Fun with SWAG

Do you like to get Stuff We All Get (SWAG) from authors?

I do. I love to pick up bookmarks, pens, jelly bean bags, etc. It's fun to take a few things home and think about meeting the author. But, I must admit, most of it ends up in the trash pretty quickly.

I have a new YA releasing in February, and I'm in the process of creating some SWAG as giveaways. As I was trying to decide what to order, I thought I might ask readers!

So here's your chance. Tell me what you think about SWAG. You can comment here--or fill in an anonymous Google form survey.

In the past, I've given away bookmarks, trading cards, lip gloss, recipe cards, and temporary tattoos. At a recent author event at a local high school, I put out several hundred bookmarks, trading cards, and tattoos--and they all disappeared within seconds. While I suspect most of it made its way into the trash can by nightfall, that's okay. My website had a lot of hits that day, so that's a win for me!


Most readers will likely say that free books are great SWAG. I agree! But let me make a comment about the free thing.

Although a book might be free for the reader, it is not free for the author. We have to buy the books we give away. And, yes, we'll probably get them for a lower price than readers, but it's still not cheap. Here are some ballpark figures to buy and deliver a book to a reader (with a US address):

• Paperback - $10
• Hardcover - $15
• E-book (traditional) - $10
• E-book (self-pubbed) - pennies

For international readers, the shipping cost is crazy. 30 - 40 dollars (USD) is not uncommon. I still try to hold giveaways for international readers, but they will often get books shipped to them directly from Bookdepository.com, which means it won't be signed.

Bookmark for WHISPER FALLS and I WISH

there you are--some quick insights into SWAG and giveaways. If you have some ideas to share, please comment or fill in the survey. Thank you!

Whisper Falls is included in a giveaway of Historical Romance eBooks. Two grand-prize winners will receive all 23 ebooks.  There will be 23 other winners who will receive one randomly-selected ebook from the list.

So what's the catch?  People who enter must be willing to have their email address shared with all 23 authors. Authors will invite each entrant to subscribe to their newsletter mailing list. The entrant can simply ignore (or refuse) the invitation.

So if you know any readers who love historical romance and enjoy discovering new authors, here is a great opportunity.

Win up to 22+ Historical Romance eBooks!

(2) Grand Prize "Gift Baskets" of ALL eBooks!
(22+) Winners of Individual eBooks (randomly selected titles)

Kobo promotional sale for I WISH

I Wish is on sale at Kobo from November 1 - 15, for 99 cents.

If you use Kobo for e-books, here's an opportunity to get the first book in the I Wish series at a sale price. (If you're not familiar with Kobo, they're a great place to find e-books--and they're a major e-book retailer presence in Canada and around the world!)

Just for a little fun, I leave you with a look at my newest SWAG! Bookmark design by the talented Laron at Ninth Moon.

Sale on I WISH (book 1)

I have I Wish on sale for 99 cents until March 14.

The third and final book of the I WISH series will release this summer. Wish You Were Here begins four months after Wishing for You. Grant arrives to help Sara Tucker recover from the hardest year of her life.  (You'll also get to catch up with Kimberley and Lacey; they're around to support Sara, too.)

The e-book of I Wish (#1) will be on sale for 2 weeks. In May, I'll discount Wishing for You (#2) for a couple of weeks. If you know someone who hasn't read the series yet, at 99 cents, it's a great time to try.

He's a genie with rules...

Buy links: Amazon/Kindle   B&N/Nook    iBooks

3 guys - 3 different kinds of love

In Wishing for You, the heroine Kimberley forms relationships with three guys, finding with each a unique kind of love.



For Sean, it's the intense affection of a close friend.

With Grant the "genie", she shares the warmth and caring of a part coach / part older brother.

She hopes to give Mason her heart.







Discover where each of these relationships go in Wishing for You.

There's a giveaway of a $50 Amazon card or Paypal cash. Drop by this week's blog tour to enter!


