And the winners are...

Congratulations to the following folks who were winners in the 13 Days of THE 13^TH SIGN Preorder Contest!

Day Aries, sponsored by The Book Vortex: Lucile @ Book Sp(l)ot Review!

Day Taurus, sponsored by TheHousework Can Wait: Becky Levine!

Day Gemini, sponsored by Magnet 4 Books: CJ Schooler!

Day Cancer, sponsored by Abby the Librarian:  Julie Patton!

Day Leo, sponsored by the Mother-Daughter Book Club:  Penny Piva!

Day Virgo, sponsored by Market My Words:  Michael Gettel-Gilmartin!

Day Libra, sponsored by Elizabeth O. Dulemba: Betsy Fitzpatrick!

Day Scorpio, sponsored by Citrus Reads: prize donated back by winner for launch

Day Ophiuchus, sponsored by Young Adult Book Central: prize donated back by winner for launch

Day Sagittarius, sponsored by Bloggers [heart] Books: prize donated back by winner for launch

Day Capricorn, sponsored by Middle Grade Mafioso: Margo Sorensen!

Day Aquarius, sponsored by Smack Dab in the Middle:  Leane Gill!

Day Pisces, sponsored by From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors: Kayla Beck!

And the Grand Prize Winner of the Nexus 7 ereader: Betsy Fitzpatrick! 

Thank you to the 13 amazing bloggers who participated in this event, and to everyone who preordered a copy of THE 13^TH SIGN! A $1-per-preorder matching donation has been made to Reading Is Fundamental. I’m delighted to support an organization that puts books in the hands of kids who need them most.

And thank you, friends! I am floored by your enthusiasm and generosity! And if you haven’t already, hop over to take the super-fun 13^th Sign Quiz!

You guys are the greatest. I am one lucky/blessed/happy author! 

Day Taurus of THE 13TH SIGN Preorder Contest...

...is up! It's over at The Housework Can Wait blog, and there are some more great prizes today! Hop over and see how easy it is to enter! Preorder THE 13TH SIGN and make me give $$$ to RIF!

13 Days of THE 13TH SIGN Preorder Contest!

Greetings, everyone, and WELCOME, WELCOME to the 13 Days of THE 13TH SIGN Preorder Contest! I am lucky/blessed/very, very thankful to have 13 ahhh-mazing bloggers help me with this contest! There are over 80 prizes to be won (several each day for the next 13 days) and a grand prize of a Nexus 7 ereader, which can read ebooks bought from indie stores! (The grand prize winner will be announced here on Friday, December 7.)

AND! For EACH AND EVERY preorder receipt of THE 13th SIGN I receive, I will donate $1.00 to Reading Is Fundamental (RIF). RIF is dedicated to placing books in the hands of kids who need them the most. Please: make me give gobs and gobs of money to RIF!

Day Aries of this contest is sponsored by Hannah Courtney over at The Book Vortex.  Hop over there for all the details and see what TODAY'S prize is! There are many ways to enter the contest to win:

-Each preorder of THE 13th SIGN = 10 entries into grand prize drawing and 10 entries into that day’s drawing

- Each person who blogs about the contest = 10 entries into that day’s drawing

-Each person who changes Twitter or Facebook avatar to cover = 5 entries into that day’s drawing (for each day it is present)

-Each Tweet or Facebook status mention of the book and contest = 2 entries for that day’s drawing (must include hashtag #the13thsign)

-Each RT of book and/or contest = 1 entry for that day’s drawing

BUT. You have to preorder THE 13th SIGN to enter to win the grand prize and to have your purchase matched with a RIF donation.

ALSO. To make sure you get the correct amount of entries, please let me know if you’ve done any of the above! You can email me at ktubb@comcast.net with everything you’ve done to enter. 

So. Plan to visit each of these blogs over the next 13 days to see each day's prize package. There are books! And swag! Gift certificates! Jewelry! And MORE!

DAY ARIES: The Book Vortex

DAY TAURUS:  The Housework Can Wait

DAY GEMINI:  Magnet 4 Books

DAY CANCER:  Abby the Librarian

DAY LEO:  Mother Daughter Book Club

DAY VIRGO: S. R. Johannes/Market My Words

DAY LIBRA: Elizabeth O. Dulemba

DAY SCORPIO:  Citrus Reads

DAY OPHIUCHUS: Young Adult Books Central

DAY SAGITTARIUS: Bloggers [heart] Books

DAY CAPRICORN: - Middle Grade Mafioso

DAY AQUARIUS: Smack Dab in the Middle

DAY PISCES: From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors

And finally, just for fun: there is now a 13th SIGN Quiz! Take it and pass along the results of which horoscope sign YOU act like!

