Review and …?

Posted on by lbgraham

I am setting aside my normal blogging routine for the next ten days to run a contest in which I will give away 5 free, autographed copies of The Darker Road, my new novel, which Publisher’s Weekly called “a highly entertaining as well as thoughtful contribution to Christian Fantasy.” Interested in winning a copy? Then read on…

The contest is simple. I call it “Review and…?” because all I’m asking in exchange for the free copy of the book is for you to review it on Amazon when you are finished reading it – honest reviews only, please – and then do one other thing to promote it. What other thing? Well, that’s what you are going to tell me. It can be simple, it can be elaborate, it can be as creative as you want it to be.

In order to enter the contest, all you need to do is submit a comment to this post, between September 6th and September 16th (2013), telling me that you will review the book and… (fill in your idea here). After all submissions are in, I’ll pick five people to receive free copies of the book, which I will send to you (postage paid by me, as long as you live in the continental U.S.).

If you enter the contest, check back after the 16th to see if I’ve picked you as a winner, and I’ll post a comment then about how we can communicate for me to get your address, etc.

Questions? Feel free to ask in the comments, otherwise, get thinking about how you could promote The Darker Road and then tell me your idea – maybe you’ll win a free copy.

24 thoughts on “Review and …?”

  • Awesome! Okay, I can’t wait to read your new book, but haven’t got it yet because I was waiting on the Kindle version. I will definitely give it a review on Amazon, hopefully a good one, though that depends on the book. 🙂 Also, I have a large family of your fans who will love to read it. I’ll ask the library to get it. I don’t have an enormous number of friends on Facebook, but I will post some kind of a review and recommendation on my page for my friends to see…that’s a start..? 🙂 If you have a page for it, I will “like” it on Facebook. I already “liked” all five Binding of the Blade books. Besides that…whenever I talk to anyone about books, I always tell them the best series in the world is your BOTB. If the Darker Road is good, I will also recommend that title in such conversations.
    I don’t have time to start a sidewalk promotion or L. B. Graham book club, or I probably would:(
    I love your writing. Either way, I will read and review it eventually.

  • I would LOVE to read and review “The Darker Road”!! I go to a private Christian college in the Midwest, and the best way I can think to share and promote this book would be that after I read and review it (on Amazon, Alibris, and my personal book blog)I would make the sacrifice to donate it to my school library to add to the fiction collection. I work at the library, and am constantly trying to get their fiction collection growing, since it’s an academic library that doesn’t put much emphasis there. *Grin* I’ll probably request that they buy this one even if I don’t win it. 😀

  • Well, I reeeaallly want to read the book, that’s enough reason, right?

    As well as reviewing it on Amazon, I’ll review it on my blog for the grand total of 5 readers there. 😀

    Also, I have a lot of friends from PCA and the homeschooling community who love your first series. If I’m able to lend them, it’ll get them excited about this one too. I’ll make sure at least 6 other people read it, and get them to review it as well. That way you’ll end up with at least 7, and probably more, reviews!

    Can’t wait to read this, even if I don’t win!

  • So cool! I’ve already received a book, but for starters, if I am chosen, I’ll definitely be giving that copy to a friend and keep the autographed one. 😉

    I loved the Binding of the Blade series, and was connected very deeply to it from the first time I picked up BtS from Mardel’s almost 10 years ago. I really enjoyed attempting to capture some of the fantastical elements of the story in an orchestral piece I composed in 2011 (“March of the Vulsutyrim”).

    So, to word this correctly, I will review and…promote The Darker Road/The Gathering to friends on campus here via facebook posts/pictures of the autographed copy, and give away a free copy of the book.

    In addition, I would love to try and compose another piece based on this new series. It would be my pleasure to once again explore a great aesthetic L.B.Graham-made landscape from a musical perspective.

  • I can’t wait to read Darker Road! I was also waiting for the Kindle version, but I will review the book on Amazon and tell my friends and family about it. I will also make an announcement about it at church if I can, or otherwise I will tell my church brothers and sisters about it.

  • I saw this post on Friday and I’m really excited. I received a book on the 21 of August and that made me really happy. A few years ago our family bought the BOTB series,but I didn’t read the first book for a long time because its size was very formidable. One day though I was really bored so my mom read the first chapter of the book to me and my little brother.After that i was hooked. Anyways I have already read 332 pages of TDR and its probably the best book I have ever read.I am going to tell as many of my friends as i can about this book. I even got one of my friends to read all of the BOTB books.As for a review I am definitely going to post a good one.

  • I would LOVE to read your book!
    I often recomend you BOTB books to my fantasy loving friends because your books are not filled with too much magic or inapropriate romance! So in addition to a truthful amazon review all my friends would be hearing about it! I would also post about it on my facebook!
    Have a lovely day! God bless?

