S.D. Smith's Blog, page 30

Hope you’ll come along for the journey as we launch Ember Rising: The Green Ember Book III into the world!

The post Sam (S. D.) and Gina Smith Announce Launch Dates for Ember Rising: The Green Ember Book III! appeared first on S. D. Smith.

The Last Archer: A Green Ember Story is now available in audiobook and eBook! It’s available at Audible, on Kindle, and at Amazon Prime (in all formats).(SECRET INFO: The audiobook is FREE on Audible if you aren’t a member.) You can even order it in print there now. If you select SammyGram, I will appear in your house via hologram and read stories to you in a Lithuanian accent.

*One of these sentences contains untruths.

Something You Can Do For Us

One thing that helps big time is reviews. Well, good reviews. I’m sure you’re alarmed to discover that bad reviews don’t help. If you enjoyed The Last Archer, please consider giving it an excellent rating and brief review at Amazon, Audible, and/or Goodreads.

Please share the good news that The Last Archer is available in eBook and audio! Share this Facebook post, if you would!

The post The Last Archer AUDIOBOOK, EBOOK Now Here! (Amazon, Audible—>Available!) appeared first on S. D. Smith.

1. Shipping Deadline!

The deadline for non-digital Christmas orders from our store is TODAY, December 13th (for Standard shipping) and 19th (for Priority Shipping). All orders after that will ship on January 8th. This is your last chance to get first editions of The Last Archer from our store before Christmas. Order now?

2. Win a Free Green Ember Mug by the Real Eefaw Potter!

Eddy Efaw’s mugs are very popular and sell out quickly. But I have a few and I want to give one away. See this Instagram post for details. And please follow me there.

3. Share Your Images of The Last Archer!

We had a great time and shipped A LOT of books last Saturday. We can’t offer signed copies through the mail any more, but we made an exception for the first batch of The Last Archer. I couldn’t sign all of them, but I made it through nearly 2,000. We had a great team and our kids pitched in like champs! It was hard work, but so encouraging to see your names and addresses as the packages stacked up. Thank you! Some of you are posting pictures of getting The Last Archer. Thanks! Please tag me when you do and it wouldn’t hurt to link to the book. (That always helps!)

4. New Video! S. D. Smith on Family as an Obstacle to Creativity

I did a multipart interview with Story Warren. The first in a series of those is available now. If you don’t know about SW, it’s a site I co-founded years ago set up to be “allies in imagination” for families.

(Feel free to share this image.)

5. Writers Wanted!

Speaking of Story Warren, we just relaunched our site and we are looking for submissions. If you are a writer who shares our aim to serve families in this key area of imagination, then check this out. (Maybe share it with a writer friend?)

That’s all, folks! Thank you!

May God bless you and your family during this Advent season and into the coming Christmastide!

Your friend,

Sam

The post Last Day For Christmas SHIPPING (Standard) And A GREEN EMBER MUG GIVEAWAY! appeared first on S. D. Smith.

Hey Friends,

I have SO MUCH cool news to share! As always, you get it first. Don’t click away till you see the BIG SURPRISE below. (I know that sounds fishy, but trust me, I’m a doctor. A Doctor of Adventure.) Here we go!

The new Heather and Picket adventure is coming soon. We’ll be launching a Kickstarter in January and the book will be available to order then! I’m sorry it won’t be available for Christmas, but save some Kickstarter cash for the new year so you can be first to get Book 3. I love this book and I can’t wait to share it with your family! Here’s the (amazing) cover:

But here’s the wild thing. Remember five seconds ago when I, a trusted doctor in this community, said we don’t have the new book ready for Christmas? Well….. we do have a new book for Christmas. And it’s a Green Ember book, too. It’s an adventure set at the same time as The Green Ember and it follows the story of Jo Shanks. 

You can order The Last Archer: A Green Ember Story, right now and get it in time for Christmas! It’s available exclusively at our store now. We have a limited number of these first editions, so be sure to act fast. (

And we also have the BEST DEALS EVER on all Green Ember merchandise at our store. So add some more Green Ember goodies for Christmas gifts. When you buy at our store, it helps us out so much!

IMPORTANT SHIPPING NOTE: The Last Archer will ship in time for Christmas, but is not shipping yet. We will hold your whole order and ship it together once The Last Archer arrives. If you want other items earlier, please purchase them separately. 

Thank you. I can’t wait for you to share the new book(s!) with your family, starting with The Last Archer, this Christmas!

Would you please help us spread the word?

Please share THIS VIDEO POST on Facebook now. 

And/or please share the posts below (copy & paste) or ones of your own making. 

