# YA Spring Fling Giveaway - gathering information from participants



## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

I've already posted this in the YA support thread, but thought it deserved its own thread to get a few more views. 

I'm setting up a giveaway of YA books in March and hoping for lots and lots contributors. The idea is, lots of authors sign up and I put all the details of which books you'd like to give away on my website (as well as buy links, website links etc.) the readers then come along and request which books they want to win. When all the data is collated I'll Email each of you with a list of readers who requested your book, you can then get in touch with them about their winnings. You get to decide the winners as well, or you can send all of them an Ebook, it's up to you.

I took part in a similar giveaway a few years ago and it was a lot of fun, plus a good way of doing some cross promotion and getting a few extra reviews. This isn't a rafflecopter run giveaway, so it might not end in extra Facebook likes or tweets, but I'm hoping it's a better way of finding new fans, rather than people who only want to win something. This way pretty much everyone who signs up will come away with at least one book. 

I've set up a Google form to submit book details. Please fill out one form per book. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vKwx7gsUv3vU4lIw--d3IAR7TInpQpVZseR04R5fHSc/viewform?c=0&w=1

If there's anything I've missed, or any extras you want to include then please put a comment in the last box on the form or Email me at [email protected]

Criteria:

This is for YA books, or books teens will be interested in. We're talking MC between 12-20, no graphic sex and no graphic gore. Swearing, some violence and suggestion is okay. Use your sensible cap with this one.

Short stories, novellas, novels, they are all fine as I'll put a label on each entry to identify them as such. There's also an opportunity to give away paperbacks and audiobooks if you'd like to.

You must help with promotion. The giveaway will go live on March 20th. In between now and then I'll be working on trying to build up the mailing list: http://eepurl.com/baBpFr so I'd appreciate it if you shared that. Nearer the time I think I'll set up a blog hop of some kind, so it would be great if we could all write a guest post. You'll also need to share on your social media when it goes live.

I'd love for you to take part so don't be shy. The more YA authors we can get, the better it will be for all of us, so feel free to share the links and spread the word. 

ETA:

Deadline for book submissions is 20th February.
Giveaway begins 20th March
Giveaway ends 3rd April

Details on blog hop to come.
Over 70 entries so far! 

Edited 3rd March:

I have a few people to chase up. Please check your Email and the last post in this thread.


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## Christine_C (Jun 29, 2014)

Looking forward to this! I'll pass the word on to any other YA authors I come across


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## Sever Bronny (May 13, 2013)

Thanks for doing this! I'm in


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

CN_Crawford said:


> Looking forward to this! I'll pass the word on to any other YA authors I come across


Thank you! We need as many people as possible.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Thanks for putting this together!


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## ruecole (Jun 13, 2012)

I got to participate in Elle Casey's giveaway a few years ago. I still see a nice little bump in sales on that book every year around the anniversary of the giveaway! I'm definitely in. 

Rue


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

ruecole said:


> I got to participate in Elle Casey's giveaway a few years ago. I still see a nice little bump in sales on that book every year around the anniversary of the giveaway! I'm definitely in with my one YA short story.
> 
> Rue


Awesome!

It was Elle's giveaway that inspired me to have a go at my own. Fingers crossed it goes as well as that one.


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## ruecole (Jun 13, 2012)

Same!  

I just realized I have two stories that qualify. Yay!

One question: how many ebook copies do you recommend making available?

Thanks!

Rue


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

Thanks for doing this! I've signed up already!


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

ruecole said:


> Same!
> 
> I just realized I have two stories that qualify. Yay!
> 
> ...


I've been saying 10, but it's really up to you. At the end I'll send you the details of all the readers anyway, so you can give out more if you want. 10 gives people hope that the odds are pretty decent for winning, at least that's what I'm banking on!


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## KGGiarratano (Aug 14, 2013)

Submitted!


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## ruecole (Jun 13, 2012)

sarahdalton said:


> I've been saying 10, but it's really up to you. At the end I'll send you the details of all the readers anyway, so you can give out more if you want. 10 gives people hope that the odds are pretty decent for winning, at least that's what I'm banking on!


Thanks! Submitted! 

Rue


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## Randall Boleyn (Mar 8, 2012)

*Wave Links* is entered. I've never been invited to be part of a 'Spring Fling". This is exciting! And a excellent motivator-date of March 20th to complete and publish book two in the *Powers Meant for Gods* YA series.


