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Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Late Bird vs. Shel Silverstein - a Giveaway and Launch Party!


My e-book, The Late Bird, is just over one week old, and I never gave it a real celebration. So, to fix that, I'm hosting a launch party giveaway!

Yup, I'm giving away a copy of The Late Bird to someone who comments on this post, and I might be giving away as many as 10 copies. It all depends on what happens when The Late Bird goes birdo-a-mano with Shel Silverstein.

Rumble!

By the way... I found where.
You see, I'm a geek. And I've noticed that Shel Silverstein dominates Amazon's best seller list of children's humorous poetry. No surprise there... other than the TOTAL domination. I mean, I once saw my book behind TWO different editions of Light in the Attic and THREE editions of Where the Sidewalk Ends! Wow! Heck, I haven't seen any book break into the top five other than Shel and his four big poetry collections.

Now, I love those books, but the geek in me got to wondering what it takes to move into the top five on that chart. And I figure if there's ever a time that it's likely for me to observe that, it's when I'm actively launching The Late Bird.

So, of Course... A GIVEAWAY!

Yup. You don't have to do ANYTHING other than leave a comment here for a chance to win The Late Bird. I'll count the comments at 11:59 PM on Monday, April 23 and give away a copy to a random commenter (number taken from Random.org).  

And, I'll give away another copy for each place the Late Bird moves up (if any) in the top 5.

If somehow the Bird gets to number one, I'll give away 10 copies. I'll hold to this through May 15th, even though the comments close Monday. Also, I will buy a copy of each Shel Silverstein book that gets passed for the library where I volunteer, if it isn't already on the shelves (which might be all 4).

I'll need your email address to get you the book, so I'll have to contact the winner(s) - make sure you don't comment anonymously!

Wow, Greg. Can I Do Anything Else Beside Comment?

Sure you can! You can tell your friends about The Late Bird and this giveaway. You can buy dozens of copies of the book to up your odds of winning here (then send the copy you win to someone else, cuz it can go to any email address). Or you can buy one, even. You can let folks know they don't need a Kindle to read the book.

You can leave reviews on Amazon or elsewhere if you've read it, or add tags on Amazon that fit the book. You can follow along the list to make it a spectator sport and share in geekery with me!

And most of all, you can realize that I really am just celebrating the release of the e-book and, despite my geeky desire to gather statistics, I truly am happy to have all of you here to share my excitement with, and I hope you'll join in the fun for that reason alone. You're all a huge part of why the book exists, and I truly didn't put out the e-book to rival one of my poetry heroes.

Let the Games Begin!

Thanks for sticking around these parts. I look forward to giving at least one of you a copy of The Late Bird. Will it be you? Only if you comment, I say! So let the fun begin....

(EDITED TO ADD: Mike Hays, commenter 38, is the big winner!)

43 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:28 PM

    A library can never have enough poetry! My elementary collection would enjoy a new book. Best of luck with The Late Bird.

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  2. Good luck! Here's hoping you move up to #1! :)

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  3. Very excited about your ebook, Greg. Thanks for offering the giveaway.

    bridgetwilson4765(at)gmail(dot)com

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  4. I already have bought one, Greg, but will try one of your other ideas to promote it. I am hoping for you!!

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  5. Oh, this is exciting. I would really really really love to see The Late Bird hit the #1 spot!

    Congrats and Good Luck!

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  6. Fingers crossed for the #1 spot! I wish you all the best.

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  7. Go, Late Bird! Go, Late Bird!
    Flap those wings!

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  8. Carol-Ann Hoyte11:25 AM

    Congratulations on your ebook. I look forward to reading it!

    kidlitfan1972@yahoo.ca

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  9. Great idea for a launch. It will be fascinating to see how it turns out too! I tweeted for you!

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  10. Wouldn't that be wonderful, great idea Greg. Congrats!

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  11. Congrats Greg! I think you should print a copy just to get it on your library shelves!

