Feeling Adventurous? Ready to Sail? Come One, Come All! Enter the ISLE OF FIRE TREASURE HUNT CONTEST!

I’ve hinted and nudged long enough. Today is July 9th, precisely two months from the release of my new pirate adventure novel: Isle of Fire. I’m very happy with this novel, and I hope you’ll have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. The early reviews are very strong. But I am not content to simply let the book come out on its own. I want to set ablaze* the bookstores, the online communities, the word of mouth recommendations with talk of Isle of Fire.
*Editor’s Note: Wayne is not actually planning to set fire to anything.

Therefore, I am starting a contest on this blog, similar to the Isle of Swords Treasure Hunt, only better. The quests? Better. The excitement? Better. The prizes? Better.

To the Winners Go the Spoils:
(uh...here's what you can win)

For the #1 & 2 Treasure Hunters (the adventurous ones who accumulate the most Treasure Points) I will give you one copy of every new book I write...for LIFE. That means, should the Lord allow me to live long enough to write all the stories rattling around in my head, you will get a signed copy of each one sent directly to you. Of course, if you move and don't give me your new address, then…someone else will be getting all those books. Doh! AND I will name a character** in my next fantasy series after you. That's correct: I'll use your real name, your username, or a character name you create as a character in my new fantasy series. Of course, if your name is Bob, we’ll need to go with something a little more fantasy-ish.

**Editor’s Note #2: No Guarantee that your character won't get killed off in some horribly unpleasant manner.

For the #3, #4, and #5 Treasure Hunter: I will send you a signed copy of any book I’ve written AND give you a choice of A) sending you a signed copy of an original, unpublished fantasy short story I’ve written called “Forget Me Not.” –OR- B) You can invite a bunch of your friends together some evening, and I will personally call and talk to you and your friends about the books, about writing, about your favorite kind of pizza—whatever’s clever.

Here are the guidelines:

1. The contest begins today: July 9th and will continue for 3 Months, ending October 9th. (or slightly after I return from the Fantasy Fiction West Coast Tour).

2. To enter, post a comment here to let me know you are participating. You will also have to send me an email with your real name and address to verify your participation. I will keep your personal information private.

If you are a younger reader PLEASE get parent permission to join the contest and participate in these activities.

Please send the information to:

batguy21784atyahoodotcom

Of course, when you email, replace the above at with the @ symbol and the word dot with an actual dot .

3. Then, begin completing the tasks below to earn Treasure Points.

4. Be on the lookout for special Quests and One-Day Events where you can earn buckets of Treasure Points—but these are limited time only when they come up. So, check the blog here often.

5. All tasks must happen between July 9th and Oct. 9th. There are no exceptions. No working backward.

6. Prepare to go surfing. For some quests, I’ll be sending you to the Motiv8 Fantasy Fiction Tour Site and/or the sites of the 8 authors on the tour. And only in those places will you find clues to a great riddle you must solve—mega Treasure Points!

7. Finally, and this is HUGE: I am looking for a big turnout for the HUNT, so while the contest begins today, it will not be ACTIVE until we have at least 40 people in the contest***. We had 33 contestants last time, so we’re trying to surpass that number and have the greatest impact. 40 people entered is the magic number, so get your friends involved in the contest.

***Editor’s Note #3: this does not necessarily mean that the contestant is totally active the whole time. Entered counts.

Treasure Points Tasks Key

10 Treasure Points:

•Mention ANY of my books in a blog thread--your blog or someone else's—email me the link AND post it in your comment here. (You can do this up to 10 times, totaling up to 100 points).

•Post a link to my blog anywhere on your blog--then, email me the link AND post it in your comment here.

• Visit the Motive8 Fantasy Fiction Tour Website. Read an article (or three) and post a comment there. (You can do this up to 10 times, totaling up to 100 points).


20 Treasure Points:

• Put a banner ad for the Motiv8 Fantasy Fiction Tour up on your site. Email me for the source code.

• Call someone you know on the West Coast. If that person comes to see us on the Fantasy Fiction Tour, you score 20. Just have that person introduce himself and tell us that you get the Treasure Hunt Points. If that person buys one or more books from any of the authors, you get 100 Treasure Points for each book purchased!

•Post cover artwork from any of my books on your blog and make it a link to Amazon or CBD. Email me the link and post the link in your comment on this thread.

• Email a digital photo of you with a store employee in a bookstore where any of my books are shelved. In the photo, I must be able to see the book on the shelf and in your hands. Every photo you send is worth ten points, but each photo must be from a different store, and with each photo, include the name and address of the store as well as the name of the employee. Please let me know if I am allowed to post the photo on the blog. This is repeatable for each of my five books: The Door Within, Rise of the Wyrm Lord, The Final Storm, Isle of Swords, and Isle of Fire (when it comes out in Sept.)

Because some people live in small towns without any bookstores, I will allow you to ask friends to get photos for you. The friend must be in the photo along with the store employee.

•Create an Amazon Listmania List that includes The Door Within Books, Isle of Swords, and Isle of Fire. Post and email the link. (10 Listmania Limit: 200pts total)

•Write a review of any of The Motiv8 Authors' Books on Amazon or any of the following online review sites: CBD, Goodreads, Shelfari, ScienceFictionandFantasyWorld.com, etc. (Note: Limit of 4 reviews per author, so that's 80 points per author, not per author per site)

50 Treasure Points:

• Write a review of any of my books on Amazon or any of the following online review sites: CBD, Goodreads, Shelfari, ScienceFictionandFantasyWorld.com, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Incredibooks (see below), or any other review site that I approve. Email me the link and post the link in your comment on this thread. And yes, you can write ONE review for a book and post it multiple places. Each review posted gets you 50 points. So post away!

