New Covers for The Riddled Stone Series

We just loaded up the new versions of Banished and Hunted to all the ebook sites, and CreateSpace for print books, too. New covers, plus one more round of whack-a-typo. It always takes a few days for the web pages to update, but they’re on the way!

The stories haven’t changed, and the typos we found were very minor. But if you want the latest versions, just wait until the new cover shows at your ebook vendor, then contact their Customer Service department to find out their rules for getting a new release. For instance, it used to be automatic at Amazon.com, but now you have to send in a request through their “Contact Us” form.

Here are the old and new cover versions. What do you think?

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Book Cover Reveal: The Riddled Stone #3

From Teresa:

Betrayed-600My latest “Fantasy Fiction” newsletter went out early this afternoon to everyone who signed up for Tabletop Academy Press fiction updates. This issue featured a peek at the shiny new covers for my fantasy serial adventure, The Riddled Stone, including the long-awaited-and-coming-very-soon book #3.

And an Ebook SALE! My novels are on sale at Smashwords this month — including Banished (Book #1) for FREE. Just enter the coupon code (found on each book’s description page) when you check out.

If you’re a subscriber but didn’t see your newsletter, check your Updates or Promotions tab (in Gmail) or your Spam folder. And to make sure you get all the future newsletters, add my mom “Denise at Tabletop Academy Press” [denise.gaskins @ tabletop academy press .com, without spaces] to your contacts or address book.

And if you missed this month’s edition, click the link below to sign up today. You’ll get a copy of my writing booklet and my mom’s math guidebook, too!
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As a Bonus: Newsletter subscribers are always the first to hear about new books, revisions, and sales or other promotions.

Let’s Play Math Paperback Edition Now Available

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Finally, the revised and much-expanded paperback edition of Let’s Play Math: How Families Can Learn Math Together—and Enjoy It is finished and loaded up on Amazon worldwide. Other bookstores will follow as soon as they update their files.

True mathematical thinking involves the same creative reasoning that children use to solve puzzles. Let’s Play Math turns math into a learning adventure for the whole family. Your children will build a stronger foundation of understanding when you teach math as a game, playing with ideas.

LPM 4-9stars

Buy now:
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Want to help your kids with math? Don’t help with the homework. Get them to engage with math by doing things together — many of which don’t even look like math. Let’s Play Math is charming, intelligent, and practical; full of family fun and sound advice.

—Ian Stewart, author of Professor Stewart’s Casebook of Mathematical Mysteries

This book is well researched, well annotated, and includes loads of activities you can try with kids K-12 at home.

—Jennifer Bardsley, credentialed teacher and author of TeachingMyBabytoRead.com

This is the math helper I wish I’d had years ago.

—Anne White, author of Minds More Awake

A crash course in how to enjoy math with your children! Denise Gaskins uses her years of experience to show parents how to teach math with games, stories, puzzles, manipulatives, and living books. Full of useful advice and pedagogical insight, this book is a treasure trove for parents who want to help their children appreciate the beauty, history, and fun of math but don’t know where to start.

—Kate Snow, KatesHomeschoolMath.com and author of Preschool Math at Home

LPM no1new release highlight


Let’s Play Math Hits #1 in the UK

A Nice Surprise: When I got online this morning, I discovered that Let’s Play Math had hit #1 in the UK bestseller list for Parent Participation in Education—‌and I missed it!

But I did get a screen shot of my book sitting pretty at #2:

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How to Update Your Ebooks

The Math You Can Play books grew from more than twenty years of playing math with children—‌around the dining table, at the library, in the park, and in group workshops. The 42 kid-tested games in these books are simple to learn, quick to play, and require minimal preparation.

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These books can help even the busiest parents enjoy playing math with their children.

Now that the publication dust has settled and the typos and formatting glitches have been sorted out, we’ve updated all the Math You Can Play ebook files to match the paperback editions.

Changes include:

Do You Need an Update?

None of these changes have a major effect on the readability or value of the books. If you like your book as is, you aren’t missing anything vital.

Still, if you want the most up-to-date information, then check the title page of your ebook. Right under copyright date, the new edition says, “Ebook Version 1.3.”

If your book has a lower version number (or no version number at all), you may want to upgrade to the new edition.

Amazon Policy Change

We’ve asked Amazon to release the new ebook files to everyone who bought the earlier edition—‌as used to be their standard policy. But they say they got too many complaints about people losing their bookmarks, so they no longer issue updates except by customer request.

The only way to get the updated file is to contact Customer Service and ask for it yourself.

Here’s how:

  1. Click the contact Customer Service link. Log into your account.
  2. Under “What can we help you with?” click the option “Digital Services.”
  3. Under “Tell us more about your issue,” click “Kindle eBooks” and then “Something else.”
  4. Under “Enter short summary of issue,” copy and paste the following text:
    I bought the ebooks Counting & Number Bonds (ASIN B00WFOQAW6) and Addition & Subtraction (ASIN B00WFOQ9TA). These books have recently been updated with new material. Would you please send the updated ebook files to my account? Thank you.
  5. Of course, if you only bought one of the books, then delete the title and ASIN number that doesn’t apply.
  6. Choose how you want to be contacted. I always pick “Email,” but you can choose a more immediate option if you like.

And then wait for the support people to do their magic. You should get the new file within 24 hours.

What About the Paperbacks?

