Category Archives: Cool Stuff

News and looking forward to fall (yes, already)!

Hi.

I am SUPER excited to announce that SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE has been named as a nominee in the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Awards for 2014. I’ve never been to Manitoba, but am thinking I should consider some westerly travel.

Next up is some day job news. In that I no longer have one. As often happens in the corporate world these days, big companies restructure and move people and offices around, so I was given an opportunity to, um, not work there anymore. This has been one of those blessings in disguise that people talk about, as it has given me the opportunity to bring together two of my favorite things–authors and organizing–and start a business. That’s right, I am the JL in JL Author Services, providing administrative support to busy authors. For more info, check out the website: JLauthorservices.com.

I have other stuff on the go, too. You know, the writing thing and all the fun stuff that goes along with that writing. Now that my days are freed up some, I’m excited to be able to do virtual Skype visits and in the Hamilton, Niagara, GTA areas in Ontario, I am looking to book in-person school visits to start in the fall. These are handled by Authors’ Booking Service, so please get in touch with them to book me or for more information.

And if you are in the Southern Ontario area, I’ll be at the Telling Tales Festival on September 15th with a bunch of other cool authors, so mark your calendars as I’d love to see you up in Rockton!

I have some other stuff in the works for this summer, but you’ll have to stay tuned as I don’t have all the details just yet.

Also, as of the time of writing this post, the SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE e-book is still on sale at all online retailers:

Indie Bound (for Kobo)

Barnes & Noble

Amazon.com

Amazon.ca

Thanks for making it to the end of this post. Since you did, I’d like to reward you with this dancing frog. You know, just because.

dancing frog

A lot of laughs at a low price!

Last night I stumbled on a SALE – my book is only $2.39 for Kindle right now. That’s right, $2.39. That’s like the price of a latte or a bunch of other things that are just not as fun or SML Levysatisfying as a cute and funny e-book about a girl who gets hit by lightning and can then hear ghosts.

What else can you get for $2.39? I did the work for you and here’s what you can get:

Annie’s Homegrown Snack Crackers

A square foot of some nice travertine flooring

A device that I think has to do with fishing, but kind of scares me

A Whopper

But really, why do you need any of those things when for that money, you can get hours of entertainment and a scene where a girl shops for bras with a couple of dead old ladies? Right?

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the Kindle Reader ap thingie and can read on your phone, tablet or computer, so if you’re reading this blog post, you can easily read the book. That said, if you prefer to hold a real book, it’s still a very reasonable price to get a copy for yourself or your tween.

p.s. The book is on sale RIGHT NOW, but I truly have no idea how long it will be on sale for, so A. act now if you’re thinking about it and B. if you miss the sale, please don’t blame me-I have nothing to do with the prices of my book.

Thank you to all of you who have spread the word about this sale – it means a lot to know so many of you support me and the book!

The Arizona Road Trip of Awesome Recap!

Hi again! If you’re familiar around these parts, you probably know that I went to Arizona last week for the Tucson Festival of Books and in doing so, participated in the ARIZONA ROAD TRIP OF AWESOME (ARTOA), but you may not have known about all the hijinks I got up to. So in the interest of entertaining you, here’s a little recap post with some fun pictures. It was an AMAZING trip and if you’re at all able to go to the festival next year, I highly recommend it, although hopefully, the weather will be a bit nicer. Arizona owes me some sunshine-we Canadians don’t get near enough, especially in March, so I’m a bit sad that I didn’t get my fair share on this trip. That said, it was still a great time, as you can see below.

First, as on every good road trip, we had a great driver, the lovely and safety-conscious Lisa McMann. She’s a very good driver and not just on the driveway. After she picked me up, we also collected fellow road-trippers, A.S. King (referred to hereafter as ‘Amy’) and Z Brewer.

Lisa driving

All road trips require food and this one was no exception-we had a great dinner with some Phoenix area friends.

Dinner
L to R – Z, Faith, Amy, Robyn, Me, Amy Dominy, Jim, Lisa

After the dinner, we headed over to Changing Hands where we sat with a full crowd for Amy’s event. She engaged the audience with her readings and great stories.

Amy Reading

Then we tried on hats.

She's a good egg.
She’s a good egg. Get it? She’s got a chicken…never mind.
Heather with something on her head
Never before has a flamingo been so regal!
Is that a shark on my head
Is there something on my head?

And as it turns out, someone was celebrating a birthday during the ARTOA

It’s the birthday girl!

