May 6, 2013

The Can't Sleep Without Sheep E-Book Launch Jingle Contest!

It's finally Monday!

It's okay.  You can admit it.  I know you couldn't sleep last night (even with plenty of sheep to count :)) because you were So Excited about today's contest! :)

And today's contest is happening because tomorrow, May 7, Can't Sleep Without Sheep is coming out as an E-Book!!!
It will be available on all platforms, and it is one of 4 books that Walker has chosen to launch their E-Book line.  For that reason, it is very important that it do well.  It is a representative!  Sallying forth and bearing the flag of honor!  So I really want to help spread the word so that Woolliam and Ava don't end up hanging their heads in disgrace!

UPDATE:
Here is the E-Book link for Bloomsbury! Can't Sleep E-Book - Bloomsbury

This contest has gone through a few metamorphoses, but has ended up as follows.  You may participate in any or all of the 3 categories! :) (and if you've already read the rules you can skip a bit :)):

1.  Write a jingle that makes Can't Sleep Without Sheep sound irresistible!  So that everyone will want to read it!!  On whatever electronic device they happen to have!!!  The judges will look with extra favor on anyone who produces a video (sorry, they can't help it :))  For more details on writing your jingle, please go HERE)

On Monday May 6 - Tuesday May 7, please post your jingle of awesomeness on your blog and include the links to the E-Book (which I'm sorry you'll have to add tomorrow because the links don't exist yet!)  Add your post-specific link to the list below so we can all come and be entertained by your jingle.  (And as always, if you'd like to participate but don't have a blog, you may either post in the comments or email me and I'll add your entry to this post.)

On Monday May 13, we will vote for a winner.  If we get fewer than 15 participants (*sob*) I will post them all here for popular vote.  If we get 16 or more (YAY! :)) my lovely assistant and I will select up to 10 finalists for your voting pleasure.

Prizes for Category #1- The Jingle (given for 1st place if 15 entries or fewer, 1st-3rd if more than 16 entries) are as follows:
Winner's choice of one of the following:

#1 The Serenity Spa Gift Basket from It's Only Natural - a $55 value of organic soaps and lotions!
#2 A $50 gift certificate to Amazon!
#3 Tangy lemon bars, fudgy brownies, and sugared butter cookies from Sweet Sally's Bakeshop! (A $40+ value)
#4 Winner's choice of any 3 of my books, specially signed for whoever you like (A $30-$50 value depending on which books you choose)
#5 Winner's choice of my online picture book writing course (a $99 value) OR a picture book manuscript critique by yours truly (a $75 value)

2. Face Book post, Tweet, and/or blog that Can't Sleep Without Sheep is coming out as an E-Book for all platforms, including links (which won't be available until Tuesday May 7 when the e-book is actually available - I will add the links to this post as soon as I have them.)  Make sure to tag me on your FB posts (Susanna Hill), mention me on your tweets (@SusannaLHill), and email me at susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com to tell me you blogged so I can keep score.  You may post, tweet and blog to your heart's content all week - May 6 - May 14 at 9 PM EDT - and you will receive a point for every single one!

Your names will be entered into random.org at 9 PM EDT on Tuesday May 14, with the number of times you're entered equal to the number of points you earned (so if you tweet 14 times, your name will be entered 14 times etc.)

Prizes for Catogory #2 - Social Media Love (FB posting, tweeting and blogging):
The randomly selected winner will have his/her choice of either:
#1 A signed copy of any of my books PLUS the new Can't Sleep e-book on their choice of platform (which they may also choose to have gifted to a young friend :)) or
#2 A $25 amazon gift certificate

3.  KIDS CONTEST!

Download The Sheep Drawing Activity so your child/children/preschool or kindergarten class :) can draw something for Ava to count and/or The Sheep Hats Activity so they can draw hats on the sheep and/or write entertaining captions for what the sheep are saying.

