With our book event schedule starting for the year, we are running a contest to win a hand-painted copy of The Dead Shadow. There will be a number of events this year, starting with the Literary Escape Festival in Birmingham. We will also returning to the Independent Authors Fair in Worcester, which was our very first book event ever last year. But in the meantime, we wanted to do something special for those who come and meet us.
At the time of writing this article, there are only 3 hand-painted copies available, and we won’t be keeping any of them on our bookshelves. So, it’ll be with a heavy heart of we’ll be giving not one but three lucky visitors their own hand-painted copy of The Dead Shadow. But first of all, I thought it would be a good idea to throw a basic FAQ post on the contest.
What are the rules?
Ultimately, this seems like a good place to start.
The rules are simple:
- Take a selfie with Twig at the book event
- Upload the selfie (either photo or video) on Instagram and/or TikTok on the day of the book event
- Ensure the post is publicly visible; if you’ve kept private settings on, we won’t be able to see it
- Follow us on the relevant platform (in other words, if you’ve uploaded on TikTok, you’ll need to follow us on TikTok)
- Tag us in y our post
This is only to participate to the contest. Following the rules will not guarantee that you’ll win the hand-painted copy of The Dead Shadow, but it will guarantee that your entry is considered.
What are your social media handles?
You can find us on Instagram under @the_shadow_of_phaedrus
On TikTok, the handle is different but the name and linktree in the bio are the same than on Instagram. The handle on TikTok is: @teanytraumas
You may wonder why TikTok has got such a weird handle. The short explanation is that we are running a minimujm of simultaneous 10 projects at all times, and while querying for The Dead Shadow, one of these projects was creating skits about and aorund tea… as every good tea-drinking weirdo should. Anyway, we’ve had to move away from the tea obsession to talk about the world of Phaedrus, and ended up removing the low-performing tea videos for equally low-performing but highly targeted videos about the book. The joys of not being mainstream enough to be an influencer!
Who Is Eligible to Participate?
As much as Paul and myself would absolutely love to keep one hand-painted copy of The Dead Shadow, we won’t be participating.
Our publisher is not authorised to join this contest. But, at the same point, our lovely publisher is based in Cambridge and frankly unlikely to travel through the UK or Europe just to take a selfie with Twig. Not that Twig isn’t an important character, of course,
Everyone else is welcome to join.
How will you decide who wins a hand-painted copy of The Dead Shadow?
You will have until midnight on ther day of the event to post your selfies. We will collect all handles from all elligible entries and run them through a random selector to pick one handle name. Here’s an example of what I mean when I’m writing about a random selector.
We will get in touch with the winner via the platform used for their entry to post the hand-painted copy of The Dead Shadow.
Will the hand-Painted copy of The Dead Shadow be signed?
Yes, this is the main idea. We’ll sign the copy to the name of your choosing, whether yours or someone else’s.
We’ll also join a freebie to the parcel.
On choice, the copy can also be left unsigned. But, if you thinking about selling it for profit, you may want to wait until we become global bestsellers first. It’s not going to be worth much right now, so don’t get greedy.
Can I Double Post?
You can post multiple selfies but we’ll only be working with handle names. If you post multiple selfies from the same social media account, this will still count as a single entry.
However, if you use multiple social media accounts with different handle names, even if you are posting the same selfie, these posts will be multple entries. Bear in mind, though, that each account will need to follow us on the relevant platform and tag us in the post.
I have the same handle on TikTok and Instagram, does that count as 2 entries?
Yes, because you are using two different social media platforms.
What Can Get Participants disqualified?
- Not following us on the platform you are posting from
- Not tagging us
- Using abusive and insulting language in the comments of other posters
- Promoting hatred, violence, or any other forms of harrasment and discrimination in your caption or your comments related to the contest
- Not taking a selfie with the Twig we’ll have at our table
- Uploading your selfie too late
- Not coming to our table to take the selfie (a blurry 1px by 0.5px image of Twig at the back of a selfie you’ve taken elsewhere in the premises doesn’t count)
- Being rude or disrespectful to anyone in the venue
Who is Twig?
Twig is the pet owl introduced in The Dead Shadow. She is rodent-obsessed, like any good owl, and can see through magic. She will also be present at our table at the book event.
Who Did the hand-painted copy of The Dead Shadow?
The hand-painted copy is the work of pictalibri, who you can follow on Instagram and Tiktok.
Pictalibri is a European artist with a unique knack for transposing the complex world of books into a gorgeous painting that features on the edge of a book.
You can watch her work on the hand-painted copy of The Dead Shadow here. She did three copies, and we will release them through different contests at different book shows.
Who is Phaedrus vs The Dead Shadow?
The Dead Shadow is Book 1 from the fantasy series The Shadow of Phaedrus.
We are currently working on book 2, which will present an interesting writing challenge for us. But shhhh, we can’t tell you more!
Ok, that is a lie. If you spoke to us on the day, we may accidentally get excited and spoil a few things because we can’t help ourselves!
Should I upload a photo or a video?
It’s your choice. As long as the content you upload can be described as a selfiem, either static or recorded, or yourself and Twig, it makes no difference to us.
There’s no bonus point for videos, so it’s about posting whatever you feel comfortable with.
I’ve got a pet owl at home, can I send a selfie?
You can, but to participate to the contest and hopefully win a hand-painted copy of The Dead Shadow, it needs to be a selfie with the twog we’ll have with us on the day of the book event. Twig will be waiting patiently for visitors on the table.
Don’t worry if you are allergic to owls. The Twig on our table is a stuffed toy. However, she is recognisable by her custom collar, which means that, no, you can’t buy a toy from the first shop you find and upload a selfie with it.
Do I need to buy a book from you to participate?
No, you don’t need to buy anything to participate.
That being said, we do recommend buying The Dead Shadow from us or through any other channel (Amazon, Waterstones, Foyles, indie bookshops, etc.) if you want to make sure you can read it. There will be only one hand-painted copy of The Dead Shadow to win at only 3 of our book events this year. So, this is a limited number of opportunities to win a copy.
So, if you genuinely fancy reading a fantasy with Pratchett vibes, chaotic energy, complex magic system, sarcasm, and neurodivergent representation, we certainly recommend buying it.
This is especially true if you are the kind of reader who loves to annotate their books. It would be a pity to annotate a unique hand-painted copy.