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Good Things in 3’s GIVEAWAY

by

Lately, Becca and I have been rather obsessed with the number 3. Just over a week ago, we hit 1/3 of a million hits (333,333). Our follower count left behind the 1300’s and entered the 1400’s. And today, it’s our 3rd blogging anniversary. Yep, we’ve been at this for 3 fun, fast-paced years!

These numbers would not be possible without the excellent support we’ve had from people like you. So, we figured the best way to celebrate was to turn our obsession over to our readers and host a Good Things in 3’s GIVEAWAY!

The PRIZES:

3-1st chapter critique x 2 (Becca & I both crit your work!)
3-1st page critique x 2 (Becca & I both crit your work!)
3-MYSTERY prizes (maybe books, maybe gift cards, maybe something else! But it will be cool!)

How to WIN:

Becca and I will be giving away prizes through 3 channels: BLOG COMMENTS, TWITTER & our FACEBOOK PAGE. And in the spirit of paying it forward, you can win a prize not just for yourself, but also for someone else–someone who has helped you get to where you are today!

HOW IT WORKS:

On Twitter: TWEET the names of 3 people who have really helped you on your writer’s journey (but not us!) Use the #goodthingsin3 hashtag so we can find you. Give them a shout out, link to them in some way if you like. This is your chance to say a big thank you to them and give them some recognition for all they’ve done for you.

On the Blog: Follow us and post in the comments your links to 3 people who have really contributed to your growth as a writer. There are so many blogs out there that are just chock full of fabulous advice and encouragement! This is your chance to tip your hat to them and send traffic their way!

On Facebook: This one’s super easy…just join us. All members of The Bookshelf Muse In Print will be entered in the draw!

Enter as much as you like, where you like! In one week, we’ll total all the entries and pick the winners by random.org draw. All #goodthingsin3 mentions (blog comments & twitter) will be put in for one of the mystery prizes.

All blog mentions, tweets, etc about the giveaway are appreciated but not mandatory to enter. 🙂 Have fun with this! And if you really want to get into the spirit of paying it forward, why not dedicate your own blog post to the people who have helped you get to where you are? We’d love to hear why they are one of your Good Things in 3‘s picks!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Tricia J. O'Brien says

    Congratulations on the significence of Three in all its manifestations! You guys are so creative and generous. Thanks for being you and for this blog.
    I do want to throw in some names of people who’ve inspired me.

    All the gals at WriteOnCon, who volunteered to bring an awesome, free writing conference to anyone.
    http://writeoncon.com

    Beth Revis, whose blog has taken me on a journey of honest and helpful posts from pre-pub to bestseller.
    http://bethrevis.blogspot.com

    Janice Hardy, who details so perfectly her craft.
    http://storyflip.blogspot.com

  3. wondering04 says

    There are so many who have helped in my writing, one is my husband who has supported me while we were still dating and through 24 years of marriage.

    Other writers are:
    Cec Murphey who gives awesome tips for acquiring agents and promoting manuscripts.
    http://cecmurpheyswritertowriter.blogspot.com/

    Rachelle Gardner who gives tips, offers advice, is a literary agent, and has a generally interesting site.
    http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/

    Stephanie Jones from Crit Circle , known as Wim, has come and given me excellent advice on how to improve my manuscript, even when she is in the midst of serious exams. Her work on Crit Circle is excellent.
    http://www.critiquecircle.com/members.asp?lookup=8207

    Thank you for this fantastic offer.
    Heather

  5. Beth says

    Congratulations! You host such a successful blog, and I learn something every time I come here. Great contest! Three blogs I love: fallingleaflets.blogspot.com, amiekaufman.com and windedwords.blogspot.com. I keep going back!

  6. Lola Sharp says

    First, CONGRATS! ☆∴*★∵∶｡◦°✰ on the hits and 3 years! Whoa. That’s like 9 years in blog years, right?

    I ♡ LOVE ♡ this concept, this pay-it-forward giveaway… it’s truly inspired and special. *hugs* Makes me warm and fuzzy.

