WISH in Kirkus Reviews, Indie Brag and more!

Dear Bookworms:

I wanted to share some exciting news about my picture book, WISH.

It was recently included as an Indie pick in Kirkus Reviews. You can read more about it here.
Kirkus Reviews is an industry staple and I am thrilled to have the mainstream publishing community learn more about WISH.  Less than 10% of their Indie reviews are chosen for this, so it's a great honor.

I've uploaded a slew of new reviews from Indie Reviews, which you can read over here.  I really appreciate the kind words from everyone.

Last, I just learned that WISH has been honored with  an Indie Brag Medallion. I've learned that on average only 10 - 15% of the books they consider are awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion, so I'm pretty excited about this award, too.

Here's my new cover for Wish, with the shiny new medallion added on the lower right side!

Now back to the drawing board on some other projects.  
Happy Reading,
Leslie

New Personalized Good Sportsmanship Book

Hello, Bookworms.

I am excited to announce there's now a personalized version of the popular The Kids' (and parents', too!) Book of Good Sportsmanship.  Here it is:

Your child's book would come with his or her name.

Each book costs $14.99 ($9.99 plus $5.00 for shipping and handling). It takes about 48 hours to create your book and you can expect delivery approximately a week after that.

If you would like to order one for your Good Sport, just visit the website here.  You'll provide your child's name and who the book is from when you place your order.

I hope you like it. 

Happy Reading, 

Leslie

Happy Spring!
This past week The Good Sportsmanship Journal (for soccer) was made available. Although it can be used on its own, it can also be used as a companion workbook to The Kids' (and parents', too!) Book of Good Sportsmanship. 


This one is soccer-themed and offers a great place to jot down notes about good sportsmanship observed at practices or games. It's the first in a line of manners-themed workbooks/journals in development, and I think children and grownups will get lots of use out of them, through both writing in them and talking together about the topics.

Let me know what you think -- I love to hear from you.

Happy reading,

Leslie

Happy Spring!
This past week The Good Sportsmanship Journal (for soccer) was made available. Although it can be used on its own, it can also be used as a companion workbook to The Kids' (and parents', too!) Book of Good Sportsmanship. 



This one is soccer-themed and offers a great place to jot down notes about good sportsmanship observed at practices or games. It's the first in a line of manners-themed workbooks/journals in development, and I think children and grownups will get lots of use out of them, through both writing in them and talking together about the topics.

Let me know what you think -- I love to hear from you.

Happy reading,

Leslie

Introducing a New Children's Picture book, Wish

Dear Book Lovers,
It's been awhile since I've posted and I apologize.  Several books were brewing, each with its own interesting set of questions and issues. Unfortunately, a massive log jam developed.  While I was afraid that all was lost, low and behold a book that I'd dreamt about for years suddenly became a possibility and it leapfrogged over all the other books to burst into life.

I am excited to share that my first children's picture book is being published on November 17th, 2015. It is called Wish and it's about the journey of a dandelion seed. It's for ages 0 -3 and I know that babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers are going to just love it.

The illustrations are bright and colorful and drawn by Tanja Tadic. Right now pre-orders are available for Kindle and hopefully soon for the print version.  Otherwise both versions will be available starting on the 17th.

Here it is:  Isn't it cute?

Please let me know what you think!  I'd love to hear from you.  I am hopeful that some of my other "log jams" will now behave themselves and I'll be sharing more about them soon. In fact, if any of you like time travel, I may have the story for you!

Happy Reading,

Leslie

Dick's Sporting Good's Sports Matter Program

Hi.
I've been busy working on upcoming fiction and manners books (and working on publicity for So you think you babysit monsters?, but haven't had much interesting progress to share just yet.

But I did want to share information about the Dick's Sporting Good's Sports Matter project.  I actually heard it on the radio when I was driving last week. Because of my book The Kids' (and parents', too!) Book of Good Sportsmanship  (written because of our family's interest in sports), I logged onto my laptop to check it out once I was home.

Sports programs are being affected by school budget cuts and this project is helping raise money for schools.  Schools are encouraged to do their own fundraising and Dick's will match it dollar for dollar.  You can choose to support a specific school or donate to a general fund.

Donations of any amount are accepted. Just wanted to share this fundraiser in case you are interested in children's sports.

Have a great weekend!

Leslie

Read an ebook week March 2nd - March 8th

Just wanted to let you know that I am participating in Read an Ebook Week on Smashwords.
 If you use this code, RW100, you can download any of my books for free.
Hope you find something you like.

