Kimberly Pauley

Skip a Starbucks Day! (AKA Bring Johanna Home)

So, the lovely and talented CJ Redwine (are you following her on Twitter yet?) is on a quest — one going on five years — to adopt a daughter from China. You can read the whole story on her blog (where you can also enter the HUGE EPIC Skip a Starbucks Day giveaway…but more on that in a second) and it will surely tug your heartstrings.

Skip a Starbucks Day!

All we’re asking is that you give up one tiny indulgence today. Like your extra tall mocha latte. Or maybe the price of admission to a movie. Or…well, whatever you’re into. See, CJ needs to raise an additional $8000 to bring Johanna home. If everyone who reads this post (or the posts of any of the other bloggers/writers/authors/friends) who are also hosting giveaways (I did mention I’m hosting a giveaway, right? Keep reading…) donates at least $5, we can all get CJ to her goal and bring Johanna home.

That’s not so hard, is it?

And, of course, you can donate more than $5 (I did! And heck, the price of a movie ticket in some places is closer to $10). Please donate what you can. You can do so at the official entry form (the donate button is on the top right). You have until August 26th at midnight to donate and enter ALL the giveaways. Winners will be announced after all necessary connections are made (i.e. be sure to follow all the directions)!

Now, I mentioned above that a bunch of us have gotten together to support CJ. Besides the absolutely EPIC giveaway on her blog, EVERYONE who donates ALSO gets an entry into all the individually sponsored giveaways that they want to enter. Here’s mine:

Donate to win a Vampire-Themed Giveaway Pack!

The Vampire Prize Pack!

What’s included: a special limited edition Sucks to Be Me vase, assorted Sucks to Be Me book swag (bookmarks, tattoos, stickers), a little vampire guy to hang around your house, glow in the dark fangs, vampire fang whistles, a vampire fang yummy lollipop, and a divining crystal (so you can see if becoming a vampire is the right choice for you).

(Extra: If I get at least 20 entries here, I’ll kick in a signed book as well — your choice of Sucks to Be Me or Still Sucks to Be Me) UPDATE: We hit 20 entries here, so yes indeedy, if you win my prize you’ll get a signed book of your choice too!!

So, what’re you waiting for??

To enter my giveaway, you need to:

1. Donate at least $5 to Skip a Starbucks Day over at CJ’s blog (there’s a Donate button in the top right corner).
2. Leave a comment here, so I know you want to enter to win my Vampire Pack giveaway (and remember, the donation also enters you into her EPIC giveaway and gives you the ability to enter into any of the other giveaways, all linked at the bottom of CJ’s blog post).
3. Get an extra entry for this giveaway by re-tweeting this giveaway on Twitter or spreading the word on Facebook or your own blog (please leave that in the comments as well) + 1 entry.
4. Then be sure to check out all the other associated giveaways and follow their instructions to enter!

Let’s go! Let’s bring Johanna home!

Posted in Giveaways | 53 Comments »

Wanna cheer me up?

So, I’m in that no-man’s land of waiting to hear back from my agent (after which time I’ll be back to plugging away at The Book That Would Not Die) plus the readers I sent it out to (who are hopefully liking it and not thinking “Egad, what do I say about this pile of drivel that won’t drive her off a cliff?). And I’ve got a nasty infection for which my doctor has put me on two different medications (WARNING: Do Not Drive Heavy Machinery or attempt to think coherently while taking these medications), my kidney area feels like someone drop-kicked me, and I’m slllllleeeeeppppppppy.

So, you know, general suckage.

And I had been planning on treating myself to Sims 3 (yes, I admit it…Hi, my name is Kimberly and I like to play computer games) when I finished the book. Then I was looking at my bank account and thinking “Ummmm….maybe not.” Though it *is* on sale for less than $30, so it’s not like it would be *that* bad.

So I’m looking for an excuse to cheer myself up. And that’s when I thought of YOU, Dear Readers.

I thought, “Hey, self, why don’t we have a contest!” After all, I finally broke the 900 mark on Twitter for followers. I’ve been wanting to get to a 1000 since, like, forever. And I’d always said I’d give away one of the Sucks to Be Me vases when I hit 1000.

But I’ve decided to sweeten that pot.

I will give one lucky follower a STBM vase. And another lucky follower will get their choice of A) A signed Still Sucks to Be Me or B) The chance to name a character in my next book.

AND I’ll treat myself to The Sims 3. You know, as a celebratory thing.

So…don’t you want to cheer me up? Follow me on Twitter! Help me get to a 1000 followers! If you already are a follower, please Tweet the giveaway! I wonder…can we do it in one day? As of right now, I need 88 more followers to hit 1000.

Hmmmm….if we do it today…maybe I’ll even give one more additional prize…

Posted in Giveaways, Just for Fun | 14 Comments »

Librarian Care Packages!