Note: If you review on Incredibooks, it might be a little confusing at first. Here's the way to do it:
First, find one of the books on Incredibooks. Then scroll down to the comments section and leave a comment with your review. That's all there is to it! Here are links to all of the books that you can review for the contest:

http://incredibooks.com/2007/11/30/isle-of-swords/
http://incredibooks.com/2007/10/17/the-rise-of-the-wyrm-lord/
http://incredibooks.com/2007/09/13/the-door-within/

• Make a poster about Isle of Fire and put it on a school, church, or store bulletin board. The poster has to be at least eight and a half by eleven inches, which is the sized of standard paper, and it must have an image of the book cover.

You can get the book cover image by clicking HERE. A poster needs to include where a person can purchase the book locally, or if there is no local place to get it, mention that it can be purchased online at Christianbook.com, Amazon.com, or another online bookseller.

A poster is worth 50 points, but you won't get extra points for more than one poster at the same school. You may put the poster up in many different places, but only one credit per establishment. To get credit for a poster, please send me a digital photo of you at the place where you placed it. And please include whether or not I have your permission to post the photo on my blog.



100 Treasure Points:

• Watch for Today Only Quests Coming Soon.

• Recommend One of my books to someone. If that person buys it, send me a scanned photocopy of the receipt by email. The receipt must show the store name and the date, and the date must be on or later than today's date, July 9th, 2008. Every bookstore receipt is worth twenty points.

• Amazon gives authors the power to create Purchasing Links for their books. I've created links for each of my five books. Email me and request the HTML code for each of my books linking to Amazon. Put this code on your website or blog, creating a sales link to Amazon, and you get 100 points (max of 500: 1 code link for each book). Please note: this HTML code is directly from Amazon.com. I have them posted on my site and have had no problems. But I cannot be liable if some virus or wee beastie gets into your site because Amazon’s code had it embedded or some such.

•Buy a copy of Isle of Swords and email me when and where you bought it and the receipt.

•Buy any of The Door Within Books email me when and where you bought it and the receipt.

•Buy a copy of any of the 8 fantasy fiction tour author’s books: Sharon Hinck, Bryan Davis, Christopher Hopper, LB Graham, Donita K. Paul, Eric Reinhold, or Jonathan Rogers. email me when and where you bought it and the receipt.

• Write AND present a book report on any Wayne Thomas Batson book at school. 100pts. if you earn an A+ for that assignment.

150 Treasure Points:

•Go to a store that does not carry my books and special order it from that store. email me when and where you bought it and the receipt.

•Go to a store that does not carry my books and persuade them to carry any of my books. Then, post here to tell us what store has now agreed to carry my book(s).

•Buy any of my books and donate them to your church library. Then post here to say where you bought them and what church received them. email me when and where you bought it and the receipt.

• Make a video supporting Isle of Fire and post it on Youtube or Godtube. You can interview people, use music or artwork, or even recruit people to join the contest. If you don't mind, I would like you to include a positive comment or two about the book. Make it imaginative, funny, insightful, anything (within reason) to attract attention.

Posting a video will be worth 150 points, but only one video per person per book will count. As the contest draws to a close, I will award an additional 500 points to the person who makes the best video (in the opinion of the judges).


200 Treasure Points:

•Buy Isle of Fire from Amazon.com on the day of September 9th! email me the receipt. Anyone who does this gets a bonus of 500 Treasure Points if Isle of Fire appears in Amazon’s top 100 bestselling books that day!

•Buy a copy of ANY of my books for the Youth Group Leader of your church. Post a comment here to tell who, when, and where –AND- email me the receipt.

The Amazing Open Category:

•Suppose you have an idea for something that you think will promote one or all of my books, BUT you don’t see it posted on my blog. Email me your idea. If it’s good, I’ll tell you how many points it’s worth—I like to reward creativity! I will then post your idea on my blog so others can do it too. But you will get more points for being the creative one who came up with the plan.


Note #1: If possible, batch your Treasure Points. In other words, say you’ve done 7 tasks. You can email me about them all at once rather than 7 separate emails.

Note #2: I may add to the list of Treasure Point Tasks at any time--and likely will because my twisted mind is always churning...

Note #3: Keep track of your own Treasure Points. I will keep a running tally in my sidebar and try to update it every week or two. But you should keep your total as well.

Note #4: Any and all of the requirements are subject to change as I see how this develops. I want to keep it fair.

Note #5: I hope this competition stays loving and friendly. Although I hope you want to win the books, I also hope you want to share with others the benefit of reading The Door Within Trilogy, Isle of Swords, and Isle of Fire. Since my books book don’t overtly preach, it's a great opportunity to introduce your friends to a story that will get them asking questions.

My thanks to Author Bryan Davis. I got many ideas for the improved treasure hunt from his Beyond the Reflection’s Edge Contest. In fact, I “borrowed” many of Bryan’s direct wording. Thanks, Sir Bryan.

May the fair trade winds fill your sails!