FREE copy of HowlSage by Brock Eastman

No doubt you recall author Brock Eastman doing a guest post for us earlier in the week.

Well, last night Brock sent me a note offering to give YOU a free copy of his YA adult fantasy novel, HowlSage! 

Here's what he had to say: 

Please offer your fans a chance to get a free copy of HowlSage, my latest YA book. Destiny Image is giving away copies of HowlSage to anyone willing to provide a review of the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and CBD.

Please have your fans send their name and mailing address to freehowlsagebook@gmail.com and Destiny Image will send them out a free copy in a the next couple of weeks.

Thanks, Brock! I'm sure some of our gang will be excited to get a free book. I'm ordering one for my children. Right. Now.

Don't worry, they will also do a review!

New Title: Get an Advanced copy of the Imaginary Jesus audio book BEFORE IT COMES OUT!!!!

One of the greatest disadvantages for Tyndale (the excellent publishers of Imaginary Jesus) is the constant demands of the ravenous fans that this book be released early.  It really is a hardship, but they are sticking to their guns.  APRIL FIRST they have said, over and over, as people call their offices, send angry e-mails and - in one unfortunate incident -threw a brick into their office with a note on it that said "You will get REAL BRICKS once a week until I get Imaginary Jesus." 

To help alleviate the tension a bit, Tyndale has allowed Christian Audio, the geniuses who put together the audio book version, to release the audio book before the print book!  In fact, you can buy it on CD RIGHT NOW!  Or you can download it at Christian Audio and be listening to it in a few minutes.  

Despite the ignorant paragraph above, penned by ridiculous authors who think they are in the know (cough cough Mikalatos) this audio book remains unavailable.  UNLESS YOU HAPPEN TO BE ME AND HAVE A COUPLE OF COPIES RIGHT NOW ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND.  And it just so happens that I do happen to be me, and thus have copies on my nightstand.  And therefore please read the sentence in red below:

I am going to GIVE ONE AWAY THIS WEEK!

To keep things simple, I'm going to use a random number generator to pick one person at random from the Imaginary Jesus e-mail list.  So sign up here for your chance to win!  I'll announce the winner a week from today.
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That's right! Be the first to listen to the audio book!  Amaze your friends!  Shame your enemies!   Obfuscate your pursuers!  Verb your nouns!  Do it today!

BOOK BERZERKER PRESENTS: Win a Free Copy of Don Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

Last week I read Don Miller's new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I can tell you honestly that this is the best book that Don Miller has written.  Or, well, the best one that has been published, what do I know, maybe he has another spectacular one hidden away somewhere in a drawer or something.

The basic premise is that Don discovers, while working on a feature film adaptation of his previous memoir, Blue Like Jazz, that he actually lives a pretty boring life.  And as he studies the structure of Story to figure out how to write a better (fictional) life for himself, he starts to apply those same concepts to his real life so that he lives a life that has some meaning, a purpose, and goals.  Overall, I found it inspiring, though I did find myself wishing at certain points that it was a novel so that it would follow story structure even more, and also so that the ending would WRAP IT ALL UP instead of being like, well, real life.

ANYWAY, Amazon.com will tell you that people who bought my book, Imaginary Jesus, have also bought A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.  In honor of that dubious achievement on Mr. Miller's behalf, I am giving away a copy of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (hereafter referred to as AMMIATY) this very week.

HOW TO WIN: Leave a comment on this post telling me two things... ONE, what would the plot of a movie based on your life be about (feel free to make things up) and TWO, who would you want to portray you in the film (feel free to choose any actor, living or dead... computer generated actors are all the rage).  I will choose the winner later this week and will announce the CHAMPION next Monday.  Yes, that's right, I am the sole judge, jury and executioner (meaning that I will execute the action of placing the book in the mail).

Legal Mumbo Jumbo: Yeah, if this is illegal where you live then it doesn't apply.  By entering this contest you agree that I am awesome and that you would never sue me or even say mean things about me.  And if you had your way you would like to buy me one of those back scratchers that this one guy sells on the street in Portland.  Or at least you agree that it doesn't apply where you live if it's illegal.

Free Mosaic Bible here at BHR!

Great news! You may recall me gushing over the artsy beauty and theological richness of the new NLT Mosaic Bible-- a Bible that has devotionals built around the church calendar with art, creeds, quotes and hymns from across the centuries and around the world. Well, thanks to the generosity of one of its editors, David Sanford, I have TWO COPIES TO GIVE AWAY THIS WEEK!

I thought we would do it "random drawing style" to increase the appearance of casting lots. What could be more Biblical than that? I'll be doing the drawing this Friday night sometime, so get your entries in before Friday at 5pm Pacific.