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## Pauline Creeden (Aug 4, 2011)

I'll spread the word to my friends on Facebook


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2015)

I'm in with my YA novel


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Hi Sarah, do you have a closing date on this? I imagine lots of people will have new releases before then and it will be a good promotional tool to add to their mailing list releases etc

Also I imagine you want a certain number of sign ups before we start advertising it?


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## JTCochrane (Feb 6, 2012)

I am willing to join.


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## Kate. (Oct 7, 2014)

This is a great idea - I've joined!


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Evenstar said:


> Hi Sarah, do you have a closing date on this? I imagine lots of people will have new releases before then and it will be a good promotional tool to add to their mailing list releases etc
> 
> Also I imagine you want a certain number of sign ups before we start advertising it?


Good questions! I'll have a think on both and amswer tomorrow. For the closing date, I'm leaving submissions open for at least 4 weeks but will decide on a proper timeline that allows me to put the webpage together.


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## Pauline Creeden (Aug 4, 2011)

Thanks so much for putting this together!


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## Genre Hoarder (Oct 4, 2014)

I'm in! I've forwarded my submission already.

Thanks!


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## Tony Bertauski (May 18, 2012)

In!


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

sarahdalton said:


> I've been saying 10, but it's really up to you. At the end I'll send you the details of all the readers anyway, so you can give out more if you want. 10 gives people hope that the odds are pretty decent for winning, at least that's what I'm banking on!


I said 5 on the form but you can bump me to 10 if you want!


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## Vera Nazarian (Jul 1, 2011)

I just signed up!

My new YA dystopian novel Qualify (The Atlantis Grail Book 1) will be just perfect for this!


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Stupid question: can we include books that are in Select? I've already submitted one that isn't in, but would like to add one that is (though it might be out by the the time of the giveaway).


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## cblewgolf (Jan 3, 2011)

Submitted - thanks!


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## kimberlyloth (May 15, 2014)

Sarah,

Can we bundle a set of books? My first book is free so it seems silly to include that but I thought it might be weird to give away only the second book. 

Thanks for doing this!! It sounds awesome.

Kim


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Stacy Claflin said:


> Stupid question: can we include books that are in Select? I've already submitted one that isn't in, but would like to add one that is (though it might be out by the the time of the giveaway).


I don't see why not. They won't be for sale, it's just a competition, so I don't think it will violate any TOCs from Amazon.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

kimberlyloth said:


> Sarah,
> 
> Can we bundle a set of books? My first book is free so it seems silly to include that but I thought it might be weird to give away only the second book.
> 
> ...


Yep, that's fine! There should be a bundle option on the form. Just tick that. Then you can put a bit more info about the books in the last comment box if you like.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Evenstar said:


> Hi Sarah, do you have a closing date on this? I imagine lots of people will have new releases before then and it will be a good promotional tool to add to their mailing list releases etc
> 
> Also I imagine you want a certain number of sign ups before we start advertising it?


Okay, I just checked sign ups and we already have over 40 books which is awesome! And most authors are prepared to giveaway 10 ebooks or more so I reckon that's enough to say that the giveaway is definitely viable and we can start telling readers. Don't forget to include the mailing list sign up: http://eepurl.com/baBpFr So I can Email readers when it goes live.

I've decided to leave the submission form open until the 20th February, which should give me plenty of time to put together all the promotional material and to set up a blog hop.

I'll Email everyone on the 20th Feb and request book covers and see who wants to take part in the blog hop. Then from March 1st we'll start sharing the images around. On March 20th the giveaway will go live!

Now, I want to ask your opinions on this (everyone, not just Evenstar!). How long do you think we should leave the giveaway open for? One week? Two? We need long enough to get enough readers for all the books available, but not so long that the earlybirds have to wait for the books they've requested. If we left it open for longer than two weeks I could give you weekly updates on people who have requested the books. That could work for ebooks but probably not for paperbacks. I'm open to suggestions.


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## Randall Boleyn (Mar 8, 2012)

A March 20 start with a two week sign-up sounds perfect. Two weeks maintains enough sense of urgency to encourage interested readers to get involved. Maybe the paperback drawings would be at the end of week one. When the promo starts March one and the book blog tour starts, some readers are going to want to pick their selections right away. 

