C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

See all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

05/15/2011 • 7:43 AM 0

India Drummond’s generous book give away

To celebrate the launch of her latest urban fantasy novel, Blood Faerie, author India Drummond will give away five Kindle copies of her book on its release day, June 1, 2011.

Blood Faerie is the first in India Drummond’s new series, Caledonia Fae.

Unjustly sentenced to death, Eilidh ran—away from faerie lands to the streets of Perth, Scotland. Just when she has grown accustomed to exile, local police discover a mutilated body outside the abandoned church where she lives. Recognizing the murder as the work of one of her own kind, Eilidh must choose: flee, or learn to tap into the forbidden magic that cost her everything.

To enter to win a Kindle copy of the new book, all you have to do is sign up for her email newsletter. The email list is only used to announce book releases and important events, and emails are sent out infrequently. (It’s free, and it’s easy to unsubscribe after the contest date if you find it’s not for you.) Sign up here.

Five winners’ names will be announced on the India Drummond newsletter on June 1st, along with instructions for how winners can claim their free Kindle books. Only subscribers are eligible to win.

No Kindle? No problem! Anyone with a PC, Mac, or smart-device (iPhone, Blackberry, Android phone, etc) can read a Kindle book. Download free reading software here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sa_menu_karl3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Want to quadruple your chances of winning? Simply tweet about the contest with a link to any participating blog post and include @IndiaDrummond in your tweet. Or, share the link on Facebook. (But be sure to add @India Drummond to tag her on the link so she will see it! – You can add her to your friend list here: http://www.facebook.com/india.drummond)

And finally, add another entry to the list by posting about the contest on your blog.– Tweet and share the link as much as you like, but only one additional entry per method, per person.
Good luck, everyone!

Author Profile: India Drummond’s Ordinary Angels (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Guest Post by India Drummond (modicumoftalent.com)
Support authors. Buy books. (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: authors, Books, Contest announcement, e-reader, ebooks, links, Amazon Kindle, Blood Faerie, india drummond, Perth Scotland

02/10/2011 • 8:47 PM 1

Writers: Self-published book wins big on CBC’s Canada Reads

Cover of The Best Laid Plans

CBC’s Canada Reads winner is Terry Fallis,

**author of The Best Laid Plans.**

Congratulations to Mr. Fallis

for his well-deserved victory.

You know what’s really great about this story, right? Mr. Fallis submitted his manuscript to agents and publishers everywhere and was turned down flat.

Next, he podcasted his book.

Then he self-published his book.

That would have been the end of it, but when he won the Stephen Leacock award, finally McClelland & Stewart paid attention.

Now Best Laid Plans is celebrated.

(I wonder, are any of the publishers who passed up on the opportunity to publish the book questioning their judgment today? Of course not. That’s a rhetorical question.)

Shrill British paint guru Debbie Travis defended The Birth House (poorly). She might have fared better if she understood that (a) she should have read all of Best Laid Plans instead of dismissing it with such disdain, and (b) she might even have won if she wasn’t so damn cranky. When she dismissed other contestants’ objections as “ridiculous” I knew she already lost.

The Birth House might be a good book, but after Debbie Travis’s poor representation, I’m sure I’ll never give that one a chance. It’s kind of important to be likeable, even in debate. No, it’s not fair to the author, Ami McKay, (sorry Ms. McKay!) but it’s clear it’s more diatribe than novel.

Note to CBC Radio‘s Q host Jian Ghomeshi: Maybe she’s good for ratings but she’s no good for books. A judge who doesn’t read all of the books, and then has the temerity to condemn it without reading it all, shouldn’t be back on air.

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis wins Canada Reads (theglobeandmail.com)
Best Laid Plans tops Canada Reads (thestar.com)
Canada Reads names 2011 winner (cbc.ca)
Terry Fallis wins Canada Reads competition (arts.nationalpost.com)
How authors and other experts can use audio products (trafcom.typepad.com)
Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel out of competition (windsorstar.com)
Essex County by Jeff Lemire makes final five on Canada Reads list (windsorstar.com)

Filed under: authors, Books, Contest announcement, podcasts, Publicity & Promotion, publishing, Rant, self-publishing, writing contests, Ami McKay, Best Laid Plans, Canada Reads, CBC, Debbie Travis, Jian, McClelland & Stewart, Terry Fallis, The Birth House

01/31/2011 • 3:29 PM 3

Writers: Check out the Pay It Forward Contest

Cover of Pay it Forward

This post is a little about a writing contest.

It’s mostly about being a better, happier and richer person.

Over at Market My Words, there’s a great contest for writers. The author will pluck the right query and sample from the entries and push the winner’s name to her agent. It’s a chance to get out of the slush pile. If your manuscript is worthy, this contest could save you an awful lot of time and energy.

What pulled my attention was that she called it the Pay It Forward Contest. Do you remember the movie? (SPOILER ALERT) It wasn’t cynical. It was inspiring. It might have caught on even larger if the ending hadn’t been such a downer. Still, it was a reminder we must all use our time well.

And it made me think of how I’ve been paid forward. I have a very successful friend. By the force of his mind and personality, he’s achieved a lot and continues to achieve a lot. People are always glad to see him coming. He’s gone out of his way to help me on several occasions. That spirit defines him and, precisely because he is so generous with his advice, time and money, his success is multiplied however you choose to measure it.

Too often we associate business success with a dog-eat-dog mentality. To succeed, we’re often told, others must fail. Instead, my friend looks for opportunities to reach out to people. He helps them and in turn, he is helped. He’s genuinely interested in other people’s problems and tries to help them.