Scan the gorgeous results and post them on your blog and link to the same link list that will be posted here on Monday May 6-Tuesday May 7 - just put (kids) so we'll know :)  (Again, if you want to participate and don't have a blog, just email me the scanned pictures and I'll post them for you here.)

Kids Contest participants will also be voted on May 13, and of course there will be a prize for that too! The winner of the Kids Contest will receive either the new Can't Sleep Without Sheep E-Book on the platform of his/her choice or a signed hardcover copy PLUS a Folkmanis Sheep puppet!

All winners will be announced on Wednesday May 15!

Now.  Fasten your seat belts.  I have a sample (don't I always?), maybe two!  And I also have an entry from Ruth!

Are you ready?


This video is a Hill Family Production featuring the musical talents for Eric who made up the jingle and is singing and playing guitar, the videography talents of Number Five who was roped in because I didn't have enough hands, and Yours Truly as actor/prop manager, producer and director!  As you can see, we are amateurs at movie-making :)

Great Scott it took me about two days to get this to load!  I hope it's running properly.  You might have to turn your volume pretty high...  Fingers crossed it works!

And now, at last, here comes video #2.  Fair warning... don't put your volume too high and get ready to cover your ears :)  Never let it be said that I'm not willing to make a fool of myself for my art :)

Here is Ruth's  Entry:)
Text/Jingle Copyright Ruth Benedum 2013
Illustrations Copyright Mike Wohnoutka 2010

And may I just say that Ruth and I struggled mightily to get something up that worked.  This is her third effort.  I'm sorry the first one with sound wouldn't load properly, but isn't this beautiful and fun?

And here is Carrie's Entry! :)


Now, all you talented people who have your jingles posted, please add your post-specific links to the list.  We're all coming to see you! :)


56 comments:

  1. WOO!!! The contest is here! All I see on the video is a slideshow of just pages from CSWS. Is there sound? Maybe there is something wrong with what I am doing.

    I will check back to see other entries!
    I can't wait (and I am 97.3% sure you will see an entry from me)! Josie has hers done and she is going to post hers sometime.

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  2. Yay! Your jingle is fantastic, Susanna. Eric did a great job on the tune, the guitar, and the lyrics. And you, the puppet, and the banana all look GRAND!


    My jingle's up on SLTW and on FB. Cheers!

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  3. Hmm... on Ruth's there was sound... I'll have to check again. And one of mine should be up and working now - it worked for me - so I'm hoping that's okay. Technology... sigh! I can't wait to see what you and Josie have come up with! :)


























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  4. Thanks for being so incredibly kind, Nancy :) and I am RACING over to see what you've got! Can't wait! :)


























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  5. Your jingle is amazing! Your family should go on the road doing gigs lol. Best wishes for success tomorrow!

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  6. I can hear yours but not Ruth's, Susanna. And, Susanna, yours is just brilliant, hard to match that! Need to check some of the others now.

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  7. Yeah, I don't know what' wrong with Ruth's. You don't happen to know how to make a power point slide show with voice come out properly on blogger, do you? hahaha I don't think anyone does! Thanks for your kind words about our family video-fest. I am currently trying to teach myself garage band so I can upload my other video :)


























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  8. LOL! You are too kind, Catherine :) As it happens, my husband is a musician - a singer/songwriter - although this is not his usual field of endeavor :) If only my son had been home, we could have had some banjo too :)


























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  9. delores @ thefeatherednestMay 6, 2013 at 10:20 AM

    That is a fantastic jingle...love love love it. Unfortunately there is no sound on Ruth's.
    I have included my link but just a word....it isn't what you wanted. It's not a jingle but it is pure silliness.

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  10. I couldn't get Ruth's to make any sound. Maybe she counted sheep and fell asleep?? ;-)

    Yours was loads of fun though. Hahahaha. See? I told you that you were a computer genius. *wink*

    I could have done this. Oh well. That's what I get for not stopping by. I'll visit the ones who entered though.

