S.D. Smith's Blog, page 28
October 8, 2018
LIVE with S. D. Smith and Sarah Mackenzie!
This was so much fun! Sarah and I did live podcast events all over the country this year to support our new books. Sarah has taken some of the audio and released it today on her mega-hit (echo: mega-hit-mega-hit-mega-hit!) RAR pod. Check this out. It’s a certifiable hoot. Also, consider rating and reviewing the RAR pod. Sarah has been a tremendous advocate and dear friend. Gina and I love her!
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October 4, 2018
Original #RabbitsWithSwords Oath Design T-Shirt AVAILABLE FOR LIMITED RUN
FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY: Long sleeved versions of the old oath design are available to preorder ONLY IN OCTOBER and will ship when the new book is ready. We get lots of requests/questions about this shirt design and we wish we had the capacity to carry both shirts all the time. But, we are very happy to bring back this classic in a new long sleeve in time for Christmas. You can get just the shirt, or the combo of new book and shirt together and save a bit. (Both below.)
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October 3, 2018
New S. D. Smith Book Available for Pre-order NOW!
Great news! My newest book, The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner, is available to pre-order now! This thrilling follow-up to The Black Star of Kingston is another swashbuckling adventure featuring our intrepid #RabbitsWithSwords. Set sail for high adventure in Tales of Old Natalia 2!
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September 3, 2018
#GreenEmberKidArt August Prize Winners Announced!
(Check out the official rules, if you’re not sure how this works.)
Our Best #GreenEmberKidArt of the Month Winner!
.
drumroll…..
.
.
.
.
This was from a 7 year old! Well done!
And now…
Our Randomly Selected Kid Artist Winner!
By Tilley, age 5!
Congrats to the winners!
This was fun! Don’t lose heart if you missed out this month. Try again! Remember, all winners are entered for the Grand Prize at the end of the year!
Follow this tag (#GreenEmberKidArt) to see the wonderful art by the kids (posted by parents) on Instagram.
And here for the same tag on Facebook.
It’s wonderful stuff!
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August 13, 2018
S. D. Smith Fall Book Tour! Is Sam Coming Your Way?
S. D. Smith has been all over the country this year on his Book Tour: California, Texas, Colorado, Missouri, Florida, and more! Now, there’s one leg of the tour left. Is Sam coming your way? SEE BELOW!
September 27 Matthews, North Carolina
Grayfriars Classical School Banquet
September 28 Mathews, North Carolina
Grayfriars Classical School
September 29 Charlotte, North Carolina
The Green Ember Experience -Brace Family YMCA Hemby Program Center (TICKETS Available 8-14-18)
October 1 Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville Classical Academy
October 2 Monroe, Georgia
The Story Shop (More Details Soon)
October 3 Atlanta, Georgia
Author Event Hosted by CC Peachtree Corners Venue: Peachtree Corners Presbyterian Church (More Details Soon)
October 4 Nashville, Tennessee
An Evening With S. D. Smith – Hosted by Family Field Guide – TICKETS and more info
October 5-7 Nashville, Tennessee
The Rabbit Room Conference – Hutchmoot
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August 4, 2018
#GreenEmberKidArt July Prize Winners Announced!
It was yet another great month for fantastic #GreenEmberKidArt! As you know from the official rules, the child’s age needed to be posted (every month great ones are ineligible because of this!) and the post needed to be public on either Instagram or Facebook. The art can be of different varieties. You DO NOT need to post it TO the Facebook or Instagram page, only to tag Sam’s pages there!
We pick one random winner (from among all eligible entrants) and one we judged (accounting for age) the “best.” This month we had two finalists and we actually held a vote in a few different places to break the tie! It was SO CLOSE! One was stronger on Instagram and one on Facebook. BOTH artists will receive a prize…
Drumroll please…..
Our Best #GreenEmberKidArt of the Month Winner!
By ONLY 3 VOTES (totaled from multiple public polls)…
Elise, 11 years old. Wonderful job!
And our VERY NEAR runner-up…
12 year old NC girl. Excellent!
Well done and amazing job to BOTH girls! Both will win prizes!
And now…
Our Randomly Selected Kid Artist Winner!
By “M”, age 12.
Congrats to Elise, NC Girl, and “M”!
This was fun! The “best” choice was VERY tough and VERY close! Don’t lose heart if you missed out this month. Try again! Remember, all winners are entered for the Grand Prize at the end of the year!
Follow this tag (#GreenEmberKidArt) to see the wonderful art by the kids (posted by parents) on Instagram.
And here for the same tag on Facebook.
It’s wonderful stuff!
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July 11, 2018
A Fun Behind-the-Scenes Look at The Last Archer: A Green Ember Story
Hey pals!
