Bill Hiatt's Blog, page 8

Please Pardon the Mess!

I’m in the process of updating the site to a new theme that gives me more options. Unfortunately, some elements, such as sidebars, didn’t carry over initially in the way that I would have liked. Unless I want to lose all flexibility, I have to add those elements back one page (or post) at a time, so it may take a little time before all navigational tools are fully restored.

I have also noticed that some elements are now in a slightly different location, though hopefully they will not be too hard to find.

Thanks for your patience!

March Weekly Giveaway

This month the weekly winner giveaway continues, with fourteen winners each week. Each winner will still receive a five dollar Amazon e gift card, as well as the option of adding one of my e-books (pictured above) to the prize. The basic giveaway process is explained below:

Each new week’s contest will open at 8:00 am Pacific Time on Monday and close at 8:00 am Pacific time the following Monday, when the new contest opens.
Each contest will be a week long Rafflecopter, with the widget on this page. The Rafflecopter will be open all week, so you can answer the question about prize options whenever you want. Each day a new entry option becomes available, as explained below.
One of my posts/tweets during each day  will contain a four digit code. It won’t be marked as that day’s code, but it will be fairly easy to spot. (A quick scroll through the FB posts or the tweets in my Twitter profile each day should quickly do the trick.) To enter, you need to make a blog post comment with that day’s code. Then you access the Rafflecopter widget (or link, if the widget is being cantankerous) and record the fact that you made the blog post. You can input the code for a particular day on that day or wait until later, as long as you input it before the contest ends. You only need to input the code for one day to be eligible for a prize, but the more days for which you input a code, the better your odds of winning are.
At the end of each contest, fourteen winners each day will be selected randomly from among those who submitted the correct code for at least one day.
If there are not enough people with a correct code, the unclaimed prize amount will be added to the prizes for the following day.
As will all my giveaways, this one is void where prohibited. Entrants must meet the usual eligibility requirements, must correctly complete the entry option(s), and must provide a valid email address in order to receive a prize. No purchase is necessary to enter, nor will making a purchase improve the odds of winning.
(added 11/17) Each person is limited to being one entrant [though that single entrant may earn multiple “entries” (as Rafflecopter uses the term) by using more of the available entry options]. However, no person may register as more than one entrant by entering under different names and/or email addresses. A person who creates multiple entrants in this way will be disqualified. In answer to some questions I have received, please note that this rule is only intended to prohibit one person entering as if he or she were several people. It is not intended to prohibit different members of the same household from entering separately.

Good luck!

Week of February 29:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

February Weekly Giveaway

This month the weekly winner giveaway continues, with fourteen winners each week. Each winner will still receive a five dollar Amazon e gift card, as well as the option of adding one of my e-books (pictured above) to the prize. The basic giveaway process is explained below:

Each new week’s contest will open at 8:00 am Pacific Time on Monday and close at 8:00 am Pacific time the following Monday, when the new contest opens.
Each contest will be a week long Rafflecopter, with the widget on this page. The Rafflecopter will be open all week, so you can answer the question about prize options whenever you want. Each day a new entry option becomes available, as explained below.
One of my posts/tweets during each day  will contain a four digit code. It won’t be marked as that day’s code, but it will be fairly easy to spot. (A quick scroll through the FB posts or the tweets in my Twitter profile each day should quickly do the trick.) To enter, you need to make a blog post comment with that day’s code. Then you access the Rafflecopter widget (or link, if the widget is being cantankerous) and record the fact that you made the blog post. You can input the code for a particular day on that day or wait until later, as long as you input it before the contest ends. You only need to input the code for one day to be eligible for a prize, but the more days for which you input a code, the better your odds of winning are.
At the end of each contest, fourteen winners each day will be selected randomly from among those who submitted the correct code for at least one day.
If there are not enough people with a correct code, the unclaimed prize amount will be added to the prizes for the following day.
As will all my giveaways, this one is void where prohibited. Entrants must meet the usual eligibility requirements, must correctly complete the entry option(s), and must provide a valid email address in order to receive a prize. No purchase is necessary to enter, nor will making a purchase improve the odds of winning.
(added 11/17) Each person is limited to being one entrant [though that single entrant may earn multiple “entries” (as Rafflecopter uses the term) by using more of the available entry options]. However, no person may register as more than one entrant by entering under different names and/or email addresses. A person who creates multiple entrants in this way will be disqualified. In answer to some questions I have received, please note that this rule is only intended to prohibit one person entering as if he or she were several people. It is not intended to prohibit different members of the same household from entering separately.

Good luck!

