Join the Booklover's Spring Facebook Scavenger Hunt

I've signed up to participate in Bookwrapt's Booklover's Spring Facebook Scavenger Hunt! That means you can play by matching up my name with a graphic I've shared on my Facebook page for Crow's Rest Books, and then doing the same for the other participating authors. Prizes include a massive selection of See's candies, or Amazon gift cards.

Plus, most of us are running giveaways during the hunt! With the link on my Facebook page, you can enter to win a copy of my award-winning audiobook of Crow's Rest--and we even have one copy that's open internationally!

AND, if that isn't enough, I've dropped the price of the ebooks on all platforms: Crow's Rest is .99 and Merlin's Stronghold is $1.99! Merlin's Stronghold is nominated for a RONE award through InD'Tale Magazine, and reader voting will open on April 15th. So anyone who hasn't read it yet should have time to buy it and read it before the voting opens, or don't forget you can request it from your local library.

Authors Participating in the Hunt

Alex Gordon • Amanda Uhl • Angela Roquet • Angelica R. Jackson • Angie Wilder • Anna

Durand • Anne McClane • Ben Westerham • Cailin Briste • Casi McLean

Christine Grabowski • CM Lally • Donna R. Mercer • Honey Phillips • J.M. Walker •

Jacqueline Diamond • Jacquie Biggar • Jim Stein • Joanne Dannon • Judith Sterling •

Katherine Gilbert • Kathryn Knight • Kerry Blaisdell • Kristine Smith • Lia Davis • Lisanne

Harrington • Michelle Jo Quinn • Shae Banks • Shereen Vedam • Soraya Naomi •

Stephanie Queen • Taylor Marsh • Viola Calvary • Zoe Dawson • Zoe Forward

Award news for Crow's Rest

Exciting news! The Crow's Rest audiobook is a finalist in the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards!

Here is a snippet of their press release: "Today, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) officially announced finalists in its prestigious IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards™ program, recognizing excellence and innovation in independent publishing. All finalists will be recognized during an awards ceremony on April 5, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois where one Gold winner in each of fifty-four categories will be named. The remaining finalists in each category will become Silver winners.

The full list of finalists in all fifty-four categories is available here."

Considering that this is the first audiobook my Crow & Pitcer Press has produced, and narrator Brenda Scott Wlazlo has only been doing voice work for a year, this is a great honor for our joint project. Brenda is attending the awards banquet in Chicago on April 5th, so everybody cross their finger on our behalf please!

Plus, award season is only starting! 

Crow's Rest and Merlin's Stronghold print and ebook editions are also entered into other competitions. The Northern California Publishers and Authors book competition, where Capturing the Castle took second place in the Pictorial category last year, will be announcing this year's winners on April 14th.

And Self-Publishing Review announces their SPR Book Award winners on April 10th, with Audio Book Reviewer announcing their finalists in April also. In the majority of these competitions, the series is entered in the young adult category, or in Fantasy if there is no YA-specific category. It's going to be nerve-wracking to wait to find out for all these awards!

So why did Crow & Pitcher Press/I enter these competitions? For reviews and for competitions, it can be difficult for indie or self-published authors to get a fair shake (which is why reader reviews can be lifesavers). These competitions are all reputable organizations and competitions, and have standards to evaluate the entries. Not that others don't have standards--it's just that some of those standards mean that indie books aren't even allowed to enter. So this is a way for me to compare the quality of my work against my peers, which may include traditionally-published as well as indie.

Cover Reveal for Merlin's Stronghold

Merlin's Stronghold is book 2 in the Faerie Crossed series and releases October 23, but I'm revealing the cover here today!

First, the cover for book 1, just to remind you what it looks like

And now, the cover for Merlin's Stronghold

And to help celebrate, and get you caught up on the series, I'm giving away an audiobook of Crow's Rest! Enter through the widget below