Leslie
 

No power, but a nice review

Dear Bookworms:

We are part of the deep freeze and many days-long power outage taking place in Pennsylvania. Things couldn't be more miserable ... except one bright spot: during sporadic internet usage at various wifi hot spots I was able to check emails, find this review of So you think you babysit monsters? and share it here:

"The first in a series of novels for middle school age readers (The Abercrombie Family Business: Totally True, Tir Griffin Stories), author Leslie A. Susskind presents an impressive set of storytelling skills in "So you think you babysit monsters?". A wonderfully entertaining read from cover to cover, "So you think you babysit monsters?" is very highly recommended for young readers and will prove an enduringly popular addition to school and community libraries."

It's from Julie Summers of Julie's Bookshelf, for Midwest Book Review. It really made my day. Now if the power would just come back on!

Take care and stay warm,

Leslie

Kindle Giveaway

Interested in winning a kindle or giftcard or paypal card? I'm one of the authors sponsoring the giveaway (down near the bottom of the list) on I'm a reader, not a writer. Good luck! Leslie   Win a Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash ($229 value)   This is a joint AUTHOR & BLOGGER GIVEAWAY EVENT! Bloggers & Authors have joined together and each chipped in a little money towards a Kindle Fire HDX 7".

All New Kindle Fire HDX 7" Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7" Kindle Fire HDX (US Only - $229 Value)

  Or $229 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)

  Or $229 in Paypal Cash (International)

      January Sponsors

1. I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
2. Feed Your Reader
3. The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl
4. Author Kimber Leigh Wheaton
5. Author Inger Iversen
6. NESSAROX
7. Author Carol Davis Luce
8. The Reporter and the Girl
9. Author David Pandolf
10. Bella Street Writes
11. Author Bonnie Blythe
12. Author Elizabeth Seckman
13. MyLadyWeb: Women's History and Women Authors
14. Just One More Chapter
15. Author Donna Fasano
16. Author Lia Fairchild
17. Author Linda S. Prather
18. Author Heather McCoubrey
19. Author M.A. Comley
20. Jessica Loves Books
21. Fae Books
22. Author Cidney Swanson
23. Lori's Reading Corner
24. Author Jennifer Laurens
25. Allergic to Life
26. ~Owl Always Be Reading
27. Author J.L. Weil
28. Buku-Buku Didi
29. Barb's Wire - eBooks & More
30. Author Jennifer Gilby Roberts
31. Another Head Full of Fantasy
32. Fairiechick's Fantasy Book Reader
33. Author Kim Cresswell
34. Mother Daughter Book Reviews
35. Buried Under Romance
36. Jenna Does Books
37. Laurie Here
38. The Bunny's Review
39. Bea's Book Nook
40. Fabulously Girly Book Blog
41. The Loopy Librarian
42. Bound4Escape
43. Michael SciFan
44. Chapter by Chapter
45. Author Helen Smith
46. Button-the-Push Books and Giveaways
47. Author S.M. Blooding
48. Back Off My Books
49. Author Brinda Berry
50. Author Christie Anderson
51. Author Leslie A. Susskind
52. More Than A Review
53. Author Heather Gray
54. Paige Ryan
55. Fire and Ice
56. Author Bryna Butler

Sign up to sponsor the next Kindle Fire Giveaway: http://www.iamareader.com/category/kindle-giveaway-sign-ups   Giveaway Details 1 winner will receive their choice of an all new Kindle Fire 7" HDX (US Only - $229 value), $229 Amazon Gift Card or $229 in Paypal Cash (International). There is a second separate giveaway for bloggers who post this giveaway on their blog. See details in the rafflecopter on how to enter to win the 2nd Kindle Fire HDX 7". Ends 2/9/14 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the participating authors & bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Publicity

Well, the New Year is starting off with a bang.

Yesterday the first of my press releases launched for "So you think you babysit monsters?" and several more are planned in the next couple of days. You can read this one here if you are interested: http://www.pr.com/press-release/535018 .  I used a service called PR.com.  It was fairly easy to use. For anyone looking for a press release distribution/creation service, you may want to check them out. Or let me know if you've had luck with another service (I would love to hear suggestions). I'm watching a list build in my account of places that picked up the release. We'll see if it equates into actual "press."  Fingers crossed.

Off to shovel snow from the driveway!
Leslie

Goodreads Giveaway until Jan 11th

Dear Readers,
I wanted to let you know that I am giving away 3 copies of "So you think you babysit monsters?" over at Goodreads.  The contest ends on January 11th. I hope you'll enter -- and good luck!
Leslie

"So you think you babysit monsters?" is now published

Dear Bookworms:
It's taken me awhile to get to this point, but I am excited to share that my newest book, "So you think you babysit monsters?" has finally been published!