You can get your name entered into the drawing up to four times. Here's how to do it:

1) Send me your email address using the form below. This DOES NOT sign you up for a newsletter. Don't believe the hype that will tell you otherwise. This just allows me to get your email in a way that keeps internet robots from learning your email address and telling you that you won the British lottery. 

Mosaic Bible drawing

Enter your email address:

Enter the 5-digit code displayed:

2) Leave a comment on this post. I will read all the comments, so feel free to try to sway me by saying things like, "A wild dog tore my own Bible to pieces and I really need this because it also got my wallet and my internet connection." But since this is a drawing it won't really matter. Make sure I have a way to contact you if you leave a comment.

3) Tweet about the giveaway this week. Be sure to include a link to this post, and if you want to make sure I see it you should probably put @mattmikalatos in your tweet, too.

4) Put a link to the giveaway on your blog. Again, you'll need to let me know about this (though I should see the incoming links).

So, there you have it. Four ways to win. I'll do the drawing on Friday, so the winners should be hearing from me this weekend. Good luck and may whoever is causing this terrible storm that is causing our ship to sink be the one to draw the shortest lot.

Win a Free Mosaic Bible

Those of you who follow me on twitter know that I got a free copy of theHoly Bible, Mosaic a few weeks back. 

It's a really cool Bible that has quotes, creeds and artwork from throughout church history in a series of devotionals that follow the church calendar.  You can see more about it here:
Holy Bible: Mosaic NLT 

Anyway, I saw today that another (more generous) blog is having a contest where YOU can get a free copy of the book yourself if you enter.  Here's a link to that contest.  I think you have to enter by Monday, though, so you better get to it.

Also -- I know I've directed a few of you to blogger review programs for Thomas Nelson and NavPress, and I recently discovered Tyndale's, also.  Here's a link to that.

Alright kids, have fun and go win yourself a Bible (ah, what a special moment of church history we live in that we can raffle off Bibles).

Imaginary Jesus tag line competition -- tell your friends

The Contest:

We're working on a tag line for Imaginary Jesus (coming to bookstores near you in April 2010). Basically, in this contest I'm asking you to throw out your best ideas for a tag line. I'm looking for something clever and catchy that sort of sums up everything about the book. You can see a basic "back of the book" type description here. Here are some thoughts by someone about tag lines in general. I'm looking for a quick phrase that is humorous and sharpens the reader's expectation beyond what the title implies. A few examples:

Imaginary Jesus: Real as a Unicorn

Imaginary Jesus: The best friend you never knew you had.

Or preferably something better than those.

Rules:

1) Enter by posting your tag line idea in the comments section of this post. Post as many as you like.

2) I'll need some way to get ahold of you if you win. So anonymous, contact-less entries won't get a prize even if they win. YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A BLOGGER ACCOUNT TO LEAVE A COMMENT! And if you want to send me your contact info, post your comment and then write me at matt.mikalatos(at)gmail.com.

3) It has to be original and it has to be yours. So taglines like "In space no one can hear you scream" or "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!" don't count. I guess you can post them just to be funny though, you sick, sick people.

4) Deadline for entries is July 17th, because that's my birthday and because I say so.

5) No whining if it takes a while to announce a winner, because I'm learning that the publishing world spins a little slower than the world outside. Whiners automatically forfeit all rights except for those specifically granted under the Magna Carta of 1215.

6) All entries must be type-written.

7) It's a tag line, not a poetry contest. Keep it short. Haiku length or shorter.

The Prize:

It's a three parter. TO THE WINNER GOES THE SPOILS! ONE, your name in the acknowledgements of the book itself. TWO, a copy of Imaginary Jesus signed by the author (when it comes out of course). THREE, my gratitude. I will even write a thank you note to you.

Of course you also get bragging rights, but that goes without saying.

Now get to work, people.

Legal Stuff:

Okay, I'm not a lawyer but just so you know this contest is illegal wherever such contests are illegal, and is not sponsored by Tyndale, Barna Books, Campus Crusade for Christ or anyone associated with those organizations. Final determination of who wins goes to moi (moi = Matt Mikalatos) and whomever I might choose to include in said determination. Moi reserves the right not to use a tag line, to use multiple tag lines or to use a tag line not generated by this contest. By leaving a comment and/or tagline here you are giving permission for it to be used in the publication and publicity of all kinds for Imaginary Jesus. Forever. In the whole universe. And other dimensions. Even other dimensions where, perhaps, you are evil instead of the pleasant, reasonable person whom you appear to be here in our dimension. Please remember that in the end this is all for fun. It's not like I'm promising, for instance, to make you the poet laureate of a laureate-less state.