    Great contest, pal. xoxo

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  11. Yeah! I couldn't hear either one. I heard the man's voice on Susanna's but not make any words out. and no sound came out of Ruths. But Penny's? it' s Graate! Will listen to the rest now. :) I am going to facebook all of you.

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  12. I think mine works, you just have to turn the volume up pretty high on some computers. Ruth's doesn't and I'm trying to fix it... Thanks for FBing :)



























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  13. Next time I'll just send Eric the text! Love the banana moon!

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  14. I promise - next contest if there is a video option - I will endeavor to do that - I know I can, I know I can. :) But I've added the link with my jingle - what a fun contest, Susanna! And I love your video clip.

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  15. I can't wait to check out the videos (when I get somewhere with wifi; our satellite internet provider doesn't like us do bandwidth heavy things)! Off to spread the good news about the ebook (and to recuperate from my big weekend)! :)

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  16. pennyklostermannMay 6, 2013 at 5:23 PM

    Ok...back over here to tell you how much I LOVE the Hill Family Production! I've watched it four times! It's baaaaa-dacious!!!The smiley face money has to be the funniest touch EVER!!! And that puppet!! I would like him to leap over my bed several times each night. I know his cute face and cuddly wool would help me sleep. Fun! Fun! Fun! Thanks for another entertaining contest, Susanna!

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  17. I'm glad. I'm about to put up another, in hopes of embarrassing myself utterly :)


























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  18. I like your positive can-do attitude, Vivian :) I know I can figure out garage band and post my second video by tomorrow. I know I can I know I can! I wonder what it's like to be a young person who seems to just know by osmosis how to use photo shop, garage band, iMovie etc. etc.! I'm full of ideas, but the execution is a serious problem :)



























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  19. WOO! I got mine done! I put the link up! Thank you for putting Ms. Benedum's up so we can read it! Also when I try to click on the "a little ditty" one, it doesn't do anything. :( I can't wait to see your other one!

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  20. Yay! You got the smiley face! My husband said it was unrecognizable and no one would get it, so I win that one! :) And I know - isn't Woolliam so cuddly? With his perfect little crocheted hat that matches the book exactly that my sister-in-law made? He gets a lot of love on school visits :) I'm so glad you enjoyed the video :) Stay tuned for video number 2 which is done except for the e-book links which I STILL DON'T HAVE!




























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  21. We've got some serious talent out there, Teresa! You're in for a treat :) Glad your weekend was fun! :) Oh, and thanks so much for helping spread the word!!!



























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  22. Are you kidding? You were FANTASTIC!!!!! Glad you liked the banana... Woolliam apparently did too :)


























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  23. Yeah, Ruth's wasn't working right on blogger. Sorry about that. Glad you like the HIll Family shenanigans though :) And you can still enter! The contest was open through the end of today (Tuesday) anyway, but if you want, I won't close the list, and we can just FB post/tweet that last minute entries are up - so go for it if you want to! Enjoy the others - the ones I've had a chance to see are fantastic! :)



























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  24. I know! I don't know how to fix Ruth's. We ended up putting something else. Can't wait to see yours, Delores! :) O love silly!




























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  25. My computer crashed last night and now I'm WAY behind, but I will check out the little ditty and see if I can figure out what's wrong - thanks for letting me know! Can't wait to see yours and Josie's! :) My other one is waiting for the links which I still don't have - sad face!




























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  26. I love your video, Susanna! Great job! The end with the banana is adorable!

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  27. Glad you liked it, Iza. You're the singer... I was really hoping for a jingle from you! :) Cover your ears when I publish my other one later today... I'm just still waiting for the e-book links to finish the video!



























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  28. I'm still working on it. I wrote a little jingle as soon as I heard about the contest, but then I went back to it yesterday and the meter is off- and that just won't do...If I can get it to work, I'll post something later.

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  29. Yes well, you will be shocked and horrified when you hear how I twisted my words to fit the music! :) Stay tuned...


