Maybe we create a 'Pre-entry' form (Think pre-order buys) and, maybe create a special drawing from the Pre-entry readers for an array of signed paperbacks. Then the Pre-entry listings are added along with the other entries starting 3/20 .


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## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

sarahdalton said:


> Okay, I just checked sign ups and we already have over 40 books which is awesome! And most authors are prepared to giveaway 10 ebooks or more so I reckon that's enough to say that the giveaway is definitely viable and we can start telling readers. Don't forget to include the mailing list sign up: http://eepurl.com/baBpFr So I can Email readers when it goes live.


I put 5 copies for Hidden Intentions because I wasn't sure how many was a good number. You can change it to 10 - I'm definitely happy to give away that many.



sarahdalton said:


> I don't see why not. They won't be for sale, it's just a competition, so I don't think it will violate any TOCs from Amazon.


Cool. Thanks! I'll add Gone too.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Randall Bowling said:


> A March 20 start with a two week sign-up sounds perfect. Two weeks maintains enough sense of urgency to encourage interested readers to get involved. Maybe the paperback drawings would be at the end of week one. When the promo starts March one and the book blog tour starts, some readers are going to want to pick their selections right away.
> 
> Maybe we create a 'Pre-entry' form (Think pre-order buys) and, maybe create a special drawing from the Pre-entry readers for an array of signed paperbacks. Then the Pre-entry listings are added along with the other entries starting 3/20 .


I like the idea of having an incentive for readers to act fast, but I am a little concerned that it might end up more complicated than I'd imagined! I'll have a think.

I also think 2 weeks might be best. As long as we advertise it as being two weeks from the start readers will know to wait that long to hear back from us.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

AnnChristy said:


> I'll fill out the form for Strikers, but sent you an email re my upcoming releases. The In-Betweener and Forever Between will be out before the fling starts (based on your dates) but I don't have links for those since I'm still on the fence about pre-orders while my editor still has a WIP.
> 
> Do you have something specific you'd like us to do for upcoming releases?


Just Emailed you back!

It might be easier to just put TBC in the buy links and leave everything else the same. I'll go through the spreadsheet before the giveaway and check all the details anyway. I'll be Emailing everyone to get their covers, so we can go through any missing info then.


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## Vera Nazarian (Jul 1, 2011)

sarahdalton said:


> Okay, I just checked sign ups and we already have over 40 books which is awesome! And most authors are prepared to giveaway 10 ebooks or more so I reckon that's enough to say that the giveaway is definitely viable and we can start telling readers. Don't forget to include the mailing list sign up: http://eepurl.com/baBpFr So I can Email readers when it goes live.
> 
> I've decided to leave the submission form open until the 20th February, which should give me plenty of time to put together all the promotional material and to set up a blog hop.
> 
> ...


Sounds great, thanks! 

And a two week giveaway is perfect -- not too long so that it loses urgency, and still enough time to spread the news.


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## hayley (Oct 21, 2014)

Just added two books and signed up for mailing list


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## Kristy Tate (Apr 24, 2012)

Thanks! Submitting now...


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## tknite (Feb 18, 2014)

I put in for 10 ebooks and 1 paperback for Solace. I'll join up for any blog-related stuff, too.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Just to confirm then - Closing date for submissions is 20th Feb? And the competition will go live on 20th March and run for two weeks? (Closing around 3rd April?).

Just wanted to get the dates on my calendar if those are about right? Thanks Sarah!


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## H. S. St. Ours (Mar 24, 2012)

Great idea. Sounds like fun. Just submitted.


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## Kristi Rose (Dec 24, 2014)

Is it ok if I pass this along to my Ya critique partners? They aren't on Kboards. I think this is an excellent idea and opportunity. Thanks,
Kristi


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## Cheyanne (Jan 9, 2013)

Thanks for this! I just submitted. Looking forward to the giveaway.


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

Thanks for organizing the giveaway, Sarah!



sarahdalton said:


> I've been saying 10, but it's really up to you. At the end I'll send you the details of all the readers anyway, so you can give out more if you want. 10 gives people hope that the odds are pretty decent for winning, at least that's what I'm banking on!


