www.facebook.com/KALastBooks       http://www.goodreads.com/KALast       http://www.instagram.com/kalastbooks       http://www.pinterest.com.au/kalast

Monday, June 23, 2014

PTALive Sydney (and some back row book sales)

I can’t believe it’s taken me a whole week to get around to writing this post, but then again, things have been a little scarce for me in the blogging department lately.

Anyway, last Monday night I made the hour-long train trip to the city to attend PTALive Sydney. The original plan was to go with four other Aussie Owned and Read girls, and we were all so pumped to finally have the opportunity to get so many of our team together. In the past the most we’ve managed is three of us in the same place, at the same time. Alas, the stars did not align this time, and we were whittled down to two by the time the night rolled around. So, armed with my backpack of books and a wonderful friend at my side (she always comes to things with me when other plans fall through because she is awesome like that), we converged onto Event Cinemas George Street with a rather large group of excited teenagers.

I felt very old.

To put it into perspective, the key phrase of the night was squeal worthy!

Still, the night was very informative, and a lot of fun. We were treated to some free books, and a book sale. Kylie Fornasier spoke about her upcoming release, Masquerade. I love this cover! It’s so purple.


We were also given lots of info regarding Penguin’s 2014 releases. I may have squealed when this came up on the screen:


I love, love, love this series, and the last one ended on such a cliffhanger I am itching to read this when it comes out at the end of August. So yes, even though I’m in my thirties, I also contributed to the night’s key phrase.

The other highlight of my night was meeting Heather from the Aussie Owned and Read team. We sat near the back, and I love her so much because she bought all of my books. And her friend did, too! So while everyone was clamouring down the front over the book sale, we had our own little back row sale in the dimmed light of the cinema. I felt all black-markety.

If you have never been to PTALive before (like me) and you love books, espcially those in the YA market, it is a definite must-see in your state.

K x

Monday, June 02, 2014

Team Awesome – Recruiting Now

Team Awesome is the street team I created to help me market my books. I haven't had the chance to put much time into building the team yet, due to many reasons, mostly just life getting in the way, and I've decided I need to give everyone a bit of an incentive to get involved. I want this experience to be fun for everyone, but I realise that time is valuable, and even more so when I'm asking people to help me for free.

So … I've planned out a structure for those who would like to get involved, but may not necessarily have the time to do so on a regular basis.

There will be prizes!

This is how it will work:
Three times a year I will have a giveaway exclusively for the street team. It means you can only enter if you are a member. Becoming and staying a member of the team Facebook group is the only strict requirement. One person will win a prize pack, and prizes will include things like eBooks, gift vouchers, swag, and signed paperbacks. There may even be special items like T-shirts and tote bags, too!

During the four months leading up to the drawing of each giveaway, every member will have the opportunity to earn points (entries). The more you get involved, the better chance you have of winning, and certain things will earn more points than others.

Here is a breakdown of the point earning potential:
  • Join Team Awesome – 10 points
  • Display the Team Awesome badge on your website – 10 points
  • Sign up to K. A. Last's newsletter – 10 points
  • Review any title by K. A. Last  – 10 points
  • Blog about anything to do with K. A. Last – 5 points
  • Share or create a teaser for any title by K. A. Last – 5 points
  • Tweet about K. A. Last and her books – 3 point
  • Share any of K. A. Last's book trailers – 3 points
  • Like KALastBooks on Facebook – 1 point
  • Follow KALastBooks on twitter – 1 point

So as you can see, there are plenty of opportunities to earn points, and better your chances of winning something. I might even do spot prizes each month to keep it interesting. Please note though that I will be checking entries when they are drawn to make sure they are legitimate.

UPDATE:
To make it fairer for everyone, I’ve decided to make some slight adjustments to the way the prizes work. There will still be a main prize at the end of each four month period, but the winner of that prize will be the team member who has earned the most points during the four months. I think this will not only encourage those with a genuine interest in my books to participate, but it will also reward those who deserve it. The points will be zeroed at the end of each period, but there will be other prizes for each point milestone you reach along the way. I will keep a running overall total of points for each participating member, and send out prizes accordingly.

The first major draw will take place on August 31.

The prize for the first round will be a Fall For Me tote bag, pen, magnet, and signed bookmark.


As a bonus, everyone who joins the team in the first two weeks will have the chance to win some Immagica swag. The draw for this will be on June 16.

Stay awesome!

K x