Donation Records Updated

Sending a big ol' check to Protect today- the full proceeds of sales of Protectors: Stories to Benefit Protect. So far we've raised $860.38!
Thanks to all who contributed their work, bought the book, and spread the word! 


The full donation record for Protectors  $860.38
The full donation record for Lost Children $1836.34

Give the gift that helps Protect do things like keep the Protect Our Children Act funded and fighting strong!

PROTECT's latest victory!

We're sharing this to show the results we get when we support PROTECT!

Thank you to all who've purchased these books, and doubly so to those who join PROTECT

They are the real warriors in this fight, and we are proud to support them!

Spread the word »  

Forward to Your Friends and Share on Facebook & Twitter Dear Supporter: Victory! Yesterday our Child Protection Act of 2012 passed Congress. Today it's on its way to President Obama's desk for signing. This was a major bipartisan victory, and a direct result of your support for PROTECT! We especially thank Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (R-CT) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). The new law includes several measures that our allies have been trying unsuccessfully to pass for years. Here are the highlights: • Reauthorizes our PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, approving double today's child rescue funding for America's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces. These task forces rescue thousands of children every year • Tough new penalties for threatening or harassing a child witness in child abuse and exploitation cases (this was vigorously opposed by some) • New fast-track administrative subpoenas for U.S. Marshals searching for fugitive sex offenders • Increased penalties of up to 20 years for distribution or receipt of child abuse images, when the victim is under 12  Many Americans just assume that passing laws like this is easy. After all, who's not against child abuse? But PROTECT members know better. You know that every victory we win is the result of a long, hard fight. We're David, up against Goliath. We depend 100% on people like you to keep us in there fighting for victories like this one! Join us in celebrating today! And please consider helping us replenish our war chest. You can give a gift of any size online, or even pledge a small amount each month. Thank you for being someone children -- and PROTECT -- can count on! Copyright © 2012 PROTECT. All rights reserved. PROTECT | P.O. Box 27599, Knoxville, TN 37927 | www.protect.org Click here to unsubscribe

Book Signings for Protectors!

If you're in the Chicago area in mid-November- bring a coat, and visit one of two bookstores hosting signings of Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT -

On November 15th, at Open Books, Andrew Vachss, Michael A. Black, and Zak Mucha will be there to sign Protectors and other books. Artist Geoff Darrow will also be there to sign Shaolin Cowboy. They have a limited number of copies of Protectors on hand. Sales of all books will benefit PROTECT and children's literacy in Chicago.

On November 16th, the same crew is heading to Centuries & Sleuths in Forest Park. C&S also has copies of Protectors on hand for purchase. The full event details are available here.

The first reviews are in...

We have gotten some great reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. If you've reviewed the book, thank you very much; if you haven't, it would be greatly appreciated. The best review is word of mouth, but taking a minute to write one is helpful as well. Thank you.

Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

Review by Neliza Drew

Review at Horror Novel Reviews

Review at Tony's Thoughts

First check sent!

The cover has been updated across all formats to match the final print edition as seen below.
I have also added a Donation Record page specifically for Protectors in the right hand sidebar. This will be updated monthly, when donations are sent.
Protectors has already sold more copies in one month than the first anthology did in a year, but the numbers won't go up for another few weeks when retailers send payment. Congratulations to the contributors and everyone who has supported the book. It is already a smashing success, and has brought new readers to the first anthology as well.
The first check to PROTECT goes in the mail tomorrow.

Protectors in Print

Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT is now available in trade paperback from Createspace and on Amazon.

It will be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and online retailers within a week, and available to order from bookstores soon. Distributors vary. It will be available locally and through mail order from Watchung Booksellers in a few weeks. They also carry the first anthology.

Dan O'Shea reads "Done for the Day"

Over on his blog, Going Ballistic, Protector Dan O'Shea reads his powerful story of an Iraq vet and his autistic son from Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT.

He also has a giveaway which will end soon, so go check it out.

PROTECTORS now available

 
The book is now available for Kindle, and the pages at Barnes & Noble and Kobo will be live soon.
For updated order information, including how to order it directly through Paypal (generating the largest donation; you can upload the Kindle or ePub file to your reader, or read it on your PC) go to the PROTECTORS Official Web Page.