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  12. Anonymous2:17 PM

    Congratulations on your book! I'm super excited to check it out when I win! ; )

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  13. Michael Zorek3:02 PM

    Geeks shall inherit the earth. Great idea for a giveaway and a great person to do a giveaway!!! Best of luck.

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  14. Fly birdie fly! Ever heard of David vs. Goliath? yep. It can happen. Rooting for you!

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  15. May The Late Bird fly high!
    ~Dawn

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  16. Love how you explained this whole idea, great! Good luck to you (and me)!

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  17. The photo of Silverstein reminds me of the character Walt from Breaking Bad, and Walt is a badass dude.
    Sincerely,
    Creaking Amphibiously

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  18. A great way to promote your book during Poetry Month!

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  19. Have you heard about the bird? Bird, bird, bird, about the bird? LOL

    I'll post it on my blog to help out!

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  20. Your late bird loves living in my Kindle. Fun book! Hope it makes it to the tallest Amazon tree.

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  21. It's a great book. Congratulations!!

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  22. Greg, Shel's work became even more huge after his death. You better promise you won't go that route!

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  23. Congratulations, Greg! I'm looking forward to reading, upping your stats, and possibly winning a copy of The Late Bird. Good work!
    Denise
    @mrsdkrebs

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  24. Traci Q12:37 PM

    I bought my first e-book --
    my Geek wings are sprouting!
    It will be swell,
    of that there's no doubting.

    But I have a small problem,
    my Folly-days friend ...
    one that I'm hoping
    you'll take time to mend.

    Call me old-fashioned
    or full of demands,
    but I want a book
    I can hold in my hands!

    The cover's so fab
    with its colors so bright,
    but the view on my Kindle
    is a dull black and white.

    Still ...
    The words are engaging,
    silly and true.
    And it's written by someone
    I know -- it's YOU!
    So I'll take the e-dition
    and stop with my pleading
    and turn off the Mac
    and get to some reading.

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  25. This is my first ebook giveaway I participated in...about time!Congratulations on your ebook Greg! RT you

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  26. I love your poems and know you have a great shot at #1!

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  27. Anonymous6:07 AM

    Greg, this is wonderful.
    Congratulations!!!

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  28. Awesome cover, Greg! Congratulations and good luck!

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  29. After Traci Q's poem, what could I possibly add? Congrats! You've worked hard and this is well deserved.

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  30. And if Shel comes and comments over here, you will...donate 10 copies to your favorite libraries!

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  31. Congratulations on your release of, The Late Bird. I hope it flies straight to that number one slot!

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  32. Best wishes with your LATE BIRD book release

    Librarian in Virginia

    Thanks for featuring the book giveaway!

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  33. Best of luck, Greg!
    Joe

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  34. Go, Greg! Go Bird!

    We have the pdf version on the classroom kindle -- looking forward to replacing it with the official e-book version!

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  35. I support kid poetry diversity! Good luck with the launch, Greg, and thanks for writing poems that kids enjoy.

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  36. Good luck with the book, Greg. I look at rblerner@ptd.net every day vs google mail.

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  37. Anonymous5:31 PM

    Hi Greg! I've been looking for some new poetry to read. Bought one copy, but wouldn't mind winning another. :)

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  38. Let's give the Bird a wing up! Good luck and congratulations.

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  39. Love how you play with words. Your book would be a great addition to my poetry collection which I share with teachers and students(currently at the MS level). :-)

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  40. Love your poems, Greg! Best of luck with the launch! :)

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  41. This comment serves to close out the giveaway commenting time. There are 40 comments here, so after finishing up tomorrow's post and getting some sleep, I'll go to Random.org and get a random number to determine the winner.

    Thank you all for entering and for your great comments. From poems to jokes to good wishes and beyond, I loved every one of them!

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  42. Comment number 38 from Mike Hays wins the big prize!

    I hope every one of you gets a chance to read the book at some point, but most of all I reallllllly appreciate you stopping by and joining in the fun!

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  43. I'd love to win the rumble!

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