If you didn’t win one of those five free copies, Lulu has a great deal going on right now that will allow you to purchase the book with free shipping until May 1st. To purchase Columbus Groove with free shipping, just click the coupon below and enter “FREEMAIL305” for your coupon code!

Click to enter:

From the website:

The Canal Fulton Public Library is holding an Author Fair on Saturday, March 13, 2010 from 11am to 2pm. This your opportunity to meet and talk with many authors from our area. They will also bring copies of their works for sale. Each author will read a selection from their book. Participating authors include: Anita Graber, Marty Drexler, Tiffany Miller – aka Smiling Mousie, Melody Lee, Namiko Golden, Stan Purdum, Mike Johnson, Jeff Maximovich, and Brandice Schnabel.

Looking forward to another local event, and I hope I’ll be seeing some of you local readers there! I don’t know if the final plan for readings or where I’ll be sitting has been made, but it should be a good time regardless, and I’ve never been to this particular local library, so exploring should be fun. Stop by!

I hope to see you there! I’ll be signing books from 3 pm – 5 pm with other local writers!

Event: Celebration of Local Authors
Date: Saturday, February 27
Time: 11 AM – 5 PM
Where: The Learned Owl
Address: 204 North Main Street, Hudson, OH 44236-2887
Phone: (330) 653-2252?

From the news update on The Learned Owl website:

Saturday, February 27, 11 AM-5 PM – Celebration of Local Authors! We’ll be celebrating authors in our local community by hosting a day of book signing, brainstorming and refreshments, featuring locally written books for adults and children. Everyone is welcome to meet the authors, who will be signing their books in shifts from 11 AM–5 PM. Children’s authors are scheduled from 11–1 PM. The afternoon brainstorming session, an informal chat about the processes of writing and getting published, is also open to all, and runs from 2–3 PM. Novelists and poets are scheduled to sign from 3–5 PM.

Children’s authors attending the event include Pam Spremulli of Chagrin Falls, with her lavishly illustrated alphabet book Letter Birds; Michael Samulak of Cleveland, with A Is for Africa, illustrated by a Ugandan artist; and Lena Shane from Strongsville with Zoody, the story of a misunderstood stone.

Poet Brandice Schnabel of North Canton brings her collection of verse, Columbus Groove, to the celebration. Edgar Barmann of Twinsburg will sign his novel, Dear Annamelia; and novelist Karen Hasley shares her latest, Circled Heart.

1. Please review the book. If you’ve purchased Columbus Groove and you’re willing to do a write-up of your thoughts and impressions, please post your review on any review sites that you frequent. Posting your review on (click for links to book listing) Amazon, Goodreads, weRead, Lulu, LibraryThing, and Shelfari (any of those that you use, or any other sites that you use) is endlessly helpful in improving the visibility of the book. If you haven’t purchased the book and are interested in reading it for review purposes, please contact me about receiving a complimentary copy at writing@brandice.net.

2. Please become a fan. In addition to reviewing the book and adding it to your various digital bookshelves, becoming a fan of the author (me) on these sites further helps visibility, not just for this particular book, but for me as a writer, which will be helpful when I pursue further publishing efforts down the road. You can become of the book on Facebook, and you can become a fan of the author on (click for author listing) Goodreads, weRead, LibraryThing, and Shelfari, among other sites.

3. Give away bookmarks. If you’re willing to hand out bookmarks to anyone you know who might enjoy my poetry, or you’re willing to take a bundle of bookmarks to local coffee shops and bookstores that would be willing to have my bookmarks laying around, please email me at writing@brandice.net. :) The title poem is on the back of the bookmark!

4. Help with the word of mouth promotion. Quite simply, tell people about the book and carry it with you if you’re reading it, in hopes of attracting other poetry lovers.

5. Give the book as a gift. A small volume of poetry can be a lovely gift for the literature-loving friend or family member, especially when the work is published and signed by a local writer. If you enjoy the work, please gift it to anyone who may enjoy it as well. :)

6. Connect me with local bookstores. Do you have a bookstore in your area that you believe would carry my book and maybe do a book signing or a reading? If so, please send me some contact information for the store’s PR person. I would very much love to do some book signings and/or readings within a reasonable distance (Ohio, western PA, etc.). Any help in scoping out local bookstore (especially those that support self published local works) would be hugely appreciated.

