Please Vote For a Cover!

The Cicadas book cover contest has ended and we have 17 great covers submitted by some very talented artists. Now the real challenge begins! We need help picking the perfect cover for The Cicadas novel. Please go to http://thecicadas.com/ and click the Voting Link to place your vote.

As a thankyou for voting, we will give you two free MP3 Audio recordings and a special super low price on The Cicadas text or audiobook!

Thanks for reading,
Shawn
TheCicadas.com

Finally! Discount Prices on Audio Books!

Hello Readers and Listeners!

We have two announcements to make and both should be good news for you!

First, the affiliate website to TheCicadas.com has now been opened as an online bookstore called, TheCicadasBook.com!

Second, TheCicadasBook.com has signed a deal with Leisure Audio Books to bring thousands of audio books to you at discount prices! Compare the prices with Amazon or Barnes and Noble if you want to see for yourself! Keep in mind that these are AUDIO books, not hard or softcovers. Look on the sidebar at the right for some of the great deals that you will see on all of the audio books offered at TheCicadasBook.com online bookstore.
We highly recommend The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (see it now on the sidebar). This is perhaps the best audio book to come along in the self-help category in years! The other titles listed are current NY Times Best Sellers as well.
Enjoy!

Cover Art Contest Entries Now On Display

Dear Artists and Readers,

We have now placed the cover art contest entries on-line and you can view them at TheCicadas.com by clicking on the Cover Art Contest link and then Clicking the link just above the Book. If you have been to the Cover art page before, you may have to click your browser's reload button to load the current version of the page and see the changes. If you're an artist, there is still time to enter the contest!

If you prefer to go directly to the Cover Art Display page to see what your fellow artists have created, click here:

See The Cover Art Contest Entries

After you view the artwork, please return here and feel free to comment on any of the entries you see.

Also, we are still looking for feedback on the free story, The Ketchup Incident and/or The Cicadas. Please just click a comment link and let us know what you think!

Thank you!

Shawn Penning
Author of The Cicadas

Tell us what you think!

Hello Readers!
We have finally created a link from TheCicadas.com to The Cicadas Blog and we are asking for your help. If you downloaded and read (or listened to the audiobook of)the free story, The Ketchup Incident then we want to hear from you. Please click on the comment button below and let us know what you think!
Also, if you have any other feedback, on The Cicadas novel, the website, the audio books, the contests, or anything else, please click the comment button and type it in.
Thanks for reading (and listening),

Shawn Penning
Author of The Cicadas

Contest Forms Now Available at TheCicadas.com

We finally have the forms on line to enter the contests. At http://thecicadas.com there are two contests now in place. One to write a subtitle for the novel, The Cicadas, and the second to create the cover. The links are here:

Subtitle Contest

Art Contest

Both contests will be ending in December, 2007, so check them out while you still can. While you're there, don't forget to download your free Mp3 audio book or text short story, The Ketchup Incident , which includes a bonus, two chapters from The Cicadas!

Hope to see you there!

The Cicadas Staff

Welcome to "The Cicadas" Blog

Hello and welcome to The Cicadas blog! I'm Shawn Penning, author of the new novel, The Cicadas, and the short story, The Ketchup Incident.

The Ketchup Incident is currently available as a free Mp3 download (or as a text .pdf download), as part of the promotion for the new novel. Be careful though, The Ketchup Incident is kind of sad!

Anyway, I hope to use this forum to solicit feedback from readers. Many people have visited TheCicadas.com and downloaded the free story, The Ketchup Incident, which includes bonus chapters from The Cicadas, but until now, I haven't had an open channel to receive feedback.

So here it is! Please let me know what you liked or didn't like, what you would like to hear or read in the future, or ask any questions about writing, publishing, creating audio books, or anything else that might be on your mind.

Please, by all means, check out the Cover Art Design Contest and the Subtitle Contest at TheCicadas.com. You could win an IPOD or money! And if you haven't downloaded the free story, please do so now by clicking one of the links above!

Thank you and enjoy!

Shawn Penning
TheCicadas.com