  • I was introduced to the Binding of the Blade by a friend and fellow writer. Honestly, they were probably the best and most involving series I’ve read.
    I’ve been very excited about your new series and will definitely give it a review on Amazon (and multiple other places). I’m planning on e-publishing my own novel, Hidden Fire, on smashwords by August 2014, and I’m going to recommend and put a link in the back of it to The Darker Road and The Binding of the Blade.

  • If I were to receive a copy, I would most definitely give an honest review as I have with some of your other books.

    On top of that, I would love to create a book trailer for TDR. Insert credentials here –> I obtained a bachelor’s in Digital Filmmaking and Video Production earlier this year and am now doing freelance work as well as starting up a media company (url above). You can go here to see work that I’ve done specifically — vimeo.com/stevenjones.

    I’ve been wanting to get into making book trailers, and this seems like a win-win for both of us. I would give you the video file to do with as you please. I would suggest uploading it to your Amazon page. Putting it on YouTube would also be a good idea, as it would come up when someone googles your book. As I’m sure you know, consumers respond better to visual marketing. A book trailer could be a great help in promoting The Darker Road.

    Of course I would promote the book through the usual social medias (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.). I have some friends that have quite a number of followers on Tumblr that I could get to promote TDR. I also have a good many friends whom I’m sure would read it if I were to tell them about it (book nerds like myself).

    So let me know if you have any questions and thanks for the opportunity!

    P.S. My wife and I love BOTB. For our wedding ceremony this May, we used Joriaem/Wylla’s cord cutting ceremony in place of the unity candle and such. Unfortunately we couldn’t get our minister to dress as Valzaan though…

  • If I were to be so fortunate as to receive a copy of The Darker Road, I would most definitely post an honest review on Amazon.

    Along with that, I would promote TDR on my Tumblr blog which has well over 1,000 followers. Many of those followers are, like myself, great lovers of reading. Also, I would share the book on other forms of social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Lastly, many of my friends are always looking for a new book to read, and I would suggest TDR to them all.

    Side note: BOTB was the series that started my addiction to reading. As you know, books have an innate ability to change a person’s life, and they have done so in my own. I want to thank you for your influence.

  • Well, the ‘contest’ is over and I have 11 entries for 5 free books. However, after reading all your ideas, I’ve decided that rather than picking five to ‘win,’ I’m going to send you ALL a free book, since I would love it if all 11 of you would follow through with your ideas. So, congratulations, if you entered, you ‘won,’ and a free, signed copy of “The Darker Road” is yours.

    Here’s what I need. If you don’t mind your mailing address being visible to anyone who comes to my site, feel free to post it in the comments. If you’d rather pass it along privately, go to Facebook and message me with your address.

    Please note, the name you give me as part of your mailing address will be the name I use to personalize the book – ie, I’ll sign the book ‘to’ that name, so if you want it signed to someone else or to a different name, you’ll need to let me know.

    Thanks all, and happy reading!

    (PS – I’d love to hear from you when you’ve ‘done’ the thing(s) you said you would do, to hear both what you thought of the book but also to hear how the ‘promoting’ you did went – thanks!)

  • Thanks so much for picking me (and everyone else) I am so happy. I already read it and it was definitely the best book I read. The BOTB is a close second. Cant wait till the next book comes out.
    I sent you a message with the information for mailing the book.

    Thanks again

  • I can’t wait to read The Darker Road! Thanks so much!!! I don’t have a Facebook account so I sent you an e-mail (Is that all right?) with my name and address. I have no doubt that your book will fully deserve a five star review, and I will do my best to spread the word about it! (I’m actually going to review the Binding of the Blade on Amazon now and will review the Darker Road as soon as I’m finished reading it!)

  • James, I don’t mind you emailing me, but you probably don’t have any of the email addresses that I actually use (the one from this site isn’t one of them, so if that’s what you used, I’ll never find it…) Feel free to use my main work address, lbgraham (at) wcastl (dot) org. I know I wrote that funny, but I’m paranoid about spam robots picking it up…

    And Steffan, if you messaged me on facebook, it never came through. I’ve checked my facebook account a few times & no message from you. FYI.

  • OK. I sent an email to that address. I understand about spam robots, I’m kind of the same way with my email.

  • Thankyou so much! I well definitely enjoy reading it, and follow through with everything I said. 😀 – very happy.
    I sent you a message on FB. It said it would go to your ‘other folder’ since we aren’t friends. If you don’t get it, let me know.
    Thanks again!

  • Thanks again for the book! It was spectacular, I read it and one of my brothers has read it, we both loved it! I recommended it to my friends at church, I recommended it to my FB friends, I reviewed it on Amazon, ‘liked’ it on FB, and plan on requesting the library to get it. I really enjoyed it and anxiously await the 2nd installment.

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