UPDATE:
The random drawings have been done!!
CONGRATS to the 3 flash drive winners with the PDFs of these books:
Meryton Miss – According to Jane
Shelley B Hoisington – Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match
Christa Buchan – Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet
Please email me (MarilynBrant AT Gmail DOT Com) — or, if we’re friends on Facebook, you can private message me there — with your mailing address, and I’ll send your drive out to you!
And to ALL of you who took time to read my post and comment, THANK YOU so much. I loved hearing from you!!
Happy Holidays to each of you and very best wishes for 2019!
😀 xoxo
****************
Like so many of you, I love delving into the Regency period and reading about life in Jane Austen’s time. But also, as a contemporary girl, I’m a big fan of bringing Jane into the modern world…and not just in my novels! 😛
I had a really cool experience last month with USB Memory Direct, a company that specializes in creating custom-printed flash drives. The products featured on their website gave me so many ideas as an author for newsletter giveaways, conference promo items, book-club gifts, and fun ways to share my stories with readers, reviews, librarians, and booksellers. Taylor, their Partnership Coordinator, told me about their 8 GB “Card Flip” flash drives (check them out here), which are as thin as a credit card and can be 
designed to have images — like, ohhhh, book covers!! — printed on them. And, seriously, each one holds EIGHT full GB of data. I didn’t quite believe it until I tested one out and saved on it *every* book I’d ever published (there are about 20 of them) in 4 different formats each (so, 80 completed stories), plus a bunch of manuscripts I haven’t finished writing yet — and the notes/documents I have for them, plus the book covers of ALL of my published novels and novellas in a variety of sizes (nearly 250 jpgs), plus several digital folders filled with writing articles…and this hasn’t even scratched the surface on storage. It filled my geeky little writer’s heart with glee! (It’s like having a backup hard drive of all my work that I can keep in my wallet, right next to my library card!! 😀 )
Taylor mentioned that these were particularly good drives for storing photos, thus the reason I wanted to save a number of book covers on them. I have a few novels (like A Summer in Europe and The Road to You) that involve travel adventures, and I thought it might be a neat thing to send out those stories on the drives to book-club hosts, program librarians, or reviewers, along with some actual trip pictures that correspond to the books. Or, maybe, to include a digital folder packed with dessert recipes on a drive that highlights a food-centric novel, like On Any Given Sundae…
But for my very first set of flash drives, I focused on Austen, of course!! I have the image of the newest edition of According to Jane on the front of the card and then the duo of Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match & Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet on the back side (see pictured). The company’s customer service was stellar, BTW. Taylor worked with me on the designs until they were exactly what I wanted, and they were shipped to me in less than a week.
So, since I totally fell in love with these things, I have to share them!! In honor of Advent this month and Jane’s birthday this weekend, *three* commenters on this post will get one of the flash drives — giveaway open internationally! I’ve loaded a PDF copy of According to Jane on the first one, a PDF of Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match on the second, and a PDF of Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet on the third. Even if you already have the novels in ebook or paperback form, you’ll enjoy the versatility of these flash drives (and the insanely awesome storage space!), so please leave a comment to enter. You can let me know which PDF you’d like most…or a novel of mine that you enjoyed reading…or your plans for the holidays…or your favorite December treats!! I’ll draw the winners in a week and share the winning names at the top of this post and in the comments.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, Austen Friends!!
xoxo ~Marilyn 
63 comments
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I’d choose According to Jane,
Thanks for the chance!
Author
Thanks for taking the time to stop by, Denise!
Happy Holidays 😉 .
You are a techie. I do like the customization. I would choose Pride and Prejudice and the Perfect Bet.
Author
LOL, Eva!! I wish I were a true techie 😀 . I just dabble a bit…and leave the tricky stuff up to the experts!!
Thanks for visiting!
I’m afraid you lost me at Flash Drive! I assume you put it somewhere in your computer? Well mine doesn’t seem to have anywhere to put something shaped like a credit card and if it did I wouldn’t know what to do next. So thank you but please don’t enter me in the giveaway (luckily I’ve read all those books 🙂 )
Author
Glynis,
😀 😀
First of all, THANK YOU for reading all of those books!! You’re so wonderful!
