Win 3 ARCS of the The Duff by Kody Keplinger

The 5 winners are of Holly Cupala's, Tell Me a Secret, signed booklets and swag are : (BTW you should be following these peeps!)

Kate
Riv Re
Solvang Sherrie
Bookaholic (jessica)
Claire Dawn

Please send me your addresses today and Ill get these out tomorrow!

Package A Winner - The winner of Kay Cassidy's The Cinderella Society package is Kelly (book hunter)

Package B Winner - The winner of 3 Middle Grade books from Little Brown is Emily Casey!

Please email me your addresses at sjohannes@bilaninc.com!

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Today, we have Kody to talk about The Duff. I met Kody on her blog before she got her deal so it's been great to see her journey! BTW, you can follow (stalk) Kody's awesome blog and on Twitter.

I have 2 ARCs to giveaway (1 is signed and will go to the 1st name I draw).

Hi Kody! Tell us a little about you. Tell us about The Duff in less than 140 characters.

Hi guys, I Kody and am 18. THE DUFF is about a cynical girl who deals with friends, sex, and self esteem. (wait, how many characters is that? :)

What inspired the story behind The Duff?

When I was a senior in high school, I was introduced to the word "duff" and it's meaning - designated ugly fat friend. I was sure I was "the duff" of my group, though my friends argued that this was their role. From there, it was a joke. I jokingly said I'd write a book called THE DUFF only my "duff" wouldn't be that sweet girl everyone regrets not getting to know better. Instead, my "duff" would be harsh, angry, and kind of a bitch at times. Little did I know then, a month later I'd be hit with the opening line of a book.

Ha, I think I was the DUFF of my group too. Now I'm just more of a DULL (Dorky, Under-appreciated, Literary, Loser! :) What have you learned about promoting books in your publication journey? What worked well for you? What was a waste?

This is hard. With the book not being out yet, I don't really know what has worked or what hasn't. I will say all of Little Brown's support - like BEA promotion - has DEFINITELY helped. Joining twitter has also given me some promotion, I"d say, as well as partaking in group blogs like YA Highway and the YA Rebels. I can't say anything has been a waste thus far - I think every little bit to connect with readers helps!

The Duff was the talk of BEA. What creative promotion ideas do you have for The Duff?

I mostly plan to keep my Internet presence up, be open and friendly and willing to connect with readers - especially my teen readers. As a teenager myself, I think connecting with teen readers will be my strong suit. And it'll be fun, too!

What is one of your biggest fears? (heights, spiders?)

NEEDLES!

Thanks girlie! :)

OK now down to business, as you could tell from last week's response - This book is in High Demand! :) So this is a serious contest - not for the weary! :)

Day 3 BEA Bonanza: Be Jealous. Be Very Very Jealous.

Winner of Mitali Perkins' Bamboo People in hardback (using random number generator) is

Niki Smith!
(congrads! email me your address girlie - sjohannes@bilaninc.com)

Dont' forget to watch my twitter for spontaneous BEA Book Combustion - AKA random book giveaways.

Also - BIG CONGRADS to my blogger buddy, Michelle Hodkins , on her new book deal! Here's her story (be sure to follow her - this is someone to watch! Plus she's giving away some cool ARCs too. )

Pictorial Representation of my time at BEA!

Here's me with the adorable Joanne S. Volpe,
literary agent and genius at Nancy Coffey. She's just as nice and cute in person as online. Query her! She rocks! You can follow her on Twitter for scoop!




Here is my and Kody Keplinger (author of The Duff - surely you've heard about it! ) meeting in person for the first time. Though we've been blogger buddies for a while. I'm so happy for her! Go follow her blog!





Here is my Hilary Wagner's wonderful book Nightshade City at the Holiday House booth. Put this one on your reading list people because Rick Riordan just blurbed it!





Oh and here are my BEA Partners in Crime,
Shana Silver and Jen Hayley (part of YA Rebels). I love these girls...

I know, they look all sweet and innocent, but don't let that fool you. They were serious BEAers. They did not play. Shana even had a spreadsheet printed for all of us when we got their with signings, galley giveaways. She even said, "If we lose you, you are on your own!" She's definitely on my team again next year.


Here's Holly Cupala and I getting coffee. Yes there was a Starbucks conveniently in the building. So when we got tired, we would get a caffeine drip and get back to business. BTW her book, Tell Me A Secret, is awesome and just coming out this month. Not to mention, she is just as sweet as she looks :)


How cool is this - I met the Ghost Hunters!
Need I say more.....




Michelle Zink - one of my fav authors. Ready for this?
She actually knew me from my blog! Crazy right?
I was freaking out inside, but look how calm and collected I look. She was so supportive and chit-chatty. Love her.




I have to say, this one was especially a highlight for me. Alyson Noel was signing her new tween paranormal, Radiance. She recognized from my blog picture. INSANE! I was first in line and when she sat down, she said, "Hey Shelli!"




And of course I have to rub it in!!!! ;) Here is my stash!!!!






Jealous? Don't be.

I'm only keeping about a 1/3 of this.

The rest, along with the Swag pile, goes to all of my faithful followers this month - so keep visiting daily.

Since I hung out with Kody (and her agent Joanna) at BEA. Today, you can win an ARC of her book, THE DUFF. Comment and tell me the book you are most anticipating for Fall 2010 and why!

Come back tomorrow because I am announcing my Agent Pitch Contest with (Bree Ogden at Martin Literary) and what you need to do to prepare for Monday's entries!!