Winners!

Guys, thank you all SO much for the well-wishes and congratulations. You made celebrating my good news completely awesome, and I could never thank you enough.  But you don't want to read all my gushy thoughts, so on to the winners!!!!

Thanks to the Truly Random Number Generator, the winner of an ARC of Marie Lu's LEGEND is

Mary B!!!!!!

And the winner of the signed pre-order of Miranda Kenneally's CATCHING JORDAN is

Yasemin!!!!!!

I will be emailing both of the winners today! Thanks again for helping me celebrate and an extra big thanks to those of you who helped spread the word via twitter, facebook, and blogs. You rock!

Hopefully we'll be celebrating lots more good news in the future!

News! And The First Post Where I Use The Words “My” and “Agent!”

Sooo my title probably ruins the surprise a little bit, huh? This is the news I have been promising you on twitter and facebook! I’ve signed with an agent!

Me!

A real, live agent! Not to be confused with a not-live one. Like a plastic one. Or rubber.

My story is a short, fast-paced, crazy-lucky one. The condensed version: I received offers! And I accepted one!

Miranda Kenneally (author of CATCHING JORDAN, Dec. 2011) had already read my manuscript. And she kinda loved it, even though she’s a contemp writer, and my manuscript is...not contemp. And Miranda knows I’ve always fancied her agent, Sara Megibow.

***You all probably remember when Sara Megibow was a guest judge on the Sisters in Scribe blog, yes? If not, that post is here. Sara is fantastic! She’s professional, assertive, super nice, and about a zillion other gushy things.***

My situation was a little different than most, so Miranda emailed Sara and gave me a referral! Sara read my query letter, and requested the full. There were phone calls, and thoughtful consideration of all of my agent options (options!), and in the end, it was Sara Megibow who won my heart.The perfect match for me and my fledgling career.

I have signed with Sara Megibow of the Nelson Literary Agency!!!!

(I am also REALLY bad at photoshop)

*confetti*

And to celebrate, I’m giving away books from Nelson Agency authors!







First up, an advanced reader copy of Marie Lu’s YA dystopian, LEGEND (Putnam Children's, Nov. 2011), courtesy of Sara Megibow! Thanks, Sara!











ANNNND I’ve also got a SIGNED pre-order of CATCHING JORDAN (Sourcebook, Dec. 2011) by Miranda Kenneally up for grabs! This will be a final copy, but you won’t get it until Nov-Dec. Thanks, Miranda! *squishy hug*










To enter, fill out the form below. Contest ends Wednesday, July 20th at 11:59pm EST. TWO winners will be randomly chosen and announced on Thursday, July 21st. I’m not requiring you to be a follower of any blogs, or to spread the word via social networking sites, but I’d sure appreciate it if you did. Giveaway IS international. Yay!

Thanks, y’all!




And if for some odd reason that form didn't load for you, you can find it here.

And, and if you want to double your chances of winning a copy of CATCHING JORDAN, Miranda is having a contest at her blog. You can win an ARC of her book, or a crit from our agent, Sara Megibow, or a crit from YA authors, Sarah Skilton or Jennifer Shaw Wolf, and a number of other awesome prizes. Ends July 10th at 11pm EST.

Agent Pitch Contest at Sisters in Scribe!

Today is the big day! At Sisters in Scribe, we have opened the entry window for our140 character pitch contest! Entries will be judged by the fabulous Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary. Sara has offered a 30 page manuscript review to the winner!

Stop on by and please read the full contest details before entering!
http://www.sistersinscribe.com/2011/05/contest-of-epic-awesome-with-agent-sara.html

Get Those Pitches Ready!

To say thanks to all 500+ awesome followers at sistersinscribe.com we've decided to have a contest! This one is for writers! Stop by the blog to get the details. Contest officially opens FRIDAY MAY 6th! so perfect those pitches! We've got a special guest judge who has offered up quite an amazing prize to her favorite entry.


In other news, I'm sure we've all heard about the devastation in the south due to wildfires and tornadoes. The writing community is at it again, taking donations for yet another fabulous benefit auction. If you've got something to donate (books, swag, critiques, etc) stop on by http://helpwritenow.blogspot.com and sign up! And be sure to keep checking back for the auctions.

Holiday Giveaway and a New Short!

Over at Sisters in Scribe, my scribe sisters and I are giving away 3 autographed YA books to 3 winners, ends Dec. 31st! Hop over there for the details and if you know of any other contests around the web, feel free to post it in our Mr. Linky meme.

In other news! Part 1 of BETHLEHEM, by me, is up on the TF blog! Here's a sneak peek! Hope you enjoy!

The last winter that time recorded started just like today, with a sky so bleak that you couldn’t tell where the earth ended and it began. It was the last winter I spent with my family in this same apartment, staring out this same window watching fat snowflakes fall. The last winter that would ever matter.