    I don’t need any critiques, I have plenty of CPs, BUT, mans oh mans would I LOVE to win 3 cupcakes! (not joking. They look YUMMY 😉

    So, honestly, there are SO MANY people that have inspired me, helped me, supported me, where could I ever begin?
    How about all the authors who wrote the books we feel in love with as children? And as adults? We know the hard work and self doubt it took them to get that book in our hands.
    Seriously, I don’t know how to narrow it down.

    1) My husband. He is 100% supportive and an excellent first reader.
    2) Every single person that has ever commented on my blog and especially those who visit me regularly.
    3) Every single writer who blogs and takes the time to share what they’ve learned. (this includes you two. Is this sort of cheating?)

    And, my CPs and writer friends.
    And all kind people everywhere. 🙂
    (I know, I cheated.)
    Thanks for this lovely post and for being you (both of you).
    Love,
    Lola

  9. Shannon O'Donnell says

    Awww, you guys always have the BEST ideas and this is definitely one of them. You know that you are in my top three, right? But for the sake of this contest, we’ll say #4 is actually #3. *grins*

    Shannon Whitney Messenger: http://ramblingsofawannabescribe.blogspot.com/

    Jody Hedlund: http://jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/

    Valerie Geary:
    http://valeriegeary.blogspot.com/

    These three ladies have been unbelievably helpful to me and my writing in more ways than I can list!

  10. ali says

    This is fantastic! YOU guys are fantastic.

    My three people are #!, my hubby. He always picks me up when I’m down, brainstorms with me day or night, and never goes easy on me–he expects the best from me! Grr. 😉

    #2, Elizabeth Jote. We had a short and sorta weird relationship, but her revision suggestions on my MS were priceless. Seriously. She helped me see my story in ways I’d never considered and they ROCKED.

    #3, Elana Johnson. Elana is my crit partner and brilliant and funny and just all kinds of awesome. She helps me see what sucks in my writing, but always what she loves and sometimes having someone tell you not just that they love something you wrote, but WHY makes all the difference. Helps me believe I can do it again.

    Thanks for this contest Becca and Angela!

  11. Carla says

    Wow!! I am a new follower (saw you on Melissa’s blog) and all I can say is WOW!! You have so much wonderful information and useful tools. I can’t wait to use your thesauruses.

    Three people who I would love to give a shout-out to are my husband, Debbie (http://writingwhilethericeboils.blogspot.com/), and Corey (http://coreyschwartz.blogspot.com/). They are all incredible people who have encouraged me and fed my writing aspirations. Debbie and Corey have awesome blogs too! 😉

    ~Carla (carla-jansen.blogspot.com)

  12. Donea Lee says

    Congrats on 3 years, all your followers and hits – so great! And what a generous contest – great prizes, any I would love to have, so please count me in.

    I just finished up a 2-part interview with 3 wonderful blogging friends that have inspired my writing and blogging – I’d pay this prize forward to any of them:

    Abby Minard @ Above Water
    Colene Murphy @ The Journey
    Jen Daiker @ Unedited

    Thanks!

  13. Matthew Rush says

    I saw your tweet and forgot I had already visited yesterday. I’m commenting again because I love this blog that much. Plus I noticed your hit counter is a lovely broadsword and I wanted to point out how cool that is.

  15. Mary Witzl says

    This is a really good idea and one I have been thinking about myself. Here are three of my helpers:

    1) Tanita Davis, my critique partner and writing group leader, without whom I don’t even want to think how far behind I’d be.

    2) Ellen Oh, who critiqued the first chapters of my for-adults novel and gave me some very helpful suggestions.

    3) Tabitha Olson, who critiqued the first chapters of my MG ms, really put it through its paces and made me think about what needed fixing.

    And many more, including YOU, but I’ll save you for some future date because I’m not allowed to mention you here! 🙂

  16. Melissa Gill says

    I have so many people to be thankful for in the writing community, it’s hard to pick just three, but here goes.
    1) Mary Koles http://kidlit.com/ because she introduced me to a knew way of looking at the writing process that put my feet on the path to becoming a better writer.

    2) Elana Johnson http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com
    Such a giver… WriteOnCon, Querytracker, her blog. She is the definition Awesome.

