Celebrate!

Over 100,000 Soul Savers books have been sold! I still.can't.believe.it. But it's true! So I'm celebrating, doing the happy dance and donating $500 to The National Domestic Violence Hotline. Woohoo!!! (You can help me donate more - see here for the details.)

And what better way to top off my day of celebration than with this?



Oh, yeah. Making plans now to see the chests and the hotness ... er, the movie in full tonight. Are you planning to see it?

I Blame a Time Warp

Something weird happened to me. I've completely lost the last two weeks. It was June 12th one moment and now it's somehow June 26th. Did I enter some kind of time warp?

Well, I know where I was most of last week - traveling all over the state for day-job business stuff in Miami then home for a couple hours to pick up Son #2, drive to Orlando, attend UCF orientation and then get him settled into college. Three hotels in 4 nights (only 1 with internet). Three-hour drives in the rain. And come home to Debby flooding us out and blowing us away.

So, yeah, I can account for part of that time. And a few days before that, I was hustling to meet my deadline, so there's some black-hole time there. But what happened to the rest? How did the calendar skip over so many days? We need to gain time, not lose it, right? Gah!

All of that to say: So sorry for the sudden disappearing act! I promise I didn't plan it, especially since I'd just kicked off the Share the <3 campaign. I have all kinds of things planned for this great cause benefiting The National Domestic Violence Hotline. Good thing we still have plenty of time left (assuming there are no more time warps).

The campaign runs through July 30th, including the giveaways. Sales are climbing (we're almost to the 100k mark!), but only a few receipts have trickled in. If you've bought or gifted any of the Soul Savers Series from June 15th-July 30th, be sure to email your receipt to be entered into the giveaways. So far, we have signed books, ebooks and swag from authors Brenda Pandos, Heather McCorkle, Melissa Luznicky Garrett, Susan Kaye Quinn and Karen Hooper, as well as from me.

In addition to my donation, we've also raised another $285 so far! Those are readers' donations to www.TheHotline.org. How awesome is that? Of course, that's all I know about from readers who have sent their receipts - those who do receive signed bookmarks. So if you've donated, please let me know. I'd like to keep track, but I'd also like to send you a little thank-you. Even just $5 makes a difference.

I have lots to do since that warp ate so much of my time. Please keep tweeting to Share the <3 with the #TristanK3 hashtag. Buy, gift, donate...whatever you can do to help. And stay tuned here, on Facebook and on Twitter (under the hashtag) for freebies and giveaways I'll be doing over the next few days.

Thanks for your support!

Share the Love

Did Tuesday's tease have you wondering what "Share the <3" is? Have you seen the #TristanK3 hashtag on Twitter and buzz on Facebook and wondering what's going on? The scoop is finally here!

Let's take a step back for a minute. You may or may not remember last January when I made a pledge to donate $500 to The National Domestic Violence Hotline if any of my books made it (again) to the Top 100 All Kindle Paid titles list. You more likely do remember that just a couple weeks ago I announced that I was getting close to selling my 100,000th book and I'd be celebrating in some way or another. And if you've read Promise, you surely remember that Tristan wanted to teach a certain wife-beater a lesson.

Well, I'm rolling it all into one for something super-cool that I hope you'll help with. Rather than waiting to hit the Top 100 list again, I'm going to donate that $500 to The Hotline when I've sold my 100,000th book. Sometime this month I'll be clicking that donation button. But I'd love to make it more than $500 and this is where you can help. For every 1,000 books sold past the 100,000 mark, up until July 30, 2012, I'll donate another $100.*

Having direct experience with domestic violence in my family, this cause is near and dear to my heart. I've heard the stories from my grandmother who left an abuser in a day when women did not leave their husbands, regardless of the reason. I've seen the bruises and injuries on loved ones whose hearts fell for the wrong person. Fortunately, most were able to pull themselves out. But not all. In fact, one person close to me died before she could get out.