Purchase links for Wishing for You (I Wish #2)
 Amazon     B&N     iBooks     indieBound     Kobo

Purchase links for I Wish (I Wish #1) - the ebook is on sale for 99 cents!
  Amazon     B&N     iBooks     Kobo

3 winners for first giveaway

Congratulations to Kathie, De'Anne, and Natasha on winning in the first Wishing for You giveaway.


There are 2 more giveaways going on through October, so check them out!

Giveaway 1: $50 Amazon giftcard

Giveaway 2: $25 Amazon giftcard

Check on twitter ( www.twitter.com/langstonEtc ) ; both giveaways are being retweeted a lot!

Booksigning Saturday in NC

If you're in Raleigh, NC on Saturday, drop by Quail Ridge Books from 3-4pm.  I'll be there signing copies of Wishing for You. 

The NC State Fair is in full force, so be prepared for traffic if you're coming from the west.

Don't forget the two giveaways--one ends Nov 1 and the other ends this weekend.

Wishing for You is here - check out giveaways, excerpt, and more!

October 13th is release day for Wishing for You, the second book in the I Wish series!

Here is an excerpt--the first chapter (pdf) of Wishing for You. (NOTE: if you haven't read book 1, this excerpt has a major spoiler.)


For the next two weeks, there will be giveaways and more!

Giveaway #1 - $50 Amazon gift card or Paypal cash; click here for details!  Entries close on November 1.

Giveaway #2 - Sign up below for the chance to choose one of the following:

• Signed copy of Wishing for You (US only)
• A copy of Wishing for You, shipped from bookdepository.com (International only)
• Amazon gift card for $10

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

There will be 3 winners! Entries close October 19th.

She's a girl who can't remember. He's the guy she can't forget.

It's her final semester of high school, and Kimberley Rey is curious about what will come next. She needs to pick a college, but her memory disability complicates the choice. Will her struggles to remember make it impossible to leave home?

Help arrives through an unexpected and supernatural gift. Grant is a "genie" with rules. He can give her thirty wishes (one per day for a month) as long as the tasks are humanly possible. Kimberley knows just what to ask for—lessons in how to live on her own.

But her wishes change when a friend receives a devastating diagnosis. As she joins forces with Grant to help her friend, Kimberley learns that the ability to live in the moment—to forget—may be more valuable than she ever knew.

Purchase links for Wishing for You (I Wish #2)
 Amazon     B&N     iBooks     indieBound     Kobo

Purchase links for I Wish (I Wish #1) - the ebook is on sale for 99 cents!
  Amazon     B&N     iBooks     Kobo

1 week until Wishing for You & sale on book 1

Wishing for You releases in one week.  October 13th is the big day!

Amazon    B&N

To celebrate, the price for I Wish (book 1) will be 99 cents for the month of October.

Beginning next week, there were be guest posts, books reviews, gift cards to give away, and more. Most of the festivities will be hosted on other websites, but I'll keep an updated list here.

3 weeks until Wishing for You

The second book in the I Wish series is almost here. Wishing for You launches on October 13!

Wishing for You tells the story of Kimberley Rey, the best friend of Lacey from book 1. Kimberley has a memory disability, and Grant is there to help her as she faces high school graduation and choosing a college.

Here's a sneak peek excerpt:

A puff of blue smoke curled from the center of the pocket watch, swirling lazily in the air before dissipating near the foot of my four-poster bed. In its place appeared one of the hottest guys I’d ever met—every bit as gorgeous now as he’d been the last time I’d seen him months ago. “Grant?”

“Hello.” He watched me calmly, his hands clasped behind his back.

He hadn’t walked through the door. He’d simply materialized out of the blue smoke, which ought to have been impossible but clearly wasn’t. There were plenty of things wrong with my brain, but hallucinations were not one of them. “Where did you come from?”
 
“I live in the watch. I entered from there.”
 
