YVM Reviews Giveaway!

The giveaway is closed!

Winners have been selected and notified. I want to thank everyone who participated and be on the lookout for more giveaways in the future!

Teens! Your voice matters and I’m going to show you how. I feel reading and writing are such important skills to have, my goal is to get all of you involved in caring about reading, and, just as importantly, expressing your opinions and beliefs about your reading. You may already be doing this, and if so, congratulations, that’s awesome I love it! So, here’s the thing: I want everyone to read and review books. Period. I don’t care if they’re my books, your uncle’s books, or a world famous author’s books — I just want you to read and express an opinion about them so everyone can see and benefit from it. A book review may not seem like much to you, but they actually mean a lot to people who are looking to buy a book, and especially to the authors of those books. Your voice matters!

Are you ready for this? Here’s your chance to have your voice matter and have a chance at some really cool prizes!


There will also be at least 10 eBook copies of the Mother-Earth Series Omnibus, which includes all three books in the series, releasing on February 24, 2012, as second place prizes.

You can’t win if you don’t enter!

So, here’s what you need to do.

1)  Read a book.
2)  Write a review — the review doesn’t have to be long, but needs to be more than, “This book was awesome!” or “This book sucked!” State your opinion, then explain why you felt that way. Did the characters rock your world? Was there too much romance? Or not enough? Whatever the reasons, jot them down.
3)  Post the reviewsomewhere like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or even your own blog! Just make sure it’s public so other folks can see it.

Click on the “YVM Giveaway” tab on the Mother-Earth Series Facebook page to get to the Rafflecopter entry form.

4)  Copy and paste the link to your review in a comment on this page below, along with a way to contact you if you win. Then, click the rafflecopter on the Mother-Earth Book Series Facebook page — you’ll need to go to the “YVM Contest” tab (I wasn’t aware WordPress didn’t allow Java code when I set this up, I apologize for the extra steps!). You can also go to ReadingTeen’s post which has the Rafflecopter widget as well.

5)  Repeat as often as once per day between now and the deadline!

Make sure there is some way to verify that you are actually the one who wrote the review. Use the same name in your comment/email etc. Only reviews posted during the contest will count, and I reserve the right to check the truthfulness of any winning review(s) — i.e. Please don’t cheat and post someone else’s review as your own! You wouldn’t want someone doing that to you, right?

You can also gain extra entries by blogging or tweeting about the contest, and liking the Facebook pages.

All right! Have at it! Remember everyone, your voice matters. When you write that review, keep in mind there is someone on the other end of your comments, so be positive and constructive, even if the book wasn’t your favorite, you can express your opinions in a kind way.

The legal mumbo jumbo: Open to US Residents only. Giveaway ends 4/30/2012. Winners will be contacted via the information they provide in their entry. If a winner can’t be reached via their contact information within five (5) days, a new winner will be chosen. Must be thirteen or older to enter (younger contestants have your parent enter for you). Reviews will be verified as closely as possible for validity of the poster. (Meaning we will do everything we can to make sure YOU wrote the review you submit). Reviews must be new: originally posted after 2/15/2012.

Authors! If you think this is a worthwhile endeavor and would like to participate, please get in touch with me through the blog, twitter, or facebook. I would love to just keep this contest rolling along, one after another!

  1. Rachel | February 16, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    Thank you so much for the giveaway! I think having teens write reviews is a great idea. I know (as a teen) that I enjoy reading other teens’ reviews to decide whether or not to read a book.
    Thanks!

    Review on The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267051113

    ~Rachel
    southernatheart12@gmail.com

  2. gretchen | February 17, 2012 at 8:53 am

    I love it! As an English teacher, I think what you are doing is awesome! I will tell my teens about it and hopefully they will write some reviews!

  3. Sabrina Sumsion | February 17, 2012 at 8:59 am

    Great idea! I shared the info with all my friends. Good luck!

  4. Karen Pokras Toz | February 17, 2012 at 10:42 am

    Great idea! Can pre-teens enter also? My 11 yr old wants to participate.