Not everyone can escape these situations easily. Not everyone knows how to leave with children and lives intact. Not everyone has family or friends close enough to run to. But with The Hotline, they do have a support network. Anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated, not just by me, but by those whose only hope is this one phone number that could save their lives.

So what can you do? Share the <3! How? Well, you can...

• Buy a book, of course, if you haven't read the Soul Savers Series. Remember, Promise and Genesis are only 99c but these purchases are going to a great cause. (And be sure to keep your receipt - see below for why.)
• Gift any of the Soul Savers books to someone you think would enjoy the series (again, keep your receipt - see below). All the retailers offer an ebook gifting program.
• Encourage friends to buy any of the Soul Savers books between now and July 30, 2012 (again, see below for a bonus if they do).
• Tweet, blog, Facebook and otherwise spread the word about the Soul Savers Series, the Share the <3 campaign and/or The Hotline (use #TristanK3 hashtag - I'll be checking these out and jumping in as often as possible, maybe even with goodies).

To add to the fun, I have presents!

• Email me** a receipt for any of my books with the purchase date between today and July 30, 2012, and you'll be entered to win weekly giveaways of signed books by me and various author-friends who have so generously donated, as well as to win a grand prize at the end (specific prizes TBD). Gift receipts count!
• For everyone who makes a donation to The Hotline for $5 or more and emails me** a receipt and their shipping address, I'll send you a 4-pack of Soul Savers bookmarks. For the first 25, I'll also throw in a Soul Savers can-coozie.

I'd love to see this campaign go viral to help raise awareness and funds to support The Hotline so more women and children can feel safe, something most of us take for granted. Will you please help?

*Up to a total of $2,000. Examples: If, by July 30th, I've sold 105,000 books, I'll donate an extra $500 for a total of $1,000. If I'm at 110,000 books sold, that's another $500 I'll donate, for a total of $1,500. If I'm at 115,000+ books by July 30, I'll donate $2,000!!!

**Email me at kristie (at) kristiecook (dot) com

Oops! Share the K3

Yesterday, I teased about something really exciting I'll have going on for the next six weeks: Sharing the <3 with #Tristan<3. But there was a little problem. Twitter doesn't like symbols except in tweets, including < - yeah, no hearts in a hashtag. So the team and I did some brainstorming and decided this looks pretty close: #TristanK3 He has an underlined heart. :)

And that fits because this cause is just as near and dear to his heart as it is to mine. I'm sure it's that whole guilt about his past thing - he's always looking for ways to do good and this is definitely a do-good thing.

We both hope you'll join us. More info coming soon. And be sure to follow #TristanK3 on Twitter.

Teaser Tuesday

Share the <3

What does that mean? It's all about an exciting campaign I'm doing for charity starting in just a couple days. Watch here, on Facebook and follow the #TristanK3 hashtag on Twitter. Oh yeah. Tristan's involved, too. Intrigued yet? I can't wait to "Share the <3" with you soon!

We Have Winners!

The Soul Savers Tour came to an end, all entries have been made and tallied, and...

WE HAVE WINNERS!!!

Woohoo! This is one of my favorite parts of my job. Okay, I have lots of favorite parts because I have the best job in the world. But in case you couldn't tell, I really do love giving things away.

Okay, enough about me. You want to know who won, right? Well, first, I have to do one more thing:

THANK YOU TO ALL THE BLOGGERS AND READERS WHO PARTICIPATED!!!

Yes, I had to yell that. I'd yell from the rooftops, too, but I don't think you'd all hear me.

For the winners...I'm just going to include the first name (if available) and first part of the email address.*

Winner of All 4 Soul Savers eBooks:

PhoenixCarvelli

Winner of Soul Savers Swag:

bn100candg

Winner of All 4 Soul Savers Print Books, Signed:

bookluver7

And the big winner of the Nook Simple Touch:

Vivien at deadtossedwaves

Woohoo!!!! Congratulations, winners! I've sent you an email, so please look out for it so you can claim your prize.

