Corona Critique Giveaway WINNERS

Well friends, that's a wrap! What an awesome week this has been. I can't thank our amazing donors enough! And thanks to each of YOU for connecting, commenting, & following along. This has been so fun and I consider myself a winner for connecting with each of you!

If you aren't on this list, I hope this post will give you some hope:

https://www.kaileipewbooks.com/post/when-the-answer-is-not-yet

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

1. Congratulations @Dstiveson! You’ve won a query critique from @jmcgowanbks!

2. Congratulations @Maureeneganva! You’ve won a query critique from @MadmoiselleClel!

3. Congratulations @Meetpokapaka! You’ve won a PB critique from @LynnetteNovak!

4. Congratulations @AshleyCCongdon! You’ve won your choice of a PB or query critique from @KaitlynLeann17!

5. Congratulations @Lightmypath24! You’ve won a query critique from @BonnieS_agent!

6. Congratulations @Marynadoughty! You’ve won a query critique from @BonnieS_agent!

7. Congratulations @debBuschman! You’ve won a query critique from @BonnieS_agent!

8. Congratulations @_lisafurness! You’ve won a query critique from @BonnieS_agent!

9. Congratulations @sheilaSchmotzer! You’ve won a query critique from @BonnieS_agent!

10. Congratulations @ZiemkeMichele! You’ve won a query critique from @TinaPSchwartz!

11. Congratulations @LindseyBHobson! You’ve won a query critique from @TinaPSchwartz!

12. Congratulations @PPFleegrr_87! You’ve won a query critique from @TinaPSchwartz!

13. Congratulations @tonnyef! You’ve won a query critique from @TinaPSchwartz!

14. Congratulations @LisaSBilla! You’ve won a query critique from @TinaPSchwartz!

15. Congratulations @Annemweaver! You’ve won a query critique from @CathieHedrick!

16. Congratulations @Lexidonah4! You’ve won a query critique from @CathieHedrick!

17. Congratulations @CharlotteGunnu1! You’ve won a query critique from @CathieHedrick!

18. Congratulations @Marianariosrmz1! You’ve won a query critique from @CathieHedrick!

19. Congratulations @KLFavata! You’ve won a query critique from @CathieHedrick!

20. Congratulations @dlkgottier! You’ve won a PB critique from @Chrysa_Keenon!

21. Congratulations @CohnNatalie! You’ve won a 1st impression PB critique from @alayne_kay!

22. Congratulations @RoseCappelli! You’ve won a PB critique from @taralazar!

23. Congratulations @AduseiAdusei! You’ve won a PB critique from @alastairheim!

24. Congratulations @mgoldenbooks! You’ve won a PB critique (rhyming if you have it) from @DianaMWrites!

25. Congratulations @KrisRashid! You’ve won a PB critique from @BeaBirdsong!

26. Congratulations @carriecookhere! You’ve won a PB critique from @jlacera and @MeganLacera!

27. Congratulations @AudDayWilliams! You’ve won a PB critique from @AmySparkes!

28. Congratulations @janetFsheets! You’ve won a PB critique from @BrianGehrlein!

29. Congratulations @christinenanfra! You’ve won a PB or dummy critique from @KyerstenHayes!

30. Congratulations @BoskoLori! You’ve won a PB critique from @StaceyCorrigan3!

31. Congratulations @Mjwalvoord2! You’ve won a PB critique from @ebrownbooks (F under 1000 words, NF under 1600)!

32. Congratulations @ HannahLapehn! You’ve won a non-rhyming PB critique from @JLMcKay1!

33. Congratulations @theSheilster! You’ve won a PB critique from @LoriDegman!

34. Congratulations @rkthill! You’ve won a PB (800 words or less) with query critique from @June_Smalls!

35. Congratulations @Jcwharton! You’ve won a PB critique from @Doherty60!

36. Congratulations @deaBrayden! You’ve won a Non-rhyming PB critique from @KatyDuffield!

37. Congratulations @BettyWriteStuff! You’ve won a PB critique from @PammCalvert!

38. Congratulations @ChandraCMayer! You’ve won a non-rhyming PB critique from @anna_lazowski!

39. Congratulations @Cjfriess! You’ve won a PB critique from @eboxer!

40. Congratulations @ManjuBeth! You’ve won a non-rhyming PB critique from @RosiePOV!

41. Congratulations @ JesReinerHarris! You’ve won a PB critique from @AJacksonBooks!

42. Congratulations @Pennymmcnally! You’ve won a PB critique (NF or Lyrical if you have it) from @lisadkerrwrites!

43. Congratulations @KaleeGwar! You’ve won a PB critique from @nancytupperling!

44. Congratulations @AudreyHackett0! You’ve won a non-rhyming PB critique from @jopastro!

