldn’t have been more helpful. We whittled down the outfits to the few and she agreed with my selections (the two outfits which do actually fit me, plus jeans and a collared shirt – untucked so you can’t tell I have to belt the jeans on in order to keep them up. We decided on a more natural look rather than dramatic for the makeup and Kathleen went to work. For my part, I tried very hard not to fidget while she worked, a feat of amazing restraint for me. It was a little hot in the salon, so poor Kathleen kept having to add powder as the sweat kept popping up. Once my makeup and hair were done, I changed into my first outfit and Thomas took over.

Thomas was excellent to work with. He gave me very specific directions on what to do and, despite popular opinion that I am unable to take direction from anyone, I actually follow direction in a photo shoot fairly well. I knew the shoot was going well because as Thomas checked the pictures he was taking each time, his eyes would light up. I think we missed the mark on only about three of them. One I blinked, one I opened my mouth to talk (yes, I know that is not a surprise), and I don’t know on the third. But other than that, Thomas was very pleased, and let me tell you when the photographer is pleased with the pics, you know you’re going to get good ones. My problem then became how to choose. Below are the thumbnails in black and white (click on it to bring it up in a larger view) and I’m planning on having a poll to help me select the picture that should go on the poster once I get the package with the pictures in color.

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As a result, instead of working on the reformatting of Misfit McCabe for distribution in e-book format to Barnes & Noble, I’ve been cheerfully avoiding the task by working on the creation of an email signature which uses the book widget, and telling everyone how pleased I am. Oh well, tomorrow is another night. By the way, the below is the email signature. Pretty cool, huh?

LK Griffie – Author of Misfit McCabe
Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award Winner
Read Now – http://bit.ly/jadpc
Visit me at Griffie World
Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Follow me on Twitter: @lkgg

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The 2009 Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award winners have been announced and Misfit McCabe by LK Griffie grabbed runner-up honors. Published in 2008, Misfit McCabe is written for teen readers, a market that can be notoriously difficult to reach. The Pearson Prize attempts to make reading exciting to teens by involving them in selecting a winner and two runner-up prizes for the contest.

Author LK Griffie specializes in teen literature. Misfit McCabe is the story of 14 year old Katie McCabe. The story follows her journeys through a difficult year where she deals with the illness of her father and going to live with her Uncle Charley. Any teen is sure to recognize her struggles with a new town, new friends, and new foes.

The Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award started in 2008 as a way to engage Montreal teenagers in reading books. The brain child of Michael Earnest Sweet, the prize also serves as a way to bring in books for teens to read on a limited budget. Authors donate books as their entrance fee to the contest, the teens get books to read, and the authors get recognition. All of the books are independently published.

LK Griffie says of the award, “There can be no greater satisfaction for a writer than to have their work read and enjoyed. Now all I have to do is get Nowhere Feels Like Home ready to enter next year’s contest!” For more information on Misfit McCabe and LK Griffie, visit www.lkgriffie.com. For more information about the Pearson Prize, visit www.pearsonprize.org.

Author and Contact: LK Griffie
Email: lkgardner-griffie@lkgriffie.com

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