I loved writing The Last Archer: A Green Ember Story. It was so much fun. It was a quick write, a quick editing process, and a quick cover creation (Zach Franzen, cover artist, and Andrew Mackay, designer/publisher). Everything else in the process was also QUICK. The sand? You guessed it: quicksand.
***
I got Zach on the phone and said, “Hey, we need cover art for a new short book.”
“Cool,” unsuspecting Zach said.
“So, we need it kinda quick,” I said smoothly like a smooth guy.
“How soon?” Zach asked like an innocent child about to be mowed down by a hail of mowing hail.
“Um…uh…like…a week,” I said, thinking about Genesis.
“Okay, let’s try it.”
Here are two of Zach’s hasty mockups of what the cover could look like.
Did we make the right choice?
Fun fact: Zach added lightning and rain to the cover of the book (which, because of the time crunch, he hadn’t yet read. That weather event wasn’t in the text.) What to do? The art looked amazing, so I actually went back and wrote it in. Collaboration!
Back to the story…
Zach said, “Let’s try it.” Josiah said, “Let’s try it.” Andrew said, “Let’s try it.” I said, “Let’s try it.”
Then we did. We tried a bunch of things that shouldn’t have worked, but they did. After the manuscript was done (and done well), our team went into high gear doing all the thousand things it takes to get an excellent book into your hands.
We shared a video announcing the cover and release date of Ember Rising: The Green Ember Book III, and then dropped in a little surprise. Here it was, er…is.
People. Got. Stoked.
We had a bunch of orders (to our store, a HUGE help to us) and we drove up to Ohio to ship them all in a flurry of nearly 24 hours of constant work so that everyone would get their books before Christmas.
Then, we rested for ten seconds before rushing into Ember Rising. And after that…touring! And after that…well, the next thing!
It’s all fun and awesome and exhausting and I love it.
The Last Archer was created and shared much quicker than normal, BUT I don’t feel like the quality suffered. I think it’s my favorite cover of the many wonderful covers Zach has done for us and I kind of think it’s one of the better-written stories. I have heard from lots of readers who say it’s their favorite.
'); GetThe Last Archer: A Green Ember StoryTODAY!At My Store!At Amazon!At Audible!
Ask for your library to order several copies.
Thank you!
Here are some kind reviews some of you have left. Thank you! You can’t imagine how helpful these reviews and ratings at Amazon, Audible, and Goodreads are. And I’ve added some art from kids (yes, kids!) who love the story.
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July 9, 2018
How To (Easily) Help Us Out on Facebook
Hey Pals!
Would you please Like, Follow, and Click “See First” on My Facebook Author Page? This helps you see our posts and go around Facebook’s effort to stifle our organic reach and force us to pay for ads to show you posts you already want to see.
It’s easy and will just take a minute. It helps us so much!
Here’s how to do it on mobile:
1) Follow 2) Get Notifications 3) See First
And for Laptops/Desktops:
1) Like 2) Follow 3) Hit “See First.”
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July 3, 2018
#GreenEmberKidArt June Prize Winners Announced!
We had some wonderful artists share their work once again in the month of June and it was great! As you know from the official rules, the child’s age needed to be posted (and age is taken into account) and the post needed to be public on either Instagram or Facebook. The art can be be of different varieties.
We pick one random winner (from among all eligible entrants) and one we judged (accounting for age) the “best.”
Drumroll please…..
Our Best #GreenEmberKidArt of the Month Winner!
By Jaci, age 13.
And now…
Our Randomly Selected Kid Artist Winner!
By Aleyna, age 12.
Congrats to Jaci and Aleyna!
This was fun! The “best” choice was VERY tough this month. Don’t lose heart if you missed out this month. Try again! Remember, all winners are entered for the Grand Prize at the end of the year!
Follow this tag (#GreenEmberKidArt) to see the wonderful art by the kids (posted by parents) on Instagram.
And here for the same tag on Facebook.
It’s wonderful stuff!
Look at this one! Well done, Andrew (13), as well. This would make an awesome movie poster. I hope you’ll enter again!
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June 27, 2018
Why Has THE GREEN EMBER SERIES Reached Hundreds of Thousands of Readers So Fast?
HOW DO WE EXPLAIN WHY The Green Ember Series HAS REACHED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF READERS SO QUICKLY?
The Green Ember Series hasn’t connected with so many readers because of clever marketing, big-budget advertising, powerful publisher backing, or celebrity endorsements. The reason is simple…
Families LOVE it. They review it and share it with friends. Readers are starving for New Stories With An Old Soul!
Below are just a few of the headlines from some of the over 1,000 FIVE STAR reviews on Amazon for The Green Ember. You can see more, AND ADD YOUR OWN, here.
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