08 November 2017

Goodreads Giveaway!

Want to win a copy of How to Disappear? I'm giving away three hardcover copies on Goodreads. Open internationally. Enter by December 8! 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

How to Disappear by Sharon Huss Roat

How to Disappear

by Sharon Huss Roat

Giveaway ends December 08, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway

16 October 2017

Bringing Vicurious to Life (IRL!)












During the process of writing How to Disappear, I spent a lot of time on Instagram checking the same hashtags that the main character, Vicky, explores in the novel. As Vicurious, she reaches out to followers who feel #invisbile and #ignored, who have #socialanxiety and #depression and just want to be #seen. 

To connect with readers and let them know they are #notalone, I decided to bring Vicurious to life by creating a real Instagram for her. Below is a visual of a few of the Vicurious posts I’ve created so far. It took a while to find my model, make a wig and put together the costume, do some photo shoots, and then learn Photoshop well enough to create some images of Vicurious living vicariously! So, I started with some text posts, like the one which references Vicky’s “Terror List.” Then I ventured into current events to throw her into some exciting events.  

Next up… I’d love to get readers more involved in the content, providing suggestions of places and events they want Vicurious to visit, and even their own photos. I’ll also use the Vicurious account to post fan art and graphics, and hopefully become a place where people with social anxiety can find their people and make new friends. 

Visit her @vicurious on Instagram!





02 October 2017

#PubforPR - Help us raise money for Puerto Rico hurricane relief, Auction open through Oct. 5th


Members of the publishing community have come together to raise money for hurricane relief in Puerto Rico. There are many wonderful items and services up for auction—for writers, readers, teachers and librarians—including manuscript and query critiques, writing retreats, book bundles, Skype visits and more. Visit the PubforPR website for more information!

ALL of the money raised will go directly to these two organizations:


Unidos por Puerto Rico (United for Puerto Rico) is an initiative funded by Puerto Rico’s First Lady, Beatriz Rosselló, to assist Puerto Rico in its relief efforts for the victims of hurricanes Irma and María.


ConPRmetidos is a Puerto Rican organization dedicated to developing Puerto Rican communities and industries across the globe through the assistance of Puerto Ricans abroad. They have created a relief fund to help Puerto Rico with hurricanes Irma and María.

My donation to the auction is featured in this book bundle of contemporary YA novels. Go here to bid, and thank you so much for supporting this cause.


22 September 2017

Two book festivals this weekend (Sept. 23-24)!!!

I'll be at Barnes & Noble Christiana Mall on Saturday, and Baltimore's Inner Harbor on Sunday.

Saturday's B-Fest is full of events for teens, including an author panel I'll be on at 3 p.m. AND, if you mention the Delaware Festival of Words, a portion of proceeds from your purchase will go to the festival. So please come by and help us raise funds for our 2018 event.


And on Sunday, I'll be joining a YA author panel for a fun game of "Whose Book Is It Anyway?" at the Baltimore Book Festival, on the Inner Harbor. Book signing to follow! 






13 September 2017

San Francisco, here I come!

I leave for San Francisco today, and I'll be with Jessica Taylor at Linden Tree Books on Sunday, September 17. We'd love to see you there!



07 September 2017

I went to the National Book Festival and it was awesome! Here's why:

Here's a little recap of the incredible day I had at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 2. 

1) There were tons of amazing authors there. On the teen stage alone, that included Sabaa Tahir, Nicola Yoon, Melissa de la Cruz, Sandhya Menon, M.T. Anderson and Angie Thomas. Here's the crowd:

That's Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give, up there
in the middle. I was in the way back. She was amazing.

2) There were two Children's stages featuring authors. I caught a little bit of A.S. King's talk about her middle grade novel Me and Marvin Gardens, which has a great message about caring for our environment. I also saw Ronald L. Smith, author of Hoodoo, The Mesmerist, and the forthcoming Marvel comic origin story, Black Panther The Young Prince. The children's stages were super cool with fun bean-bag-filled seating areas:

Hi Ron! The kids loved you!

3) When I wasn't listening to these amazing authors, I was in the Pavilion of States, where my book was chosen to represent Delaware. I appeared at my state's booth for two stints which lasted a total of five hours, and it was a blast. This area was packed (the whole festival was packed) with kids and parents and teachers and librarians, all participating in a map activity where ether go to each state to get their map stamped, and also get other fun stuff... including How to Disappear bookmarks! I have five different designs that feature quotes from the book, so it was fun to see which were the favorites. (#1-"It Feels Good to Be Seen." #2 - "You are not alone.") SO. MUCH. FUN. 

See what I mean about it being packed? That center aisle
was mobbed. With READERS! So awesome. 
These lovely teens had already read HOW TO DISAPPEAR and
stood at the corner of the booth telling everyone how great it is!
I LOVE THEM! 
Here I am with Patty Langley of DE Division of Libraries
and her lovely niece Christina.  
I don't know this woman's name but when she read about my book at the booth,
she hurried off to buy it at the store and came back to have it signed.
She told us it was the last copy! Sold out! WOOT!
I signed lots of bookmarks, and the kids had such beautiful names,
I started writing them in my notebook. Inspiration for
future book characters! Aren't they lovely?

26 August 2017

HOW TO DISAPPEAR is... appearing now in a bookstore near you!

Four thumbs up from booksellers
at Hockessin Book Shelf!
HOW TO DISAPPEAR is officially out in the world, and I couldn't be happier with how it's been received so far! 

First, the book launch party was a success, despite the weather trying to ruin everything. We had planned to have the event at a mostly-outdoor location, and those plans were dashed at the very last minute when rain decided to stick around longer than expected. So, we scrambled to send out change of location notice, put up signs, and headed back back to the fabulous Hockessin Book Shelf. Thankfully, people still came! Here are some photos to prove it!


