Exciting News

I know it's been a long time since I've posted on this blog but I have some exciting news about the JGDS series. 

As most of you know I've put the series on hold for a while.  I've not published any new stories in the series and this has been due to mostly a financial reason.  I signed contracts with an illustrator previously for way too much (not affordable to me in the long run) and still owe her some money and I hope to get her paid off this year.  I've missed this series tremendously. 

I've always felt this series needed to be out there.  So exciting news is I've found an illustrator who isn't going to charge me nearly what my prior illustrator was and she is excited about working on the series with me.  Of course, this will be between her own projects and doing work on fiverr.com.  State of Wilderness was the first book in the series and is different than the others so it needs a redo/edit/short rewrite - whatever you want to call it.  So in August of this year, we will start working on State of Wilderness and see how things look time wise for republication.  I'm hoping by late September/early October to republish (second republishing of State of Wilderness) and republish State of Quarries and State of Reservations shortly after as both of these have been missing from the series and need to be republished; within a couple of months after Wilderness is republished. 

Hopefully by the end of 2017/very beginning of 2018 State of Acceleration, State of Imagination, State of Monuments, and State of Production will be published and what is owed has been paid off so that I can put State of Successes, State of Heights, and State of Nature back out. 

I also have a storefront on TeachersPayTeachers (TpT) and will be offering books with study guides over there.  I'm not sure what I'll be selling them for there but it will be in the range that most other teachers sell their stuff for.  I will be conferring with some teacher friends to see where to price my books/study guides.  It will be a slow process to get all the books published but I promise there will be 50 books when it is said and done with a bonus clue booklet and possibly a coloring book, but those are at the end of the overall project. 

I hope all of you are as excited about this project as I am.  For the next few months, there will be a few postings but once we starting working on State of Wilderness be on the look out for more postings as well as some streaming time with the illustrator while she works on the images.  She uses twitch to stream when she is working on her writing or her drawings or other creative projects so I'll be posting when there are streaming episodes. 

Stay tuned for more in the upcoming months as things progress.  See you all in the postings - "Ma America" (fondly known as Mrs. E :))

Two and a half days left

Remember the 10% off sale only lasts until Tuesday night. So make sure you order copies of the first five books by then. Receive all five with study guides on CDs for only $62 which includes shipping. All books will be signed to one child, many children or the family as per your directions. Email me with subject line SPECIAL BLOG DEAL to eeldering@gmail.com or paypal me with instructions of who to sign the books to and where to send them at eeldering@gmail.com - Mrs. E :)

Special deal on first five books

The first 15 people who respond to this blog posting will receive a 10% discount on the total retail price of the first five books in the JGDS series with accompanying study guides. This is a total retail price of $65.00 for $58.50 plus shipping ($3.50). Email me at eeldering@gmail.com with subject line of SPECIAL BLOG DEAL or you can paypal the total amount $62.00 to eeldering@gmail with SPECIAL BLOG DEAL (don't forget to indicate to whom to make the books and where to send them in the notes section). This deal is good through 11:59 PM EST 03/15/2011 (The Ides of March) and open to US residents only.

Highlands, NC bound -

The first annual Celebration of the Book festival will be held this weekend in Highlands, NC. Here is the link to Highlands so you can find the Civic Center once you come into town. We are heading out Friday afternoon and will be back Saturday. The even has been advertised all over the area so hopefully there will be plenty of children there for my workshop. Putting the girl to work for me this weekend too - lol. Anyway - see you all there - Mrs. E :)

(just a side note - State of Successes and the other Train of Clue books I ordered earlier this week won't be here until probably Monday - but that's okay I have proof copies so we should be good) - E :)

Special Deal - limited time only (correction) (email and blog campaign)

05/22/2010: It has been brought to my attention that ordering is not clear for the special deal, either from this blog posting or from an email campaign I'm running, so I am clarifying how to receive copies of State of Wilderness, State of Quarries and State of Reservatiosn with accompanying study guides on CDs. (Take advantage of receiving a $45 value for only $30 plus shipping and paypal fees (total $35).)