But it doesn’t matter today. Today I need food and things to burn. It’s light enough to start looking, but without the sun I can’t even guess the time. The sky is so thick and so gray, the city street so empty and muffled by snow, that it feels like I’m stuck in someplace in between. 

Teen Fiction Contest!

Teen fiction contest deadline is Nov. 11

Teens in grades seven through 12 can write a short story or a few chapters of a book, up to 10 typed pages, for a Teen Fiction Writing contest. The entry deadline is Nov. 11. Any genre, from contemporary, historical, fantasy, realistic, steampunk, horror or paranormal, is acceptable. The contest will coincide with a teen author event being held at Barnes & Noble on Route 59 in Nanuet at 3 p.m. Dec. 11.

The authors are Shannon Delany, author of “13 to Life”; Margie Gelbwasser, author of “Inconvenient”; Shari Maurer, author of “Change of Heart”; Jen Nadol, author of “The Mark”; and Jame Richards, author of “Three Rivers Rising.” They will read from their novels, talk about writing and publishing a book, and sign copies of their books.

The winner will get a 15-minute one-on-one critique with one of the authors before the Dec. 11 program and a signed copy of the author’s book. Entries may be e-mailed to shari.maurer@alumni.duke.edu or brought to the Nanuet Barnes & Noble store. Visit www.sharimaurer.com.

FOREVER, the last book in Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER trilogy! Pre-Order signed copies!

Maggie's favorite indie bookstore, as usual, will have signed copies of FOREVER!

Pre-order here: http://www.fountainbookstore.com/autograph-maggie

How freaking awesome is that cover?

Also, Maggie is having a mega contest of awesome where you can win lots of fantastic signed prizes!

http://m-stiefvater.livejournal.com/177891.html

Epic Contest of Awesome

The totally fabulous Angela Ackerman of The Bookshelf Muse would like to thank her 1,000 loyal minions, and to do so, she is having a contest of epic proportions!!!!! Go enter!

FROM TBSM:

General Drawing:

5-First Page critiques
2-First Chapter critiques

Special Drawing Challenge

It's simple: SPREAD THE WORD about this contest! If you do, I will include you in a special drawing for a three month mentorship with me.

What the mentorship will entail:

--A three month partnership where I will help you in any manner I can toward stronger writing, publication, increasing your online platform and helping you with agenting questions/search


--I will help you build or improve your query (if needed)


--A full read of your manuscript, offering advice on improvements and helping to brainstorm solutions if desired.


--An in depth look at your web presence and suggestions to hone your blog, increase followings and make suggestions with other social media to strengthen your online exposure


--Emails to answer any questions you have about writing, blogging, getting an agent, leaving an agent or how the agent relationship works


--General support!

So, do you need a mentor, someone to bounce ideas around with, brainstorm solutions, ask questions about writing or platforms? I may not be 'book published' yet, but I've been around and picked up a few things. :) I also have the good fortune of being agented by Jill Corcoran of The Herman Agency, and have written over 1200 critiques for other writers, helping them strengthen their writing. Maybe I can help you, too.

HOW TO ENTER:

If you'd like to enter for the General Drawing, you MUST be a Follower (new or old) and leave a comment. That's it, no big hoops to jump through. Just stop in and say hey, and of course I always appreciate tweets, blog links and general word spreading, but that's up to you. :)

If you wish to also enter for the mentorship draw, you MUST be a follower (new or old) AND fill out this simple form I've attached.Normally I don't do the form thing, but for something like this, it will help me stay organized.You don't need to be at the query stage or anything, just a serious writer intent on improving. :) If you think I might be able to help you on your journey, please enter!

Contest closes Wednesday, September 29th, so get those entries in, and once again thank you for spending time here at The Bookshelf Muse!

Winner of Return to Paradise ARC!!

Really quickly I'd like to thank all of you for entering!! We had a total of 355 entries into the contest! Some of you are new followers, but most of you are returning, and some of you are my personal friends. I know contests are fun to enter and fun to win, but they're also fun for the host. And *this host* totally appreciates all of you for every single entry!

Out of 355 total entries, the winner is

CARIE SOTO

with 20/355 entries!!!!!!!

Carie, please send me an email to ljb (at) ljboldyrev (dot) com with your mailing address!! Congrats! If you do not contact me by Sunday, I'll have to chose a new winner, so please make sure you email me.

If you didn't win this time, there will be more contests, including a chance to win REBEL MOON signed by me. Thanks again, guys!

Contest: Signed ARC Return to Paradise

**CONTEST IS CLOSED**

See Winner

No special reason for this one. I was just looking over my book collection and realized I have a few extra copies of some awesome books and ARCS. This month's giveaway will be a signed ARC of RETURN TO PARADISE by Simone Elkeles (Flux books September 1st 2010) and a bookmark!