Whew, because I think I specified something low, like 2. Good to know that I can choose to send books out to more readers at the conclusion of the giveaway.



sarahdalton said:


> How long do you think we should leave the giveaway open for? One week? Two? We need long enough to get enough readers for all the books available, but not so long that the earlybirds have to wait for the books they've requested. If we left it open for longer than two weeks I could give you weekly updates on people who have requested the books. That could work for ebooks but probably not for paperbacks. I'm open to suggestions.


Two weeks sounds like a good duration. It's long enough to build some momentum but not too long that early entrants have to wait forever before winners are announced.

I was wondering, what will the entry form look like? Will it have a set of check boxes so that folks can select all of the books they're interested in? Is there a limit to the number of books they can select?


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## A.A (Mar 30, 2012)

I'm hoping to have my Lake E serial completed and put into one volume by the end of Jan. Will see how I go, and won't sign up until I'm sure


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## Robert Dahlen (Apr 27, 2014)

I've just submitted! 10 e-books and one set of signed paperbacks (since the third book will be out by then).


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## onguard74 (Apr 3, 2014)

I'm in! Thanks for the opportunity and for setting this up.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Oh crikey, I've not checked this for a few days. Lots of questions. Right, answers coming along now.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

@Evenstar - Yes. Deadline for submissions is 20th Feb. It will go live on the 20th March and end on the 3rd April. I'll update the first post with that information. 

@Kristi Rose - Yes, please do! That's awesome. 

@hs - I've been thinking about this. We already have over 70 different books. It might make the form really long. I could just leave a text box for the readers to type the names of the books. Or there could be a check box to enter ALL books and all formats, plus a list of the books underneath if some only want to request a few. I might have to play around with some different options. Luckily my fiance is a software developer so if I get stuck he can help me.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

One more thing I've decided. All mailing list sign ups are guaranteed at least one free Ebook. Now, I can ask the sign ups to Email me back with which book they'd like, or I can just make it one of mine. If you guys are happy with providing an extra ebook to anyone from the mailing list requesting your book then I'll go with the first option, which is more of an incentive. Otherwise, I'm happy to do it.

Here's the mailing list link to share on your social media.  http://eepurl.com/baBpFr


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## ufwriter (Jan 12, 2015)

This sounds great. I'm in!


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

Hi there - I signed up and as I noted in a previous post, you can change me from 5 to 10 ebooks since that seems to be the norm. I can give another for mailing list requests too and I'm interested in the blog hop.

Is there anything else I need to do or are we good and I just wait for your email after the submission date?


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> Hi there - I signed up and as I noted in a previous post, you can change me from 5 to 10 ebooks since that seems to be the norm. I can give another for mailing list requests too and I'm interested in the blog hop.
> 
> Is there anything else I need to do or are we good and I just wait for your email after the submission date?


Thanks, Heather. I already changed yours up to ten. 

The only thing you could do until the submissions are over is tell people about the mailing list. The more readers sign up, the more chance we've got of getting a good turn out.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Regarding the sign up. I seem to remember that on the Elle Casey giveaway there was simply a rows and rows of covers, each with a clickable link to Amazon and a check box underneath each cover? I think people could check up to five books? (or it might have been three) per person

I remember only because a couple of the people who chose mine commented that they did it because they were drawn to the cover


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

Evenstar said:


> Regarding the sign up. I seem to remember that on the Elle Casey giveaway there was simply a rows and rows of covers, each with a clickable link to Amazon and a check box underneath each cover? I think people could check up to five books? (or it might have been three) per person.


That sounds like a cool interface. I also wouldn't mind letting people choose more books or having an option to select all books.



sarahdalton said:


> One more thing I've decided. All mailing list sign ups are guaranteed at least one free Ebook. Now, I can ask the sign ups to Email me back with which book they'd like, or I can just make it one of mine. If you guys are happy with providing an extra ebook to anyone from the mailing list requesting your book then I'll go with the first option, which is more of an incentive. Otherwise, I'm happy to do it.


I'd be happy to provide extra books to give away to people who signed up for the mailing list.


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## smikeo (Dec 1, 2014)

Just submitted my book, thanks for doing this Sarah.  

I assume the paperback giveaway isn't limited geographically, right? I ask because most of my contacts aren't U.S citizens...


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## Ceinwen (Feb 25, 2014)

I'm happy to provide extra copies for mailing list people


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## Kate. (Oct 7, 2014)

Bit of a stupid question, sorry, but how do we give away copies of our ebooks? Do we send it as a PDF or gift it through Amazon (or some other way)?