And second, I would have been mystified by this technology, too, not long ago! The flash drive, in this case, is fitted inside the credit card-like case and it flips out to look like a little stick. It’s that stick part that gets inserted into the computer’s USB port (a small rectangular plug at the the side of most laptops or in the tower of a desktop system). It’s easiest to understand it when you can see it done in front of you. Wish I could visit and demonstrate in person!! XOXO
Those flash drives are very interesting. The Road to You is probably my favorite story because I have travelled Route 66 in Arizona and Oklahoma. But obadore The Perfect Bet and the Perfect Match because they are my favorite P&P variations that you have written. Thank you for introducing me to this technology and for your generosity with this great give away.
Author
Debbie,
Thank you so much, sweet lady!!
I’m so glad you enjoy those stories, and I loved seeing your own pics of Route 66!! It’s such a wonderful road trip to take 😀 .
Happy Holidays!! xo
Squeeee! A fellow techie! Yay! I’m a financial software consultant (read accountant with a totally geeky twist) by day and JAFF consumer of epic proportions by night.
Flash drives are a must in my line of work and I seem to leave a trail of them behind me whereever I go – and I work somewhere different nearly everyday. A pretty JAFF inspired card shaped drive would be a challenge to forget!
Love your books too. I think I’m missing a couple… thanks for writing
Author
Lynley,
LOL!! You painted such a delightful image of a bread-crumb-like trail of flash drives that I laugh aloud imagining it 😀 .
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and for your very kind words about my books!! xo
Interesting concept. I recently lost all of my data when I updated my iPad to IOS12. All of my pdf files in IBooks and my ICloud storage was wiped clean. I have never thought of a back up until now. Now that I am updated to IOS 12.1 everything is good and I most likely will never update my iPad again. I would love to read the perfect match. Thanks for the chance in the giveaway.
Author
Oh, Shelley!!
I’m so sorry to hear about your lost data! That must have been incredibly frustrating… I’m glad everything is all right now!!
And thank you for entering the giveaway 😉 .
I LOVE flash drives and have collected them over the years. My students always ‘got a kick’ out of the ones that were cartoon characters or shaped like animals. Yeah, I can’t help myself. This new type of flash drive sounds amazing. I would love to see one. Although I have two of the books you’ve mentioned, I don’t have ‘According to Jane.’ However, if I should win, I would take whatever was drawn. I am intrigued by this new concept. I could hear the excitement in your voice and I am excited as well. Taylor did an excellent job on the covers on the drives. Wow! I am so impressed. Well done Taylor. Thanks for sharing with us.
Author
J.W. – LOL about being able to hear the excitement in my voice!! 😀 You’re right… I’ve had a lot of fun with this project!
And I love how you have a flash drive collection!! The animals and cartoon characters must look very cute. I got a drive shaped like a tube of lipstick at a writing conference once and I loved it, but it was almost 12 years ago and it couldn’t hold very much!
I love their flash drives. I don’t have any at the moment, but I am a photographer and used these to deliver photos. It does get expensive though! I love the customization options. Great advertising! happy holidays to you!
Author
Audrey, thanks so much for visiting!!
How awesome that you’ve used these in your photography business. I’m so glad you had a good experience with them, too!!
And thank you for the holiday wishes! Hope yours are wonderful. xoxo
I would rea any ofthose three. Those look realy handy!
Author
Meryton Miss – thank you so much! I hope they are stories you’ll enjoy 😉 .
And, yes, the flash drives are very handy!!
One can never have enough flash drives! I would love to upload my photos and all the reviews I write on to it! To even have a JAFF book as the cover would be a bonus! I would take any one of them (have the e-books). Thank you for such a wonderful giveaway! Happy Holidays and Happy Birthday Jane!
Author
Carole,
What a great idea to keep copies of not only your photos but all of your reviews!!!
And thank you so, so much…not only for already reading my books but, also, for your kind holiday wishes! 😉
Hope yours are lovely! xoxo
“According to Jane” sounds interesting. And, I admire you for seeking out new technology. I deal with computer/web stuff most of the day, so searching out more stuff to boggle my brain is NOT something I want to do. I didn’t even plan to get a Kindle until I started reading JAFF.
