I read the first chapter a while back over on YAlitchat's First Pages Group. From there, C.Lee sent me the first few chapters to have a peek at.
Description: Alligators, witches and a spooky mansion aren't your average neighbors unless you live at the edge of the Ornofree swamp in the backwater town of Hadleyville. The town’s bad boy, Pete Riley, may only be twelve, but he’s up to his eyeballs in big trouble, and this time he isn’t the cause. This time the trouble arrives when a legendary hundred-year-old mansion, materializes next door and the Ornofree alligators declare war to save their swamp from bulldozers. Things only get worse when Pete’s guardian aunt and several of her close friends vanish while trying to restore order using outdated witchcraft. Now Pete must find his aunt and stop the war. He might stand a chance if his one friend, Weasel, sticks with him, but even then, they may not have what it takes.
Can I just say how much I HEART middle grade? And with saying that, I'll stop jabbering and let you hear from C.Lee herself.
BOOK PROMOTION
There are so many ways to promote your book using media these days. Since I like the idea of using a Blog Hop, I thought I’d share how I set mine up and bore you with a few opinions, too. Sorry about the opinions. I used Mr. Linky to have followers sign up. It was easy and efficient.
I created a theme that I thought would be fun and connected to my book. In my case I called it The Swamp Hop. You’ll have to read the book to find out why, or just look at the cover!
I asked each blogger how long and what topic they’d like, and I offered a choice of topics that I felt I could write about if they didn’t have one in mind.
I bundled all of my links and my post and subbed those in an email well ahead of the post date. (I think Sheri’s the only one I’ve be pokey about. Sorry, Sheri!) By having everything together it saved time for me and my host. Early subbing was good because there were a few glitches in the links and I had time to sort those out.
I showed up at the blog site while my post was active and even afterward because some comments came several days later. I responded to the comments, tweeted and announced the post on fb. I was sure to use the permalink because people often find links after new posts are up.
Because I know hosting someone does require some planning and, therefore, time I gave a gift to my hosts. In my case it was a short anthology of my short stories--some previously published and illustrated.
I did some giveaways, but I didn’t use Rafflecopter and here’s why: Warning Another Opinion Ahead. I found it annoying. If someone took the time to visit the post and leave a comment that was enough for me to give them a book. If they wanted to “like” my pages or “tweet” or give me a shout out on “fb” bless them. What I really wanted was someone to read my book and give me an honest review. That seemed like a fair exchange.
On the day of the guest post I added a note on my blog about where I’d be and what I’d be discussing along with links to the bloggers’ sites as well as their published books. It wasn’t all about my book, even though I liked to think it was.
:-)
I’m not a pro at this, so let me know what I’ve left out of this Blog Hop plan. I’ll take notes.
Thanks, Sheri. Loved having the chance to be here today.
It's me who needs to thank you, C.Lee, for the awesome information. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us.
Here's a little extra treat for all you Alleywalkers! You just HAVE to watch this trailer. Honestly, it's one of the best trailers I've ever seen for middle grade. I LUV it!
Awesome, right? Want a copy?
Good. Just leave a comment below, saying so, and you'll be entered to win one of two eCopies that C.Lee is generous offering as a giveaway!! Two winners to be randomly drawn and announced on September 7th! Spreading the word isn't necessary, but it would be so sweet of you!!
Or, here's where you can purchase your very own copy: AMAZON KINDLE, AMAZON PAPERBACK, B & N, SMASHWORDS
Good. Just leave a comment below, saying so, and you'll be entered to win one of two eCopies that C.Lee is generous offering as a giveaway!! Two winners to be randomly drawn and announced on September 7th! Spreading the word isn't necessary, but it would be so sweet of you!!
Or, here's where you can purchase your very own copy: AMAZON KINDLE, AMAZON PAPERBACK, B & N, SMASHWORDS
C. Lee McKenzie is a native Californian who grew up in a lot of different places; then landed in the Santa Cruz Mountains where she lives with her family and miscellaneous pets. She writes most of the time, gardens and hikes and does yoga a lot, and then travels whenever she can.
She takes on modern issues that today's teens face in their daily lives. Her first young adult novel, Sliding on the Edge, which dealt with cutting and suicide was published in 2009. Her second, titled The Princess of Las Pulgas, dealing with a family who loses everything and must rebuild their lives came out in 2010. Her short stories appear in Stories for Children, The First Time and the soon to be published, Two and Twenty Dark Tales. She just published her first Middle Grade novel, Alligators Overhead, this year.