SPECIAL DEAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR ORDERING BOOKS: If you are ordering for this special deal either directly from this blog posting or through an email to your homeschool group - this is what you should do:

1. Go to paypal
2. Send funds totalling $35 to eeldering@gmail.com
3. Indicate in notes who to make books to (individual child(ren) or to the family - To the Smith Family (ex.) and indicate that this is special deal from blog
4. Make sure address is correct to receive copies of books plus the CDs
5. Send money or complete transaction


If you are ordering from the email campaign sent to homeschool associations or groups, please do not order the books from the website as that price does not include the study guides and does not include State of Reservations. The deal is good for the first three books in the series. Remember that each book is one state and by the fall, hopefully three more books will be available to help you complete your series. It will take upwards of another 11 or so years to get the remaining books published. I can only write so many a year and my publisher can only publish so many a year (right now we are hoping to get 3 or 4 a year out), so please be patient to complete your series.


(Books coming out this year - State of Altitude, State of Secession, and State of Nature with #7, 8 and 9 slated to be published between February and October of 2011. Titles tentatively are State of Acceleration, State of Imagination, and unknown at this point as I haven't put the clues down to see what direction to go with a title). Updates will be posted here as I get them. So please be patient.

05/20/2010 UPDATE: I've decided to expand this out to June 5, 2010, as it looks like State of Reservations will not arrive until after this date - sometime hopefully by the 15th or so of June. With paypal fees and shipping costs, the amount to paypal will be $35 even. Reserve your copies now. This deal is only good until midnight June 5.

In celebration of State of Reservations getting published very soon, I'm going to offer a special on the first three books. Order a copy of State of Wilderness, State of Quarries and State of Reservations by Thursday, May 20, 2010, for only $10 each (this is discounted from the usual price of $11) and receive the accompanying study guide on CD for free (these are normally priced at $3 each for the PDF file to be emailed to you or with the CD PDF version priced at $4).

All orders should be done through Paypal at my email address - eeldering@gmail.com - please make sure to indicate who to sign the books to and if you want any special messages. State of Reservations should be available and ready to be mailed between June 3 and June 15.

Place your order today as this is only good until midnight Thursday, May 20, 2010.

See you all in the postings - Mrs. E :)

National Council for Geographic Education conference

(originally posted 05/12/2010): I have a goal. I would love nothing more than to see my books used in schools to supplement a social studies curriculum across the nation. I found the NCGE website through a local geographic alliance (South Carolina Geographic Alliance) website which will be a vendor at one of the homeschool conferences where I will also be a vendor in June.

After exploring the NCGE site and finding out the conference is in Savannah this year (a drive of about 5 hours from where I live), I thought that being an exhibitor would be an awesome thing for me. That is until I saw the postings for the exhibitor's fees today. As you can see, having a "premium" booth space at the conference is $1000 and the next level is $850 which is just a table top "booth" - you get a table and two chairs and a wastebasket and little else, no signage but do get listed in the program.

So, what, may you ask, is the goal?

My goal is to sell 200 copies of the first four books between now and the end of July in order to pay for the conference (booth space plus hotel and travel). That sounds like a lot but it really isn't. So won't all of you, my faithful readers help me achieve my goal?

State of Wilderness, now available
State of Quarries, now available
State of Reservations, coming May 2010 - I've been told by the end of this month for sure
State of Altitude, coming June 2010 - I've also been told this should be out almost immediately after State of Reservations is released

If you are interested in signed copies, please email me at eeldering@gmail.com for instructions on where to send funds. Mrs. E & the JGDS :)



Update 05/16/2010: I had an event at the Fairplay Welcome Center yesterday and have made my first sale toward this challenge. Only 799 to go. I have decided that I may just go static table top (not be there physically and save towards next year's conference in Oregon. So, whatever I need to just cover the table top display and have them monitor my info, may work this year since I'll be in Savannah in November and it would be a rather expensive fall for me to make two trips to Savannah that close together. I've also added a freebie for any orders placed between now and the middle of July (all info has to be sent to them by the end of July so allowing myself a couple of weeks to make sure that I have everything together and ready to go). Your choice of a flag pin kit or a basket weaving kit (which is one of the activities that will be in the #5's study guide). For the basket kit, please indicate color - blue, orange (dark or light), yellow, pink, or green. Remember when placing your order to indicate who to make the books out to so I can sign and send them on. Thanks for your support to this endeavor. Mrs. E :)

Multi-author book signing - Uwharrie Books

I'll be traveling to Charlotte or just on the other side of Charlotte really to Uwharrie Bookson Saturday, May 22, for a multi-author book signing. If you happen to be in the area, stop by and say hello, purchase a copy of State of Wilderness and/or State of Quarries and have me personalize it for you.

Another author friend of mine is traveling with me for the company but also because I'm going to show her around the area a bit since she will be joining me at the Love to Learn Homeschool Resource and Info conference in August. I'm looking forward to this.