An Author and Her ARCs: A Photo Essay

Today I received (yippee! hooray! hip hip hootie hoo!) the Advance Reader Copies of THE 13TH SIGN! This is my third time to go through this stage, and it feels just as exciting and terrifying and wonderful and scary as the very first time. So, in honor of authors and their ARCs, I share with you the roller coaster of emotions an author goes through when she sees her BOOK for the very first time:

(photo credits: The Peanut)

Did I miss one? I'm happy to (very goofily) portray one I've missed! :-) Thanks for sharing in the joy, everyone!

And the winners are...

Thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who participated in THE 13TH SIGN Cover Reveal Contest! Your answers made me laugh, and you guys saw more zodiac signs than I did! (The interpretations were a little loose at times, but I was impressed with the creativity in your answers!) The winners of the prizes are as follows:

1. The $50 gift card to Parnassus Books (which WAS an IndieBound gift card, but I found out that IndieBound doesn't do that. Parnassus Books has a website, so the gift card can be used nationwide): CATHERINE DING!
2. The signed copies of SELLING HOPE and AUTUMN WINIFRED OLVIER DOES THINGS DIFFERENT: ALYSSA SUSANNA!
3. The book basket with 3 yummy middle grade books (see below): CASSIDY GRACE!

Winners, I will contact you via email for shipping addresses, etc.  Again, thank you to everyone who played along in the contest. You are ALL winners in my book! *smooshy reading hugs*

The Cover Reveal of THE 13th SIGN - and a CONTEST!

Here is it, friends: the aaaah-mazing cover for THE 13th SIGN:

And the jacket copy:

“What if there was a 13th zodiac sign? 



You’re no longer Sagittarius, but Ophiuchus, the healer, the 13th sign. 



Your personality has changed.

So has your mom’s and your best friend’s. 



What about the rest of the world? 



What if you were the one who accidentally unlocked the 13th sign, causing this world-altering change—and infuriating the other 12 signs?  



Jalen did it, and now she must use every ounce of her strength and cunning to send the signs back where they belong.

Lives, including her own, depend on it.”

Thank you, as always, to cover designer Rich Deas and the fantastic Feiwel & Friends team for knocking it out of the ballpark again!

And to celebrate the gorgeousness above, we’re having a COVER REVEAL CONTEST! Here’s how it works:

-Search the cover above for THREE zodiac symbols. Got them? Good! Then…

-Email your answers by June 30 to ktubb@comcast.net to…

-Be entered into a drawing! The following will be doled out randomly to three folks who send in correct answers:

-a $50 IndieBound gift card!

-a signed hardcover of SELLING HOPE plus a signed paperback of AUTUMN WINIFRED OLIVER DOES THINGS DIFFERENT!

-a book “basket” including three of my favorite recent middle grade books: BRIDGE TO TIME by Lewis Buzbee, THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA by Tom Angleberger, and THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND IN A SHIP OF HER OWN MAKING by Catherynne M. Valente

BONUS! Anyone who includes a FOUTH zodiac symbol in their answers will get double entries for the above drawing!

And that’s it!  Start searching and emailing! Thanks for playing, friends! (And please remember to email your answers, rather than post them in the comments below. But comments on the cover? OH SO WELCOME. :-) )

P.S. THE 13th SIGN comes out January 8, 2013, but if you’d like to preorder it, you can do so here (Amazon) or here (Indiebound)! You’ll be automatically be eligible for the upcoming THE 13th SIGN Preorder Contest – more details on that coming soon! J

Young Writers Spotlight: The 100th Anniversary of the Sinking of the Titantic

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I thought I'd share a haunting yet lovely poem by Christal H., a 6th-grader from Woodland Middle School:

Prior to the tragedy,
She was sailing calmly
The sea is filled with shouts
Of the dead the living will now do without
Behold! The unsinkable Titanic
has sunken.

Christal sent this to me after I visited her school, and I've reprinted it here with her permission. I *love* when kids share their amazing creations! Christal is so talented, isn't she?

Please look for other Young Writers Spotlights here in the future - this kind of talent deserves to be shared! Thanks again for the poem, Christal! Happy writing, all!