Okay, as promised, here are the final finalists for the Still Sucks to Be Me Launch contest, which includes a personal visit from me (for either a pizza party or an author-y visit or whatever). NOTE: If you don’t see your name here, don’t worry. It doesn’t mean you didn’t win second or third prize(s). Some of those winners have already been chosen, as well as some of the ones who are getting the bonus Skype visit + swag. But right now, this is all about helping me determine the Grand Prize winner. I wanted to announce all the winners at one time, so as soon as voting is done here, I’ll announce!
I’ll be honest…none of these locations are ones that I’m particularly keen on visiting. You know, like, say, Belize. But my vacation needs weren’t part of the consideration, though it does make it much easier for me if there’s a major airport nearby.
Please read through the entries carefully and give them your full consideration. Then, please use the form below to vote for who you think should receive the Grand Prize. Thank you so much (and thank you to everyone who entered!)! These entries are alphabetical by first name order (so no hidden meanings or anything).
EDIT July 13th: For those who were wondering, I’m not posting the vote totals for a few reasons: 1) it’s changing pretty constantly (lots of votes! but the more the better!) and 2) I think posting the leaders could unduly influence the outcome. I will say that right now the leader has 37% of the vote with the next one having 25%, but it’s changing all the time. And please, feel free to leave a comment for who you’re supporting!
Please vote by the end of the day on July 19th (voting will be open for a week)!
VOTING IS OVER! Check out the Winners!
Courtney from Jefferson City, MO
Why Should I Win: I am the Teen Librarian at Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City, MO. My teens love your books (and really, anything vampire) and we love to host authors at our library. We here at MRRL pride ourselves in our programming and community activities, particularly those for youth. Author visits are a particularly big deal to the kids out here. If we were to win, we would have teens from all over mid-Missouri showing up to see you speak and the excitement would be through-the-roof! Also, since we’ve been experiencing the fallout from the economy, it is difficult for us to afford these types of special experiences, so a win in this contest would be huge for us.
Gordon from Bellevue, NE & Lindsey from La Vista, NE
(This would be a joint visit; the entrants were close enough together that attendees from both locations could come, so essentially there would be two Grand Prize winners if you pick Gordon & Lindsey)
Gordon’s Why Should I Win: I should win because I am awesome! Okay, well . . . maybe not awesome; but, I’m told I’m pretty cool. Alright, I’ll be honest, I’m not really very cool at all. I’m a total nerd; but, I’m so nerdy it comes out the other side and ends up somewhere in “really fun to be around” territory. 
Anyway, I’m the Young Adult Services Librarian for the Bellevue Public Library. Our teens LOVE your book and they keep talking with me about it and they can’t wait for the next one. I can’t wait, either . . . but, that should go without saying. My teens would probably collapse in fits of excitement and disbelief if I told them that we were going to have an author visit from you. It would be an amazing sight . . . likely a bit loud, too. You know, what with all the squeeing. I decline to divulge how much of that squee sound would be coming from me in utter fan-girl mode.
Lindsey’s Why Should I Win: I am the Teen Librarian for the La Vista Public Library. I have a number of teens that love reading and love programs at my library. Unfortunately, my city is still very iffy on the whole library programs for teens being beneficial and I have to put on a summer reading program and a winter reading program that kicks butt without looking stupid or childish to my teens (grades six to twelve) all on a budget of $500. When I saw the chance to win a visit from Kimberly, I immediately thought of my teens and how they’d benefit from the chance to meet a real life author, especially since I clearly don’t have it in my budget to do an author visit normally. Plus, personally, if I won the grand prize and got Kimberly to visit the library and speak with my teens then maybe the city would see that serving teens is important and maybe they’d start budgeting more for me to get more teen books in in a timely manner and get more funds for even more awesome teen programs.
Jocelyn from Dearborn Heights, MI
Why Should I Win: I’m a Teen Services Librarian at a public library near Detroit, Michigan. I would love to be able to offer something as cool as an author visit for my teens. My city is unique in that our residents feed into seven different school districts. This makes school visits IMPOSSIBLE, but it does give me a huge number of teachers to whom to reach out for possible attendees. To be absolutely honest, I would be thrilled just to receive a third prize prize-pack. My book budget is being cut drastically this year and I’d love to have the chance to expand what I can offer to my teens, even by just a few books! Thanks so much, Kimberly, for writing for teens and helping me get them excited about reading!
