The Great MG Book Bomb of 2014!

The incredible Ginger Lee Malacko, author of Spark: Kindled Book One, has inspired us here at Middle Grade Minded to hop on an event that we'd be crazy not to help promote.

The MG Book Bomb of 2014!

So what is a Book Bomb? Don't worry--it doesn't involve harming any of our hard-covered or paper-backed friends.

But what it does involve is you and a book!

Here's the information from Ginger:

On July 19th, authors from all over the map will leave a copy of their book somewhere for some lucky reader to find. It could be on a park bench, a mall food court table, a shop window ledge, a seat on the bus. It could even be stuffed inside a fire hydrant.

Okay, maybe not a fire hydrant, but you get the idea.

You can find out where authors have hidden their books by checking out the hashtag #mgbookbomb on twitter, the day of the drop.

To all authors who wish to participate, just leave your book somewhere accessible to readers on Saturday, July 19th. Take a photo of your book in its secret location and tweet it (#mgbookbomb), instagram it, facebook it--basically just get it out there for fans to see.

Authors can leave as many copies of their book in as many locations as they choose, leave clues on social media as to their whereabouts, and add their own promo goodies such as bookmarks or buttons, etc.

Be sure to watch the twitterfeed throughout the day and RT the photos of the most creative drops you see.

Leave your own personalized note if you like. Sign the book if you like. Or you can print off these handy book tags (just click to enlarge). Just make sure you let your lucky new reader know that you're participating in the MG Book Bomb.

Now, when I first read this, I thought the idea was incredible. What better way to snag a random reader for a book that you've written? Our very own Rob Polk is going to be dropping his book, Operation Tree Roper: An Eye Above. And from what I've heard, he's already got some incredibly clever spots picked out!

But what if you don't have a book published? What if you're like a lot of us here at Middle Grade Minded, having to wait until 2015 or 2016 before your book even comes out? Well we thought of that. So if you've got your own book--awesome!

Sign it, drop it, snap a picture of it, and tweet it using the #mgbookbomb hashtag.

But if you don't, then just drop a MG book that you love. One that you want to share. Or drop a book and include a note about your book's release date. However you choose to do it, just remember--use the hashtag, include a picture, and leave a clue to where you've dropped your book.

Be sure to show some MG Book Bomb support by adding this awesome little button to your own blog or website. Just copy and paste the following bit of code below.

<a href="http://www.gingermalacko.com/p/mg-book-bomb-2014.html"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3884/14545434572_b595387171_m.jpg" width="240" height="240" alt="book bomb button-001" /></a>


So get cracking on figuring out where you'll be dropping your MG book! And who knows? You might actually snag a brand new MG novel from someone else. Even if you don't have a book to drop, you can still help out by RTing the best "book bombs" you see. The owner of the picture with the most RTs will be dubbed the 2014 Best Book Bombardier! Be sure to check Ginger's website for award details. 

We'll see you on Book Bomb Day--July 19th!