Thursday, July 19, 2012

Giveaway! Win a Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator ARC

It's contest time! Spookygirl's Violet wants to know what spooks you.

Two winners will be chosen at random. The first will receive one of the Spookygirl ARCs sent to me by Penguin/Dutton. The second will receive that Spookygirl ARC I bought on eBay. Both copies will be autographed; I'll be happy to personalize the autographs if the winners request it. I'll also send both winners some of the spooky swag I'm currently designing. (Swag will ship separately because some of it is still being printed.)

There are four ways to enter. Each task counts as one entry, so if you do all four, you'll be entered four times. (You can only win once, though!) I'll ship the ARCs anywhere in the world, so international entries are more than welcome!

Here are the ways to enter:

-Reply to this post and mention something that spooks you. Scary novel, horror movie, phobia -- anything goes! (My personal Big Crazy Fear is clowns. CLOWNS, MAN.)

-Mention the contest on your own blog with a link back to this post. Then leave a comment here with a link to your post so I can keep track of who's done this.

-Like Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator on Facebook and share the status update about the contest on your own wall.

-Follow me on Twitter and retweet my tweet about the contest (or link to this post in one of your own tweets and include the hashtag #Spookygirl).

That's it! The contest will run through August 1, and I'll announce the winners on August 2.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

I'm on the eBay!

So you guys . . . I kind of bought myself on eBay.

A few weeks ago I noticed someone had auctioned an ARC of Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator for close to $27. A search brought me to a current auction for another copy of Spookygirl with a Buy It Now price of just over $5, but that auction listed the book as a hardcover.

Huh? Even I didn't have a hardcover in hand at the time. Curious (and egged on by several friends), I BINed the listing.

Instead of a mysteriously premature hardcover, I received what I expected -- an ARC. This is awesome news, because it means I have a spare copy. I've been planning to have a giveaway for an ARC anyway, and now I can have two winners instead of one.

I'll be announcing the details of the giveaway here, on Spookygirl's Facebook page, and on my Twitter really soon, and there'll be several ways to enter, so keep an eye out!

I have to admit -- it was pretty amusing to search for my last name on eBay and actually get a result. And no, I don't think the seller noticed his buyer was also the book's author.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

The Road to Publication: Part Thirteen

[This is part 13 of a summary of Spookygirl’s journey toward publication. Use the Progress tag to access all related entries.]



 There it is, guys. Spookygirl: Paranormal Investigator in hardcover, all polished and finished and ready to take on the world.

I'd been told the advance hardcover would be arriving this month. When I got a package from Penguin Young Readers Group the other day, I knew what had to be inside. I tore it open right in the middle of the post office parking lot and squealed out loud. (So what if people needed to park? They could wait a minute; I was having a MOMENT.)


I am so, so happy with the finished product, and so grateful to everyone who had a hand in prepping Spookygirl for launch. Just over a month to go!

Back cover text
Dust jacket flap
Underneath the dust jacket, the cover is mint green with metallic purple type.

This is really happening, isn't it? It's really happening.

Other quick updates: I recently launched the bare bones of an author website. I'm also on Twitter now -- @JillBaguchinsky.