If you haven’t already purchased the book, this is one more option available. The book is still available through the website and through Lulu as well. (Simply visit the purchase page for all the options.)

I have to say that seeing a book written by ME listed on Amazon is really exciting, and I already have one review, even if that review is a very gracious write-up from my dear mother-in-law. ;) More on reviews later.

Stay tuned!

(If you can’t see the video player, click here.)

(If you’re receiving these website updates via email, please feel free to unsubscribe at any time via the appropriate links provided at the bottom of the email. I (Brandice) only want to provide those types of updates to those who are interested and certainly don’t want to spam the uninterested. If you’re NOT receiving the updates via email and you would like to, please sign up here.)

1. The book is officially published and available for sale. You can currently purchase the book through Lulu or through the book’s main website directly, and both of those options can be found here. Options to purchase an ebook and to purchase the book through Amazon.com will hopefully be finalized in late October. Keep in mind that when you order the book directly through ColumbusGroove.net, you have to option to receive a signed copy at the same $11.00 price!

2. The first interview with the author is available for listening! My friend Dr. Anonymous did a wonderful job interviewing me on his show, and you can find a full recording of the episode here. I’m really happy with how the interview went and was very comfortable talking with Dr. A, so it’s a really good representation of everything I want to convey about my writing process and the book itself. I’d love for all of you to have a listen. :)

3. The first book signing went very well. This past Friday was my first book signing, which was at 2nd April Galerie in Canton, Ohio, where my book will be carried for purchase on an ongoing basis. I sold some books, met another local author, and it was generally just a really great time. If you live locally and haven’t yet purchased the book, I recommend stopping down at the gallery and grabbing one. Later this week I will be dropping off some signed copies, and there will be a reading at the gallery next month (more details on that later!).

4. Some very fancy bookmarks are on the way! Thanks again to Stephanie Smanto for whipping up some awesome work for the promotional bookmarks. She adapted her original cover design to create a really neat bookmark that will now be going out with any copy of the book purchased directly through the main website. It also has the title-inspiring poem on the back side for a small peek at the collection. I will provide more info on getting a bookmark once they’re printed and in my possession.

As always, you can read any previous news items you’ve missed in the Book News section of the site, and I look forward to sharing more as the book publishing adventure continues!

Thanks to Doctor Anonymous for having me on the show!! Please give this a listen if you’d like to really understand the book and what I wanted to accomplish with this collection. :)

Linkage:

Doctor Anonymous Show
Interview Preview and Interview Announcement

Signing Date: Friday, September 4, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: 2nd April Galerie

Come purchase your copy and enjoy all the great stuff going on downtown. First Friday is a lot of fun, with live music, food vendors and a ton of special monthly events! Even if you already have a copy of the book, the evening will be a great time!

Books ordered through Lulu will be printed and processed by Lulu and sent to you by them, while books purchased through ColumbusGroove.net can be autographed (no change in price) and will be sent by the author (who just ordered oodles of them to autograph and send your way!).

Unless you’re REALLY holding out for the Amazon purchasing option, you can CLICK HERE to order your copy of Columbus Groove today!

The book will be $11.00 (including tax, not including shipping), and you can choose to have the book autographed at no additional cost if you order it directly from the main website. Leave a note for me in your order if you’d like the inscription to be personalized with a name, etc.

If the final proof is a go, I expect to be ordering and shipping the books in about 2-3 weeks, and if you’re local, please just email writing [at] brandice.net to arrange local pickup (don’t order from the website unless you want to simply wait for shipment).

With purchasing options now available on the website, I hope that you’ll share news of this poetry collection with any friends or family that might enjoy the collection, and I REALLY look forward to sharing the collection with YOU.

This most recent proof copy looks really good. I really think next week is going to be the week for launching the book on Lulu and getting things started with Amazon and whatnot. Stay tuned for pre-ordering info!

I half yawned, half squealed when I clicked to confirm that proof copy order. :) I am SO excited to have finally taken a small portion of my creative work and actually done something with it. I’m eagerly working on having a halfway presentable website, a Facebook page, a Kindle version ready to submit, and all those other helpful goodies to go along with the hard copy. Good things to come!