  5. dsales26 | February 17, 2012 at 11:18 am

    Thanks for the interesting and awesome giveaway.

    Diayll

    Mother/Gamer/Writer — http://empyreanedge.com/archives/3995
    s.diayll(at)gmail.com

  6. Greta Burroughs | February 17, 2012 at 1:54 pm

    I think this is a wonderful idea. Good luck to all the young people participating. I am an author of a young adult novel and love to see what kids & teenagers think about it. Alan, I’d like to participate as an author and help to promote this contest. Let me know what I can do.
    Greta Burroughs
    http://gretaburroughs.blogspot.com/

  7. Mother-Earth Book Series | February 17, 2012 at 3:46 pm

    @Diayll – You’re very welcome and good luck!

    @Greta – Thank you so much!

  8. Izzy G. | February 18, 2012 at 2:58 pm

    Great contest! Review here: http://mywordsateme.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-now-pronounce-you-someone-else-review.html

    My email address is silverfalcon42[at]gmail[dot]com.

  9. Lilian | February 19, 2012 at 7:10 am

    Thank you for the giveaway, a KINDLE no less, how generous!
    As a teen, I love what you are doing. I often suspect the Internet is the only place I can find bibliophiles now. The host of book blogs not only bring a smile to my face, but gives me hope that reading is still valued.

    I wince when I hear my peers say they dislike reading. Though I truly believe people are inherently curious and love stories and they are just not picking the right books to read, which is also why I love book reviews. Amongst the host of new books, it’s nice to be able to sort through them, to find the jewels in heap.

    My review of Mark Bauerlein’s The Dumbest Generation: Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/249664887

    On the other hand, I am not sure what rule #5 means, does it mean I can write a gazillion more reviews and submit them? And is the e-reader drawing based on the quality of the reviews, or completely by luck?

    • Mother-Earth Book Series | February 19, 2012 at 8:03 am

      Lilian, thanks for your participation and question! The drawing will be random from the Rafflecopter widget, however, I will be verifying the winning entry, and others as they come in, to assure the entrant was being honest and forthright. If the winning entry was from a review that simply said, “This book was awesome!” I’ll disqualify it and have the program reselect.

      So, yes, luck will play a part, but also yes, you can post “a gazillion more reviews” and greatly improve your chances. As long as those reviews meet the requirements of the contest.

      I knew offering nice prizes was a double-edged sword. They create interest and participation, but they also tempt people to try to game the system. My hope is people will treat the giveaway honestly and participate in the spirit it is meant.

      Thanks again for your comment and best of luck to you! Sorry for the long winded answer, but I hope I covered your questions and concerns.

  10. Lilian | February 19, 2012 at 2:58 pm

    Thank you for your swift reply! =)

    If each review written is going into Rafflecopter, how would that be submitted for while a new tweet can be submitted daily for an extra entry (or so I assume so because of the “Do this again tomorrow for more entries!” message on the widget), entries can not. Or is the extra entries into Rafflecopter manually accounted for as long as a link is posted here?

    • Mother-Earth Book Series | February 19, 2012 at 3:38 pm

      I’m not sure if I’m clear on your question, but I’ll give it a shot! I’m asking for the links to reviews to be posted in comments as well as the Rafflecopter widget basically as a double-check for me when I’m going through the entries. It will help me make sure everyone is accounted for and that names match properly with reviews. The tweeting is limited to once a day so no one is just spamming the Twitterverse for extra entries.

      The long and the short of it is: I want you guys posting reviews. Make your voices heard. Read books and post reviews that voice an opinion and give reasons for that opinion. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure we weed out any cheaters and, if I can get some more authors interested, we might just do it all again once this one is done! : )

  11. Lilian | February 19, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    I’m sorry, perhaps it is my fault for a lack of clarity.
    I meant that there being only one entry box for reviews in the Rafflecopter widget seems to implfy that each person can only submit one review. However, you’ve replied to me saying that’s not the case, and every additional review will improve chances of winning granted the review is original and “well-written”. But on Rafflecopter, even if I list several review URLs in the entry box will only amount to 25 entries being added whether it’s one or ten reviews.
    In other words, if I write another review, how do I submit it to Rafflecopter to improve chances?