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## MorganKegan (Jan 10, 2013)

I just submitted my book. Thanks for organizing this!


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

Darcy said:


> Bit of a stupid question, sorry, but how do we give away copies of our ebooks? Do we send it as a PDF or gift it through Amazon (or some other way)?


There are a few options. I usually either email the file itself (a PDF, mobi, or epub file depending on the reader's preference), create a Smashwords coupon so the reader can download it for free (assuming your book is available on Smashwords), or (as a last resort) gift it through Amazon.


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## Kate. (Oct 7, 2014)

Thanks!


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## KReadnour (Jul 8, 2014)

I just submitted my book. This sounds like a great idea. Thanks for getting this organized! Appreciate it!


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

smikeo said:


> Just submitted my book, thanks for doing this Sarah.
> 
> I assume the paperback giveaway isn't limited geographically, right? I ask because most of my contacts aren't U.S citizens...


Actually that raises a good question as to whether everyone is happy posting their donated paperbacks worldwide.

I personally would prefer to keep it worldwide, most of my readers are in the US, and I am UK based. But, if any writers would prefer to post in their home country, I'll give you all a list of the entries and you can filter out any international ones for your particular book. As long as there are a few of us willing to post worldwide I think it should be okay.


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## Kate. (Oct 7, 2014)

I'm happy to post world-wide.


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## Robert Dahlen (Apr 27, 2014)

Darcy said:


> I'm happy to post world-wide.


Same here. You never know where your next fan community might be.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Hi Everyone,

Just a reminder that I'm closing submissions on the 20th Feb to give me plenty of time to set up the giveaway for March 20th! Here's the form if you want to submit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vKwx7gsUv3vU4lIw--d3IAR7TInpQpVZseR04R5fHSc/viewform?usp=send_form

I'm away between the 15th and 18th of Feb, so if you have any urgent questions it might be best to ask now!


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## smikeo (Dec 1, 2014)

Is there anywhere we can see the submissions so far?


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

smikeo said:


> Is there anywhere we can see the submissions so far?


I kept the responses private for now as I wanted authors to be able to announce the giveaway on their own terms. But there are over 90 books submitted. Lots of YA sci-fi, dystopia, paranormal, some contemporary romance. Is there anything in particular that you wanted to know?


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## smikeo (Dec 1, 2014)

I'm notoriously paranoid, and mostly wanted to know that my book is registered


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Yep you're there, I just checked! 

Actually, speaking of paranoid I think I might make a copy of the spreadsheet at this point. Just in case.


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

Hi Sarah - I know you have me down already, I was just checking how the ebook giveaways will work. Do we send you a mobi file? Or do we send out to each winner individually ourselves? 

Sorry if that's a stupid question.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:


> Hi Sarah - I know you have me down already, I was just checking how the ebook giveaways will work. Do we send you a mobi file? Or do we send out to each winner individually ourselves?
> 
> Sorry if that's a stupid question.


Not a stupid question!

I'll send all author participants the Email and postal addresses of the entries for their book. Then you guys can get in contact with the winners! I'll ask entrants to put which format they need on the entry form so you can send the file straight to them.

Hope that helps!


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## donna callea (Dec 25, 2009)

Just submitted (twice).  Somehow I hit the enter key before I filled in all the blanks the first time.  Sorry, Sarah.  Thanks so much for all the effort you're putting into this.


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## JETaylor (Jan 25, 2011)

Throwing The Death Chronicles into the mix.


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

Okay everyone. Today is the last day to submit your book for this giveaway. Feel free to inform your fellow YA authors if they would like to join. 

We have over 90 books entered, so this is going to be a huge giveaway!  

Tomorrow morning I'll collate all the entries and send out an Email asking for book cover images so I can make a start on the promotional images.


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## ufwriter (Jan 12, 2015)

Thanks for organizing this. I'm really looking forward to it!


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## sarahdalton (Mar 15, 2011)

I'm still waiting to hear back from a few people via Email. If you've not Emailed me your covers etc. can you check your Email and let me know if you got it? I'm wondering whether some have gone into spam folders. 

Also @Valerie Gillen - your Email bounced and I only just noticed. Could you PM me please! Or Email me at [email protected]

Thanks everyone.


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