I apologize for the poor quality photos. My cell doesn't take good pics indoors.

And one of me and Simone in case you doubt me.

The Sequel to LEAVING PARADISE

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of RULES OF ATTRACTION

Caleb Becker left Paradise eight months ago, taking with him the secret he promised to take to his grave. If the truth got out, it would ruin everything.

Maggie Armstrong tried to be strong after Caleb broke her heart and disappeared. Somehow, she managed to move on. She’s determined to make a new life for herself.

But then Caleb and Maggie are forced together on a summer trip. They try ignoring their passion for each other, but buried feelings resurface. Caleb must face the truth about the night of Maggie’s accident, or the secret that destroyed their relationship will forever stand between them.

Praise for Leaving Paradise:

"Elkeles writes convincingly about family tensions, retreating from painful reality, and teens outgrowing their old skins." —School Library Journal

"Elkeles creates raw emotions, dialogue, and high-school ambience that’s just right… [A] delicate, delicious love story."—Booklist

To enter:

1. You must be a follower of this blog. This is not me trying to get a bazillion followers. This is me appreciating those who support this blog. This will get you 1 entry point.

2. For each time you spread the word about THIS giveaway, with a link to where you shared it, +1 entries. (Facebook, myspace, twitter etc)

• Tweet: Giveaway! Signed ARC of RETURN TO PARADISE by Simone Elkeles! @ljboldyrev http://bit.ly/bilOdy

3. A blog post, with a link to your blog will get you +5 entries.

4. For bonus entries, spread the word about REBEL MOON! RM is an anthology of supernatural short stories for young adults, including my first ever published short, PARALLEL (it's got werewolves).

+5 for EACH time you share the following:

• "REBEL MOON, an anthology of supernatural tales, now available http://rebelbookspublishing.co.uk/bookshop.aspx"

or on twitter

• REBEL MOON, an anthology of supernatural tales: Now available http://rebelbookspublishing.co.uk/bookshop.aspx @ljboldyrev @rebelbooksllp

on facebook, twitter, myspace --limit one per site. If you want to tweet it a hundred times, that's cool, but to be fair I'll only count one tweet.

+20 entries if you blog using the following info and link me to your post:

Click the cover to grab your copy of REBEL MOON! Includes a supernatural short by L.J. Boldyrev!

Paperback 220 pages

ISBN 13: 978-0-9565035

ISBN 10: 0956503519

REBEL MOON

(An Anthology of supernatural tales)

by Various

Have you ever wondered what Death would look like if he approached you at a bus stop? Or what would happen if a vampire’s chosen victim turned out to be more than they had bargained for?

Rebel Moon is a collection of stories that will whisk you into worlds of vampires, werewolves and witchcraft so prepare yourself for a bumpy ride as sometimes the dead have more of a life than the living and if this book teaches you anything it is to always expect the unexpected!

From the teen witches you wouldn’t want to cross in One Witch Down to the dark comedy of Evil 101, this is a book you won’t want to put down.

Can also be purchased from Amazon, WHSmiths, Waterstones and Book Depository.

And as a bonus, if you've bought or ordered REBEL MOON, I'll add +20 to your entries. Just snap a picture of the receipt, or a picture of you with the book to ljb@ljboldyrev.com or upload the pic and link me to it in the comments.

I am absolutely bad at math, and I hate when I have to add my total entries on a contest, so I won't make you do that. Just fill out the form and I'll do the rest.

Contest will run until August 20th 12pm EST, and it IS international! I'll ship anywhere. Winners will be announced shortly after.

Thank you and good luck!

Put Yourself Out There!

Good morning! Don't you just love Thursday? Today the final top three winners were announced in the line-by-line contest! Congrats, ladies(+ me, yay!)! I've participated in a few contests in the past and whether I've placed in them or not, it's always been a great learning experience. It's fun to read the work of so many people we know from the blogging/writing community. The feedback on not only your work, but their's as well, is priceless.

But with contests, like anything in the writing world, you need to wear thick skin. Sometimes comments can sting, even from complete strangers. As writers we need to keep an open mind and accept criticism. It's the only way to get better. Well, that, a lot of practice and gallons of ice cream.

So long as you can take the negative comments along with the positive, contests are a GREAT morale booster. Even if one person flat out tells you your writing sucks, ten other people will tell you what they like and what you could improve.

I know a lot of people don't enter contests because they're hesitant to have strangers reading their work. After all, anyone could steal it! But I think most writers are good people and 250 words or less isn't enough of a glimpse into your awesome plot--you won't even get to the space monkeys. So go ahead and put yourself out there!

And if not that's okay too.

I may or may not have a follow up post to this in a few weeks. We shall see!

