Category Archives: Contests

Winner ~ Cassandra Carr Book Giveaway

Thanks to everyone for coming out and sharing your pet peeves on Sunday when Cassandra Carr was here playing.

The winner of a copy of her e-book is Stephanie

Talk To Me Out Now
BUY LINK: http://www.loose-id.com/Talk-to-Me.aspx

Congrats!

Please email me at AmberKallyn (@) gmail (dot) com with your contact information and I’ll forward it to the lovely Cassandra Carr 🙂

Win a Book! Come Play with Cassandra Carr

Welcome an awesome lady, author Cassandra Carr. She’s not only playing with us today, but she’s giving away a copy of her book.

What are your biggest pet peeves as a reader?

As a writer, I have a lot of pet peeves – most writers do. I think that may be due to writers being observant – little details do not escape our notice. The mile-high pile of dishes, on the other hand, conveniently will. Our laundry walks itself into the washer – it’s the only hope it has of getting done. But I digress…

Some of my pet peeves:

  • Weird character names – if I have to keep stopping to think about how the character’s name is pronounced it takes me out of the story. That may be one reason I’m not a huge fan of fantasy/sci-fi.
  • Breaks in continuity – we’ve all done it and I’m as guilty as the next writer, but if they keep on happening in an MS I really wonder how the author’s attention to detail. It makes me look at who published the book and possibly who the editor was.
  • “Throw the book across the room” moments – I came across one very recently. The heroine was planning to leave her two children at a ball field where they were practicing without saying goodbye or telling them where she was going, so she could have coffee with the hero, WHO SHE’D JUST MET. File that under “author does not have children” and “heroine too stupid to live”.
  • Too much description – I find that especially sci-fi and historical romance authors can be the biggest offenders here. While I am aware that a sci-fi author may be trying to build a world, or a historical romance author wants the reader to be transported back in time, enough is enough. I do not need four straight pages of description with no breaks for dialogue.

Well, I’m sure I could come up with others, but I’ll let you do that! Tell me what your pet peeves are. One random commenter will win a copy of my book. (Winner will be drawn on Wednesday, the 20th). Get talkin’!

Talk To Me Out Now
BUY LINK: http://www.loose-id.com/Talk-to-Me.aspx
Excerpt:

The elevator doors opened, and Drew hurried to unlock his apartment and punch his code into the security pad before continuing straight to his bedroom. He spun and picked Jamie up as she neared the door, and she let out a squeak of protest.

“Drew!”

“What? I’m trying to be romantic. Efficient too.” He grinned at her when she struggled to get out of his grip. The way she fought against him both amused and aroused him. “Not so fast,” he warned her. “I’m not planning to let you get away until I’m good and finished with you.”

Jamie cocked an eyebrow. “Good and finished? Be still my heart! Such dreamy talk from a man like you! I had no idea.”

Drew laughed and dropped Jamie on the king-size bed with enough force to make her bounce, then climbed on top of her. Before she could protest again, he’d pressed his erection into her belly and taken her lips in another deep kiss. Jamie melted beneath him, snaking her hands around his neck while his found her hips, pulling her closer. “You need to get naked,” he declared, rolling off her.

“Just me? That’s hardly fair. If I’m getting naked, then this time, so are you.” Her beautiful, full lips pouted at him.

He stood up, and in seconds, his pants and boxer briefs landed in a heap on the floor. He pulled his shirt over his head and added it to the pile. “Your turn.”

Jamie rose up on her elbows and stared at him in disbelief. “How did you do that so fast? And may I add, very nice.” She smiled and waggled her eyebrows, giving him a quick once-over.

“When I want something, I don’t waste time. And I want you naked. Now.”

He reached over and started yanking her top over her head, but she batted his hands away.

“Hey — stop that. You’re going to dislocate my shoulder with your beastlike strength.”

Drew laughed but allowed Jamie to gently pull her blouse over her head. He took it and tossed it on the chair near the window. Next she tugged her jeans off, leaving her in only her bra and panties, which Drew made short work of.

