Calling Me Home hits the UK and Ireland!

By Julie

Calling Me Home releases in the UK and Ireland tomorrow (Thursday, June 20)! I mentioned in my last post that I was thrilled to be selected for Amazon UK's 2013 Rising Stars program. This week, the online site All About You posted info about the book and a drawing for UK residents 18 and over. Here's what they say:

In celebration of Calling Me Home we’re giving one lucky reader the chance to win a luxury short break at a Pride of Britain hotel – up to the value of £500. With an exquisite collection of luxury and boutique hotels set in some of the UK’s most stunning locations, they are the perfect place to unwind in elegance.

The theme my UK publisher has used for the book is, "In a time of hate, would you stand up for love?" It looks like for the drawing, you simply need to leave a comment about a time when you stood up for something! Click here to go see the drawing page and to sign up! If you're eligible, I hope you'll enter the drawing. If not, please do share about it with your friends who are UK residents.

It's interesting to see each publisher's vision not only for the cover, but also for how to market the book. This edition is quite small compared to the hardcover in the U.S., with much smaller text, and it's paperback. It'll be available not only in bookstores, but supermarkets. In a few weeks, I'll be traveling to England and several other spots in the UK and Ireland, and I can't wait to experience the thrill of walking into various stores, like we did in Italy, and seeing the cover pop out at me! I received my author copies from Pan Macmillan a few days ago. The foreign editions are stacking up on my bookshelf, and I'll take a photo after they've all been released, but for now, here's a photo of the UK books!

That's a pretty big pile ... I see a few giveaways in my not-too-distant future  

News and Giveaway: Calling Me Home UK Galley

By Julie

MY GOODNESS! Time is flying! Really flying!

I can't believe today is officially two months until the U.S. release of Calling Me Home on February 12, 2013. My head's spinning, and many things are happening behind the scenes. Here's a few.

Scheduling book tour/signing events. Confirmed so far:

TX: Barnes and Noble, Arlington, Texas, The Parks Mall, Tuesday, February 12, 7 p.m. (launch event!)

TX: BookPeople, Austin, Texas, Saturday, February 16, 7 p.m.

TX: Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas, Monday, February 18, 7 p.m.

CO: Tattered Cover, Colfax, Denver, Colorado, Monday, February 25, 7 p.m.

WA: Auntie's Bookstore, Spokane, Washington, Wednesday, March 13, 7 p.m.

Positive reviews

Kirkus Reviews said:
"Kibler’s unsentimental eye makes the problems faced unflinchingly by these women ring true. Love and family defy the expected in this engaging tale."

Publishers Weekly said:
"Kibler, in alternating first-person narrations, delivers a rousing debut about forbidden love and unexpected friendships over the span of six decades." The rest of the review is here. 

Several folks on Goodreads have weighed in after reading galleys. A reader named Sue said:
"I can describe this story only as a wonder. For me, maybe the book of the year... Julie Kibler has written a solid story about love and hate, fear and bigotry, friendship and trust, the value of communication and the tragedy of withholding, the mistakes of putting on airs, and the everyday foibles of parents and children, the young and the old. I can’t wait to read another exquisite novel by Julie Kibler."

Bookbrowse has a whole slew of reviews that make me smile. Amber from Ohio said:
"While sellers may try to compare this to "The Help" - and yes, the storytelling rivals it - this is instead a love story. Powerful and gripping, you'll be surprised with the characters as the details of a forbidden romance unfold, changing two people and everyone else in their lives forever. Definitely pick up this book for your reading group, literature class, or a great read."

Last but not least ... Advance Reader's Editions
The U.S. advance copies came out in September. Many folks are already reading them after giveaways through Goodreads, Bookbrowse, Shelf Awareness, not to mention copies sent by my publicist to various media outlets.

UK advance reader's editions, or as they call them there, proofs, arrived on my doorstep in the last month and are absolutely gorgeous. The book releases there June 20, 2013, and I'm thrilled Pan MacMillan has asked me to travel to England to participate in the book launch there. It releases in Australia and New Zealand concurrently with the U.S. release.

I thought it might be fun to do a giveaway for one of the UK advance copies. (Front and back pictured here!)

To be entered in this drawing, please:
1) Leave a comment here asking to be entered.
2) Go to my Facebook author page and "like" my page if you haven't already. (Not mandatory, but helpful!)
3) Leave a comment there on my link to this post indicating your interest in the UK advance copy. (Too confusing ... I am striking this. :))

I'll post the winner at the bottom of this post on Wednesday, December 19, and request your contact information at that time. I can mail the book only to addresses in the United States or United Kingdom.

Please feel free to share about the giveaway on Facebook or Twitter or your own blog. The more the merrier! And again, let's be honest--the more folks who learn about Calling Me Home, the better the book will sell. In fact, if you plan to buy the book anyway, a pre-order helps a debut author more than almost anything else you can do. If you plan to buy it at an event, you can often pre-order the book through the store where the event will be held.

Thanks for traveling this journey to publication with me. It's feeling pretty real these days!

UPDATE: The winner of the UK advance readers' edition of Calling Me Home is Helen Kalmans, which is lovely as she was the very first person to enter. In this case, the early bird really did get the worm! I'll contact Helen via Facebook. Thanks so much to everyone who entered. I hope you'll be on the lookout for the book come February 12.