As my Dad likes to say, “Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!”
(Though, I guess in this case it is Winner! Winner! Winner!)

The winner of the Killer Penguins leg of the YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes was announced this afternoon at the Apocalypsies blog!

To decide the winner of my bonus contest, I numbered all of the entries consecutively by time (the entries auto-filled a google spreadsheet, and were time stamped, with a maximum possible of 3 entries per person). Then I asked my love to pick three numbers between 1 and 276 (the total number of entries including all the bonus chances).

And the winners are:

Winner of the Personal Effects ARC — Kimberly B. 

Winners of the Personal Effects dog tags — Rhen Wilson and Baggins

Kimberly B., Rhen Wilson and Baggins, please email me a mailing address at emkokie (at) gmail (dot) com.

Congratulations to all of the winners, of my bonus contest and of the group prize packs and all of the other bonus contests along the race. And thank you to all who played the race! I hope you had fun, and learned about some new books to add to your to be read piles.

Thanks,
Emily

P.S. As a reminder, if you are interested in pre-ordering a signed copy of Personal Effects, check out my post on A Room of One’s Own independent bookstore for instructions on how to order.

I love books. And I love bookstores. I always have, from the days when I would ride my bike downtown every weekend (and more often in summer) to trade in and buy books at our local used book store.

When I moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 2004, A Room of One’s Own became my local bookstore.

And what a bookstore, with a knowledgeable staff that loves books, and talking about books, as much as I do.

Room has been a central fixture in the Madison community since 1975, and they do more than sell books. Room serves as the center hub of a wheel, with spokes extending in many directions to support and improve the lives of so many people, especially many women and children.  Room is a safe place. A meeting place. A place of information, and learning, and pure enjoyment of reading. A place of friendship. And the staff of Room can be found around town, selling books at local events, and supporting the community in a myriad of ways that go beyond selling books. They and their store enrich our lives.

Last year, Room put out a call to their customers — they asked us to pledge to buy five more books during the calendar year than we did the year before. It was designed to gauge the depth of customer loyalty before the owners made some tough decisions about Room’s future. I took that pledge, as did more than 500 of Room’s customers. And because of that show of loyalty, of commitment, Room was able to move forward with confidence. In fact, this year Room will move into a larger space, better able to serve their customers and the greater community.

I love Room. And that pledge last year, and the community response, got me thinking about how I could continue to show Room and its staff  how  much they are valued and supported. Well, one afternoon while I was gazing at the place on the YA fiction shelf where my book will be come September (What? Debut authors totally visit “their shelves” all the time!), I came up with an idea. Other authors have supported their local indies, and so could I.  I might not be as well known as those who have done it before, but if I could help Room with any additional sales, that would be worth it. And, I could give back to readers at the same time.

So, I will, of course, be grateful if you buy Personal Effects from any retail bookseller (especially if you decide to pre-order it). You can find it for pre-order wherever fine books are sold (and there will be sales links up on the Personal Effects page soon). And if buying isn’t in your budget, then I would be thrilled if you would request Personal Effects at your local library – libraries are great and I am all for people availing themselves of the library!

But, if you are inclined to buy Personal Effects, and would like to buy from a wonderful independent bookstore, I offer this exchange — pre-order your copy of Personal Effects from A Room of One’s Own and I’ll go in and autograph your copy before the amazing Room staff ships it off to you.

There’s even a special order page for pre-ordering a signed copy of Personal Effects from Room!

It’s a small way for me to give a little back to a store I love, and to readers.

Emily

P.S.   We’re making some changes here at www.emkokie.com — we’ve already updated the contact page, and Barrett is hard at work updating the links and information, and overhauling the page for Personal Effects. When the new Personal Effects page goes up, it will have the kick-ass cover designed by Candlewick Press, as well as the amazing blurbs we’ve received. In the meantime, I’ll be tweeting some of those blurbs, so keep an eye on my twitter feed.