The book will also be available for the Apple iPad and on Smashwords. Our designer is working on the print edition, which will be available at Amazon and in bookstores.

The wait is over... go be a Protector!

Cover

The Protectors

We proudly announce the complete lineup for the second Lost Children anthology:

Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT

Stories by:

Patti Abbott
Ian Ayris
Ray Banks
Nigel Bird
Michael A. Black

Tony Black
R. Thomas Brown
Ken Bruen
Bill Cameron
Jen Conley

Charles de Lint
Wayne D. Dundee
Chad Eagleton
Les Edgerton
Andrew Fader

Matthew C. Funk
Roxane Gay
Glenn G. Gray
Jane Hammons
Amber Keller

Joe R. Lansdale
Frank Larnerd
Gary Lovisi
Mike Miner
Zak Mucha

Dan O'Shea
George Pelecanos
Thomas Pluck
Richard Prosch
Keith Rawson

James Reasoner
Todd Robinson
Johnny Shaw
Gerald So
Josh Stallings

Charlie Stella
Andrew Vachss
Steve Weddle
Dave White
Chet Williamson

40 stories. One cause: PROTECT

In a few weeks, the e-book will be available across all formats. The print edition will follow.

Cover art by Kim Parkhurst. Interior design by Jaye Manus. Cover design by Sarah Bennett Pluck. Print design by Suzanne Dell'Orto. Edited by Thomas Pluck.

New donation - Brit Grit

I made a donation of £10.56 plus £3 gift aid to Children 1st today on behalf of Paul Brazill who very generously donated all of the royalties from ebook Brit Grit - thanks Paul.

Protectors gets cover art

Animal Artist Kim Parkhurst has given us a cover for Protectors, the new Lost Children anthology to benefit PROTECT. The cover design will begin now.

We have quite a line-up for you- we shared a partial list, and once the contracts are signed we'll have 40 authors total. Crime and noir writers, Westerns, horror, transgressive and literary. An Edgar finalist from Chet Williamson. Novel excerpts from Ken Bruen and Charlie Stella. New tales from James Reasoner, Wayne D. Dundee, Todd Robinson, Glenn Gray, Patricia Abbott, Les Edgerton, Josh Stallings... every name gives my internal reader a twinge of excitement.


The response has been staggering... in fact, I'm off to read a late entry from a relative newcomer whose reading at Noir at the Bar NYC knocked my socks off. 


In a few weeks I'll share the final roster and cover, and on September 1st you'll all get a chance to become PROTECTORS and read 40 tales from legends and rising stars from many genres.

Raffle Winners!

Congratulations to our raffle winners! You'll be receiving an email shortly, and since we already have your address, the books will be going out this week.
Thanks to Seamus Bellamy for generously donating 3 signed copies of Lawrence Block's AFTER HOURS!

And the winners are:
Bracken MacLeod
Angela Walker
and
Gene Hogan!

Last day to win!

Today is the final day to buy Lost Children: A Charity Anthology to Benefit PROTECT and Children 1st and be entered into the raffle to win 1 of 3 signed first edition Lawrence Block books, donated generously by Seamus Bellamy.

Anyone who buys the anthology, either for Kindle or in paperback, is entered to win WHEN THEY EMAIL ME the Amazon or Createspace receipt to this address: tpluck+lostchildrenbooks@gmail.com

Amazon (US)

Amazon (UK)

Createspace

Watchung Booksellers
Indiebound (from your local independent bookstore)

According to the sales figures, we have at least seven buyers who didn't send me an email to enter. You have to be in it to win it, so please do so. The winners will be announced on Monday.

Lawrence Block signed books raffle!

We've had the blessing to work with many hard-working and generous people since we embarked on this project. One of them is Seamus Bellamy, who contributed the excellent story "Larry" to volume one of the anthology. Seamus purchased three SIGNED first editions of crime writing legend Lawrence Block's book After Hours, and we are raffling them off for the next ten days! 

Anyone who buys the anthology, either for Kindle or in paperback, email the Amazon or Createspace receipt to this address: tpluck+lostchildrenbooks@gmail.com to be entered into the raffle. There are three chances to win.

Amazon (US)

Amazon (UK)

Createspace 

Watchung Booksellers

Indiebound (from your local independent bookstore)

If you've already purchased the book, buy one as a gift. 