Although his answer was completely crazy, he’d said it in a mildly polite tone as if appearing out of smoke were an ordinary occurrence. I would remain mild, too. For now. “Really? Does that sort of thing happen by magic?”

“An adequate description of the process.” His green-glass eyes glittered in the light from the lamp. “You don’t seem shocked by my unorthodox arrival.”

“I should be, but you’re right. I’m not.”


Wishing for You is available for pre-order.
Amazon     B&N     iBooks     Kobo

(If you haven't had a chance to read book 1 yet, I Wish has a new everyday low price of $2.99 for e-books!
Amazon     B&N     iBooks     Kobo )

GR giveaway ends today for I WISH

The second book in the I Wish series releases in 2 months.

I'll be giving away ARCs of Wishing For You soon, posting excerpts, and looking for other ways to celebrate.

The first opportunity to get a free book ends today, August 14!
There are 2 signed copies of I Wish up for grabs on on Goodreads. (US only this time, but keep watching, international readers! I'll include you next time.)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

I Wish

by Elizabeth Langston

Giveaway ends August 14, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Amazon giveaway of I WISH - 4 winners

{UPDATE: Amazon giveaway has ended but the Goodreads giveaway will continue until August 14.}

Amazon has started a new giveaway program and I thought I would give it a try.

So, every 19th eligible entry will win a book--until I give away 4. Amazon will ship the book to you; I'm not even sure that they will tell me your name.

You must have an amazon account. (No purchase necessary). You have to follow me on twitter, too.  It's that easy!

So click here and see if you win!

Giving away I WISH on goodreads in august

Wishing For You is the second book in the I Wish series--and it releases October 13th (only 10 weeks away!)

So be watching for giveaways, excerpts, and other ways to look forward to what happens next for Grant the genie and the people he serves.

From now through August 14, I'm giving away 2 signed copies of I Wish on Goodreads. (US only this time, but there will be other opportunities for my international readers!)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

I Wish

by Elizabeth Langston

Giveaway ends August 14, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

I WISH giveaway through July 26

If you live in the US, here's a quick way to earn a chance at one signed copy of I Wish.

Now through Sunday the 26th, you can retweet this message and be entered to win.

June winners are...

My two winners in the June giveaway of A Whisper In Time live quite far away from me. One is in California, and the other lives in Poland.

Neither lady has read Whisper Falls, so I'm sending them both a copy of the first book as well.

The postage to Poland is...wow! I love having international readers, but methinks I will need to brainstorm alternate ways to include them in future giveaways.

I've heard that I can send books to international readers through bookdepository.com . Maybe I'll try that, and mail a signed bookplate as well.

Contest winners and countdown to Whispers from the Past

October 7th is the book birthday for Whispers from the Past. That's only 2 weeks!

This is the third and final book of the Whisper Falls series. (And I cried when I wrote The End. I love Mark and Susanna, and hated to say goodbye to them.)

I'll be visiting other blogs, giving away prizes, and dropping in the occasional excerpt or teaser. So stay tuned.

About the Whisper Falls series... Each book contains a complete and distinct part of Mark and Susanna's story. There are no cliffhangers at the end of any book. However, it really is best to read them in order, because each book builds on its predecessor.

• Whisper Falls (book 1) is on sale for $0.99 (e-book) at Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and Kobo through September.
• Today, I gave away 2 ARCs of A Whisper in Time (book 2).  The two print books are on their way to Molly and Shirley. I had an international winner, Rachel, and she'll be receiving a gift card from Amazon.
• I'm giving away 2 ARCs of Whispers from the Past on goodreads. Contest ends October 1.
• If you have access to netgalley, Whispers from the Past is available there for a brief time.

Here's a teaser (taken from this excerpt):

Photo of Emerald Isle, NC—courtesy of my friend Chris!

Trip #6 to New York

I'm going to New York this weekend.  This is my sixth trip to NYC ever, and three of them have been in 2014.