Thanks for the chance to win a drive and a story!
Author
Linda,
Thank you for your kind words! It was really fun writing a novel like According to Jane… 😉
And you’re so welcome for the giveaway opportunity! It’s a pleasure to do things like this for fellow Austen fans, especially during Jane’s birthday week!! Happy Holidays!
Wow again you are so generous. I would love to have According to Jane❤❤❤
Author
Nancy,
Ohhh, thank you!
And thanks for stopping by and letting me know your book choice, too!!
🙂 🙂
I have enjoyed all of the books I have read. There are a couple I have not read yet, but I own. One of my favorites was A Summer in Europe.
I have seen something like this advertised. I am glad to know someone who endorses them. Besides pictures, do they do well with Apple and Samsung phones?
Author
Patty, thank you!!
I’m thrilled to hear that A Summer in Europe was one of your faves! 😀
As for your question, I’m not sure how they’d do with phones. The device is a USB flash drive, so I know it can store lots of pictures and documents, but I don’t know about phone-related services, unfortunately. I’m sorry! I wish I knew more…xox
I have never heard of this type of flash drive before, it sounds great. I would love to win a flash drive with Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet on it. Thanks for the giveaway!
Author
Darcy,
You’re most welcome for the giveaway!!
Glad I could introduce you to a new type of device! And thank you for stopping by and sharing the book you’d like… 😉
This is such a neat idea! I would Love Pride And Prejudice and the Perfect Match.
Author
Schilds – thank you!!
I’m so glad you thought it was a neat idea too!!
🙂 🙂
What an awesome idea! Thank you for sharing!
Author
Many thanks for taking the time to visit, Kimberly!!
Really glad you liked the idea as well 😀 .
My favourite is According to Jane. These flash drives sound like they would be useful for my writer husband
Author
Vesper,
Ohhh, I’m delighted to hear that you enjoyed According to Jane!! Thank you 😉 .
And very cool that your husband is a writer… Yes, I think he’d like these drives!
What a great idea and useful tech item! I’ve read all the 3 books but I’ll be happy to read again According to Jane. Thank you 😍
Author
Rosa,
First & foremost, THANK YOU for reading all three of these novels! So glad to hear that! xox
And I’ve got you down for According to Jane if you win one of the drives… Thanks for stopping by!!
What a grand idea! Hope I win! 💜
Author
I’m so glad you like the idea, too, Jenny!!
And I appreciate that you took the time to visit & comment 😉 .
I’m completely stealing this idea, Marilyn. I’ve already contacted the company and they are sending my quote tomorrow. Yay! This feeds my techie nerdy soul. I’m thinking J Dawn King on the front and Christie Capps on the back. Oh, I can’t wait. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Author
YAYYYYYY, Joy!!!
That is awesome news!!! What a great idea to feature both writing names on one drive!! I bet that’ll look fabulous!
I’m thrilled you liked this concept enough to use it too! 😀 xoxo
You truly are my brainiac hero of the day, Marilyn.
LOL!!!
I’m honored you think so, my friend.
❤❤
Wow, I wish they can do this for all books. we can buy a flsh drive…it is hard to have the paper books coz they can get ruined and it consumes space (esp if you live in a small appartment). Ihave digital books but I always fear they might change the technology and I may not be able to access them…. I am a fan of L & D so I love Pride, prejudice and a perfect Match. thank you Marilyn for this chance/give-away.
For the holidays..Every Christmas day, we have a small get together with friends and the only relatives I have here where I am at. Don’t have a speccial treat but I always remember (love) chicken macaroni salad . When I was young , we always have that on special occassion.
Thank you again, Bless you and your family this holiday and everyday!
Author
Buturot – I love the description of your Christmas celebration! Your chicken macaroni salad sounds delicious, too 😉 . YUM!
And thank you so much for your kind blessings. I send love and good wishes to you and all the people you love for this holiday season and for 2019!
xoxo
Those drives look amazing. I have a feeling that no one would take that one on accident in the office 😀. I would love to win one.
Author
LOL, Madenna!!