    • Mother-Earth Book Series | February 20, 2012 at 6:54 am

      My apologies! I’m a Rafflecopter newb and wasn’t clear on what you were asking. I’ve edited the widget to allow that option to be used once a day, so, while a gazillion more entries isn’t possible, almost 70 more are. Thank you for pointing out the error Lilian!

  13. Rachel | February 22, 2012 at 7:38 am

    I have a question about Rafflecopter. I see I can now post a review each day. When I discovered this yesterday, it said “do this tomorrow for more entries”, but when I came back today, it still says that. Should I just wait another day?
    Hopefully you’re not getting bogged down with too many questions! Thanks again for the giveaway!
    ~Rachel

    • Mother-Earth Book Series | February 22, 2012 at 8:06 am

      I’ll look into this and see what I can find out. If nothing else, I think I can manually add it in but let’s see if it fixes itself by tomorrow and I’ll track down what info I can. Sorry for the trouble!

    • Mother-Earth Book Series | February 22, 2012 at 12:21 pm

      Confirmed it is because of the change to that form of entry. We can fix this one of two ways: If you have another email/ID you can use, you can “re-enter” via that and it should work fine, or you can post links to your new reviews and I can manually enter them into the contest.

  14. Rachel | February 22, 2012 at 3:35 pm

    Alright, I’ll try entering a new email address. Thanks so much for your help!
    ~Rachel

  15. Rachel | February 22, 2012 at 10:00 pm

    Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267057683

    Rachel
    southernatheart12@gmail.com

  16. Shelby | February 23, 2012 at 6:35 pm

    Book review for Love on the Line by Deeanne Gist:

    http://gobsandgobsofbooks.blogspot.com/2012/02/love-on-line-by-deeanne-gist.html

    Thanks,
    Shelby

  17. Rachel | February 23, 2012 at 6:38 pm

    Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton:

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267964876

    Thanks!
    Rachel

  18. Rachel | February 24, 2012 at 6:01 pm

    Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267055087

    Thanks!
    Rachel

  21. Karen Pokras Toz | February 25, 2012 at 7:22 am

    My 11 year old daughter wrote a review of “Nate Rocks the World.” I posted it on my blog. http://kptoz.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-daughters-review-of-nate-rocks-world.html

  22. Mother-Earth Book Series | February 25, 2012 at 9:02 am

    Got some fantastic stuff here folks! Love it! Keep ’em comin’!

  23. Rachel | February 25, 2012 at 9:27 pm

    Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267054592

    Thanks!
    Rachel

  25. Rachel | February 26, 2012 at 10:01 pm

    The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267052661

    Thanks!
    Rachel

  26. Rachel | February 27, 2012 at 4:46 pm

    Sophie and Carter by Chelsea Fine

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/274242298

    Thanks!
    Rachel

  27. Vicki S. | February 27, 2012 at 4:48 pm

    The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need

    http://the-wolfs-den-147.blogspot.com/2012/02/johnny-bunko.html

  28. Rachel | February 28, 2012 at 9:58 pm

    White Cat by Holly Black

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267054193

    Thanks!
    Rachel

  29. Rachel | February 29, 2012 at 4:16 pm

    Hourglass by Myra McEntire

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267051205

    Thanks so much!
    Rachel

  30. Rachel | March 1, 2012 at 11:28 pm

    The Pledge by Kimberly Derting:

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267051642

    Thanks!
    Rachel

  38. Rachel | March 6, 2012 at 10:50 pm

    The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267057724

    Thanks!
    Rachel
    southernatheart12@gmail.com

  44. Karen Pokras Toz | March 11, 2012 at 5:57 pm

    New review by my 11 year old daughter, Sarah! Defiance by Valerie Harper. I posted it on goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/292706514

