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Free Authographed Bookplates

admin — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:57:26 +0000

For those of you who are unable to attend one of my book signings I now have book plate stickers available that I can autograph and send to you “free of charge.” Why? A dear friend of mine who lives on the east coast purchased a copy of Feisty Family Values and wanted it signed, so he sent it to me and included return postage. I was flattered and honored, but saddened that he had to pay so much for postage. I had to find a better way for readers to get a signed copy of Feisty Family Values.

So, I got on the internet and low and behold I found book plates. Tons of them in fact and it appears they have been a collectors items forever. The hardest part was finding blank ones big enough for me to put something beyond my name on them. What I found was http://bookplateink.com.

Contact me at bd@bdtharp.com if you would like to have a signed bookplate for your copy of Feisty Family Values.

Kansas Professional Communicators

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:29:05 +0000

I’m pleased to share that the three items I entered in the KPC Contest all won awards this year.

2nd Place, Personality Profile: Gerda Weismann Klein, Active Aging, March 2009 edition
2nd Place, Feature Story: Betsy Redler & Her Pink Posse, Womens Focus, October 2009 edition
3rd Place, Special Articles, Business Category: Saint by Sarah Jane, Womens Focus, April 2009 and Car Lover Turns Passion into Business, Active Aging, April 2009

Kansas Professional Communicators is the only statewide organization of women and men representing the full spectrum of communication professionals.

First Print Run Sold Out

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:26:37 +0000

My publisher Five Star notified me today that the first print run of Feisty Family Values has sold out. How cool is that? They are doing another printing and my goal is to sell out so they will go for a third, and so on and so on and so on.

Those of you that have bought your copy of Feisty Family Values – Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Tell your friends and family, call your local library and ask them to stock a copy, write a review on Amazon.com, Borders.com, or Barnesandnoble.com; and buy them as gifts.

Word of mouth is the best way to spread the word about how much you enjoyed Feisty Family Values. And just so you know, the 2nd draft of the sequel, Patchwork Family is complete. It is out for review by a couple of my writing buddies who happen to be great at proofing. As soon as it’s polished and ready for prime time I’ll give the publisher a call and see if they’ll acquire it.

Take care and enjoy the roller coaster that is life…

March 14 FFV Blogpost

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:37:37 +0000

Sunday, March 14 there will be a book review posted about Feisty Family Values at http://www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/

Check it out and make comments, please!

The New Book Review website is sponsored by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the Frugal Book Promoter.

Feisty Family Values

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:50:48 +0000

Hi everybody. I just wanted to say that Feisty Family Values is currently available at Watermark Books & Cafe and Lucinda’s in Old Town, Wichita. So, if you live in or near Wichita, please pick one up at one of these wonderful vendors. These are two of my favorite places to shop so I’m thrilled that they have my book in stock and thank them for their support.

You can also order Feisty Family Values on-line from Borders.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and Amazon.com.

My first book signing is coming up soon, March 18th at Watermark and March 20th at Barnes & Noble Bradley Fair. Both stores have put a blurb about the event on their web sites, plus there is a detailed list of appearances under “Calendar of Events” on this web site (right menu, about half way down). Very cool. Barnes & Noble have Feisty Family Values on order now.

I’m looking forward to seeing you at one of my appearances. Thank you for your interest in Feisty Family Values, I hope you enjoy the story.

Feisty Family Values is on its way…

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:21:39 +0000

We are all waiting impatiently for our copies of Feisty Family Values to arrive. It’s on route to bookstores and Amazon.com as we speak!

You can pre-order copies from Amazon.com, Borders.com or BN.com (Barnes & Noble) and any independent bookstore near you. Local Wichita stores will no doubt be stocking it, but if you don’t live in the area you may need to order it, which isn’t a bad idea. The nice thing about ordering it from your local bookstore is you don’t have to pay shipping. But Amazon and Barnes & Noble are discounting it, so it may be a wash.

For those of you that want to purchase a copy from me, signed of course, send me an email at bd@bdtharp.com and let’s discuss the logistics. I will have to charge shipping, though.

Thank you for your interest and for your support. To all my writing buddies – keep writing, dreams do come true!

Feisty Family Values pub update…

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:47:47 +0000

Feisty Family Values is now available on Amazon.com for pre-orders. I tried uploading the book cover art today and have my fingers crossed that it and my Author page will be visible by tomorrow. It’s interesting to note that each step outlined in the Five Star Author’s Handbook has occurred in the time frame they estimated, or sooner. They have been publishing books a long time and it shows. I feel really excited about the whole process now that the publishing date is approaching. February 17 will be here before I know it.

Several Advanced Review Copies of FFV have been sent out and I have two reviews on this site, but nothing posted on Amazon yet. Perhaps that step doesn’t occur until the book actually is published. I’ll find out and let you know. In the mean time I’m up to 72K words on the sequel, Patchwork Family. I’m very close to the end of the first draft. Then the edits start and the fleshing and flushing. The plan was to have a first draft finished this year, before FFV came out – and I’m pretty sure I’ll get that accomplished.

Stay tuned as things develop. It’s a long process, but an interesting ride.

KWA Prose & Poetry Contest

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:24:33 +0000

For those of you that know me, I’ve been a member of the Kansas Writers Association (KWA) for about ten years now. Every year they sponsor a contest with multiple categories, including but not limited to Creative Non-Fiction, Memoirs, 1st Chapter of Novel, Short Fiction, Juvenile Short Stories, Playwriting, and Poetry for Adults and Youth. The specifics of the categories can be found on the KWA web site at http://www.kwawriters.com/competitions.htm. It’s very inexpensive to enter ($10-$15 for adults, 1.50 for kids) and there are cash prizes ($25-$100). I highly recommend it for writers of any level or genre, and from anywhere in U.S.

Contests are great ways to get your feet wet as a writer. It’s a good vehicle to practice following guidelines and meeting deadlines, too. Speaking of deadlines, the deadline for submission is November 1, 2009 – SO DON’T WAIT. GET YOUR ENTRIES SENT IN FOLKS, and Good Luck!!

Great News!

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:22:59 +0000

I received the Advanced Uncorrected Proof copies of my novel, Feisty Family Values today. Five Star Publishing is the best! I have two weeks to edit for errors and notify them, and the remaining copies will go to bookstores and reviewers to start a buzz prior to its release. It’s all very exciting and oh so real now that I have a printed copy in my hands. This is a dream come true for me and every other writer out there, and proof that it CAN be done. (I never gave up, never quit writing, kept on editing, and submitting.) I promise to let everyone know when it’s available for sale. Look for it in February 2010! Woo Hoo! (This is the most I’ve ever used exclamation points, but I’m really pumped and can’t help myself.)

There’s another BD Blog

admin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:49:38 +0000

There is another very popular blog called BD, but it stands for Bloody Disgusting. It’s a writers blog, but I’m not a horror writer so you won’t find me there. If you’re really into horror writing then do a search on their current “short story writers contest on BD” and you’ll find it. Have fun!