I think you’re right… This is not a flash drive someone would accidentally mistake for a regular one! 😀
Thanks so much for stopping by!
I hadn’t heard of or seen these before. They’re amazing! I know it’s supposed to be hard to do, but I’ve ruined a flash drive before, and lost many more. How great would it be to carry it safely in your wallet?!?! Yours are very pretty, too. If I’m lucky enough to win one, I don’t have P&P and the Perfect Bet yet. 😉
Thank you for this wonderful, very useful gift opportunity!
Author
Taswmom ~ I know just what you mean!! I have (unfortunately) ruined a flash drive before, too…and have had a number of computer crashes. I’m a big believer in backing up my data now! 😀
Many thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know your story preference!
Marilyn, what an awesome gift and opportunity to win one of these flash drives. I am no techie, and have enough problems finding my way around my laptop but, I have had problems where I lost everything that I had stored on my computer, so this driver that you can carry in your wallet sounds amazing, almost too good to be true. I thank you for the opportunity to win one of these drivers because, as a beginner, it would be awesome to be able to keep files organized and in a safe place, just in case something happened to my computer. I have a few of your books but, not the ones you mentioned, so I would graciously accept any one of them. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity.
Author
Christa,
You are so welcome! Thank YOU for making time to stop by and comment on my post — I truly appreciated hearing your thoughts!
And I’m so glad you have a few of my books, too!! Thanks for that as well 😀 . XOX
bonjour,
everyday i read austenvariations.com,
Je suis fan de JANE AUSTEN et des fanfictions que je peux lire depuis 2005.
je tente ma chance pour gagner cette clé USB avec les ouvrages.
Merci
Author
Dominique ~
Bonjour to you as well!
Et merci beaucoup pour vos commentaires 😀 .
sorry I would choose Pride and Prejudice and the Perfect Bet.
Author
Absolument!!
🙂 🙂
I’ve heard of these! What a great way to save your book files! <3 If I won, I'd not care which book. They all sound wonderful to me. 😀
Author
Aw, Zoe, thank you for your sweet comments about my books (!!) and for taking a few moments to comment on my post!
I appreciate it! 😀
Thank you for sharing the amazing idea with the data-printed cards. Not simply flashdrives.
I like to win one. The choice is yours. I have space in my wallet. 🙂
Have a good christmastime. I have it thanks to your lovely adventscalendar.
Simone
Author
Simone,
I’m thrilled to hear you’re enjoying the Advent Calendar here!
And thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and share your thoughts. So glad to read your comments 😀 .
Those flash drives are the most AMAZING things I’ve seen. Awesome!!!
I’d have to prowl through my Kindle to see which of these books I already have, and it’s not at hand at the moment. But likely the second of your modern series.
Thanks, Marilyn, for sharing this wonderful and amazing tech with us Luddites!! (Well, I speak for myself, actually–not for all Janeites.)
Advent blessings,
Susanne 🙂
Author
LOL, Susanne!!
I don’t consider you a Luddite 😀 (you tweet! you blog! you leave lovely online comments!) , but I’m delighted you were awed by the flash drives, too!! They’re so cool, I wish I would have thought them up myself… xox
Hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and thank you so much for visiting me here!
Wow, that’s a good discovery, Marilyn. Thank you for offering the card flip flash drives loaded with Austenesque books. I would love to win any of them but I love According to Jane as you can attest from my review some years ago. Is that a second edition of the book in the drive?
Lúthien – ahh, thank you!! I remember your lovely review of According to Jane! 💕 And in answer to your question, yes, it’s the 2nd edition (which is nearly identical to the first, but for a handful of tweaks to the text and the brand new cover 😁).
Author
The random drawings have been done!!
CONGRATS to the 3 flash drive winners with the PDFs of these books:
Meryton Miss – According to Jane
Shelley B Hoisington – Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match
Christa Buchan – Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet
Please email me (MarilynBrant AT Gmail DOT Com) — or, if we’re friends on Facebook, you can private message me there — with your mailing address, and I’ll send your drive out to you!
And to ALL of you who took time to read my post and comment, THANK YOU so much. I loved hearing from you!!
Happy Holidays to each of you and very best wishes for 2019!
😀 xoxo