Linda from Kingman Arizona
Why Should I Win: I am a Young Adult/Children’s librarian. I picked up your first book as a free advance copy at Book Expo, read it, loved it, ordered it for my teen collection and have been talking about it ever since. I read your book before the huge vampire “hype”. I really don’t like most vampire books – since everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon. I have a recommendation “spinner” and everytime Sucks To Be Me comes in, it goes on there. We wore one copy out and I had to buy another. Now the second one is coming out and I have teens “chomping” at the bit. I get approached regularly and asked if it’s in yet! They have to wait in line behind me though. I don’t even have to talk it up much because once someone who has read it finds out the other person hasn’t they tell them to read it. It would be great to bring you to the library, if I win. The teens would go crazy!! Love to see them excited about books!! Thanks for such a great, fun book! You make it easy to get the teens to read!!
Molly from Malden, Massachusetts
Why Should I Win: Our Malden Public Library teens would GREATLY benefit from your visit and author talk. We’re located just outside Boston (which is a wonderful town to visit – especially for a Red Sox game!). Seriously though, the Malden Public Library enjoys having excellent teen readers who just devour books – especially the vampire stories (no pun intended . More specifically and more to the point, our teens LOVE your book, “Sucks to Be Me” and have been asking for more! Author visits truly engage young readers and really bring books to life. Our goal is to foster literacy and I can’t think of a better way to do that, than for you to visit us. I’m certain that you would be fantastic in connecting with our teens. Our teens have been completely in awe and simply starstruck in the presence of an author they admire, and, really, what fabulous author doesn’t love that? 
We would be thrilled and honored to have you grace our library! Thank you so much for your consideration!
Paula from Athens, Alabama
Why Should I Win: Because at the age of [age redacted...you know, for privacy reasons ] it’s hard to maintain my reputation as the “edgy YA librarian.” A visit with you would up my cool factor by a bagillon percentage points. Heck, my son’s 18 year old girl friend would think I’m not a stick. To continue with my highly selfish reasons for wanting you to visit–At 5’4″ I need to surround myself with short persons so that I may seem taller. Our community also needs a visit from you to raise it’s self-esteem. Yes, we are like that little town in LA where football is the official religion. We also suffer from being next to Huntsville. No, we’re not the rocket scientists. We’re the cotton farmers. Having an opportunity to meet you would be mean that we don’t have to fake our own deaths or change our names. Please, please visit us.
i voted
Thanks!
I voted for Linda Beaumont. I hope she gets the majority vote because she works so very hard for our readership here in our semi-rural location. Thank you for giving all your readers this opportunity, no matter the outcome!
Thanks for voting! And Good Luck to Linda!
Hope you win, Linda!!!! Tom and I both voted for you!
Love,
Cousin JoAnne
I hope Linda wins! I’d love to see this author come to Kingman!
Thanks for voting!
Go Linda! And Ms. Pauley, please keep in mind that Kingman is only an hour away from beautiful Lake Havasu City. I know it’s not Belize, but we do have the world famous London Bridge. Ok, that was lame, it’s still not Belize. Go Linda!
LOL, Thx for voting! I did actually get some entries from Lima, Peru and London, England and even Costa Rica (where I’m dying to visit), but I have a super soft spot in my heart for librarians.
I am voting for Linda Beaumont. She is so dedicated and tries so hard to help the teens in this small but growing community have fun things to do in the library and getting them to read.
Thanks so much for voting!
I’m voting for Linda Beaumont, my partner in crime and co-worker ^_^ . Our teens would be thrilled to have Kimberly come to our library. There is such a vampire craze here in our town that it’s hard to keep any “Books that Bite” on our shelves including “Sucks to be Me”. Good Luck LB!
Fangtastic! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist)
I voted for Linda from Kingman. When Linda began working with children and teens in the library in Kingman, it was rare for a teen to darken the library door much less hang out in the teen area or read a book. Since she has been with us, she has done so much to get teens interested in the library, to feel comfortable, and want to read. She talks with them and gets the teens interested in reading. She has really developed a collection that they use a lot. They flock to the teen area and often there is absolutely no more room in the area for another teen. Linda is awesome and the teens really love coming to talk with her and the others in the youth area, sharing what they like with Linda, and reading books she and other staff recommend. We rarely get any authors or performers coming to our libraries in Mohave County and an author visit from you would be so terrific! Thanks for considering Linda for this visit. Hey, she even got me (her supervisor – and no longer even close to being a teen) reading your books and I enjoyed them, too. Thanks for this great opportunity for your readers and for writing books they love to read!