What if you got a bad copy of a paperback book?

The machines that print POD (Print On Demand) books—‌like our math game books and fantasy novels—‌are basically giant computer printers. As everyone knows, printers get glitches. And the humans who take a book off the machine and put it in a shipping box are usually too busy to notice the mistake.

If you ever get a messed-up copy of one of our paperbacks (or any book by anyone, for that matter), you can always contact customer service to have it replaced.

Just follow the same steps as above, but choose the options that make sense for whatever complaint you have. Or if you didn’t buy from Amazon, then find the Customer Service section for whatever book dealer you used, and follow their procedure.

The booksellers want happy customers. Give them a chance, and they’ll do their best to fix your problem.


Fantasy Novels in Kindle Unlimited

Due to difficulties with other ebook stores, Teresa Gaskins’s fantasy novels will be Kindle-only until further notice. Members of Kindle Unlimited can read them for free as part of your monthly subscription.

If you’re a paperback reader, the books are still available everywhere! Check out the links below, or special order at your local bookstore.

Banished

BanishedKindleCover

“Banished is a captivating fantasy story with a well-thought-out plot that would be a credit to any writer. But it is especially remarkable coming from a thirteen-year-old student who has been homeschooled all her life … I for one feel as if I simply can’t wait to read the next installment to find out what happens to Chris and his friends. It’s that good!”

— Wayne S. Walker, Home School Book Review

Hunted

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People who like medieval-style fantasies with wraiths, spirits, and even an attacking swamp tree will enjoy the story. I certainly did, and the excitement, adventure, and suspense will easily keep the reader’s attention.”

— Wayne S. Walker, Home School Book Review


Murphy Hits Math You Can Play Paperbacks

From Denise:

The colors are supposed to go all the way off the edge.
The colors are supposed to go all the way off the edge. They worked just fine in the pre-publication proof…

Murphy’s Law strikes again!

The paperback books that looked so good in the proof copies turned out to have cover troubles, at least in the ones I ordered from Amazon. I’m working with Create Space to make sure it gets straightened out—but that means the books may show up as “unavailable” off and on through the weekend.

As with any print-on-demand glitch, if you got a badly printed book you can ask your bookseller’s customer service department to replace it.

It could be worse. The interior of the book is fine, at least in the copy they sent me, and that’s the part that really matters.

And of course, the ebook versions are totally unaffected.

If you are trying to use the discount code for newsletter subscribers, I’m extending the expiration date to August 3.


Hunted: The Riddled Stone, Book Two

Hunted600New Fantasy Novel by Homeschooled Teen Author

Teresa Gaskins’s new ebook Hunted: The Riddled Stone ~ Book Two is available now at Amazon. The paperback should follow within the next couple days, and the other online retailers will come along whenever their automated systems get caught up.

You can download the first five chapters here:

“… a captivating fantasy story with a well-thought-out plot … people who like medieval-style fantasies with wraiths, spirits, and even an attacking swamp tree will enjoy the story. I certainly did, and the excitement, adventure, and suspense will easily keep the reader’s attention …”

— Wayne S. Walker
Home School Book Review

Magic is a Treacherous Guide

As a child, Terrin of Xell was almost devoured by a spirit from the Dark Forest. She knows better than to trust magic. But when her friend Chris was accused of a magical crime he didn’t commit, she couldn’t let him face banishment alone. So she and her friends get caught up in a quest to recover an ancient relic, with only magic to guide them.

And everything is going wrong.

First, Chris went missing, his trail washed away by spring rains. Now Arnold’s injured, and the countryside buzzes with rumors of war. In the forest, the wraiths—tiger-like, reptilian creatures—grow dangerously aggressive. Then Terrin starts seeing visions of a madwoman in the shadows.

Are Terrin and her friends being hunted?

Or has the magic decided to turn against them?


Hunted is the second book in The Riddled Stone, a fantasy series by homeschooled teen author Teresa Gaskins. Pick up your copy today!


Number Games Printables

Counting-GamesAddition-GamesThe first two Math You Can Play ebooks are now available at Amazon (and coming soon to other online retailers). Today I posted the free downloadable PDF companion file with all the hundred charts, game boards, and score sheets ready to print and play.

Like you, I have a limited amount of free time, and I don’t want to spend it cutting out specialized game pieces or cards. So most of the games in the Math You Can Play series use basic items you already have, such as playing cards and dice.

But there are many entertaining things to do with a hundred chart, and each book includes two or three of my favorite hundred-chart games. For the few other games that need a playing board, you can draw your own on scratch paper just fine, if you want. But it’s just plain fun to use the cut-and-fold game board for Shut the Box.

Enjoy!

Number-Game-Printables-Pack

Banished: Free Promotion

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Our Christmas gift to you: Teresa Gaskins’ fantasy adventure Banished will be free on Amazon.com this weekend only, December 11-15.

I don’t know whether the other Amazons (UK, CA, AU, IN, etc.) will also run the sale, but I hope so.

As I type, the paperback edition is also on sale at a 10% discount, though we have no control over how long Amazon will be offering that price. And Banished will stay in the Kindle Matchbook program, so if you buy a copy of the paperback, you can get the ebook for free — even after our weekend sale runs out.

The second book in The Riddled Stone series is coming in Spring 2015. If you want a head’s up when it arrives, join our updates email list.