Here I am with Maggie Thrash, author of HONOR GIRL and the
STRANGE TRUTH series. Maggie hosted my Instagram story
for the evening, and did her "being generally awesome" thing.

My son, Sebastian (left), performed some sweet tunes with his friend Max.

People! Waiting for me to sign their books! AHHHH!

I signed for two hours straight! I forgot the names of people I've known for years! 
Love these people. Launch party photos by Nico Carver.

Then it was off to Bethany Beach Books the following evening, where I was a roadside attraction. Hahahaha. Thankfully I had company of the lovely Amanda, aka "Bookish Hollow," a YA book blogger. It was fun to chat with people strolling the main drag, a block from the boardwalk. I signed lots of books that night, to people who bought them on the spot and as well as some additional stock for the store... so if you're in the area and want a signed copy, they've got 'em!

I met some lovely teens. And many other... interesting people.

With my sidekick for the evening, the lovely Amanda Warren.

With my beautiful, 13-year-old daughter Anna (center) and her friend Annie.

And readers posted some lovely reviews. Here are a couple of excerpts, with links to the full posts:

"One of my top 5 YA books of 2017 and a mandatory read for parents, teachers and administrators, this story of social anxiety, depression and the lure of social media to replace real life is frighteningly real." – Kate Olson, The Loud Librarian Lady

"I laughed, I cried, I swooned, but I also found myself relating to so many of the things Vicky did and felt... I only have praise for this lovely story of a girl, who while trying to escape herself, she finds herself." – Kiersten Kozbial, We Live and Breathe Books

I also stopped by the Barnes & Noble store on Concord Pike in Wilmington, and they asked me to sign their stock. So of course, I took photos:













More news to come soon! Please check my events page to see where I'll be next. I just added an event for San Francisco in September! 

08 August 2017

Two Giveaways to Celebrate HOW TO DISAPPEAR... featuring OwlCrate, plus six of my favorite authors!

How to Disappear comes out on Tuesday, August 15th! To celebrate, I'm hosting not one, but TWO giveaways. 
GIVEAWAY #1
(The Pre-Order Giveaway)

If you pre-order How to Disappear by August 14th, send your proof of purchase to HowToDisappearPreorders@gmail.com, and you'll be entered for a chance to win an OwlCrate box, a $100 gift certificate to the bookstore of your choice, plus swag. (And EVERYBODY wins the swag... a set of bookmarks and a signed bookplate.) See details here. Open internationally!


GIVEAWAY #2
(The Gratitude Giveaway)

On the back cover of How to Disappear, you will find blurbs by six of my favorite authors. They are talented writers and some of the loveliest people  I have ever met. I just adore them all. 

I'm so grateful for their kind words, and I can't begin to thank them except to tell everyone I know how much I love THEIR books. So, to celebrate my own book's launch, I'm going to celebrate their books as well with a BONUS GIVEAWAY! 

Enter the Rafflecopter below to win YOUR CHOICE of their books. (And if you want a different one of their titles than the one featured here, I'm cool with that. I will order and mail ANY book by any of these authors to the winner of this giveaway.)



OPEN INTERNATIONALLY! Enter to win HERE:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

10 July 2017

HOW TO DISAPPEAR Pre-Order Giveaway! Open Internationally!

To celebrate the upcoming release of How to Disappear on August 15, I'm hosting a pre-order giveaway with some fun and fabulous prizes. Everyone who pre-orders is eligible to win, and EVERYONE WINS SOMETHING. 



Pre-Order How to Disappear by August 14 and you will:

1) WIN a set of five bookmarks featuring some of my favorite quotes from How to
Disappear
as well as a bookplate personalized (to you) and signed by the author (that's me). You'll receive one set of bookmarks for every copy of How to Disappear you purchase, so go ahead and order extras for your friends, family, neighbors, teachers, random people on the street... I won't stop you. BOOKMARKS FOR EVERYONE!

2) Receive one entry for every pre-order in a special drawing for an August OwlCrate subscription box! If you are not familiar with OwlCrate, visit them here. I don't know which book will be featured in their August box, but I know it'll be fabulous and accompanied by other fabulous goodies. That's the way they roll. (Thank you OwlCrate for being awesome and offering up this amazing prize to one lucky winner!)

3) Receive one entry per pre-order in $100 bookstore gift card giveaway! The winner can choose ANY BOOKSTORE or ANY ONLINE BOOK RETAILER from which I can purchase a gift certificate via phone or internet. 

Here's how it works... 

First, you go to your favorite bookseller and pre-order a copy of How to Disappear by Sharon Huss Roat (me again), by midnight eastern standard time on August 14. It can be a hard copy or electronic version. Just make sure it's the right book. This one:


And here are some places where you can order it:


PRE-ORDER PURCHASE LINKS


or
or
or
or
or
or
or
Anywhere Books are Sold! 

(If you're planning to attend my book launch party on August 15, 6-8 p.m., at Woodside Farm Creamery in Hockessin, Del., you can pre-order a copy to pick up there. Just email the Hockessin Book Shelf and ask them to reserve a copy for you to purchase at the event. You can forward their email response as your proof of purchase. And, I'll see you there and sign your book!)

....


Email your proof of purchase to:

HowToDisappearPreOrders@gmail.com

This can be a photograph of your receipt, a screen shot of order confirmation, an email confirmation of the pre-order from your local bookstore. Also include your mailing address so I can send your swag right away! (Everyone wins bookmarks and a bookplate.)

And you're done! 
Thank you so much. 

More special prizes will be announced in the final week of the pre-order campaign, so stay tuned!