45. Congratulations @Ttorrible! You’ve won a PB critique from @LaurenKerstein!

46. Congratulations @Rebecca_A_T_A! You’ve won a PB critique from @LLeslie!

47. Congratulations @ UrbanMuseWriter! You’ve won a PB critique from @LisaLJRogers!

48. Congratulations @Sjpicturebooks! You’ve won a PB critique from @RandiLynnMrvos!

49. Congratulations @AReynosoMorris! You’ve won a PB critique from @LisaGerin1!

50. Congratulations @MattieNoall! You’ve won a PB critique from me! @PewKailei!

If you aren't one of the official winners, I hope that you consider this week a win because of the connections made and hope felt. I know that I had a blast getting to know you all! I hope you'll stick around for my regular programmed picture book reviews with fun activities for the kiddos. If you'd like to be featured on this blog, send me a message!

Meet Kailei Pew

Kailei believes in books. She believes in imaginative play. She believes in having fun, getting messy, and being silly with her kids. Thus For Little Readers was born.​ Kailei also writes picture books and is currently seeking representation. She loves creating books that bring children and parents together. Kailei hopes that her own books will one day be featured in her blog. ​Prior to staying home with her children and writing picture books, Kailei worked as a reading teacher and middle school mentor. She was a 2019 Write Mentor Mentee and a finalist in Susanna Leonard Hill's 2019 Holiday Writing Contest.

When the Answer is "Not Yet."

Happy Monday, friends!

Later today, it will be my immense pleasure to announce the winners of the Corona Critique Giveaway.

I am SO thrilled to be able to do this, but part of me is sad that I can't give every single one of you a critique. The great news is that thanks to some extra donations (details this afternoon), we're going to be able to give away 50 critiques instead of 45! Woot!

Let's break the numbers down a little bit. I'm still logging the last few entries, but I think we're going to come out just over 1200 entries! Now remember, most of you logged 6 entries when you followed our donors for a bonus 5 entries. So that means that you are 1 in 200 entries. And with 50 prizes, you have about a 25% chance of winning... which are pretty decent odds for something like this, if I'm being honest! So cheers to us.

But on the opposite hand, that means that 75% will sadly walk away without a critique. And as much as I do believe that simply making new connections and meeting awesome new creators and members of the kid lit community is a prize in itself, I fully recognize that there will be some disappointment.

I know very much what it feels like when the answer is "not yet."

Sometimes I feel like:

"if I could just win a critique from Agent Awesome, then all my troubles would wash away and I'd finally land my dream agent."

or

"if I could just land this perfect opportunity, then the right set of eyes would see my incredible work."

or

"if I just get ONE.SINGLE.LIKE on #PBPitch this time around, my book will go straight to acquisitions and all will be right with the universe." (okay, that one's a little intense).

But time and time again, the answer has been "not yet." Notice that I don't say that the answer is "no." I fully and completely believe that I will someday find the agent that gets me. I will someday find the publishing house that loves my stories. I will someday hold my book in my hands and cry those happy tears when I get to breathe in that amazing new book smell and it's MY book. Because I don't give up. I revise again. I write another new draft. I keep going back to my incredible Critique Partners. I hope. And I know that if I don't give up, this dream that I work so hard for will become a reality.

So friends, don't despair. If today isn't your "big break," then go send out two more queries. Go write that new draft that's been pulling on your brain. Go revise, revise, revise. And don't ever stop dreaming. If your answer is "not yet" today, remember that it means you're one day closer to your yes.

I'll finish logging the entries early this morning and will be drawing the winners when my 2 year old goes down for a nap. So check back here and on Twitter around 2 PM PST (5 PM EST) for our Corona Critique Winners.

