The one-stop shop for everything related to author, Jenn Cooksey's ranting, HTML/web design deficient skillz, & writing including Landslide, and the Grab Your Pole series. Represented by Jane Dystel of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.
With the number of giveaways running in each match of the tournament, I decided to make the actual tourney post a little more manageable by moving the Rafflecopters from past matches to a separate post. So, that's basically it. If you see your name on the list of winners in any given giveaway and have not heard from me, by all means, please email me at contactjenncooksey(at)gmail(dot)...I do my best to contact everyone, but sometimes things get lost in the ether or buried in a spam folder. ;-)
—1ST MATCH (JUNE 21, 2013) GIVEAWAYS—
**1st Place Winners hold the first slot in each Rafflecopter, all others are winners of commemorative bookmarks**
The Ultimate Shark Bait Swag Bag includes an autographed copy of Shark Bait with the original cover, a Shark Bait acrylic tumbler, a Shark Bait refrigerator whiteboard, a shark paddleball game, a complete set of bookish rubber duckies, an original Shark Bait bookmark, and it all comes to you in a Shark Bait drawstring bag. *winner will be able to choose their choice of four available bag colors*
(You might wanna grab a snack cuz this is gonna be a long-ass post, as I'm longwinded to begin with and all updates, giveaways, and incentives earned will be posted here. Just sayin'.)
Clearly, the YA Sisterhood's YA Crush Tourney is a big deal. Not just for me, but for all the participants, whether they be the authors, the fantabulous bloggers hosting the event, the most-excellent crush advocates, the dedicated fans who tirelessly pimp their fave book boyfriends, or even the Twitter lurkers who just like to silently giggle at all the previously mentioned folks who flail about over REAL fictional guys who can only be found in the pages of some choice reading material.
However, the 3rd annual YA Crush Tourney is super special to me because unlike many of the authors, books, and yummy crushes who've been fortunate enough to really be a part of something like this, this is my first time. That's right, I'm a Tourney Virgin. And, I couldn't be more excited about losing my maidenhead (<—Yeah, that's what it used to be called way back in the day. I know...) in this whole thing because the peeps who are helping to pop my cherry are truly some of the most selfless bitches I will ever be fortunate enough to have known.
Now, there are several of them but I want to mention a handful specifically and they are:
Allura—the unabashed Twitter whore whose GYP dedication is as appreciated as it is deep and everlasting.
Nicole M.—an enthusiastic fan and newbie videographer. (You can see her trailer for Shark Bait below the Rafflecopters, and let me just say OH MY GOD.)
Val—a friend, a great blogger, a GYP fan and GYP Street Team member who also happened to have advocated against Tristan in the first match of the tourney (I know, right? Needless to say there was much usage of words beginning with F when the tourney schedule was posted and I saw who we had to beat in order to move forward.).
Erin W.—a GYP fan, blogger, and button making fiend.
Kylee—a gung-ho GYP fan and blogging teen.
Ellen—another friend, blogger, and GYP fan & Street Team member who's advocating for another crush in this thing (Seriously, I really don't envy the advocates in having to choose sides like they've had to and I wish them all the best of luck.).
Christine—yet another blogger and fan with some Photoshop skillz of her own.
Ashley—my bitch in shining armor. 'Nough said.
These chicks have given me advise, kept me in the loop, and worked ever so hard at introducing my books to others, promoting Tristan and the tournament, and creating ways for all GYP and #TeamTristan fans to pimp and show their support. Without them, #TeamTristan wouldn't have been possible because chances are, neither Tristan nor any of my other GYP guys would've ever been nominated or won a spot in the tourney to begin with. So, thanks, you guys, Tristan and I owe you, and he and I have a little something for you and the rest of the Team Tristan Bitch Slaves. :-*
Yes, even with getting a small glimpse at who some of my supporters are, it's safe to say that I am very fortunate and blessed indeed, although there is one person without whom Tristan wouldn't stand a chance; his advocate extraordinaire, Angela. And you know, I'm not entirely convinced it's purely coincidence that the person fighting for Tristan in this whole thing; his guardian if you will, comes from a blog entitled Reading Angels. If people only knew half of the tireless effort, hard work, dedication, and heart Angela has put into her esteemed position and in seeing that Tristan is represented with style, class, and in the manner befitting not only his character but a champion as well, they'd understand why I couldn't be more tickled and grateful to share this experience with her. And to you, Angela, I thank you for everything from the bottom of my heart. It has been my utmost pleasure to work with you in addition to having the opportunity to get to know you better and I can only hope that our friendship will continue to grow for many years to come.