He groaned when she was fully nude. “God, you’re fucking gorgeous, you know that? And I’m gonna put my hands and my tongue and my mouth and my cock everywhere on and in your beautiful body, so you better be ready.”

Jamie shivered, and he covered her body with his, kissing her briefly before moving down her jawline, sucking and licking. This is gonna be good.

BUY LINK: http://www.loose-id.com/Talk-to-Me.aspx

BIO:

Cassandra Carr lives in Western New York with her husband, Inspiration, and her daughter, Too Cute for Words. When not writing she enjoys watching hockey and hanging out on Twitter. Her debut novel, Talk to Me, was released by Loose Id on March 22, 2011. For more information about Cassandra, check out her website at http://www.booksbycassandracarr.com, “like” her Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCassandraCarr or follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Cassandra_Carr.

TRS Party winners :)

Hey all,

Sorry it took me most the day to get this done. I came down with a pretty bad cold on Saturday, and ended up sleeping most of today after I got the kids off to school, LOL.

Now that they’re fed and settled for the night I’m finally able to sit down and breathe : ) BTW – My kids drew the winners from the hat.

Winners, please email me with your Name and Address, and if applicable, choice of prizes. AmberKallyn (@) gmail (.) com – no spaces, LOL

Congrats Everyone! And thank you so much for participating : )

5 winners will (in MAY) receive a complete set of Dragos Romance Trading Cards

Larena W, Nyclocs (Veronique), LadyVampire, Cheralyn, JoAnna B

3 winners Please Send me your choice of:

Amber Kallyn Book Tote, Amber Kallyn Ball cap, Signed 12 x 18 Mini-poster (Dragos 1 & 2 available now)

Venus, Nyclocs (Veronique), Debra McD

GRAND PRIZE WINNER, WOOT!

#1 – Winners choice of any Amber Kallyn e-book

 Pam S

Please click on the link, then email your choice of books 🙂 Also send me your mailing address and I’ll include a signed book cover postcard.

Again, Every winner also recieves a bookmark, a book cover postcard and a dragony surprise : )

Freebies and Stayin’ Home Party Time!

Today through Sunday, I’m at The Romance Studio partying.

Since I’m one of the sad people not able to go to the RT Convention in California, I’m instead celebrating Stayin’ Home.

I’ll be posting book excerpts, as well as giving away goodies.

Do 2 of these:  follow me on this blog, join my newsletter or follow me on Twitter And, comment on one of my posts at the party.  (Then let me know in this post or here)

***IF you already follow this blog, AND Newsletter AND Twitter, and you comment on one of my party posts – You’re entered too : ) Just let me know in this post or here.

Up for grabs (winners can be drawn more than once):

#1 – Winners choice of any Amber Kallyn e-book

3 winners will receive their choice of:

Amber Kallyn Book Tote

Amber Kallyn Ball cap

Signed 12 x 18 Mini-poster (Dragos 1 & 2 available now)

5 winners will (in MAY) receive a complete set of Dragos Romance Trading Cards

***Every winner also recieves a bookmark, a book cover postcard and a dragony surprise : )

Party Baby!

Release day for Mistletoe 🙂

And, last night I found out my short story Alice is available now (See sidebar on the left)

But, today is a Release Party at The Romance Studio.

Come win Great Prizes, Read Excerpts and talk to your favorite authors.

12N to 8pm EST

Guest Interview & Enter to Win

Hey all,

Come check out my interview this Sunday, 12/5 on Happily Ever After Thoughts blog, and enter to win a free copy of my Christmas story, Mistletoe. There’s also a coupon you can use to get 5% of any Amber Kallyn story at Changeling Press, good through 12/6 – 12/19 as a birthday present from me to you.

Enjoy 🙂

Free Books for a year

So guess what I just found out?

You want to win Free books for a year?

This year, Changeling is giving away Free Books For A Year — Times Four!