This is a middle grade fantasy novel set outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the first book of the series The Abercrombie Family Business: Totally True, Tir Griffin Story #1, and tells the story of Mackenzie Abercrombie -- a 13 year old Magic Minder. Mackenzie lives in a special neighborhood called Tir Griffin where she and her family are surrounded by monster families in human disguise. It's her responsibility to watch the little ones, to keep them safe from the local mortals. Mackenzie also has a completely normal life outside of Tir Griffin, which for a middle-schooler, is anything but normal anyway! 

My good friend and artist, Carol Chew, illustrated the cover for me, which shows Mackenzie  standing in Tir Griffin's entrance gate, holding little Michael Roper (a toddler dragon) and Cynthia Patrick (a toddler Cyclops) sitting next to them.  Michael and Cynthia are two of Mackenzie's charges. I love how Carol's drawing really brought the characters to life!

The book is now available in print and ebook versions on Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  iTunes and elsewhere.  I hope you'll check it out.

Happy Reading and Happy Holidays!
Leslie

Smashwords Summer Winter Sale

If you're looking for some great priced summer reading, check out the Summer Winter Sale at Smashwords. It runs the month of July. 

I put both The Month of Zephram Mondays and The Tale of Time Warp Tuesday on sale for FREE.
If you're interested in either of them, just use this code at checkout:  SW100. 

I hope you find some interesting books to enjoy. If you find a great read, please let me know! I especially like romance, YA and middle grade fantasy!

Leslie

It's been awhile

Hello.
It's been awhile since I posted. Boy, time has flown. I had no idea!

I've been hard at work trying to get my new middle grade book series up and running. It's called The Abercrombie Family Business.  I'm still waiting for final proofing and for the cover illustration to be finished. I'm pretty excited about it and can't wait to share it with everyone.

I've also been working on a new manners book.  That will be out later this year, probably around the holiday.

Meanwhile I've been trying to get my websites spruced up and more funtional.  Just about there ... everything takes so much longer to do than I think it will!

Last, I've been experimenting with Apps.  Don't know how or if it will work but hey, why not give it a try!  

Hope you have some good reading on your summer reading list.
Enjoy!

Leslie

Dear Bookworms:

Just yesterday I was mentioning that I hoped to have a new cover soon for The Month of Zephram Mondays.

Imagine my surprise and excitement to find out this morning that my friend and artist Kecia Crowl had it ready to go!

Here it is:

I can't wait to hear what you think! She perfectly captured the gray stone of the walled Zephram capital city that I've always had in my mind. And I love the silhouettes of the Royal Quadruplets set against the darkening sky and land after their escape.

Right now the Kindle version is updating, and eventually the cover will change on all of the versions.  After that we'll be working on a new cover for The Tale of Time Warp Tuesday. 

It's as if Christmas came early! 


Leslie

I wanted to share some updates for The Zephram Tales!

Both books are now available in iTunes via  links to the right.

Within the next few weeks I am excited to be able to share a brand new cover for  The Month of Zephram Mondays. I think you'll really like it. First I'm going to change it on the kindle version and then change the print edition and other ebook versions after that.  I can't wait to introduce the new artwork.

Happy Reading!

Just wanted to share a new review for The Month of Zephram Mondays on Nayu's Reading Corner.

I was just checking my emails when I saw that my author interview on popular blog 'I am a Reader, not a Writer' just went live. Check it out here.  While there you can enter to win a copy of both books in the Zephram series.

Many thanks to Kathy for featuring me (and the books) today!

Leslie

I'm taking some time to clean out the house prior to school starting; boy, do I hate cleaning. If I had a penny for every item in our house, we'd be billionaires!  How did it get this way?

This means, as much as it hurts me, that I have to step away from the writing and marketing of my titles ... but hopefully I'll return to it all in a much better frame of mind.

The one thing I did take time to do was meet  Kecia (my friend and artist) for lunch today.
We had a nice visit (although I did get a parking ticket -- apparently 9  quarters wasn't enough for the meter -- I returned to the car at 1:36 and the ticket was issued at 1:34! AAARRRG!!!)

Kecia is going to design a new cover for the ebook version of The Month of Zephram Mondays.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with. I'll post it here and you can let me know what you think of it.

In the meantime, I hear the boxes we're taking to Goodwill calling my name (and some of the trash bags as well). Enjoy the last minutes of summer!

Leslie 

Dear Bookworms:

Just wanted to let you know that both The Month of Zephram Mondays and The Tale of Time Warp Tuesday are free on Kindle today (Aug 17th) while Tuesday will also be free tomorrow (Aug 18th) too.

Leslie