Kathy, glad you liked it too
And the teens there!
Linda has to be the winner! She is an awesome, upbeat and funny individual who enjoys working in the library so much that she would do it even if she wasn’t paid!! Ok, that’s a bunch of you know what, the working for free part, but she loves getting teens to read good books like Ms. Pauley’s. She has singlehandedly increased the Kingman teen readership by thousands! Ok, slight exaggeration, but she does have the magic to bond with teens and they seem to want to hang with her. Come to Kingman, Ms Pauley to see this for yourself. You won’t be disappointed!!
Linda sounds like a special lady!
GO GO LINDA!
I vote for Linda from Kingman. She has also worked at the Bullhead City branch in Mohave County and created fun and enthusiasm in her path. Since this is a rural county in the desert, the library is one of the few places that teens can visit. Your visit would be an awesome opportunity for our youth! (And for the rest of us also).
We would enjoy having you as our guest! After visiting the teens in Kingman and experiencing some local Western scenery, Michelle will give you a tour of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu and I will provide sight seeing and entertainment in the Bullhead City/Laughlin area.
Hope you will come visit us.
I might have to bring The Max if Linda wins — he loves to sing the London Bridge song
Great!
Gordon and Lindsey are too awesome not to win! <3
Thanks for voting!!
Gordon really is totally awesome! And, he definitely is really fun to be around and his teens are great. Go Bellevue!
Lindsey is also terrific and her teens deserve the visit. Go La Vista!
Two winners in one vote, can’t be beat!
Thanks for voting, Sally!
As with “Whose Line is it Anyway”, I’m awarding 46 gazillion points to Gordon and Lindsey. I have worked with Gordon for years and can assure you there is not a more deserving YA Librarian out there. Gordon is part Librarian, part Magician, doing amazing things at our library on part-time hours and a less-than-ideal budget. I hope you’ll start making plans for a whirlwind tour of the Omaha metro area, including the world-famous Henry Doorly Zoo, Rosenblatt Stadium (home of the College World Series!), the Omaha Botanical Gardens, Boys Town, Omaha’s historic Old Market, and much more!
Did I mention that my sister is married to a Pauley? Heck, we’re probably related! Come to town, let’s have lunch and let’s explore our common blood line!
We could be! There aren’t many Pauleys out there, according to my husband!
Go Linda! Linda is a great person and works well with children and teens of all ages!I am very proud to call her my co-worker/friend! This would be so awesome for the library! The teens in our district love “books that bite!”
Thanks for voting, Shannon!
Go Linda! Linda is an amazing person and she does so many great things for the library! It would be an amazing experience for the teens because they love vampire books!!
Thanks for voting & good luck to Linda!
Gordon and Lindsay, definitely!
Thanks for voting, Pam!
The la Vista Library puts on as many programs as they can afford. I applaude them for all their hard work. It would be great if they could draw more teens and reward the ones they have. Good Lucl Lindsey
Thanks for voting, Pat! Feel free to spread the word!
Paula wouldn’t be the only one in Alabama excited if she won a visit with you. All of us that are YA librarians in the state would be excited. The kids down here don’t have as many opportunities to meet authors since we are so far south and funding is limited. It would also give us a chance to “show off” to you just what Southern hospitality is all about! I vote for Paula!!!
LOL, Oh, I’ve been in the South! I’ve lived in Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky and Florida. Been down there most of my life!
Lindsey does an AWESOME job with the teens at the La Vista Library with the small amount of money she has to work with. It would be great if she and Gordon win. Good Luck Lindsey and Gordon.
I’m hearing from librarians all over — the budget situation is such a shame!
Having been in a class with Lindsey in which we had the ability to choose various topics and as a friend on Facebook, I know that her focus is constantly on her library work with teens. It is warming to see someone so consistently committed to her kids and who genuinely enjoys her work; I hope you have occasion to meet her.
Thanks for voting, Michael!