Thanks again to everyone who followed the tour. Even if you didn't win, I hope you had fun and enjoyed reading about the characters.

*eBooks of Devotion were given by the individual blog owners, so those winners will be notified separately.

Hurry to Enter for a Nook!

Happy June! Wait. June?!?! WTH happened to May? And April and March and... Okay, I get it. Time has a way of marching on whether we want it to or not. This June I'm very excited because - guess what?! - sometime this month I will sell my 100,000th book!


Can you freakin' believe it??? I can't. I never in my wildest dreams - well, okay, in my wildest dreams, I'm another JK Rowling ... so, uh, never in my more realistic dreams did I imagine this. Considering the average book, regardless of publisher, doesn't sell more than 10,000 copies, this is simply amazing.

I'm soooo thankful to all of YOU because without you, none of this would be happening. So thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, readers! You all ROCK!

And because you rock so much, I'm planning some kind of big celebration for when my 100,000th book is sold. I don't have details nailed down yet, but watch for them next week.

In the meantime...

The Soul Savers Book Tour is officially over, but it's not too late for you to comment and enter to win ebooks, swag, signed books and even a Nook! You have until Tuesday, June 5th to comment and enter the big giveaway, and I'll announce the winner on Friday, June 8th.

To make it easy for you to find all the posts, my lovely assistant has created the following list with direct links:

http://www.totalbookaholic.com/2012/05/soul-savers-book-tour-kristie-cook.html

http://www.forbiddenreviews.com/2012/05/soul-savers-book-tour-win-nook-book.html

http://simpleloveofreading.blogspot.com/2012/05/soul-savers-book-tour-kristie-cook.html

http://www.latebloomeronline.com/2012/05/soul-savers-book-tour.html

http://www.goodchoicereading.com/2012/05/soul-savers-blog-tour-guest-post.html

http://www.living-fictitiously.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-tour-soul-savers-series-by-kristie.html

http://theindieelite.blogspot.com/2012/05/soul-savers-tour-and-massive-giveaway.html

http://www.ingasilbergbooks.com/2012/05/soul-savers-book-tour-by-kristie-cook.html

http://nightlyreading.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/soul-savers-blog-tour/

http://www.stella-exlibris.com/2012/05/guest-post-by-kristie-cook-giveaway.html

http://allthingsaboutbooks.com/2012/05/26/soul-savers-blog-tour/

http://insaneaboutbooks.blogspot.com/2012/05/soul-savers-blog-tour-and-giveaways.html

http://thecozyreader.com/2012/05/blog-tour-soul-savers-by-kristie-cook/

http://www.readingangel.com/2012/05/soul-savers-tour-solomon-interview.html

BOOKS WITH BITE- No post

http://readinglarkafterdark.blogspot.com/2012/05/soul-savers-tour-giveaway-ultimate.html

http://www.tinasbookreviews.com/2012/05/soul-savers-book-tourcharacter.html

http://alifeboundbybooks.blogspot.com/2012/05/guest-post-today-we-welcome-owen-from.html

http://brendapandos.blogspot.com/2012/05/enter-to-win-nook-touch-soul-savers.html

http://talesofbooksandbands.com/2012/05/30/the-soul-savers-book-tour-guest-post-giveaway/

http://www.hopelessbibliophile.com/2012/05/soul-savers-book-tour-kristie-cook-on.html

http://lavenderlines.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/the-soul-savers-tour/

http://www.stitchreadcook.com/2012/05/book-tour-soul-savers-by-kristie-cook.html

http://bookreaderaddictsgiveaways.blogspot.com/2012/05/soul-savers-blog-tour-giveaway.html

http://www.stuckinbooks.com/2012/05/soul-savors-tour-giveaway.html

Good luck, loves! Have a good weekend!