Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Give It Forward Book Giveaway!

So...we were inspired by Casey McCormick who is a genius. Check it out.

We took hours, minutes, a few seconds racking our brains for a book we love as much as The Sky Is Everywhere and it's just not happening, people. This book is the best book we've ever read. So, we want to conduct Casey's experiment with the same book, mmmkay?

Before we begin, one of my favorite scenes:

We are staring at him again, still not certain what to make of the stranger in our midst. The stranger, however, appears quite comfortable with us.

"What's up with the plant?" He points to the despairing Lennie houseplant in the middle of the table. It looks like it has leprosy. We all go silent, because what do we say about my doppelganger houseplant?

"It's Lennie, it's dying, and frankly, we don't know what to do about it," Big booms with finality. It's as if the room itself takes a long awkward breath, and then at the same moment Gram, Big, and I lose it--Big slapping the table and barking laughter like a drunk seal, Gram leaning back against the counter wheezing and gasping for breath, and me doubled over trying to breathe in between my own uncontrolled gasping and snorting, all of us lost in a fit of hysterics the likes of which we haven't had in months.

I listened to this book when I was in the car and when I was supposed to be working out. As I read this scene, I cried. Right in the middle of the gym. And I wasn't embarrassed because it's that good. In fact, I hoped people would ask me what was wrong just so I could tell them about this amazing book. But the beauty of this particular scene is that, to me, it completely embodies the extreme emotions associated with grief. In fact, the whole book does. I found myself crying, but laughing at the same time. A phenomenon I had never experienced before in a book. She. Nailed. It.



So...because Casey's a lot smarter than we are, we're going to steal her verbiage and hope she forgives us!

We're going to give away The Sky Is Everywhere--a brand new copy for someone.

BUT (and this is a big BUT) here’s the catch, to enter our giveaway you have to be willing to do the SAME giveaway on your blog or Facebook. Meaning, you have to buy the book for someone else within TWO WEEKS of receiving the book from us. Your ONLY out is this: if you don’t love THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE enough to keep it and buy it for someone, you can give away the one you’ve received from us. But the giveaway has to continue. Meaning, whoever wins your giveaway has to buy it for their winner or give away the one they’ve received from you, depending on their feelings on it. However, it is our hope that this will create a chain of PURCHASES in order to support the title. Not a big pass-the-book-around fest. In fact, you might even consider starting your giveaway right after you win, just to support the author, particularly if you already planned to buy the book at some point. Because you won’t be out any more money than you would have been. Right? And because this book is SO, SO, SO good we think it’s the perfect candidate. We think you WILL want to keep this book and buy it for someone else. It’ll be beautiful. We’ll all be buying it for each other and spreading the word about a fantastic book and author.

And we trust that none of our readers will stop the chain, right? The winner will continue to spread the love for Jandy and The Sky Is Everywhere will rise to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List WHERE IT BELONGS, right?

Phew.

So let’s do this! RULES:

1. You MUST have a blog or Facebook or somewhere you can give the book away and be clear about the rules (Twitter can't support it, for example).

2. You MUST be willing to hold this exact giveaway on your blog or Facebook in which you purchase this book for someone else (or giveaway the one you receive from us, IF you don’t love it) and require that YOUR winner do the same. Preferably within TWO WEEKS of receiving the book from us.

3. If you win, we ask that you PLEASE enter your giveaway into the linky widget here and have YOUR winner do the same on Casey's post (not on your blog). So we can track how long the chain lasts and how many purchases we achieve.

4. U.S. entrants only.

5. Spreading the word will gain you extra entries. Stalking Jandy Nelson on the net (only on the net!) will also get you extra entries. See the form.

6. The contest will run February 16th to February 22nd until MIDNIGHT. We will announce the winner on February 22nd and the chain will commence.

Additionally, if you love THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE as much as we do and you’d like to start your own giveaway chain, PLEASE DO and add yourself to the linky widget on Casey's blog. If enough people jump in, she’ll do a giveaway just for YOU. Like, she’ll order one winner whatever book they want (with a normal paperback or hardcover price). Sound good? YES, we love this book THAT MUCH.

To enter, please fill out this form:

9 comments:

Jill Hathaway said...

LOOOOOOOOVE this book. I might do this later.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

I so love this idea! I'm in!

Meredith McCardle said...

Heck yes! I'm definitely in. :)

Casey McCormick said...

Thanks so much for starting another chain, LiLa. I already added you to the linky because I wanted to make sure it works!

Beth said...

I can't enter because I'm Canadian -- but good luck to everyone else!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

What a wonderful way to support fellow authors. Love it!! :-)

Hardygirl said...

You people are BRILLIANT!! And, I agree--best book ever. I loved it so much that I just ordered it (because I read Katie's copy). I just had to have my very own copy.

Sooooo ... if I win (and maybe even if I don't), I've got a copy to give away.

sf

erica m. chapman said...

Already own this one. But OMG it's one of my favorites of all time. Totally moved me. What a great giveaway ;o)

Corinne O said...

Hi ladies,
I just won a copy of THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE over at Paula's give-it-forward contest! *yay* So, please take me out of the running in your giveaway. (I think I might have entered twice, lol!)

Happy BDay Laura!
Corinne

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