On Friday, it was off to Tucson, but first, we made a stop at Casa Grande for some school visits. Lisa, Amy and Z headed to the high school and I had the extreme pleasure of meeting up with the wonderful Jennifer Nielsen and we did two school visits together. For this newb, it was a high honor indeed to get to present with such a funny, engaging professional.

Jennifer presenting to a riveted crowd
Jennifer presenting to a riveted crowd, while I sweat it out, waiting for my turn.
Reading from THE FALSE PRINCE
Hiding behind my book. Kids are scary! I’m just kidding. Kind of.
Don’t those books look good together?

And then we were off to Tucson. While Amy, Lisa and Z jetted off to a swanky dinner, where I heard they had steamed burgers (that can’t be right?) Jennifer and I were joined by the lovely and hilarious Elizabeth Eulberg. We ate at this place that served the biggest bowls of food I have ever seen. Seriously, that was A LOT OF FOOD. Then we got freaky weird fortunes. I would share them with you, but I have since lost them, and anyway, what happens at Pei Wei, stays at Pei Wei.

Saturday was all about the Tucson Festival of Books. It was a cold, drizzly day, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the many book lovers who came out.

Teen & Author Meeting Place

“This here itinerary I’m reading from is so awesomely detailed and helpful. Whoever put this together is clearly a genius.”
“Tomorrow’s my birthday and I hope to have a cake THIS BIG.”

I started my scheduled part of the day off with a signing at the Mostly Books booth with Lisa. Jody, Tricia and the other staff were great – thanks for hosting us! While there, I sat next to Hilary Davidson and through chatting, we realized we’re both from Canada – only an hour apart. Hilary now lives in New York, but still, how cool is that?

DSC07426

Yes, it’s dorky, but seeing my name up there on a cool sign got me all emotional. You know you’re special when someone puts your name on a sign that isn’t just a scrawled whiteboard. Anyway, the 1pm panel was great and very well attended. Somehow, Lisa got me to tell one of my most embarrassing high school stories. I’m not going to tell you what it was, because what happens in the Kiva Auditorium, stays in the Kiva Auditorium (thankfully). Our moderator, Gail, kept the questions coming and engaged the audience in Q&A-thanks, Gail!

Maylan and Me
Thank you to my author host, Maylan!

My second panel was all about writing humor. My co-panelists were Linda Urban and Elise Broach, two fine ladies I’d never met before. I do know Linda from Twitter, but it was especially nice to meet her and Elise in person. It was kind of weird meeting my co-panelists just minutes before our session, but very quickly, I realized they were professionals and we’d be great. We got many thoughtful questions from the audience and it went very well. Thank you to moderator Jennifer for the excellent questions and keeping everything running smoothly.

Linda Urban, Elise Broach and Me.

I also got to meet Tom Leveen again (we met very briefly at NCTE in November) and the lovely Erin Lange, a fellow Apocalypsie. We share the same publisher and even editor, so it was great to meet up. We didn’t have a lot of time to chat, which was a bit sad, but means I just need to return to Arizona again.

Thanks to everyone who made the ARTOA truly awesome.

The Arizona Road Trip of Awesome Giveaway!

Hi. I hope you’re doing great! I’m heading out for a ROAD TRIP OF AWESOME this week. What makes a road trip awesome, you ask? Well, let me share some cool stuff I’ll be doing:

  1. Going to A.S. King‘s event at Changing Hands in Tempe Arizona on Thursday (if you’re in the area, you should absolutely come!)
  2. Meeting my online friend, Amy Dominy
  3. School visits with the amazing Jennifer Nielsen* (meep! I’ve never done school visits before – hold me!)
  4. Going to the Tucson Festival of Books on Saturday – have you been to this? It’s AMAZING and while I’m there, I’m on panels with Lisa McMann, Heather Brewer, Jennifer Nielsen (hopefully she’s not sick of me by then) and my other online friend, Linda Urban. If you’re in Tucson and coming to the festival, make sure you find me and say hello – here’s the schedule.
  5. This is just the busy, writer related stuff – I’ll also be doing some serious R&R and of course, book buying.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED – Congrats to Melissa Roske!

But before I go, I have to pack for the trip. Of course I only have so much room, but I have like a zillion Sharpies! How to choose? YOU are going to help me. Pick from the colors below and tell me why I should take that color of Sharpie to sign books with. Just leave a comment below and you’re entered to win a copy of YOUR CHOICE of SIGNED/PERSONALIZED book by one of any of the authors listed above (or you could get some extra brownie points and pick a signed personalized copy of my book, but if you don’t I understand. I mean, look at those other authors!).