You can use this image…

Facebook:

Great News! The Green Ember Book III is coming to Kickstarter in January. BUT GUESS WHAT? The Last Archer: A Green Ember Story, is available to order RIGHT NOW: https://sdsmith.net/store

Instagram:
Just post the image and whatever you want to say about it! Thanks!

Twitter:
Great News! #TheGreenEmber Book 3 Kickstarter is set for January! BUT @SDSmith_’s new book, The Last Archer: A Green Ember Story, is available to order RIGHT NOW & you’ll get it in time for Christmas!  https://sdsmith.net/store

Pinterest:

Fake Doctors Dot Biz:
He is too a real doctor, you swine! #AmericanPickleHats #hashtaggery

OK. Enough social media magic for now. I have patients to attend to. 

Seriously, I’m so grateful for all your help and love. It’s awesome having allies like you!

Your friend, 
Sam

The post The Green Ember Book III: Ember Rising COVER REVEAL & ALL THE DETAILS plus a BIG SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT! appeared first on S. D. Smith.

Why would a best-selling children’s author ask for prayer?

“When you try to do something hard, or something that brings some light, there is some pushback from the darkness.”

–S. D. Smith

See Sam discuss the first of the five things he asks readers who have his back to do.

This is #1 of the Gimme 5. See all 5 here and back Sam’s work of sharing imaginative, life-changing stories for families.

The post A Pushback from the Darkness appeared first on S. D. Smith.

Hey Pals,

I’m honored to be speaking at the Great Homeschool Conventions in 2018 once again! And this year we’re having an exciting event on the first night at all five conventions. My forthcoming book, Ember Rising: The Green Ember Book III, will be available at a special release event featuring my pal Sarah Mackenzie (of Real-Aloud Revival fame). I can’t wait for that. And, as always, we’ll have fun at our booth where you can get signatures and swords, books, and more!

Sarah Mackenzie & S. D. Smith: Book Launch Live Event!

Sarah Mackenzie and S. D. Smith team up for a fun, celebratory event to launch their new books, Ember Rising: The Green Ember Book III and The Read-Aloud Family, at a special event in five cities all over the United States at the Great Homeschool Conventions.

Wildly popular podcaster Sarah Mackenzie of the 3 million+ downloaded Read-Aloud Revival will host he r hit show LIVE for a special event featuring S. D. Smith as his new book, Ember Rising, the highly-anticipated third installment in his best-selling Green Ember Series, releases. The event will also feature the launch of Mackenzie’s exciting new book, The Read-Aloud Family. In it she champions the lifelong benefits of reading aloud to children and offers book lists, strategies, and tools parents can use to form deep and lasting connections with their kids.

 

Both Ember Rising: The Green Ember Book III and The Read-Aloud Family will be available to buy and be signed by the authors at these special events.

The events will be held at the Great Homeschool Conventions. The Great Homeschool Conventions are the largest, most prominent and engaging conferences for the massive movement that is modern homeschooling. They host hundreds of highly-sought speakers and many thousands of attendees at five nationwide conferences every year.  

 

GHC 2018 dates and locations are as follows:

SOUTHEAST Homeschool Convention, TD Convention Center, Greenville, SC, March 8-10, 2018
TEXAS Homeschool Convention, Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX – March 15-17, 2018 
MIDWEST Homeschool Convention, Duke Energy Convention Center, Cincinnati, OH, April 12-14, 2018
CALIFORNIA Homeschool Convention, Ontario Convention Center, Ontario, CA, June 14-16, 2018
MISSOURI Homeschool Convention, St. Charles Convention Center, St. Charles, MO, July 19 – 21, 2018

I’m very pleased to partner with GHC. I like them. They are all about helping parents navigate and excel in their calling as educators for their children. Here are some great reasons for joining me and Sarah and many of our friends at GHC in 2018.

AMAZING SPEAKERS

Great Homeschool Conventions structures a fantastic speaker roster. Some of my favorites are:

John Stonestreet, Randall Goodgame, Adam Andrews, Colleen Kessler, Ian Andrews, Andrew Kern, Pam Barnhill, and many more !

HUNDREDS OF WORKSHOPS

Dozens of speakers covering more than 230 speaking sessions are offered for each event! There are experts on many areas of education and tracts designed to help you sift through the many challenges and exciting options of home education. I love the Classical Education track and in addition to the special event Thursday night with Sarah Mackenzie, I’ll be presenting on some topics near and dear to my heart:

Rabbits With Words #1—Writing Your Stories: The Craft of Creation
Rabbits With Words #2—Sharing Your Stories: The Call of Connection
The Habits of an Imaginative Home
From Critic to Curator or Creator: How to Stop Noticing Everything That’s Wrong & Start Making or Supporting Something Good

A HUGE EXHIBIT HALL

 

Shopping the huge exhibit hall gives you the opportunity to seek and find curriculum that best fits your children’s learning styles. Meet many of the authors of popular curricula and engage in conversation to find out how their curriculum can help you reach your child’s full potential. Some booths have rabbits with swords. Which is rad. There are fun booths and very practical booths. There’s a lot to choose from!