The first two times, I played tourist and took my family.  We visited museums, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Fifth Avenue, Central Park.  DD1 and I went to see Les Miz on Broadway. I contacted the actor portraying Jean Valjean in advance (to get his autograph on a CD), and he invited us backstage.  My daughter got to meet all the leads and had a long conversation with Young Cosette. Oh, yeah!

The rest of my visits have been all about writing, just as this one will be.  I'm attending the Chapter by Chapter Book Rave.  It'll be a lot of fun meeting readers, but there will be no time for touristy stuff in the Big Apple. Again.

BEA 2014

Are you going to Book Expo America in New York City last weekend in May?  If so, I'll be there Thursday (May 29).

You'll have two opportunities to meet me.

• Book-signing: I'll be signing copies of my November release, I Wish, at 1:00 pm in the Spencer Hill Booth.  Join me and fellow author Jennifer Murgia.
• Bookblogger Breakfast: You can join me and fellow authors Jennifer Armentrout, and A. R. Kahler for breakfast and conversation at 7:30 am Thursday morning.  To purchase or win tickets for one of the limited seats:
  
  • Tickets may be purchased for $15 each and will include breakfast and swag goodie bags.  Tickets will be on a first come-first served basis, but they can be purchased at any time from NOW until 11:59 PM MONDAY, MAY 26 (Memorial Day). Send your name from an email that can take replies to breakfast@spencerhillpress.com and say that you want to attend the Thursday breakfast!
  • Spencer Hill Press will confirm your reservation for up to two seats with instructions on how to pay via PayPal. Payments must be received within 24 hours of the confirmation. They will also maintain a wait-list.
  • To WIN tickets, entrants should send their names to breakfast@spencerhillpress.com from email addresses that can receive replies. Two (2) individual, single-seat winners will be chosen from all requests. Send your name to breakfast@spencerhillpress.com from 12:01 AM until 11:59 PM on FRIDAY, MAY 16. All winners of free tickets will be chosen through random.org and informed within 24 hours of the raffle's close.  Reservation confirmations may take up to 72 hours from email notice of receipt for confirmation to ensure payment completion.

Book-reading at Lady Jane's Salon RDU

From http://ladyjanesrdu.blogspot.com/

Lady Jane's Salon Raleigh-Durham is moving!! 

Our new location is at ANOTHER BROKEN EGG CAFE in Morrisville inside the Park Place shopping complex - 1121 Market Center Drive, Morrisville NC 27560.

We are so excited about our new location!  And we hope you can be with us Wednesday, February 26th as we re-welcome Sabrina Jeffries, D.B Starler, and Elizabeth Langston.  (We were on the schedule for January, but it was snowed out.)

New York Times Bestselling Author - SABRINA JEFFRIES will read from WHEN THE ROGUE RETURNS, the latest release in her Duke's Men series...

D.B. STARLER will read from her short story GOOD GHOUL GONE BAD from Fireside Fiction Co. 

 And ELIZABETH LANGSTON will also read from her debut Young Adult release - WHISPER FALLS.


 

end of January catch up

I had an author event planned tonight, but it has been postponed due to the "snow event" in the southern part of the US. Lady Jane's Salon - RDU will now be held on February 26th. I'll be joining the lovely and talented Sabrina Jeffries and D.B. Starler.

This photo is the view from my deck. Plenty of Carolina blue sky!

I had ordered a box of Whisper Falls from my publishing house for giveaways and such.  It arrived yesterday, unbeknownst to me. When I went outside last night to check on the snow falling, there waited the box on my front porch. I am happy to say that the books were all rescued in pristine shape.

More news...

• There is still time to enter the Free Book Friday giveaway. Five signed trade paperbacks will be awarded on Friday.
• Amazon still has the e-book version of Whisper Falls listed for $2.99.
• 10 weeks and counting down until A Whisper In Time releases!

The driveway is shoveled now. It will soon be time to attempt the drive to my day job. Wish me luck!