It takes very little effort to slip into the human network to, with kindness, grease the wheels of interaction and eliminate friction. S.R. Johannes, the author of the Pay It Forward Contest is doing it. Though I must decline to specify how I’m doing the same, I can tell you I’m already on it (promise!)

**You know what’s great about paying it forward?**

**It feels fantastic!**

Key question:

Somebody’s helped you at some point.

**How are you paying it forward?**

Random Acts Of Kindness 31 – Locker Room Love [Michael Turner] (ecademy.com)
Pay It Forward Green (ourdailygreenlife.blogspot.com)
Patrick House: Biggest Loser Winner Season 10! (rightcelebrity.com)
The (Unlikely) Economics of Your Book Becoming a Movie (dailyfinance.com)
If you love somebody…show it !! (dialoguewithyou.wordpress.com)
A 14-year-old girl pays it forward (theprovince.com)

Filed under: agents, authors, Contest announcement, DIY, movies, writing contests, Arts, Pay It Forward, Writers Resources, writing contest

12/22/2010 • 12:04 PM 0

Writing Contest Prize: A cover design for your book

: Image via Wikipedia

Write a little.

You might get a lot.

Details here:

The Writing Bomb‏

How writing prizes should be handled (davidhewson.com)

Filed under: Contest announcement, Writers, writing contests, book design, writing contest

11/16/2010 • 10:25 AM 2

#Contests for Writers

Image via Wikipedia

Funds for Writers has a great list of interesting writing contests.

Screenwriter? Poet? Conjurer of fantasies?

Scroll down and check those deadlines.

Unique Screenwriting Competition Challenges Entrants To Create A Screenplay From A-List Screenwriter Logline (prweb.com)
Suggestions for Being a More Productive Writer (joannaslan.blogspot.com)
Getting Back to Work (confidentwriting.com)
Word After Word After Word (nytimes.com)
NewPages Blog (newpagesblog.blogspot.com)

Filed under: Contest announcement, Useful writing links, contests for writers, writing contests

10/23/2010 • 6:54 PM 0

CONTEST #3 is STILL OPEN

Image via Wikipedia

Got a book you’re burning to review?

Is there a book you’ve read recently you feel so passionate about, you want to make the leap from just reading books to writing about them? You have until Wednesday, October 27 at 9 PM EST to submit your book review (400 words max.)

The Chosen One shall receive one free copy of The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide by Becky Levine. She’ll teach you how to improve your chances of getting published by organizing like-minded writers to help you critique writing with clarity and sensitivity. Please paste your book review into the body of your email to chazz@chazzwrites.vpweb.ca.

Book Review – The Myths of Innovation – Scott Berkun (broadcasting-brain.com)
Contest – Win 14 Graphic Novels from Top Shelf Comix (largeheartedboy.com)
Blizzard announces 2010 Global Writing Contest winners (wow.joystiq.com)
National Student Publishing Contest Opens With Increased Focus on Digital Journalism (prweb.com)
Contest – Win Bob Dylan’s The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9) (largeheartedboy.com)
Writing Competitions: Poetry Contests: 2010 – 2011 (writinghood.com)

Filed under: book reviews, Contest announcement, book review, contest announcement

10/18/2010 • 12:34 PM 0

Contest #3 Deadline Looms

Image via Wikipedia

Just a heads-up folks! The Contest #3 deadline is looming. Please submit your book reviews by October 27 at 9 PM EST to enter the draw for an awesome book on establishing and working with a writing critique group. Just 400 words could get you there. (See the header post above for details!)

Writing Competitions: Poetry Contests: 2010 – 2011 (writinghood.com)

Filed under: book reviews, Contest announcement, Contest, Writers Resources

10/10/2010 • 3:41 PM 0

Contest #2 Announcement

Image by the queen of subtle via Flickr

P.A. Melo won Contest #2 (and a book) with his take on the e-book future. His essay will be up sometime next week.

In other news, it’s Canadian Thanksgiving so new posts from me crank up again starting Tuesday morning.

I’m getting some writing and editing done in the meantime (ironically, that’s time which is not mean at all.)

REMINDER: There’s still Contest #3. Got a book you want to review? Review a book and you could win one. (See Contest rule details above.)

‘Canadian Jon Stewart’ Explains Thanksgiving (npr.org)

Filed under: Contest announcement, getting it done, contest announcement

10/02/2010 • 3:23 PM 2

And here’s yet another contest link (not mine)

Back to the Beginning Book Giveaway.

For this contest, you could win some books. Fill out a short poll and check out the Writer’s Block NZ blog. It couldn’t hurt.

Filed under: Contest announcement, blog contest

10/02/2010 • 2:10 PM 0

Contest #1 Winner Announcement

JEFritz won Kevin Smith‘s graphic novel Cacophony (art by Walt Flanagan.) Find her blog here.

Thanks, JEFritz, for supporting Chazz Writes and congratulations! It’s a great book. (Regular readers know I love all things Kevin Smith and I’m even seeing him in person next month!)

Thanks to all those who sent left comments, linked to the blog, discovered the blog or just sent me nice notes on Twitter. If you’re disappointed, please don’t be. Contests #2 and #3 are still open! Submit a book review or write a short essay and let us in on your thoughts on the future of publishing (pretty wide topic, so take liberties if you like as long as it’s about writing, publishing or editing.)

I want into the draws! Take me to the contest rules, Chazz!