Teachers are welcome to visit and check out the series as possible supplements to their social studies curriculum. I will have a few study guides available for both books, so please, check me out. See you all there - Mrs. E & the JGDS

Are you an inside the four walls markerter?

Come visit me on Dana Donovan's blog today and found out some ideas for thinking outside the box - other places to market your books.

Dana was a guest on my other blog a little over a week ago. He talked about giving away books to help boost sales.

As you can see we have a variety of ideas for marketing. So drop over and leave a comment - looking forward to hearing some of your ideas for thinking outside the box.

Remember I still have a challenge for myself to sell at least 200 copies of each of the first four titles (State of Wilderness, State of Quarries, State of Reservations (which will be going to print hopefully this week), and State of Altitude (which will be going to print in the next couple of weeks or hopefully will be available by the second week of June)) to help me get to the NCGE conference the end of September. I may have to go the static display route (just having stuff on a table being monitored by the NCGE staff this year and hope that next year I can maybe make it to the one in Portland, Oregon, but getting to Oregon is going to take steady sales between now and the next six months of the upcoming four books (State of Successes and State of Nature will be available during those months). So help me get to places that really would be great marketing places. Place your order from my website and receive a free gift - either a make your own flag pin or a weave your own basket kit. See you all in the postings - Mrs. E and the JGDS

National Travel & Tourism week

It's that time of year - travel plans are being made and soon school will be out. This author will be busy for the next six weekends. The travel & tourism departments across the nation are kind enough to offer fun activities and businesses at various Welcome Centers. Elysabeth will be visiting the Fairplay Welcome Center on Saturday, May 15, 2010 from 10 to 12. If you are traveling I-85 from Georgia northward, stop by and speak. Grab a few goodies or try winning a prize.

The Fairplay Welcome Center is located 1 mile inside South Carolina on I-85 Northbound. So come on over and see what local businesses have to offer you. Welcome to South Carolina ya'll.

For a complete list of Elysabeth's whereabouts over the next six weeks, stop by Elysabeth's booktour page and check out her upcoming events.

If you all remember last year's posting, I met up with my husband's Aunt Toni and Uncle Jerry and their daughter Joanna, whom I'd only met once and that was 16 years ago. I don't expect to run into these relatives again this year due to surgery for Aunt Toni, but you never know who will show up. I'll definitely take pictures and post when I can. Looking forward to meeting you all and showing you what I'm about as well as welcome you to South Carolina - safe travels to all - Mrs. E & the JGDS

Year round book fairs?

Yes, Big Noodle Books has them. I searched and both State of Wilderness and State of Quarries are available. The best part of it is you can sign up with your school and earn money for them. If you purchase certain titles during "book fair weeks," more funds go to the school. I can't think of a better way to have a book fair with very minimal work on the school's part. Everything is online and they boast over 300,000 titles and growing and not all books are for kids. Parents can shop for themselves as well. They have categories like crafts & hobbies, adventure, juvenile fiction, sports & recreation. There are plenty of books to browse through.

If your school isn't aware of this site, check it out and recommend that your school be involved as well. Everyone wins - kids, parents, schools. Hope to see you all there. Thanks to Elizabeth Dulemba for the heads up. Mrs. E :)


UPDATE (04/24/2010): This morning I decided to check out all of 4RV's books on the site and all but about five or so are listed with Big Noodle Books. How cool is that? I'm not sure how to get those that aren't listed there but I may have to contact them and find out so that everyone in the company is represented. (Books not found on the site include Just Breeze, Trockle, Bubba and Giganto, Case of the Missing Coach, The Base Stealers Club and of course Midnight Hours and Confessions of a Former Rock Queen.) It's awesome to have almost every book in the company on this website. Thanks Big Noodle Books for carrying the 4RV books. - E :)

State of Quarries Review (and 200th post)

If you all have been following Lori Calabrese's blog, you will have seen her review of State of Quarries today. If not, I encourage you all to stop by her blog and read her fun review of the second book in the series. One of these days, I would like to meet her in person as she really seems to have a handle on how to market herself. I'm looking forward to her book, The Bug that Plaqued the Entire Third Grade, comes out. She comes across as a very phenomenal woman. Praise to you, Lori.


This is my 200th blog posting since starting this blog. How fun for it to be a review of my second book. I should run a small contest but not sure what to do, so if anyone has any ideas of something to do in celebration of the 200th blog posting, let me know.

It's blog tour time

I'm featured on Martha Swirzinski's blog today with an interview by her daughter and a review of State of Wilderness and State of Quarries. Come on over and leave a comment - see you in the postings - E :)

Buttons, buttons - who wants a button?