So, okay. I know I actually started talking about this ages and ages ago. I was going to start doing Librarian Care Packages as part of the stuff that I did with YA Books Central. Well, then I gave up doing YABC (and passed it on to the lovely and capable MG Buehrlen). Meanwhile, I have bunches and bunches of stuff I’ve collected from authors and publishers — bookmarks, guides, etc. Swag.

So now I’m just gonna do ‘em myself, until supplies run out. I will, of course, include Sucks to Be Me stuff too. AND while supplies last, I’ll also be including a random book (I’ve notified publishers that I’m no longer reviewing books, but it sometimes takes a LONG time to get off of the mailing lists; consequently, I’m still getting in review books, which I’ll be passing on to you, you wonderful librarians you).

Whaddaya gotta do to get a Librarian Care Package?

It’s easy. Do any one of the following and then e-mail me at kim @ kimberlypauley.com with the subject line “Librarian Care Package” and include your name/library address and tell me what you did. Then I’ll send off a care package to you, which will include various book swag-y items (mostly bookmarks) from a wide variety of authors + a random book from my stash (sorry, I can’t accept requests here, but I promise it’ll be cool).

1. Have a blog or library website? Link to my website! Pretty darn easy, eh?
2. Read one of my books? Review it somewhere online (B&N, Amazon, Goodreads, etc.).
3. Email me a picture of you or one of your library patrons with one of my books in your library!*
4. Sponsor a Fan Art contest at your library for Sucks to Be Me-inspired fan art and email or send me (scanned is fine, or a photo or whatever) the entrants and/or winner (if you do this, I’ll include two books in the care package — one for you and one for the winner of the Fan Art contest)*

This is, as I mentioned above, while supplies last. So get your requests in!

*By sending me the photos/artwork, you agree to allow me to post the pictures online on my blog.

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Limited supply of Sucks to Be Me in Hardback (want it signed?)

So, I’ve got a limited supply of Sucks to Be Me first editions in hardback. They can’t be bought anymore in stores since a) the hardback went into a second printing and b) it’s pretty much just all paperbacks in the stores for the first book now at this point. I’ve been using them for giveaways and special promotions every now and again, but I was thinking about putting a small amount up here for sale to clear up some space in my basement.

If you’re interested in buying a signed, personalized hardback copy of Sucks to Be Me directly from me, it’ll cost you $10.00 for the book plus shipping of either $4.75 (US flat rate priority mail) OR $10.88 (Canada or Mexico flat rate priority mail) OR $12.78 (All other countries flat rate priority mail). This would also be one way someone in an international location where the book isn’t readily available could get the book.

Besides personalizing the book and signing it to you (or whoever you want), I’ll also throw in bookmarks + temporary tattoos.

Just email me at kim@kimberlypauley.com if you’re interested. It’s a pretty limited supply, so this offer won’t be available for too long. And it’s only for the first book, not the second one! That one should be in a store near you.

Posted in Books, Giveaways | 1 Comment »

The Great Scavenger Hunt!

Have you heard about the awesome Great Scavenger Hunt Contest that author Kay Cassidy started? If you’re a librarian or teacher and you haven’t gotten involved yet…what are you waiting for (and hey, teens? If your librarian isn’t participating…now would be a good time to go give ‘em a whack on the head. Though, okay, maybe only figuratively, not literally. Don’t want a bunch of black and blue librarians out there.)?

I’m officially now a participating author with Sucks to Be Me and soon with Still Sucks to Be Me. I’m also going to be donating books to Kay to give away.

Good luck in the scavenger hunt!

And Happy Reading!

Tags: great scavenger hunt, still sucks to be me, sucks to be me
Posted in Giveaways, Just for Fun | No Comments »

Free stuff for Reading Groups who wanna read Sucks to Be Me

Hey! So my publisher gave me stacks of the Reading Guide for Sucks to Be Me. Which is coolness. But, you know, since I don’t want to paper my bathroom in them, I’d rather give them away. So that got me to thinking (which, as my husband will tell you, can be a dangerous thing).

If you’ve got a reading group (any kind: private, associated with a library or school or whatever) I’ll be more than happy to send you a little STBM care package including a reading group guide (or as many as you’d like), bookmarks, stickers, etc. Just tell me how many you need! This especially goes for teachers and librarians too!

AND I’ll be happy to either answer questions submitted to me via e-mail OR if possible (timing-wise) do a conference call (I’ve got Skype) or online chat with your club! Wouldn’t that be fun??

Questions, comments, whatever, just let me know.

What you need to do:

• Email me at kim @ kimberlypauley.com or use the Contact form on the site
• Tell me the name and address you want the care package sent to
• Tell me about how many bookmarks, etc. you need and if you want more than one reading guide
• If you’re under 13, I’ll need your parent’s permission before I can send you stuff (it’s the law)
• And if you want to set up a chat or e-mailed questions or a phone call or whatever, we can talk about that too!

Tags: free stuff, reading groups, sucks to be me
Posted in Giveaways, Just for Fun | 18 Comments »