Sound like the easiest thing ever? Yeah, pretty much. And if you tweet, Facebook or otherwise tell your friends about it, I’ll give you an extra entry, just make sure you let me know in your comment what you’ve done. Because I’m not rich, this will have to be a North America only contest (sorry friends from Norway and other lovely places abroad!). AND you only have until this Wednesday, March 6 at 23:59 EST to enter so I can pick a winner and organize the prize.

Here’s what you’re choosing from?

Left to right: bronze, Kermit green, black, teal, sky blue, purple, red, orange, indigo, pink, forest green. Don’t forget to tell me WHY you picked that color.

Sharpies

Okay, ready? GO!

*Jennifer also has an event at Changing Hands on Wednesday, which I will unfortunately not be able to attend, but if you’re in the area, go and say hi for me. Tell her I’ll see her Thursday.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Love = Books Contest

Hi everyone! I know it’s been a while, but I’ve been working hard AND enjoying a bit of down time, but I’m back today with a ONE DAY ONLY contest. It’s easy, though, so you don’t need to study or do much other than tell me about what you love.

UPDATE: This contest is now CLOSED. The three winners are Coreynascenzi, Marlene Moss and Heidi Grange – watch your inbox for a message from me. CONGRATULATIONS to you and everyone who received a book for International Book Giving Day!

Did you know that today is International Book Giving Day? It’s true!

Book Giving Day

And it’s Valentine’s Day. AND I’m going to see Lemony Snicket tonight! A VERY BIG DAY for me and full of love. So to celebrate, I’m going to give away THREE prizes today. All you need to do is leave a comment here, or Tweet @ me (@joannelevy) telling me your favorite Valentine’s treat. It could be anything, from a book to chocolates or hugs – whatever you love to receive. I will choose three winners at random to get:

1. A Lemony Snicket book of your choice AND

2. My book, SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE

That’s two books you could win, just for telling me about what you like to receive for Valentine’s. Not bad, huh? The only catch is, I need you to respond by 11:59 Eastern tonight – February 14, 2013. Winners will be announced tomorrow. This contest is open internationally (Canada/US/or wherever Book Depository ships).

Also, get extra entries for sharing (just let me know what you’ve done in your comment, so I can keep track).

Got it? GO!

(Also, in the spirit of International Book Giving Day – please pay it forward and give someone a book.)

What’s Up With Joanne Now?

Hi everyone!

*whew*

It’s been a busy few weeks, to say the least. If you don’t know why, um, where have you been?

In addition to doing some signing events and going to NCTE in Las Vegas, Kate Messner and I headed up a fundraiser for Superstorm Sandy relief, for which we raised ***drumroll*** over $60,000! Round 2 alone raised $23,282. Pretty awesome, right?

I’m SO thankful for Kate and the rest of the people who made the auction amazing. We had a ton of donors who offered up their time, services and great stuff to help us reach this goal. Please check out the auctions (please note – the auctions are all now closed) to see who our donors were—SO MUCH talent and generosity—I’m honored that they all came forward to help out.

If you did miss the auctions or didn’t win one of the awesome prizes donated by publishing industry rockstars, the Red Cross is still collecting donations and the money is much needed, so please donate if you can*.

So now that’s over, I’m going to take a bit of a break to get back to writing. Hopefully I remember how to do that, because it feels like it’s been a loooooong time.

Wishing you all the best for your holiday season and remember, nothing makes a better gift than a book. Like one about ghosts. And bras and first kisses. If you agree, you can find SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE at your favorite book retailer (see my main page for handy links) or if you want a personalized copy, get in touch with my SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE Indie Bookstore Headquarters, Bryan Prince Books and they’ll set you up with a signed, personalized copy (they’ll ship anywhere, because they’re awesome like that).

AND it is the season for giving, so consider giving a book, ANY book to a children’s toy drive so we can all spread the joy of reading.

Joanne Levy Author PhotoAll my very best,

Joanne

 

*Or you can check out YA for NJ (http://www.facebook.com/YaForNj) and Publishing Gives Back (http://publishinggivesback.blogspot.ca/) for ongoing fundraisers.

YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes – Take 3!

Welcome YAmazing Racers!

 

THE RACE IS NOW OFFICIALLY OVER – THANKS FOR RACING!

