Hashbrown 4 needs a title

I've finished the draft of Hashbrown 4, went through a round of edits, and now I'm just waiting for a little feedback from a reader or two on any areas I need to fix. And, of course, I need a title. I don't know why this part of the writing process is so difficult for me. I know authors who have a title first before they even write a sentence.

Is a title important? I really think so. It will forever label my book on the cover.

So, I need some help and I'm willing to reward you for it. Here I go again. Putting up a contest which could backfire and make me look like a total winner (said with a sarcastic voice). But I have no choice. I have a title in mind, but I'd like your feedback. I should also add my publisher may want me to change it to something else entirely, but I want to have a working title for when I submit it in a week or two.

Here's what Hashbrown 4 is all about in a nutshell.

Hashbrown Winters retires from playing marbles and enters the exciting world of Laser Tag. In order to defeat his new nemesis, Melanie Thumbs, for the championship, Hashbrown has to resort to extreme measures and recruits Whiz Peterson to play in the match. Whiz, as you should know by now, has a bit of a bladder problem and doesn't do well with electronic equipment. Letting him play is a bold risk, but one Hashbrown's willing to take. Besides, what's the worst thing that could happen? But when disaster strikes during the championship and Whiz actually vanishes, Hashbrown embarks on his most bizarre adventure yet. With his best friends at his side, Hashbrown travels into the unknown to save Whiz from an entirely new band of misfits... from another dimension.

There it is. Schmwa! (the sound of me kissing my fingers). This book is by far my finest piece of Hashbrown lore and I can't wait for you to read it. But what the heck am I gonna call it?

Here's what I have:

Hashbrown Winters and the Whizzing Whiz-tastrophe

I like it... But do you like it.

Here's how the contest works:

Comment that you like the title and you get an entry
Comment that you don't like the title and you get an entry
Comment with another title that I may use and you get an entry

I'll let this contest run until next Sunday. At that point I'll pick a winner who will win a signed copy of Beyonders by Brandon Mull.

Goodreads Give-a-way

 My publisher is giving away a copy of The Guardians of Elijah's Fire on Goodreads!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Guardians of Elijah's Fire

by Frank L. Cole

Giveaway ends June 05, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Book Trailer for The Guardians of Elijah's Fire

Yes, I'm no videographer. Holy cow! That's a real word. I totally thought there would be red squiggly lines beneath that once I wrote it. I'm word wizard.

Back to what I was saying... I'm no videographer. I don't claim to be, but I'm trying to do all I can to really promote my next book, The Guardians of Elijah's Fire (which by the way, releases on June 12th and I'm having an awesome release party @ Deseret Book, 1110 E. Fort Union Blvd. Midvale, UT starting at 6:00 p.m this book is awesome... Paheeeehew. All in one breath.)

So, I made a book trailer. It's blurry and maybe a bit fast at times, but I did it all on my home computer in less than a day.

To be honest, I don't care if this doesn't ever hit thousands of thousands of views on youtube, but if it could convince one more person (maybe you) to read my series and give it a shot, then it's worth it.

Without further ado....

We Have Some Winners

I think a week or so is a good time frame for a contest. So it ended and we have some winners! First off, I want to thank everyone for participating and not making me look like a total loser. It was fun and I will do more now with this added boost of confidence.

Here are the winners (randomly selected via spreadsheet)

The Advanced Reading Copy of The Guardians of Elijah's Fire goes to... Sheryl Johnson!

The hard copy of The Guardians of the Hidden Scepter goes to... Kristina Caden!

And the poster of The Guardians of Elijah's Fire goes to... Jennifer Dean Brandon!

I'm sending you a message on Facebook right now.

Thanks again to everyone for playing!

The Kickin' Wing Contest

Who cares about contests? Do you? I know I always feel as though I can't win, so what's the point? Well, I have yet to find an answer for that question, but I continue to do contests randomly on this blog. Here's the deal. I have an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of my book, The Guardians of Elijah's Fire. It's paperback (the book will be printed in hardcover) and it has a completely different cover (cool as well, but unique.) There are hardly any of these left, so for you collectors out there... Kabajing! You have a chance to collect...it

But the 2nd deal is: I need participation. Do you know how loseriffic one feels when they do a contest to give away something and no one participates? Not a single soul. Meaning, if I give away one prize for participation and all you have to do is show your face and you can see no one else is participating, and yet you still don't play. Free stuff, dudes! Sorry. I had to rant. I know I'm no... James Dashner or Brandon Mull or Harvey Fillibuster. But come on.

K. I'm spreading this contest trans-media. Meaning, across several platforms (blogosphere, Facebook, e-mail, etc.) And I have but one requirement to play. You have to like my author page on Facebook.

That's it to join in on the fun. How tough is that? I know you're thinking... "I don't want to stoop to that level. I don't want to get caught up in Frank L. Cole's propaganda. I don't want people to know I "like" him." Well... Free stuff, dudes! Nuff said.

I have three different pages. One for Guardians, one for Hashbrown, and one for me as an author. And I'm sure some of you (you may remain nameless) have thought why does Frank post the same update on Facebook 4 times? It's obnoxious! Well, it's because I feel like I have to spread the word any way I can. Now, if I had all of my friends, and fans, and what-not on one page, then, wahoo! Problem solved.
Right now, The Guardians of the Hidden Scepter page has 153 "Likes"
Hashbrown Winters page has 472 "Likes"
My Author Page has 163 "Likes"
There are tons of duplicates and it's all really messy. Let's get it to one spot. Capeesh? (I don't know how to spell that.)

Here's the link. Just click and hit the Like button.

https://www.facebook.com/FrankL.Cole

All new "Likers" will be entered into the drawing to win the ARC.

Now, all my faithful fans (the ones who liked me before this contest), don't worry. I'm not forgetting you. All you have to do to enter this contest is to advertise for me. Post about it on Facebook and you get an entry. Post it on your blog... entry. Tweet about it... entry.

And, of course, new fans of the site can advertise as well for additional entries.

How am I going to keep track of all this?

Don't have a clue yet.

Actually, if you just link my name, I'll see it, or comment on my blog, or Facebook, or Twitter, that would work as well.

Oh, and there's more. Don, duh, duh, duuuuuuuh!

I'm giving away more than one prize.

First name drawn will get the ARC of The Guardians of Elijah's Fire. WICKED!
Second name drawn will get a hard copy of The Guardians of the Hidden Scepter. Also WICKED!
Third name drawn will get a signed poster of The Guardians of Elijah's Fire. Koo Koo Kachoooo!

And for your viewing pleasure, I've even posted pictures:

The Guardians of Elijah's Fire (ARC)

The Guardians of the Hidden Scepter

A Poster.

What do I really think about all this?

Bonus Points for whoever can tell me where Kickin' Wing comes from.

Full Cover for The Guardians of Elijah's Fire

So I thought I'd let you see what the full dust jacket for The Guardians of Elijah's Fire would look like. I love it! If you click on it you should be able to read all of the... stuff on it.