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  30. Awww!!! That was great! I love the guitar and what a cute little sheep puppet. Well done!

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  31. Okay. You know what I'm thinkin'???? AMERICAN IDOL! Hey. I'll be your manager. We'll hit the road on the weekends. *wink* Great job, Sus. I'm holding up a sign. (It has a 10 on it) :-)

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  32. AW! You're so sweet! We'll take the horses and go by wagon with our banjo :)




























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  33. Clever, fun, endearing! If the promos are this fabulous, the book must be even better. Congrats on your launch.

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  34. Thank you, Coleen! :) And now if only the e-book would show up as available on all platforms as it's supposed to, that would be just dandy! :)




























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  35. Thank you, Heather :) Here on Blueberry Hill we will never be accused of being afraid to embarrass ourselves :)


























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  36. Oh, Susanna!! I love it. You did an awesome job! I have been singing the Beverly Hillbilly song for the last hour!

    Is this a link we can use?

    http://www.bloomsbury.com/au/cant-sleep-without-sheep-9780802735171/

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  37. YAY!!!! YES!!! You got one while I was slogging though my inbox! Thank you, Penny! (And I'm glad you like the video - I've been singing that song for days now... my family may move out :))


























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  38. Love your 2nd video too, Susanna! And everyone's submissions are super!

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  39. What an awesome and fun contest. I enjoyed every entry. I also really loved the book and wish I had time (& the musical talent) to join in the fun.

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  40. So glad you enjoyed it, Sylvia! And it looks like it's going to be a few more days at least before the e-book is actually available since Bloomsbury had a technical glitch, so there's still time.... :)


























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  41. Thanks, Nancy. And seriously, every time I run a contest I am so blown away by the talent of everyone out there, and by their enthusiasm and willingness to join in my hare-brained schemes - what a wonderful group of people we belong to!


























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  42. Hi Susanna, just stopped by T. Decker's blog and saw your post. Great to meet you!


    I host an annual Christmas Holiday Children's Writers Series Between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. Its a great way for children's writers to gain new exposure.


    i'll send you an email off line regarding this. And best wishes for your success!

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  43. Hi Stephen! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by. I'll look forward to hearing about your Children's Writer Series!


























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  44. Looking forward to when the e-book actually comes out! Can't wait to buy it!

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  45. Thanks so much, Tina! Me too and me too! The sample they tried to send me wouldn't load, so I haven't seen it yet (and wonder if that was related to the technical glitch they ran into...)



























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  46. I love your second video, Susanna! I'm sorry I didn't have time to get a video together and I couldn't compete with just audio, so I'm just enjoying everyone's creativity! :)

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  47. Or over here on Muffin Hill either! ;)

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  48. You live on Muffin Hill? How did I not know this???





























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  49. OK. Very technically, I don't live on Muffin Hill, but it sounds good and I like muffins and we have blueberry bushes! ;)

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  50. Those are all perfectly good reasons to call your home Muffin Hill! :) In case you couldn't guess, I also like muffins :)


























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  51. I'm glad you liked it, although I can only imagine how much better you sing than I do - I'm sorry if I caused you any ear damage! I would have loved to hear one from you, but it was short timing. However... due to the glitch in the e-book... a little jingle next week or the week after would be a lovely reminder to everyone if you're feeling creative :)


























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  52. Me too! Also apple muffins, banana muffins, pumpkin muffins... pretty much if it has muffin in the name I like it :)




























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  53. Glad I stopped by to 'set a spell'...as the Clampett's would have said. :) Your second video is awesome, Susanna and I loved Carrie's jingle also. :) I don't think I had commented on Ruth's...what a lot of work...it is lovely! Now I'll click on the new links and read the additional entries.

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  54. There are so many good ones! Everyone is so creative... and willing to sing in their pajamas etc. :) And isn't Ruth's pretty? I wish I could make pages look like that - I do NOT have the knack! :)



























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