Variant will be released in five months, which is a surprisingly short amount of time. ARCs have gone out, reviews are coming in, foreign publishers are buying, and buzz is building. Frankly, it’s all kind of blowing my mind.

It’s time for a big contest. And not just an ARC contest, but a SUPER AWESOME, MAJOR PRIZE contest.

First, the prizes:

1. I’m giving away a Kindle. A real, brand-new Kindle. (I am a Kindle owner, and I love it, love it, love it. I also have an iPad, but I absolutely prefer to read on the Kindle.)
2. The Kindle will be pre-loaded with five of my favorite YA books. I haven’t decided which five yet, because I might have new favorites between now and then. But rest assured that they will definitely be my favorites, and not just some cheapo ninety-nine-cent-ers.
3. I’m also giving away five $25 Amazon gift cards.

Pretty fantastic, eh?

So, how do you enter?

You pre-order my book. Then you email your pre-order receipt to variantpreordercontest@gmail.com. That’s it.

Here’s how it works:

• On the first of every month between now and release (June 1, July 1, etc), I’ll have a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift certificate. As long as you’ve emailed your receipt, you’re eligible for those drawings. (So, if you email your receipt in May, then you’ll have five chances to win a gift card! If you email it in June, then you’ll have four chances to win a gift card! Etc.)
• When the book is released, I’ll have a drawing for the Kindle, with the preloaded YA books.

Easy peasy, huh?

Questions:

1. Can I win more than one prize? Yes. You can win a gift card AND the Kindle. But you can only win one gift card.
2. I already pre-ordered Variant a while ago. Can I still enter? Yep. Just send email your receipt. Doesn’t matter when you bought it.
3. Does it matter if I preorder the Hardback or the Kindle ebook? Nope, whichever you like better.
4. Why are you doing this? First, I’m doing it because I like to give things away. It’s really fun. Second, I’m doing it because success breeds success, and I want to ram Variant as high up the bestseller list as I can get it. The more pre-orders we get, the higher it’ll be ranked, and the higher it’s ranked, the more people will buy it. Mercenary, I know, but I really love and believe in Variant and I really want as many people to read it as possible.
5. Can I pre-order on Barnes and Noble, or somewhere else? Sure. I’m promoting Amazon just to concentrate firepower, but I’ll accept any pre-order receipt.
6. Is there a “No Purchase Necessary” option? There certainly is (or, there will be in a couple days as soon as I get a post office box. Check back here for details.)

Update: Winners!

June 1st: The winner of the first Amazon gift card has been drawn: Dan Allred!

July 1st: The winner of the second Amazon gift card is Justin Svetlik!

August 1st: The winner of the third Amazon gift card is Kimberly VanderHorst!

September 1st: The winner of the fourth Amazon gift card is Emily Milner!

The next drawing will be on August 1st. Everyone who has entered (excluding Dan, Justin, Kimberly, and Emily) will be eligible for that drawing and all future gift card drawings. And everyone, including the gift card winners, is still eligible for the Kindle drawing.