    3) SCBWI in general and KS SCBWI specifically. What a great organization for children’s authors. http://www.scbwi.org/

  17. Julie Musil says

    What a fun idea! I just joined your Facebook group. My biggest thanks go to my critique partners, Lisa Green paranormalpointofview.blogspot.com and Leslie Rose lesliesullirose.blogspot.com/

    Thanks for all the awesome!

  18. dayner says

    Congrats on three years. I would love to enter and I have three fabulous women who have been by my side since I started writing. They also deserve to win.
    #1 Natasha Drew @ Nancy Drew Two http://natasha.edcentric.org/
    #2 Kathan Lewis @ Kathan Ink
    http://kathanink.wordpress.com/
    #3 Darksculptures aka T.A. Olivia (she no longer has a blog but I can provide an email through a private message)
    Thanks for all the wonderful content you provide. I believe it when you give the number of hits. I visit regularly. 🙂

  20. The All Real Numbers Symbol says

    Congrats on 3 years!! I’d like to enter for a mystery prize, and I hope it’s okay if my three don’t all have links.

    – My Friend Lauren has always been supportive of my writing, and willing to read my drafts.
    – Ditto my friend Kristina, Who is also a great proof-reader.
    – not exactly the same as the other two, B. Mac and his compatriots over at Superhero Nation have been a great help to me before – heck, they’re how I found the Bookshelf Muse in the first place. http://www.superheronation.com/

    Sorry that I didn’t give links for my friends; I know they both have Facebooks, but I’m not sure if they would want me to link them or not. Plus, I don’t have a Facebook. Anyway, thanks for all your great work! Congrats again!

  21. Angela Ackerman says

    Thanks everyone for the well wishes and congrats. Building this blog has been both a pleasure and an honor. Becca and I hope that we continue to be able to help you with all your writing needs.

    I’m loving hearing about who helped you on the writing path and how. Thanks for sharing your stories and keep ’em coming!

    Angela

  23. Thermocline says

    Congratulations on hitting three years! Thank you for this fun contest.

    My wife’s encouragement has kept me going more than she knows.

    The advice Nathan Bransford has given over the years has really helped me understand more about the business side of publishing. http://blog.nathanbransford.com/

    Casey McCormick is incredibly encouraging, both on her blog and with everything she (and her pals) are trying to do with Writeoncon. http://caseylmccormick.blogspot.com/

  24. Trisha says

    Congrats on 3 years blogging 🙂

    My 3 are:

    Charlotte at Steam&Ink:
    http://steamandink.blogspot.com/

    Janet Reid at QueryShark:
    http://queryshark.blogspot.com/

    Debbie Maxwell Allen:
    http://writingwhilethericeboils.blogspot.com/

    These ladies have given me plenty of great ideas (and/or reminders) of things I should be doing with my own writing. And I think the query is really an excellent exercise in writing precision, and at really getting to the heart of your story – hence why QueryShark is in my list. 🙂 Honing my queries has really helped me understand my stories better.

  25. Jessica Subject says

    This is such a wonderful contest!! Thanks so much! Of course your site has helped me immensely, but the 3 people I must thank are:

    Lorna Suzuki who gave me my first critique – http://web.me.com/imagobooks/IMAGO_FANTASY_REALM/Welcome.html

    Layna Pimentel who continues to be a great critique partner – http://laynap.wordpress.com/

    And Carol Levesque, my cousin who told me to get on twitter and connect with other authors – http://carollevesque.com/blog/

  26. Anonymous says

    Congratulations! I just found your site today, and I must commend you for providing such insightful instruction. Thank you!

    As for the number three, I am blessed to have given birth to triplets! Yes! And my birthdate is divisible by 3! (But the birth of my triplets trumps that. LOL!)

    Again, congratulations! And thank you!