Thanks for stopping by. If you’ve made it here by accident, why don’t you play with us anyway? We’ve got lots of prizes and FUN to be had! See below for the full info and where you’ll find the starting line: http://apocalypsies.blogspot.com

Mark your calendars: starting Monday, October 22, 12:00pm Eastern, the Apocalypsies will be hosting the third annual (not really) YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes – a week-long blog race featuring over 50 debut authors! Go to THE APOCALYPSIES any time between October 22-29 at noon to join the race and learn more about the hottest new books debuting in 2012 – AND earn a chance to win one of several prize packs made up of signed ARCs and finished copies, gift certificates, bookmarks, jewelry, swag, and more!

Okay, so you’re in? Right. So we need to start with some info about my book, so here it is:

After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her over-opinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to—and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with—her crush, Andrew Finkel.

Okay, got what you need from me? Then head over to see Diana Renn:

http://dianarenn.blogspot.com

BUT WAIT! BEFORE YOU GO – THERE’S MORE!

If you go over to my Facebook Page and give it a like and tell me that you came from the YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes, I will throw your name into a hat and at the end of the race, I’ll draw for a copy of my book. If I get over 50 new likes, I’ll also draw for a copy of Gina Damico’s hilarious book CROAK, so make sure you tell your friends! And if you’re already a liker of my page, don’t worry – just let me know on the page that you are participating in the YAmazing race and you’ll be entered!

What are you waiting for? GO!!!

October Street Team Check In.

Welcome (or welcome back!) to the monthly Street Team check in.

CONGRATULATIONS to Carina, winner of the October STREET TEAM prize pack!

I’m going to be suspending the Street Team prize check-ins for now, because something WAY COOL is coming – stay tuned! But don’t feel like you can’t still spread the word about SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE! I still appreciate your efforts!

 

CONGRATULATIONS to Disincentive, winner of the September STREET TEAM prize pack!

Okay, so that important business is out of the way, so let’s kick off the October Street Team EXTRAVAGANZA. You remember the deal, right? You get to be a member of my street team by telling the world about my book, SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE.

It’s really easy – and there are prizes! WHAT PRIZES? You ask?

Tricks the sock monkey

and a paperback copy of HOW THEY CROAKED – a really entertaining, if macabre book about how famous people…er…croaked.

So, if you haven’t joined up yet, here’s how:

To be a member of the SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE Street Team, all you need to do is spread the word about, well, SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE. How? you ask? EASY: You can tweet about it, do a Facebook note about it, like my page on Facebook, write about it on your blog, make a video about it, review it on Goodreads, send an e-mail to your friends telling them to check out the book, ask your library or local bookstore to carry the book, whatever! I just need you to be my people on the street, getting the word out.

Sound easy? Yeah, it is. Every month, I’ll do a draw for cool stuff: things like signed books (mine and by other cool people), Street Team SWAG, gift certificates etc. So to enter, all you need to do is spread the word and then come back and add a comment telling me what you did (and a link if it’s a video or post) and you’ll be entered in this month’s draw.

If you send an e-mail to your friends, telling them about SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, you can count an extra entry for each one of your friends that you tell-just make sure you copy me on the message: [email protected]

Each thing you do will get you one entry (other than the tell-a-friend thing above), but please try to put everything in one comment, to save me having to scroll through what I’m sure will be thousands of comments. Also, don’t forget to include your e-mail address, in case you win! Be creative (and legal, of course) and have fun! Ready? GO!

As always, if you’re super-lazy like me, you can just grab this:

Ready made Tweet/FB Status, just copy and paste: SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, cute MG by @joannelevy is a perfect funny Halloween read for tweens. http://amzn.to/OM250d #SMALstreetteam

or this: I loved reading @joannelevy’s SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE and you will, too! Check it out: http://bit.ly/vVAKJo  #SMALstreetteam

or how about: I’m tweeting about @joannelevy’s SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE to win Tricks the sock monkey – you can, too: http://bit.ly/K58ig2 #SMALstreetteam

September Street Team Check In.

Welcome (or welcome back!) to the monthly Street Team check in.

CONGRATULATIONS to Orchid, winner of the August STREET TEAM prize pack!

Okay, so that important business is out of the way, so let’s kick off the September Street Team EXTRAVAGANZA. You remember the deal, right? You get to be a member of my street team by telling the world about my book, SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE.