Get a hands-on look at all your homeschooling resources.  LOTS of exhibitors have already signed up.

SPECIAL EVENTS

My dear friend Randall Goodgame will headline a concert with his amazing Slugs & Bugs live event each Friday night. I have seen this about a hundred times and it is fantastic! Homeschooling families of all ages will LOVE seeing Randall’s show.

Other special events include my friend Andrew Peterson (at the Midwest only), Gianna Jessen, Nick Vujicic, and Matt Walsh.

IT’S AFFORDABLE

Homeschooling families on a budget are always kept in mind. It really isn’t too expensive and it’s great fun. Register now for the best prices with their early bird discounts.

OK, those are some good reasons to join us at GHC next year. I hope you’ll come and I can give you a high-five!

Cheers,

Sam

The post Sarah Mackenzie & S. D. Smith: Book Launch Live Events appeared first on S. D. Smith.

Over the past few years, kids have been dressing up as characters from The Green Ember Series for Halloween and other parties and book clubs. We LOVE seeing those pictures shared!

From now till November 6, 2017, you can enter by sharing pictures of the cute, costumed kiddos on “social” “media” and tagging “S. D. Smith” there.

Tags: Facebook, Instagram: @sdsmithereens and @thegreenemberofficial, Twitter

Use hashtags: #TheGreenEmber & #RabbitsWithSwords

GRAND PRIZE: Win a free Skype Session with author S. D. Smith live from the Forge (up to half an hour) for your family, class, or homeschool. Second place winner does not receive a conversation dead from the Forge. (We hope.) Estimated Value $1 – $100 Billion.

And (for U.S. only) a signed set of The Green Ember Series. Winner will be announced on those social media accounts and/or by smoke signal.

Possible other prizes.

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Today we’re delighted to share the news that we are going on an adventure. After a lot of prayer, thought, and planning, we decided that I would leave my steady job of ten years to pursue the vocation of an author full-time!

This is a big deal. I’m very excited about it. And we couldn’t do it without you. This has always been about my family and your family. We are allies.

Our friends are asking, “What can we do to help?” So we asked for a high-five…

 

Please go to the GIMME 5 page and join in!

The post S. D. Smith Is Going On An Adventure appeared first on S. D. Smith.

These best-selling books are reaching all over the world! Beyond ebooks and audiobooks, which are easy for anyone, anywhere, to buy, we have reliable reports of The Green Ember Series being enjoyed in physical form on ALL SEVEN CONTINENTS.

Yes, even Antarctica. A friend of ours shared that she donated the series to a library in Antarctica, where about 1,000 researchers work. Amazing!

Meanwhile, some others aren’t thrilled when it’s hard, or expensive, to get a physical copy. We’ve heard from lots of countries about this problem, and that’s before we even get into the lack of translation. (One thing at a time!)

The bad news is that it isn’t easy to set up, and we need partners in those countries who want to distribute the books.

Good news, though! That’s starting to happen. G’Day, eh? You can order physical books in these two fine countries from these fine people.

Our Canadian friends can get the books from Classical Education Books.

For our Australian friends, the books are available from The Wandering Bookseller.

We are looking for distributors in other countries to carry the books. Many folks in the UK request the physical book, so if you know of a distributor who might want to carry the books there, please contact Story Warren Books.

If someone had a shop in Liverpool, near Anfield, and wanted Sam to come over for a book-signing, he would NOT be opposed to that.

It was almost three years ago when we first shared the idea of The Green Ember with the world. It has been an incredible journey ever since and I have been overwhelmed by the thousands of families who have welcomed Heather and Picket into their homes. That’s you! Thank you so much.

I told these stories to my children when they were very young. We watched rabbits hopping around our yard as the story unfolded. I thought I had written a book that very few would love. I assumed older kids wouldn’t enjoy the book because it features “bunnies” and I feared the epic scope of the story would be too intense for younger children. But what we’ve experienced is that The Green Ember (as well as Ember Falls and The Black Star of Kingston) has resonated with a wide age range and an astonishingly large audience.

Here’s a little video we made 3 years ago when we launched The Green Ember. #RabbitsWithSwords

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