    Lilah Rune

  32. Lenny Lee* says

    hi miss angela and miss becca! wow 3 years of blogging! you must of did a zillion posts for sure. you guys could need a big prize for posting so much good stuff. i already got that cool giveaway up on my side bar. i love that bird picture cause my most favorite song is 3 little birds. i just did a post on blearning and thats blog + learn = blearn and for sure theres so much bloggers that taught me stuff but i couldnt say all of them cause theres sooooo many. if i gotta say a couple that been the most big help i gotta say my neat cp miss sharon and shes at http://skmayhew.blogspot.com/ and my brother sebi cause he edits all my stuff and hes at http://from-my-hip-pocket.blogspot.com/ i cant say a third one cause theres so many and i couldnt wanna leave anyone out.
    …hugs from lenny

  33. Lisa Gail Green says

    OMG what a BEAUTIFUL idea! But that’s why I love this blog. 😀 My biggest concern is that my mind will short circuit and I’ll forget someone! But let’s start with three awesome bloggers: Lydia Kang at http://lydiakang.blogspot.com/
    Martina from Adventures in Children’s Publishing at http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/
    And Jemi Fraser at http://jemifraser.blogspot.com/ And don’t worry about my winning any critiques – I just want to pass along the appreciation!!

  34. Melissa Gill says

    As it happens, I’m including you on my new feature, What I Love About You Wednesday, that will be posting on 1/19/11. But if I can’t pick you as one of my three, I’ll have to come up with three others. I have some ideas, but need to get the links together.

  35. Matthew Rush says

    Don’t enter me because my pages aren’t ready for your awesome feedback right now and I really have to finish the whole re-write before going back and slaving over the beginning again, but I do have to say that now I know why your blog is so amazing, so organized and so darn professional. You’ve been doing it for three years! No wonder. I can’t believe I hadn’t figured that out.

    Congratulations on the anniversary and thanks so much for all you do for writers!

  36. bel says

    I’m coming up on my 3-year blogoversary, too. I think. Wait, let me check… Nope. 4 years.

    My 3 inspirational/helpful people are:

    1. September Mom, who reads my stuff and gives fabulous comments and always reminds me to just keep at it. She’s here: http://myvoicemyview.blogspot.com/ and here: http://writewithpictures.blogspot.com/
    2. The Grandpa, for lifelong inspiration: http://wordmechanic.blogspot.com/
    3. And Shannon McMahon. She’s fun and full of great ideas:http://shannonmcm.com/

  39. Danyelle says

    *is going to do them all so she can include more people* O:)

    My Beloved Spouse Creature has never let me give up.
    My adoring, hyper-spastic children haven’t either. 🙂
    And this blog has been an awesome resource!

  41. salarsenッ says

    This is a fabulous idea! Congrats on all the 3s!

    @LM_Preston Great writer and friend. Hugs. #goodthingsin3

    @@Georgia_McBride Thanks for all your amazing guidance! #goodthingsin3

    @AERought Just because you rawk!! #goodthingsin3

  47. Stina Lindenblatt says

    Great contest! Um, I’m guessing I can’t say Angela (or can I?), but as she knows, she’s made a huge difference for me in both my last book and my current wip (okay, she might not have known that, but she does now). 😉

  48. Shakespeare says

    Wow, THREE YEARS! Amazing stuff! Congratulations!

    My absolute inspiration is my sister, at http://stephanie-barr.blogspot.com/

    followed by Jeff King, who has become an e-mail partner and will soon be one of my esteemed beta readers, at
    http://authorsunion.blogspot.com/

    and my daily dose of reality and poetry, Walking Man, at
    http://themanwhowalksalonewalksfaster.blogspot.com/

    Honestly, though, it’s impossible to name all of them–so many people who have offered fantastic advice, who’ve visited my blog to offer encouragement, and who make a difference in my daily writing life.

    I don’t care about winning, but thanks for the post that let me concentrate a few moments on being grateful! I don’t do that enough!

  49. Lindsay N. Currie says

    This is a fantastic idea. We all rely on such a network of people to make our writing possible, to encourage us, to critique our work and the opportunity to thank them in such a public arena is lovely:) Here are my three most influential writers:
    1. Trisha Leaver http://trishaleaver.blogspot.com
    2. Julie Loden
    http://onefrenziedmom.webs.com
    3. Caroline Tung Richmond
    http://carolineinspace.blogspot.com

    I will be dedicating my blog post today to a follow up on your contest:)