Week of February 1:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

January Weekly Winner Giveaway

This month the weekly winner giveaway continues, with fourteen winners each week. Each winner will still receive a five dollar Amazon e gift card, as well as the option of adding one of my e-books (pictured above) to the prize. The basic giveaway process is explained below:

Each new week’s contest will open at 8:00 am Pacific Time on Monday and close at 8:00 am Pacific time the following Monday, when the new contest opens.
Each contest will be a week long Rafflecopter, with the widget on this page. The Rafflecopter will be open all week, so you can answer the question about prize options whenever you want. Each day a new entry option becomes available, as explained below.
One of my posts/tweets during each day  will contain a four digit code. It won’t be marked as that day’s code, but it will be fairly easy to spot. (A quick scroll through the FB posts or the tweets in my Twitter profile each day should quickly do the trick.) To enter, you need to make a blog post comment with that day’s code. Then you access the Rafflecopter widget (or link, if the widget is being cantankerous) and record the fact that you made the blog post. You can input the code for a particular day on that day or wait until later, as long as you input it before the contest ends. You only need to input the code for one day to be eligible for a prize, but the more days for which you input a code, the better your odds of winning are.
At the end of each contest, fourteen winners each day will be selected randomly from among those who submitted the correct code for at least one day.
If there are not enough people with a correct code, the unclaimed prize amount will be added to the prizes for the following day.
As will all my giveaways, this one is void where prohibited. Entrants must meet the usual eligibility requirements, must correctly complete the entry option(s), and must provide a valid email address in order to receive a prize. No purchase is necessary to enter, nor will making a purchase improve the odds of winning.
(added 11/17) Each person is limited to being one entrant [though that single entrant may earn multiple “entries” (as Rafflecopter uses the term) by using more of the available entry options]. However, no person may register as more than one entrant by entering under different names and/or email addresses. A person who creates multiple entrants in this way will be disqualified. In answer to some questions I have received, please note that this rule is only intended to prohibit one person entering as if he or she were several people. It is not intended to prohibit different members of the same household from entering separately.

Good luck!

Week of January 4:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

December Weekly Winner Giveaway

This month the weekly winner giveaway continues, with fourteen winners each week. Each winner will still receive a five dollar Amazon e gift card, as well as the option of adding one of my e-books (pictured above) to the prize. The basic giveaway process is explained below:

Each new week’s contest will open at 8:00 am Pacific Time on Monday and close at 8:00 am Pacific time the following Monday, when the new contest opens.
Each contest will be a week long Rafflecopter, with the widget on this page. The Rafflecopter will be open all week, so you can answer the question about prize options whenever you want. Each day a new entry option becomes available, as explained below.
One of my posts/tweets during each day  will contain a four digit code. It won’t be marked as that day’s code, but it will be fairly easy to spot. (A quick scroll through the FB posts or the tweets in my Twitter profile each day should quickly do the trick.) To enter, you need to make a blog post comment with that day’s code. Then you access the Rafflecopter widget (or link, if the widget is being cantankerous) and record the fact that you made the blog post. You can input the code for a particular day on that day or wait until later, as long as you input it before the contest ends. You only need to input the code for one day to be eligible for a prize, but the more days for which you input a code, the better your odds of winning are.
At the end of each contest, fourteen winners each day will be selected randomly from among those who submitted the correct code for at least one day.
If there are not enough people with a correct code, the unclaimed prize amount will be added to the prizes for the following day.
As will all my giveaways, this one is void where prohibited. Entrants must meet the usual eligibility requirements, must correctly complete the entry option(s), and must provide a valid email address in order to receive a prize. No purchase is necessary to enter, nor will making a purchase improve the odds of winning.
(added 11/17) Each person is limited to being one entrant [though that single entrant may earn multiple “entries” (as Rafflecopter uses the term) by using more of the available entry options]. However, no person may register as more than one entrant by entering under different names and/or email addresses. A person who creates multiple entrants in this way will be disqualified. In answer to some questions I have received, please not that this rule is only intended to prohibit one person entering as if he or she were several people. It is not intended to prohibit different members of the same household from entering separately.

Good luck!

Week of November 30:

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A “Feel Good” New Release Just in Time for the Holidays

Hal doesn’t have any close friends at his high school and lies to his parents about his situation so they won’t worry. He wishes his life were different, but finding an anonymous note and a feather in his backpack wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. The anonymous note claims the feather is an angel feather, capable of working one miracle, but Hal hesitates. Is the feather someone’s idea of a joke, or is it the answer to Hal’s secret wishes? If the feather can really work a miracle, will it change Hal’s life for the better, or will it simply prove the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for”?

(Although this short story is a set in the Spell Weaver universe, it is intended as a stand-alone piece that can be read and enjoyed whether one has read any of the other Spell Weaver books or not.)

Sound interesting? Check it out at http://viewbook.at/angelfeather.