Thank you to everyone who commented, tweeted, added, Facebooked, etc. to help celebrate the cover reveal for Personal Effects! I am so excited to announce the three winners of the custom dog tag swag.

They are:

From the adds on Goodreads ~ Cari!

From the likes and comments on the cover reveal post on Facebook ~ Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez!

From Twitter ~ @Tuphlos!

Each of the winners, please email me a mailing address at emkokie (at) gmail (dot) com and I will get your dog tags out in the mail to you (also, please indicate whether you would like a 6-inch chain (like for a key chain) or a 24-inch chain).

To everyone who entered and didn’t win, keep your eyes on Twitter and Facebook . . . you never know when another opportunity to win a set might show up.

I’ve had some emails asking about how to request an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of Personal Effects. In the next few weeks or so, I’m hoping to update my website with an ARC request form and some exciting bits of news regarding Personal Effects.  In the meantime, thank you again for helping to make the exciting cover reveal all the more special!

Emily

P.S. The swag giveaway may have ended, but the pre-order arrangement through A Room of One’s Own independent bookstore continues (scroll down for pre-order instructions)!  

I am thrilled to finally be able to share the cover for Personal Effects!

Personal Effects (September 2012, Candlewick Press)

Ever since his brother, T.J., was killed in Iraq, Matt feels like he’s been sleepwalking through life — failing classes, getting into fights, and avoiding his dad’s lectures about following in his brother’s footsteps. T.J.’s gone, and the worst part is, there’s nothing left of him to hold on to. Matt can’t shake the feeling that if only he could get his hands on T.J.’s stuff from Iraq, he’d be able to make sense of his death. He wasn’t expecting his T.J.’s personal effects to raise even more questions about his life.

Now, even if it means pushing his dad over the edge …

even if it means losing his best friend …

even if it means getting expelled from school …

Matt will do whatever it takes to find out the truth about his brother’s past.

Candlewick Press produced just a stunning and pitch-perfect cover for Personal Effects, one that nailed the emotion and themes and heart of this book. (Take a bow cover designer Pam Consolazio, and the entire Candlewick staff, for this amazing cover).

And to celebrate, I’m giving away three sets of custom Personal Effects dog tags!

Edited March 7, 2012, 12:24 p.m. CST: 

Thanks for all the great comments,  adds, likes, RTs, etc. everyone!  The swag giveway is now closed.

Check back here Friday to see who won the three sets of dog tags!

Three Ways to enter – between now and Noon Central Time on Wednesday, March 7, 2012:

1.  Like or Leave a comment on the cover reveal post on my author Facebook Page;

 2. Add Personal Effects on Goodreads (if you have already added Personal Effects, you’re already entered!); or

3. Tweet/Re-tweet the link to this cover reveal blog post (make sure @emkokie is in the tweet in order for it to be counted).

Or do all three.

I will give away one set of dog tags from each entry pool – ie, one set from the Twitter, one set from Facebook, and one set from Goodreads. Check back here on Friday, March 9, 2012 to see if you won.

~~~~~~~

Also, Personal Effects is available for pre-order from most major retailers, including IndieBound, Powells, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon… HOWEVER:

If you would like an autographed copy of Personal Effects, then pre-order from A Room of One’s Own independent bookstore .*** For all copies pre-ordered through a Room of One’s Own, I will go in and autograph the  books before they are shipped out to you!

***NOTE:  For some reason, there is currently no “Add to Cart” button on the page for Personal Effects at Room’s site or IndieBound.  To order, click on E.M. Kokie just under the title, and it will take you to a search screen. Scroll down, and below the search form, will be Personal Effects with an “Add to Cart” button. Sorry for the inconvenience. I am told it is temporary and the “Add to Cart” button should be live on the Personal Effects page soon).

I am so excited that Personal Effects will be out in the world soon, and I can hardly wait to share it with you!

Thank you for sharing my excitement!

Emily