Okay, so now that the mushy stuff is out of the way, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that if you're here reading this particular blogpost, you've already read at the very least Shark Bait, if not The Other Fish in the Sea as well and are sufficiently fiending for the release of Shark Out of Water, and if that's the case, you're probably already a fan and subsequently don't need to be convinced to vote for Tristan in the tourney. However, I'm not delusional (mostly), nor am I entirely presumptuous enough to believe that there aren't people who might be undecided and/or haven't read and fell in love with my books and therefore don't even know who the fuck Tristan is. So if you're one of those undecided people, Angela has prepared a seriously kick-ass advocate post HERE where you can read for yourself why Tristan deserves to be the victor, and you can vote for Tristan there as well. But she also has a nifty little post up on her blog HERE, featuring testimonies from the people who know Tristan best; his peers, friends, and a couple other assorted people in his life.
So, what is this post about, you ask? Well, it's all about incentives, bitches!
Like I said before, I have been blessed to be supported by everyone on #TeamTristan as well as many others who find themselves in opposing camps, and I've decided you ALL deserve a chance at some fun rewards for your kind words, support, hard work and effort to help make the Grab Your Pole series successful!
For each match Tristan is in, I will do the same giveaway and up the ante with more and more teasers from different characters when Tristan's votes reach certain amounts in each match. I will also do another giveaway for some AWESOME & TRULY EPIC prizes for each match Tristan actually wins! I'm not going to tell you what they all are, but just know the more matches Tristan wins, the bigger and better the prize! Here's what's up for grabs in match #1 on June 21st:
TEASERS FROM SHARK OUT OF WATER!!
When Tristan's votes reach 300, I'll release a teaser from Kate. When Tristan's votes reach 600, I'll release a teaser from Dear Jeff. And if Tristan reaches 900, I'll give you all that unreached teaser from Brandon from last week's match! :-p
AND ALL THIS:
E-copies of Shark Bait & The Other Fish in the Sea
$10 Amazon gift card (e-mailed to winner)
Shark Bait drawstring bag
Original Shark Bait refrigerator whiteboard
E-copy of Shark Out of Water to be received on release day
60 #TeamTristan/2013 YA Crush Tourney Bookmarks
Yep, bitches, all of that is what I'll give away in each match that Tristan is in! And what's better is that I'm splitting them up into 6 separate giveaways so if you don't particularly want to win one of the prizes offered, you don't have to enter that giveaway! But wait! There's more! If Tristan wins his second match on June 28, I'll do ANOTHER giveaway for the following prize:
Here's how to enter:
FIRST & FOREMOST — VOTE!!!You have to in order to enter the Rafflecopters below and you'll find the link within the mandatory option! Good luck, everyone, I love you all mucho! Now go forth and pimp the ever loving SHIT out Tristan and this tournament!!
(Please note that e-book giveaways are international, however all swag giveaways are limited to US & Canada only) **1st Place Winners hold the first slot in each Rafflecopter, all others are winners of commemorative bookmarks**
TEASER INCENTIVES EARNED: So, it was insanely difficult (like bathing a cat difficult) to pick non-spoilery teasers from Shark Out of Water for you all, so while they might not seem like much to begin with, keep in mind where we left off in The Other Fish in the Sea and all the questions you hope to have answered, and then, let your imaginations scamper off to do what it does best!
Round #2, Tourney Match 16 vs. Kaiden—June 28, 2013
300 Tristan votes reached at roughly 2:30 pm PST
This SOoW teaser is from Kate:
“So what the hell, Tristan?