* Twelve First Round winners — three winners every week in December ’til Christmas — will receive one free Changeling book of their choice.

* Six Finalists will receive two free Changeling books of their choice every week for the month of January.

Four Changeling winners will receive Free Books For A Year!

* Two First Prize winners will receive two free Changeling books of their choice every month for a year.

* Two Grand Prize winners will receive two free Changeling books of their choice every week for a year!

The best part — there are no codes and no entry forms — every $2.99 Sugarplum E-book purchased counts as a chance to win.

This year’s Sugarplum lineup:

            Sugarplum: Canine Christmas by B.J. McCall

Birthday gifts come in all sorts of packages and Joy Kingston’s is a major surprise.

            Sugarplum: Bitsy’s Christmas Demon by Cynthia Sax

Sex with a Christmas fairy tops this powerful demon’s wish list.

            Sugarplum: Christmas Magic by Anne Kane

Tali hopes the Christmas Magic of the Sugarplum Ball is strong enough to get Jax into her bed.

            Sugarplum: Mutts by Sarah Black

When puppies appear outside his door, everything Matt believed about Christmas changes…

            Sugarplum: Just Wink by Bryl R. Tyne

“What haven’t I made clear? Desire. Ecstasy. Satisfaction. In that order!”

            Sugarplum: Christmas in the Zone by Isabella Jordan

Two guys, two gals, and an aphrodisiac under the tree…

            Sugarplum: Kitchen Witch by Dawn Montgomery

Sex, magic, and cookies… what a treat!

            Sugarplum: Make the Yuletide Gay by Lena Austin

Beware the cowboy bearing gifts, who may make Dr. Gary Lord’s Yuletide much gayer than he’d planned.

            Sugarplum: Mistletoe by Amber Kallyn

What’s a great way to spend a night with your mate? Indulge and make his body your very own buffet.

            Sugarplum: Blitzened by Elizabeth Jewell

Can a carton of eggnog and a bottle of rum kindle a dose of Christmas spirit between Nick and Ian?

            Sugarplum: The Demon’s Christmas Present by Leona Grey

Even demons deserve a Christmas present…

            Sugarplum: Yuletide Spirit by Jessica Coulter Smith

The last gift Jenna expected on Christmas was two lovers who make her explore her sexuality.

            Sugarplum: Bound for Christmas by S. Michael

Jenny’s got the perfect present for her husband: a pretty boy toy, wrapped up with Christmas ribbon.

And now the fine print — only we made it bigger.

* First Round winners and Finalists are eligible to win more than one prize

* Winners will be chosen from purchasers of books in the Changeling Press Sugarplum Series; each Sugarplum e-book purchase made in the month of December 2010 before the final prizes are announced counts as an entry.

* Prizes are available as Changeling Press E-books, to be downloaded from ChangelingPress.com only.

* Free book download links do not accumulate, and will expire if not used.

* Winners will be announced December 31st at the Changeling New Year’s Eve Party, held on our Changeling Press Readers’ Loop.

Happy Christmas!

Free Book!

   Today you can enter for a chance to win a Free copy of Dragos: Burned.

   Visit The Romance Studio to enter 🙂

   Good Luck Ya’ll

Contests Con’s and Traps

What happens when you enter a contest? Well, today, most are electronic which cuts down on shipping costs. Still, a good portion require mailing.  Postage adds up.

Then, there are the contest fees themselves. Too many, and they can add up so fast it’ll make your head spin.

This is one reason I advise checking out contests carefully. Make sure you’re getting something, a lot of something, for your money. Get feedback from multiple judges. Final round feedback from agents/editors.

And if you’re rich, ignore me.

The second pitfall which commonly occurs with contest entrants is the readiness of the manuscript. There are people, contest groupies, who focus on their first three chapters. They’re polished, shiny and awesome.

Then the final round call comes and they need to send in the rest of the manuscript.

Uh oh.