It’s really easy – and there are prizes! WHAT PRIZES? You ask?

Check this out: It’s a Special Limited edition

***SIGNED***

The Unwanteds Prize pack

Contains:

  • Signed copy of THE UNWANTEDS
  • SIGNED and limited edition postcards (created especially by Lisa McMann’s son to commemorate the series
  • An ISLAND OF SILENCE sticker
  • A special Simber Silly Bandz

So, if you haven’t joined up yet, here’s how:

To be a member of the SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE Street Team, all you need to do is spread the word about, well, SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE. How? you ask? EASY: You can tweet about it, do a Facebook note about it, like my page on Facebook, write about it on your blog, make a video about it, review it on Goodreads, send an e-mail to your friends telling them to check out the book, ask your library or local bookstore to carry the book, whatever! I just need you to be my people on the street, getting the word out.

Sound easy? Yeah, it is. Every month, I’ll do a draw for cool stuff: things like signed books (mine and by other cool people), Street Team SWAG, gift certificates etc. So to enter, all you need to do is spread the word and then come back and add a comment telling me what you did (and a link if it’s a video or post) and you’ll be entered in this month’s draw.

If you send an e-mail to your friends, telling them about SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, you can count an extra entry for each one of your friends that you tell-just make sure you copy me on the message: [email protected]

Each thing you do will get you one entry (other than the tell-a-friend thing above), but please try to put everything in one comment, to save me having to scroll through what I’m sure will be thousands of comments. Also, don’t forget to include your e-mail address, in case you win! Be creative (and legal, of course) and have fun! Ready? GO!

As always, if you’re super-lazy like me, you can just grab this:

Ready made Tweet/FB Status, just copy and paste: SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, cute and funny MG by @joannelevy out NOW! Check it out on Goodreads http://bit.ly/vVAKJo #SMALstreetteam

or this: I loved reading @joannelevy’s SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE and you will, too! Check it out: http://bit.ly/vVAKJo  #SMALstreetteam

or how about: I’m tweeting about @joannelevy’s SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE to win awesome stuff – you can, too: http://bit.ly/OxqEZv #SMALstreetteam

August Street Team Check In.

Welcome (or welcome back!) to the monthly Street Team check in.

CONGRATULATIONS to Ashley Chen, winner of the JULY STREET TEAM prize pack!

Okay, so that important business is out of the way, so let’s kick off the August Street Team EXTRAVAGANZA. You remember the deal, right? You get to be a member of my street team by telling the world about my book, SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE.

It’s really easy – and there are prizes! WHAT PRIZES? You ask?

 


FARLEY, the rainbow sock monkey,

AND your choice of a *signed* copy of SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE or a $25 gift certificate to the book retailer of your choice.

So, if you haven’t joined up yet, here’s how:

To be a member of the SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE Street Team, all you need to do is spread the word about, well, SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE. How? you ask? EASY: You can tweet about it, do a Facebook note about it, like my page on Facebook, write about it on your blog, make a video about it, review it on Goodreads, send an e-mail to your friends telling them to check out the book, ask your library or local bookstore to carry the book, whatever! I just need you to be my people on the street, getting the word out.

Sound easy? Yeah, it is. Every month, I’ll do a draw for cool stuff: things like signed books (mine and by other cool people), Street Team SWAG, gift certificates etc. So to enter, all you need to do is spread the word and then come back and add a comment telling me what you did (and a link if it’s a video or post) and you’ll be entered in this month’s draw.

AND let’s add something new this month – if you send an e-mail to your friends, telling them about SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, you can count an extra entry for each one of your friends that you tell-just make sure you copy me on the message: [email protected]

Each thing you do will get you one entry (other than the tell-a-friend thing above), but please try to put everything in one comment, to save me having to scroll through what I’m sure will be thousands of comments. Also, don’t forget to include your e-mail address, in case you win! Be creative (and legal, of course) and have fun! Ready? GO!

As always, if you’re super-lazy like me, you can just grab this:

Ready made Tweet/FB Status, just copy and paste: SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE, cute and funny MG by @joannelevy out NOW! Check it out on Goodreads http://bit.ly/vVAKJo #SMALstreetteam

or this: I loved reading @joannelevy’s SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE and you will, too! Check it out: http://bit.ly/vVAKJo  #SMALstreetteam

or how about: I’m tweeting about @joannelevy’s SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE to win Farley and a gift card – you can, too: http://bit.ly/OxqEZv #SMALstreetteam