 

November Weekly Winner Giveaway

The daily winner giveaway has been generally successful, but this month I’ll be trying a new weekly giveaway format. The number of winners will be the same (fourteen for the week instead of two for the day), and each winner will still receive a five dollar Amazon e gift card, as well as the option of adding one of my e-books (four of which are pictured to the left) to the prize. (Potential book prizes now include my brand new release, “Angel Feather,” which you can find more about here.) The basic process is explained below:

Each new week’s contest will open at 8:00 am Pacific Time on Monday and close at 8:00 am Pacific time the following Monday, when the new contest opens.
Each contest will be a week long rafflecopter, with the widget on this page. The rafflecopter will be open all week, so you can answer the question about prize options whenever you want. Each day I will add a new entry option, as explained below.
Just as with the daily winner contests, one of my posts/tweets during each day  will contain a four digit code. It won’t be marked as that day’s code, but it will be fairly easy to spot. (A quick scroll through the FB posts or the tweets in my Twitter profile each day should quickly do the trick.) To enter, you need to make a blog post comment with that day’s code. Then you access the rafflecopter widget (or link, if the widget is being cantankerous) and record the fact that you made the blog post. The difference between this contest and the daily winner contest is that, instead of being over in one day, the contest will run for seven. Each day I will add the entry option to input that day’s code in a blog post. You can input the code for a particular day on that day or wait until later, as long as you input it before the contest ends. You only need to input the code for one day to be eligible for a prize, but the more days for which you input a code, the better your odds of winning are.
At the end of each contest, fourteen winners each day will be selected randomly from among those who submitted the correct code for at least one day.
If there are not enough people with a correct code, the unclaimed prize amount will be added to the prizes for the following day.
As will all my giveaways, this one is void where prohibited. Entrants must meet the usual eligibility requirements, must correctly complete the entry option(s), and musts provide a valid email address in order to receive a prize. No purchase is necessary to enter, nor will making a purchase improve the odds of winning.

Good luck!

Week of November 2:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Halloween Giveaway

Yes, it’s that time of year once again–giveaway time! Well, actually, that’s pretty much any time of year, isn’t it?

I’m actually off to a late start for a Halloween giveaway…but at least you don’t have to wait as long to know whether or not you won. I couldn’t resist doing something for Halloween, given the fact that my first book, Living with Your Past Selves, climaxes on Halloween, and my most recent release, We Walk in Darkness, works well as a Halloween read even though the story is set in the spring.

This particular giveaway is a fan loyalty event, which means I don’t advertise anywhere except through this website, my own social media, and my mailing list.

The rafflecopter widget for recording your entry options is below. This is also the page to use to fulfill the “comment on a blog post” entry option.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



(Image copyrighted by mythja and licensed from http://www.shutterstock.com)

October Daily Winner Page (and a New Release!)

In honor of Samhain (Halloween), I’m adding to each Daily Winner Prize the option to get a free copy of We Walk in Darkness, the new Spell Weaver novella that just came out yesterday. Like the other books in the series, it’s fantasy, but the subject matter would certainly fit the Halloween season. Also, it is relatively easy to read independently if you aren’t familiar with the rest of the series.

Here’s the product description from Amazon:

Lucas Santos has been worried for months that he is some kind of freak. He can move too fast, and he sometimes gets flashes of the near future. He does what a lot of teenagers would do under the circumstances; he keeps his special abilities secret, even from his family and his closest friends.

But secrets have a way of being revealed, and when a shadow takes on a life of its own and starts pursuing Lucas, he has the feeling he won’t be able to conceal his true nature much longer. Unexpectedly, the shadow’s sudden intervention uncovers a much larger secret that his family has been keeping, a secret that may save him from the shadows–but at the cost of destroying his current life completely.

Sound interesting? You can get more information here: http://viewbook.at/wewalk. (Unlike the last new release, the Look Inside feature is already working if you want to browse.)

Here are the daily winner rules in you need a reminder:

Each new day’s contest will open at 8:00 am Pacific Time on that day and close at 8:00 am Pacific time the following day, when the new contest opens.
Each contest will be a short time rafflecopter, with the widget on this page, so you may need to scroll a little bit as time goes on, but that seemed easier than creating a new post each day and having different links each day.
One of my posts/tweets during each day will contain a four digit code. It won’t be marked as that day’s code, but it will be fairly easy to spot. (A quick scroll through the FB posts or the tweets in my Twitter profile should quickly do the trick.) To enter, you just need to access the rafflecopter widget (or link, if the widget is being cantankerous) and input the code.
This month the entry process is two part: comment on the blog post, and answer a question about whether you want the free e-book or not. (E-books require a Kindle reading device or a free Kindle app to view.) If you say yes to the book question, you can read the book whenever you want, but please download the book right away so I know you received it.
Two winners each day will be selected randomly from among those who submit the correct code.
If there are not two people with the correct code, the unclaimed prize amount will be added to the prizes for the following day.

Good luck!

October 1:

a Rafflecopter giveaway



(The cover was designed by Peter O’Connor from http://bespokebookcovers.com/.)

Results of Release Party Rafflecopter Giveaway

You can see all the winners below. The first one is the $300 winner; the next five are $100 each; the next 10 $25 each; the remainder are $10 each. (Additionally, the top six winners had the option of adding a year of Amazon Prime to their prize, and all winners had the option of adding some or all of my e-books.) You’ll notice that there are more winners than were originally announced. I’m not sure if I made a mistake or Rafflecopter did–or perhaps some people just had destiny on their side.

I have emailed the winners, but just in case you are a winner and haven’t seen the email yet, I forgot to ask for a payment preference (Amazon or PayPal) this time. I’ve asked all the winners to email me with their preferences.

Thanks to all of you who participated, and I hope

a Rafflecopter giveaway