(The book is currently in the Kindle Select program, but if you require it in Nook or any other e-book format, I will e-mail you those editions upon request, and assist you with transferring it to your e-reader.)

From Seamus:

Anyone that buys Lost Children: A Charity Anthology between June 6th and Saturday June 16th will be entered in a draw to win one of three signed hardcover copies of After Hours: Conversations with Lawernce Block. They're first editions. Don't try and tell me you don't want one. 

In doing so, you'll be helping out a pair of great charities, wind up with a great anthology, and if you're lucky, a signed hardcover copy of a book that lets you take a boo at the mind of one of noir fiction's greatest living legends. 

It ain't no velveteen day, but it sure as hell ain't a poke in the eye either, now is it? Get to giving and good luck in the draw!

If you can't see your way to agreeing with me that stripping the innocence right out of an innocent kids isn't the worst kind of crime that this dogshit world of ours has to offer, then we've got nothing else to talk about.  While most of us bop through our days oblivious to the abuse inflicted on so many of the kids on a daily basis, a few tenacious souls are strong enough to do something about it. Tommy Pluck's one of those. Last year, Tommy and Fiona Johnson put together Lost Children: A Charity Anthology. It's a book that I was proud to contribute to, and one that you should be proud to buy. Y'see, all proceeds from the book are donated to PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children and Children 1st Scotland --Two fine charities that work endlessly to protect the kids that the rest of us are too wrapped up in our own lives to keep safe or too damn oblivious to see as needing protection. 

Seamus Bellamy is a warlord, author and journalist who's work appears frequently in print and online. You'll find his portfolio and other undesirable things at www.seamusbellamy.com

Thank you, Seamus! 

-Tom and the LC crew

Lost Children: Protectors

I am very proud to announce that as of May 1st 2012, we have raised $1622.51 for PROTECT, Living Water for Girls, and Children 1st.
That includes the original donations by Fiona and myself, and if you go to our Donations page, you can see the breakdown. Fiona has been running around selling paperbacks and has raised a lot for Children 1st on her own.


Thank you to all the writers who contributed, and to everyone who has purchased the book or supported us in any way.

And a second announcement:
A second volume, with all new authors, is under way.


Lost Children: Protectors - An Anthology to Benefit PROTECT will be released in September 2012 in e-book and trade paperback.

Wayne Dundee
Ken Bruen
George Pelecanos
R. Thomas Brown
Josh Stallings
Tony Black
Nigel Bird
Ray Banks
Zak Mucha
Bill Cameron
Patti Abbott
Gerald So
Matthew C. Funk
Chad Eagleton

That's about half the roster, the rest will be announced in July.

Lost Children: An Anthology to Benefit PROTECT and Children 1st

Lost Children: A Charity Anthology collects thirty short stories from emerging hardboiled, transgressive, literary and noir writers to support PROTECT and Children 1st. PROTECT lobbies for stronger and smarter child protection laws in the U.S., and Children 1st deliver services to help children and families, and speak out for children's rights in Scotland.

Authors include Paul D. Brazill, Chad Rohrbacher, David Barber, Fiona "McDroll" Johnson, Ron Earl Phillips, Lynn Beighley, Susan Tepper, Thomas Pluck, Nicolette Wong, Benoit Lelievre, Seamus Bellamy, J.F. Juzwik, Nancy Hansen, JP Reese, Luca Veste, Sam Rasnake, Sif Dal, Veronica Lewis-Marie Shaw, David Ackley, James Lloyd Davis, Roberto C. Garcia, MaryAnne Kolton, Vinod Narayan,  Paula Pahnke, Susan Gibb, Ingrid K.V. Hardy, Gil Hoffs and Erin Zulkoski.

The book is available for as an e-book at Amazon, Amazon UK, Smashwords, the Apple iBookstore for the iPad, the Sony e-Bookstore, the Kobo Bookstore, and Barnes & Noble for Nook for $2.99

It is also available in trade paperback at Amazon and Createspace for $9.99
The trade paperback is available with free international shipping at The Book Depository.

You may also buy the e-book directly! We will mail it to you in PDF, Kindle mobi, and Nook epub formats. You can read it on your computer, or transfer it to your e-reader with software such as Calibre E-Book Management. This generates the largest donation. $2.99