I found a place to order buttons very inexpensively, Busy Beaver Buttons, from a Sisters in Crime associate who had shared her buttons. So I ordered some. I'm happy with the round ones but not the square ones (partly my fault and partly the company's, so most of those will be going back). So here I am going to do something special for my readers and fans.

For every order of State of Wilderness or State of Quarries from my website, I'll send you a button for free. Your choice of the heart or logo button, so please indicate which you would like with your order. This offer is good while supplies last (about 25 of the logo buttons and about 50 of the heart buttons).

Book festival bound

If any of you have followed my other blog - http://elysabethsstories.blogspot.com over the past few years, you will know that I have been a volunteer at the SC Book Festival for several years. I've also had several wacky experiences with hotels over the years. This year I'm going in the capacity of an author representing 4RV as an exhibitor. All of 4RV books published to date will be available for purchase, including the newly released "Guardian" by Katie Hines (who will be making her first appearance for book signings tomorrow afternoon about 1 p.m.) and State of Wilderness and State of Quarries. I'm anxiously awaiting State of Reservations to be added to the list of books available, but am trying to be patient.

I'll try to post some updates over the weekend (pictures will be taken and hopefully posted at some point). Have a great one and see you all in the postings - Mrs. E :)

JGDS newsletter January-February 2010

Wow. I just looked at my previous updates for newsletters and have not done any since the first part of August 2009. Updates are definitely needed.

I found a cool site that lists homeschool conferences for Canada, Guam, and every state in the United States. I found four more in the four states closest to me, within a five-hour driving distance of me, in addition to the Love 2 Learn one in Charlotte. I will be an exhibitor at four, maybe a fifth (still awaiting updates as to when it actually will take place, where and an exhibitor application) this summer with a presenting workshop at each one ("Writing Roads" a combination of writing and geography games for the kids). See my Blog Tour page on the sidebar for the listed events.

If anyone is interested in finding homeschool conferences in their area to either attend or exhibit at, here is the link for you to check out. Eventually, I'd like to attend conferences in every state but until I have some funding (either a sponsor or the books are supporting me), then traveling to more than a few states on the east coast is going to have to wait a while. I think these will be a good thing this year. Will definitely keep you posted how things go this summer.

JGDS SERIES NEWS: State of Reservations is slated to be released February or March 2010; since Aidana has had the flu and her son has the piggy flu, I hope by the end of March this will be released. State of Altitude is slated to be released in April or May of this year; again, hopefully by the 1st week of June so I can have four titles to carry with me to the homeschool conferences. And we have a title for #5 - State of Secession which is about halfway completed (struggling to get it done due to work situations that have taken over me but I do promise to have it done soon). It is slated to be released August (if I remember correctly), which would be nice to have that book available for the conference in August. Book #6 is titled State of Nature and my son has picked the items to be on the cover which will be pretty cool looking (I think and if Aidana and Vivian agree). Book #7 is pending approval for a title, so will wait to let you all know what the title will be with that.

In December I wrote to the Jeopardy!(R) folks asking them to sponsor my series. So far I haven't heard anything back yet, so I can only hope that the old adage "No news is good news" is true for this. As soon as I know something on this end, I will update my fans and readers.

4RV PUBLISHING NEWS: Lots of new titles have been published since August. Check out the latest on the website. 4RV will be represented at the SC Book Festival this weekend (February 27-28) with all present titles available. 4RV was invited to participate at a 12-state library conference in Oklahoma in April and we gathered enough funds to participate there; this is very exciting for us as all books published up to this time will be available to the librarians attending. We will also be at the Heartland New Day Bookfest in April and then at the the OWFI conference the last part of April/first of May. Poor Vivian will be worn out by the end of the first week of May.

That is about all I have to cover for now. Looking forward to some new adventures this year.

Remember that the JGDS, 50-state, mystery, trivia series is an adventure that you never know where you will end up. Keep reading. See you all in the postings - Mrs. E & the JGDS :)

Book Trailer video on Books in Sync contest

Come check out the video contest for book trailers. Click the title of this posting to be taken directly to the voting page. The JGDS video is #11. Come on over and vote. Voting will go through the end of February. Check out the videos and vote today - E :)

Last day to vote in the P&E polls

We need all the help we can get for all of 4RV nominated books. Here are the current standings of those nominated. If you click the title, you will be taken directly to the voting pages.

We need to find some more votes for our Preditors & Editors nominations. However, even if we don't do any better than the current rankings, we can be proud.