Meet Kailei Pew

Kailei believes in books. She believes in imaginative play. She believes in having fun, getting messy, and being silly with her kids. Thus For Little Readers was born.​ Kailei also writes picture books and is currently seeking representation. She loves creating books that bring children and parents together. Kailei hopes that her own books will one day be featured in her blog. ​Prior to staying home with her children and writing picture books, Kailei worked as a reading teacher and middle school mentor. She was a 2019 Write Mentor Mentee and a finalist in Susanna Leonard Hill's 2019 Holiday Writing Contest.

The Corona Critique Giveaway

Good morning, everyone! This week has been so much fun. I'd love to give you a little insight into how this amazing giveaway came together.

When everything started getting crazy with the coronavirus, I was amazed at how well the kid lit community reacted. Authors were getting permission to read their books online for kids. Others were providing activities and coloring pages. And everyone was SO kind. But in the midst of it all, I still read about a lot of fear. A lot of uncertainty. A lot of stress. And I wanted to do something too. Since I'm not (YET) a published author, I wondered what that could be. Then I got this crazy idea... maybe I could pull off a mass giveaway. I truthfully didn't know if anyone would be interested, or how I would even go about it. But I knew that I wanted a super fast turn around, because people needed something to look forward to NOW.

So last Monday I asked my critique group if they thought it would be unprofessional to just start tweeting out requests for donations. They said probably not unprofessional, but would anyone see it? Good point... so I started doing some research and finding direct email addresses or filling out forms on websites. I crossed my fingers that I could get 20 donations. I first reached out to Bonnie Swanson since she was my Write Mentor Mentee and a sparkly new agent and Brian Gehrlein since he's my Critique Partner. When they both agreed so enthusiastically, I decided to be all in, announce the giveaway, and pray that it would work out! haha.

I sent out dozens of emails on Tuesday the 17th and went to sleep. I almost cried when I woke up on the 18th to SO many responses saying "YES! I love this idea!" Even those who had to say "no" were the kindest people ever, wishing me health and hope during this unsettling time.

Then the Twitter Post got some traction and the blog posts took off. I had people reaching out to ME to donate... did I mention that the kidlit community is the best community??And in the end, we ended up with 45 (!!!) donations for Manuscript or Query critiques. WOW!

If you missed my post about choosing hope, I hope that you will catch it HERE. This whole giveaway has inspired me with even more hope. People are good. And as we come together, we can do amazing things.

The list of donors went live on Tuesday, and you can see that HERE. Please take the time to read our donor's bios and support them with follows, likes, even book purchases!

And now... IT'S TIME!!

THE CORONA CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY IS OFFICIALLY OPEN!

I wanted to keep this one super simple and not have a billion steps for entry. I know where all busy with suddenly home schooling/working from home/ trying not to eat through our quarantine snacks in a single afternoon.

So to enter, simply:

Find THIS giveaway post on Twitter.

Like and Retweet.

THAT'S IT!

For an OPTIONAL 5 bonus entries, follow every donor tagged in the post.

The giveaway will be open through Saturday Night at 11:59 PM EST.

Winners will be randomly selected and announced on twitter on Monday, March 30th.

Originally, I really wanted to set up individual giveaways and have you choose which ones would be the best fit for you, but then when the whole thing grew bigger than I ever hoped for, I knew that I couldn't manage 45 different giveaways/matching you up by choice while still homeschooling and trying to keep my 2 year old out of the office while hubby works from home. So pairings will be straight down the line. Thanks for understanding.

Another HUGE thanks to all of our donors. Please, please, go read about them HERE. I'll be updating this post to include the list of donors as well, but wanted to get it open before it became much later.

So go enter! I am so excited to see how this all plays out. Good luck to everyone!

Meet Kailei Pew

Kailei believes in books. She believes in imaginative play. She believes in having fun, getting messy, and being silly with her kids. Thus For Little Readers was born.​ Kailei also writes picture books and is currently seeking representation. She loves creating books that bring children and parents together. Kailei hopes that her own books will one day be featured in her blog. ​Prior to staying home with her children and writing picture books, Kailei worked as a reading teacher and middle school mentor. She was a 2019 Write Mentor Mentee and a finalist in Susanna Leonard Hill's 2019 Holiday Writing Contest.