I got Camie in the divorce so you and I aren’t friends anymore?” Kate - Mediation of Custodial Friendship
Round #1, Tourney Match 10 vs. Chase Williams—June 21, 2013
250 Tristan votes reached at roughly 10:15 am PST
This SOoW teaser is from Melissa:
“Uh, only that no one’s heard from Tristan since
early Sunday afternoon, no one has any idea where he is, and no one seems to be
concerned about whether he’s even okay…” Melissa - Unnerving Normalcy
One year ago today yesterday, I published my first novel, Shark Bait. It was insanely emotional and the result of more than two and a half years of writing. Writing that began roughly in late December of 2009. Although what I began writing was nowhere even in the same vicinity as what I published, none of it would've ever made its way out of my brain without my BBF (Bibliophile Best Friend, abbreviated to save space), Kelly. Or as the members of my household call her, K-E-L-L-Y.
Now, one of the reasons I make special mention of Kelly in my publishing anniversary is because not only did she play an integral role in the advent of the whole Grab Your Pole series, but Shark Bait also happens to share its special date with Kelly, as June 15th is her birthday. And yes, I planned it that way. Here's why:
From my research, it looks like I began writing Shark Bait, what would eventually become the first book in the Grab Your Pole series, somewhere in the realm of January 29, 2010, and what was that research? Well, it involved pouring through and scouring the thousands of emails I have hoarded archived between two laptops and Cox Communications's webmail server. The treasure trove of correspondence between Kelly and me however, was on my old PC laptop, the one that is behaving as if it's just about ready to join the dinosaurs. I'll be uber-sad when it does though, because the emails on this thing...? Fucking epic AND priceless!! So much so that I'm extraordinarily tempted to start printing them out so I have them forever and ever amen. Which is probably where my tendency to screen cap all kinds of shit has come from, because seriously, stumbling across something like this —>
makes for some extreme giggling.
Kelly and I used to email CONSTANTLY. <—That ain't bullshit or even a small exaggeration, folks. Before she took a new job that had her working in the field, Kelly and I emailed each other back and forth about ALL kinds of nonsense (mostly books, Buffy, and...well, mostly that stuff) many upon many times throughout the day and not only that, our email titles very rarely had ANYthing to do with the content of said email. It was fun for us to come up with amusing and giggle-worthy subject lines and if you didn't have a guess before now, Kelly and I can on occasion, be very creative. It was our habit that every single word I ever wrote in the beginning was copied and pasted into an email and she would then read it and give me feedback immediately (instant gratification FTW!) via email. Now what I find sort of funny about all of that is that the email documenting the honest to God beginning of the GYP Series was titled, new story. That's it. It wasn't even capitalized.
Also, if you happen to be able to read the actual email, you'll see that not much was changed from this very first draft to what made it into publication. Not only that, but according to the email history, I had the entire first chapter completely written by the following day at 2:30 in the afternoon. Although it underwent several rounds of editing afterwards and prior to publication, the first draft of Shark Bait was completed on April 1st, 2010 when Kelly very sweetly yelled at me in email, essentially telling me to leave it the fuck alone.
I finally listened to my BBF and VoR (<—see the acknowledgements of both SB & TOFitS as well as the dedication of TOFitS) and began writing The Other Fish in the Sea immediately. The first chapter which then included the prologue was completed on April 5th, 2010 when the whole process of needy author syndrome and copying and pasting snippets into emails began anew.
Since its inception, Shark Bait has undergone some major changes, up to and including a cover overhaul, all of which Kelly has been either consulted on, present for, or instrumental in bringing about, and truly, the book that you've all read and come to love wouldn't be what it is without her. So, in honor of both Shark Bait's one year publishing anniversary and
my dear BBF & VoR's birthday, I would like to give away one print copy of Shark Bait with the winner's choice of either the original cover or the new one, autographed by both Kelly and myself. To enter, please see the Rafflcopter below, and for more Shark Bait Anniversary/Kelly Birthday fun, visit these two GYP Street Team blogposts, GYP in the Blogosphere - Birthday Special and BB&ST S1E3!