Come to La Vista and meet Lindsey and Gordon. They do great programming for teens in small-town Nebraska with loads of enthusiasm and a small budget.
I second Alice’s idea that you could do a ton of vacation stuff while here– the Old Market, etc. The best is Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo; it’s one of the best in the country! Hope to see you here. As an adult fan, it would be great to have you come.
I’ve never been to Nebraska, so I’m sure it would be fun
And I’m always up for Markets and Zoos!
I am a school teacher in the Bellevue School District and I believe that having you come to our community to speak and sign autographs would be so beneficial to our students. We are a military community with lots to do in sports and recreation though it is somewhat difficult to engage some students academically. To visit with an outstanding and talented author, I trust that most will become inspired to not only read, but take up the passion of writing itself. I ask that you seriously consider visiting the Bellevue Public Library in Bellevue, NE and serve as an exciting role model for our youth. You will not find a finer city with a greater sense of patriotism than our own and we would love to welcome you here.
I’m hoping that wherever I wind up going I can do both a “standard” talk and also some writing workshops — I love doing those!
I voted for Linda from Kingman. She loves all the kids and she works hard to make the library a comfortable and safe place for them. I have had an opportunity to work with her on Summer Reading Games this year and she is awesome. Go Linda!!
Thanks for voting, Roxanne! (and great name, I always think of that movie!)
I voted for Courtney, not only because she is a very hard worker and the teens lover her but because an author visit would mean so much for the teens. It is hard for the library to have author visits and when we do, the teens get very excited and want to take part in the activities.
You guys are making me wish I could afford to visit every one of the finalists!
Courtney is an awesome teen librarian. She works really hard at finding and creating her own programs for all ages of teens and for teens with a variety of interests on a tiny budget. It would be great if she wins the author visit. The teens really enjoy the books by Kimberly Pauly. We can’t keep them on the shelves at the Jefferson City library. They would be so super excited if an author came just for them!
Aw, thanks Tammy! I love to hear that!
I know firsthand the sacrifices that Gordon makes in his personal life to ensure that the young adults at his library get the best possible library experience. Sacrificing his free time, his sanity, his personal relationships to focus on his teens and how he can make their library time the best it can possibly be. I have never met a sweeter, kinder, more deserving person than Gordon, and I hope he wins.
Gordon sounds like a lot of fun!
linda must win…and kingman being a small town, well the kids here need would be so excited to have you here….YOU…BOOKS….KIDS….KINGMAN…..PRICELESS
Thanks for voting, Sharon! Good luck to Linda!
Go go Gordon power! Battling deadlines and budgets, mastering program and
event kung-fu, to bring Bellevue teens (and beyond) a community
for learning and fun in all its many forms!
Thanks for coming by and voting, Crystal!
Gordon from Bellevue, NE & Lindsey from La Vista, NE
I think it would be cool to have joint winners.
Thanks for stopping by and voting!
I voted for Paula<3
I think she deserves it!!!!(:
Thanks for voting, Bethany!
I voted for the girl in Athens… because I just read where they were from and then picked her. I think she has an okay story because she just wants some fun!
Thanks for stopping by to vote, Adrianna!
Despite being from Nebraska myself, I voted for Courtney. Courtney is an old, dear friend who I know is working hard to expand the opportunities for teens in the Jefferson City/Mid-Missouri region. She’s the type of young YA librarian that can expand the lives of her teens and Jefferson City, unlike Omaha, is almost certainly a harder place to arrange regular author visits. As much as I love and respect La Vista and Bellevue, they are functionally part of the Omaha Metro area and those teens have opportunities that surely aren’t as regularly available in Mid-Missouri, particularly during these economic times. Given the nature of this “contest,” providing the win for an area that otherwise would have little hope of achieving a similarly situated author is the best use of the contest’s resources. Not to mention that Courtney is a wonderful person who is working very hard to do what she can in a region and an economy that pose their own difficulties.
Thanks for voting, Ed. One of the reasons I chose to have the final Grand Prize winner chosen this way is because I had so many heartfelt and wonderful entries from librarians all over the country (and some out of the country) that I found myself unable to choose. It was hard enough to narrow them down! And I did that with the help of my editor & others. Every time I whittled the list down, I felt guilty! Lots of the entries are from small towns and some big as well — it seems that budgets and resources are tight everywhere right now. I wish I could afford to visit all of the contest entrants.