    Karen

    Karenptoz@gmail.com

  46. Jasmine Rose | March 12, 2012 at 12:42 am

    The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
    http://aroomwithbooks.blogspot.com/2012/03/search-for-wondla-by-tony-diterlizzi.html

    email: aroomwithbooks(at)gmail(dot)com

  49. Jasmine Rose | March 14, 2012 at 12:47 am

    The Carnival of Lost Souls by Laura Quimby
    http://aroomwithbooks.blogspot.com/2012/03/carnival-of-lost-souls-hancuff-kid.html

    email: aroomwithbooks(at)gmail(dot)com

  54. Rachel | March 16, 2012 at 9:42 pm

    Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267054602

    Thanks!
    Rachel
    southernatheart12@gmail.com

  55. Rachel | March 17, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267054520

    Thanks!
    Rachel
    southernatheart12@gmail.com

  58. Rachel | March 19, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    Don’t Judge a Girl by her Cover by Ally Carter

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/267054507

    Thanks!
    Rachel
    southernatheart12@gmail.com

  63. Rachel | March 25, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/295970623

    Thanks!
    Rachel

    southernatheart12(at)gmail(dot)com

  64. Jasmine Rose | March 26, 2012 at 9:02 pm

    The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
    http://aroomwithbooks.blogspot.com/2012/03/future-of-us-by-jay-asher-carolyn.html

    email: aroomwithbooks(at)gmail(dot)com

  65. Jane Squires | March 27, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    I would love to be entered. Rather than post links to my reviews as there is so many. You can find them on Amazon, Goodreads, Alibris, Christianbook, Christian Review of Books. Bestsellersworld, Bookreporter – word of Mouth, Cook-Book-Queen, and more.
    just put my name Jane squires in and you can find many.

  66. karentoz | March 28, 2012 at 5:04 am

    My daughter, Sarah B. has written another review! Song of the Gargoyle… I posted it on my blog:

    http://kptoz.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-daughters-review-song-of-gargoyle.html

  69. PATRONG PEOU | April 1, 2012 at 10:10 pm

    Awesome series, I really enjoyed the adventure! You should write more “side adventures” or new stories to this series. Here’s my review below.

    http://www.amazon.com/review/R3OVG5AELSPDU0/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0982686412&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=

  75. Jasmine Rose | April 8, 2012 at 1:23 am

    Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin
    http://aroomwithbooks.blogspot.com/2012/03/freshman-year-and-other-unnatural.html

    email: aroomwithbooks(at)gmail(dot)com

  79. JC | April 16, 2012 at 8:27 pm

    This is such an awesome idea, even without the prizes. I just recently discovered GoodReads and I am totally addicted – that’s how I ended up on this page. All my reviews in one nice neat place, to boot! http://www.goodreads.com/Kamereone

  80. Jasmine Rose | April 19, 2012 at 12:11 am

    Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
    http://aroomwithbooks.blogspot.com/2012/04/hex-hall-by-rachel-hawkins-review.html

    email: aroomwithbooks(at)gmail(dot)com

  86. karentoz | April 23, 2012 at 11:50 am

    My daughter Sarah posted another review! The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: http://kptoz.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-daughters-review-of-boy-in-striped.html

  91. Jasmine Rose | April 29, 2012 at 11:54 am

    Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb by MJA Ware
    http://aroomwithbooks.blogspot.com/2012/04/super-zombie-juice-mega-bomb-by-mja.html

    email: aroomwithbooks(at)gmail(dot)com

  93. Sharon Webb | June 4, 2012 at 4:07 pm

    I enjoy your books, and I’m a 59 year young mother, grandma and great-grandma, My children have enjoyed your books through me, I’ll keep passing along all books to the whole family!!

    Sharon webb
    Alaska

    (I’d love a Kindle Fire for myself, since I don’t have my kindle a lot, as is’t being borrowed…lol)

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