Pump Up Your Book's 5th Anniversary Hoedown Giveaway!

Pump Up Your Book is celebrating 5 years and you get all the presents!

It's hard to believe Pump Up Your Book opened its virtual doors 5 years ago. I swear I just started working with our founder, Dorothy. But the calendar doesn't lie. My first clients--I'll never forget them--were authors Darrell Bain and Maureen Fisher. I still receive Darrell's newsletter, and Maureen's latest release, Fur Ball Fever, is on my Kindle waiting for me.

There's something special about first clients. You remember them. You follow their careers. You think how you might have run their tours differently now that you have all this experience. In 2007, virtual book tours were a new vehicle of book promotion. That's changed now. Blogging has exploded. We've gone from a handful of clients to touring 30 - 40 authors a month. Big publishing houses make virtual book tours part of their marketing plans, and independent authors know they have to attract an online audience to be successful.

Another change on the virtual book tour scene? E-books. For the first four years, we explained to authors that they needed to make printed copies of their books available for reviewers. Now, I have almost as many bloggers requesting digital versions of books as I do printed ones. Darrell Bain had e-books out for years before the Kindle Fire and color Nook came along. Maureen Fisher's first book, The Jaguar Legacy, was released last year in a Kindle version with a new cover. Both of her books are also available for Nook.

In the spirit of firsts, I am giving away a PDF copy of my first book, Little Shepherd. Obed is in the hills outside Bethlehem when the angels appear to announce the Savior's birth. Can he trust that the miracle of the first Christmas will keep his flock safe while he visits the newborn King?

Please leave a comment with your email address for your chance to win. This is an international giveaway. Winner will be selected by Random.org. Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM Eastern on Sunday, April 22, 2012. You must be 18 years or older to win.

For a complete list of tour stops and giveaways for the Pump Up Your Book's 5th Anniversary Hoedown, please visit us at http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2012/04/01/pump-up-your-book-5th-year-anniversary-celebration/.

Thanks for the last five years. We hope we'll see you again in another five.