The rest isn’t polished because it took so much time to get those first chapters into shape, and the rest of the story didn’t seem quite as important.

Most contests require the entire story be complete before entering the first pages. But, there’s no requirement the whole thing must be polished.

So, if you’re going to enter your first pages, don’t forget to edit and polish the rest of the story. It’s important too.

Another, much less common, pitfall I’ve seen is with the feedback.

On occasion, you’ll get a judge who is flat out spiteful. Maybe they were having a bad day (or a bad year). Maybe their spouse just left them. The agent rejected them. Maybe they woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

This can happen with both the first round, and the final round judges. Agent and editors are not immune to having a bad day.

Again, this is not very common, but it’s something to keep in mind.

With writing being so subjective, maybe the judge doesn’t like your character because he/she reminds them of the high school bully.

Your character is awesome, but this judge is never going to like your story.

So you miss out on the final round, because of the judge’s issues.

Fair? No. But it can be reality.

Luckily, the odds of you getting one is rare. Two? Astronomical. But it is possible.

You’re stuck out the money, poor feedback, and no win.

Still, I think contests are one of the great ways for writers to improve. The feedback you get is honest because they don’t know you, and thoughtful because they care.

Judges are volunteers with nothing to gain by doing this. They just want to help others succeed.

And on that note, I recommend that even if you get the judge with PMS, send a polite thank you for their time and feedback. It’s just a nice thing to do.

Contests Pro’s on entering

So, you’ve decided to enter some contests. You’ve polished your first pages/chapters until they shine. You’ve found contests that give feedback, with at  least 3 judges, and final round is with editors and agents.

Good luck.

So now, what can you expect?

The feedback from first round judges is normally pretty useful. Sure, sometimes you’ll get the judge who was having a crappy day and took it out on your pages, but overall, it’s usually a great experience.

You got a critique from experienced people.

Now, you advance to the next round.

Congrats, you’re a finalist. One of the few.

You’ll probably get feedback from the agent/editor judges, though it won’t be very expansive. It’s still usually enough to see what a professional thinks of your work, and the area’s you need to improve.

This is invaluable.

BUT, keep in mind, as with everything in this industry, it is also subjective opinion.

Now you get the call. You won!

The agent and editor both want a full.

Are you ready?

This leads me to the con’s about contests and traps to avoid.

See you next time.

Contests: To enter or not (part 1)

I always see questions about contests around the net. Are they worth it? Do you get anything out of them? What are the drawbacks?

So, I thought I’d share my experience from both sides of the fence (entrant and judge)

 

First, my suggestions:

-Why are you entering? To win? To get feedback? To get in front of an Agent/Editor?

Know your answers to these questions before picking the contests to enter.

If you’re entering just to win, remember, tastes are subjective. There can only be one winner.

From the judge’s perspective, I try to look at each entry as its own, without comparing it to anything else (published, my own stuff, or the other entrants). Since the contest coordinators send a checklist, with points for very specific categories, it’s pretty easy.

Still, I can only state my opinion on the categories. Some is technical, some is craft, and some is concept.

Are you entering to get feedback?

Most contests offer feedback. Most judges are a mix between published and unpublished writers. This isn’t a bad thing. Your feedback will be different things each judge specifically thought to point out. It’s almost like a mini critique (although some can be more expansive).

Keep in mind, as with any critique, it is subjective opinion.

Also, I would suggest only entering contests who give each entry at least 3 judges. That way, you get more feedback, and there’s a tie breaker. If all three say something, you probably want to look at it. If only one of the three mention something, it could be spot on, but it might fall in the ‘opinion’ area.

Are you entering to get in front of an agent/editor?

Most contests have agents and/or editors as final round judges. This is great.

But for two things.

1, you have to get to the finals.

2, I’ve found, as a writer, agents and editors judging a contest are sometimes more critical than if you just query them. They’re looking specifically for everything wrong, rather than with a query, they’re hoping to find enough right to offer for it.