Thursday is the final day to vote in the Predidors & Editors Readers Poll. To vote click on the title of the award, scroll down the page to the nomination wanted, and click on the circle beside the nomination. At the bottom of the page add your name and your email. Be sure to check your email to confirm your vote.

The ratings for nominations connected to 4RV Publishing as of January 13, 8:00 PM CST are as follows:


Best Publisher - 4RV Publishing - 2nd


Children's Books - books from 4RV include the following:
1. Tilly's Tale, Harry Porter, 4RV Publishing
2. Would a Kangaraffe Make You Laffe?, Rich Aaron, 4RV Publishing
3. A New Job for Dilly, Rena Jones, 4RV Publishing
4. Tommy Turtle: Exercise Is Fun, Eric Mathe, 4RV Publishing
7. A Puppy, Not a Guppy, Holly Jahangiri, 4RV Publishing
8. Bait for Lunch, K.A. Okagaki, 4RV Publishing
11. Lemur Troops & Critter Groups, Rena Jones, 4RV Publishing
13. Being Jacob: First Day of School, Suzy Stevenson Koch, 4RV Publishing
18. State of Quarries, Elysabeth Eldering, 4RV Publishing
19. Priscilla Holmes, Ace Detective, John Lance, 4RV Publishing
21. The First Miracle, LA Willis, 4RV Publishing



Young Adult Books -
3. Just Breeze, Beverly Stowe McClure, 4RV Publishing
5. The Art of Science, Ransom Noble, 4RV Publishing
16. Second Chance, Galand Nuchols, 4RV Publishing

All Other Novels -
1. Confessions of a Former Rock Queen, Kirk Bjornsgaard, 4RV Publishing
This will be the only nomination, besides the one for Best Publisher, that I will personally promote. Kirk passed away this year, about two months after his book was released. He cannot promote for himself. This opportunity will be the only one for him.

Artwork -
1. Tilly's Tale, Harry Porter/Mandy Hedrick
2. Would a Kangaraffe Make You Laffe? Rich Aaron / Stephen Macquignon
9. A Puppy, Not a Guppy, Holly Jahangiri / Ryan Shaw
9. Just Breeze, Beverly Stowe McClure / Aidana WillowRaven
10. Being Jacob: First Day of School, Suzy Koch /Aidana WillowRaven
10. Priscilla Holmes, Ace Detective, John Lance /Diana Navarro
10. A New Job for Dilly, Rena Jones / Lisa Oakman
11. Lemur Groups & Critter Troops, Jones/Shoemaker
11. The First Miracle, Lisa Willis /Aidana WillowRaven
12. Tommy Turtle: Exercise Is Fun, Eric Mathe / Rey Marz

Book/e-book Cover Artwork -
8. Just Breeze, Beverly Stowe McClure / Aidana WillowRaven
14. A Puppy, Not a Guppy, Holly Jahangiri / Ryan Shaw
21. Priscilla Holmes, Ace Detective, John Lance/Diana Navarro
22. Tommy Turtle: Exercise Is Fun, Eric Mathe /Rey Marz


Author -
1. Brian L. Porter
9. Holly Jahangiri
29. Lea Schizas

Artist -
1. Stephen Macquignon
5. Aidana WillowRaven
7. Ryan Shaw
11. Rey Marz
13. Nikki Shoemaker
18. Diana Navarro
19. Lisa Oakman


Book Editor -
18. Lea Schizas
21. Chris Speakman
22. Crystalwizard


As you can see State of Quarries is down in the second half of the top 20. I wouldn't mind being in the top 10, but I need everyone's votes today- Mrs. E & the JGDS - :)

Children's and Teens Book Connection names top 10

Click on the title of this post and see who is listed in the top 10 favorite books from the Book Connection. Maybe you have read a few of these books and agree with the selections or maybe you haven't read them yet and would like to. Thanks, Cheryl for posting this. Mrs. E & the JGDS

Thank you Mr. Hughes

We now have a book trailer and Mr. Hughes created it instead of working on his homework. Thank you very much. Hope you all like it. Please comment and let me know what you think. Mrs. E :)

Follow the VBT- Writers on the Move tour this month

Today, I am being hosted by Margaret Fieland. Stop by and leave a comment. Remember if you leave a comment, you are eligible for a prize. There will be a drawing every day this month during the tour since it is our one year anniversary and we want you the readers to benefit. So stop by, leave a comment and maybe tomorrow your name will be drawn for a prize - E :)