Happy Thursday!

Marry Fates Contest

The Merry Sisters of Fate (Maggie Stiefvater, Brenna Yovanoff, and Tessa Gratton) are hosting yet another fabulous contest on their blog:http://community.livejournal.com/merry_fates/95549.html

Eligible prizes include a signed copy of LINGER by Maggie Stiefvater, and a signed ARC of THE REPLACEMENT by Brenna Yovanoff.

To enter, you must use the below image as a writing prompt. It can be a short story, flash fiction, a poem, whatever! Visit their blog for detailed instructions on how to enter and what's up for grabs.

My entry: Then the queen, who never wanted her son to marry, lit the chandelier and gave it a push.

Book Giveaway!

In case you haven't seen it yet, my critique parters (Valerie and Kristi) and I are doing a giveaway on our shared blog. THREE winners, 1 of 4 books to choose from! Hop on over there and check it out. All you have to do to enter is be a follower and tell us what you like about the blog and what you would like to see more of.

As aspiring authors, we want to do our part to help other writers along their journey to publication. And we love books!

So whether you enjoy (or loathe) the writing tips, the Friday book recommendation, or the general ramblings of our bookish minds, let us know!

http://sistersinscribe.blogspot.com/2010/06/300-followers-giveaway.html

Win a FREE YA or MG manuscript critique!

Deborah Halverson (Former Editor at Harcourt and now Author of Honk If You Hate Me and Big Mouth) is doing a critique giveaway on her site dear-editor.com !

Follow the link for the entry instructions and good luck!

Awesome Contest Op. for Aspiring writers!

http://sarahwithachance.blogspot.com/2010/04/something-fun-and-celebratory.html

To celebrate the pub date of her novel ALL THESE LIVES, author Sarah Wylie is hosting a contest on her blog with FABULOUS prizes for aspiring authors, including a partial MS critique! Follow the link above to enter and good luck!

Followers Contest: Beautiful Creatures

***CONTEST IS CLOSED! WINNER ANNOUNCED SOON IN A NEW POST!***

I recently hit 500 followers on twitter and I promised I'd do something special so here it is!

Fill out the form below to be entered to win a hardcover copy of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl!

Big thanks to Kami and Margaret for sending me the autographed sticker from the Gatlin County Library for inside the book!

And a mega thank you to all of my followers, friends, fellow writers and bookworms.

Because this contest is to thank those who follow me on twitter and here, you MUST be a follower in at least one location. If you do not follow, I won't accept your entry. Please understand. If you follow Sisters in Scribe (link in my linkbar) and you mention it in the comments, I will add another entry. +1 for new, +3 for old SIS followers.

• 
  Shop Indie
• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316042676

Some loves are meant to be…
others are cursed.

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
At least, that’s what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
There was a curse. There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Contest IS international and will run from now until 12pm EST Friday, May 7th. Winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

+3 for being an old twitter follower

+1 for new twitter followers

+1 for tweet

+1 for each link to the contest (facebook, myspace, sidebar)

+1 for new blog followers, +3 for old

+5 for blogging about the contest

Contest is for the first book only, but keep a look out for the second book in the Caster Chronicles, BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS to be released October 26th 2010!

Some secrets are life-altering…
others are life-ENDING.

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena’s family of powerful supernaturals for generations.

And now that Ethan’s eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there’s no going back.

Visit Kami and Margaret on the web at http://beautifulcreaturesthebook.com/

Help Beth Revis Celebrate!

Beth Revis is celebrating the sale of her book ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, Penguin/Razor Bill, Spring 2011! Visit her blog and congratulate her and enter her contest for a chance to win one of two fabulous prize packs! CONGRATS, BETH!

Hush, Hush Giveaway!

The lovely Shannon Messenger is giving away another autographed book! This time, she has HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick up for grabs! Head over to her blog for your chance to enter. You can tell her I sent you if you want to give me an extra entry. :D

Need Query Help?

Gretchen McNeil, also known as Zerbinetta--opera singer extraordinaire, is doing a query critique contest. Go to her blog for a helpful tidbit about writing a query, and for a chance to win her critique.

http://gretchenmcneil.blogspot.com/2010/03/gretchens-how-to-guide-chapter-six.html

Book Reviews by Jess, followers giveaway!

My book-blogging/beta-reading buddy, Jess, at bookreviewsbyjess.blogspot.com has reached 400 followers! And to celebrate, Jess is giving away books to FOUR lucky winners! AND you get to pick the book you want to win!!!

http://bookreviewsbyjess.blogspot.com/2010/03/400-followers-giveaway-love.html

Her blog is undergoing some construction, and will soon have a new address. You won't want to miss the move, so make sure you check back when her new blog is launched.

You can tell her I sent you if you enter. *wink*