Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Speak Out Against Bullying On Feb 3 - Please Join Us


Not long ago, my friend Katie told me a story. She's an author (writing as K.M. Parr), but this was not a nice story, and unfortunately it wasn't fiction. Katie recently published her first novel. Awesome, right? YES... except someone she knows in real life decided to mock her accomplishment, and began bullying her online.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not into trying to persuade people to speak out or soapboxing or... whatever you want to call it. But I recently released my first novel, too. I couldn't stop thinking about how awful it would feel to have such an ugly stain on the experience.

And I couldn't let it go.

Katie and I talked about it, and we decided we wanted to counter the negativity. We wanted others to join in, too, 'cause power in numbers, right friends? :) That's how Spread <3, Not Hate was born (Katie came up with the name - I love it).

We invite you to join us and speak out against bullying on your blog on February 3rd. Here's how:

1. Scroll down this post to where it says "You are next... Click here to enter" and click the link. Enter your blog name, URL, email, and name. (I'm asking for your email so I can send out a reminder for the event the day before.)

2. Schedule or plan to put up your post first thing on February 3rd (you can publish it the night before if that's easier). Be sure to grab the button code for the event (see below) so you can include the button in your post. You're more than welcome to display the button or badges (top of this post and in my sidebar) on your blog prior to the event.

Your post can be about anything related to bullying - tell a story about something you experienced (online or in real life), something you witnessed, a time when you stood up for someone who was bullied (or wish you would have), or just write a short message of support.

3. Please help us spread the word. I'd love to see at least 50 people sign up for this event. Katie will be telling her story on February 3rd, and I'll be blogging, too, of course. I really want us to look back on this, and instead of thinking of some jerk who tried to bring someone down, remember all the people who spoke out against bullying and in support of a new author. Thank you!! <3
 
Copy the code below and paste it in HTML view to display the button:
Spread <3, Not Hate


Thank you, Livia of Butterfly-O-Meter Designs, for creating and donating
the beautiful badges and button for this event! 
(You can't see me, Livia, but I'm blowing kisses at you!)


29 comments:

Amy said...

Count me in!! This is so awful to hear about. It's sad that people can act so mean.

K.C. Neal said...

Thanks so much for taking part, Amy! <3

Sophie said...

I'm in! Bullying sucks.

Angela Carling said...

I'm all over that. My book coming out in late April actually deals with a form of bullying. I'll be sure to post.

SweetMarie83 said...

I'm in, I think this is a fantastic idea.

K.C. Neal said...

Sophie, Angela, Marie - thanks so much for taking part! <3

Unknown said...

Thanks for setting this up so we can spread the word to stop bullying!!

Courtney @ Fuzzy.Coffee.Books

K.C. Neal said...

Absolutely - thanks for joining in! :D

Anonymous said...

Wonderful! I'm definitely in. Thank you for this. :)

Alexandra~

K.C. Neal said...

Thanks so much for signing up, Alexandra!

Rebecca Emin said...

I'm in. Thanks to Sophie Gonzales for the link as well.

K.C. Neal said...

Thanks for joining, Rebecca! And Sophie for spreading the word - you are awesome! :)

Tymothy Longoria said...

This is awesome K.C.

Lucky #56!

Word.

K.C. Neal said...

Thanks for signing up, Tym!! <3

Matthew W. Turcotte said...

As somebody who endured years of pain and sadness from people I went to school with, I would be honoured to take part in this day.

K.C. Neal said...

We are honored to have you, Matthew!

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous blog hop to host! Bullying is such an ugly act that causes enormous suffering. Time to put an end to it.

Callie Kingston

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic idea! I am so totally joining! Bullying sucks, trust me, I know. :(

The Romance Bookie said...

I am definitely in! I think I have just the story to tell for this too :). It's great that more and more people are raising the awareness on bullying! :) Thanks KC!

Anonymous said...

You can definitely count me in! I am a new author as well and have been constantly harassed by a group of cyber trolls here on GR to the point where I've had to block all of them. They were placing nasty, scathing one-star reviews on my book just to author bash and they were also leaving nasty comments on my GR account and my website. This kind of thing really shouldn't be allowed on GR.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I forgot to leave my name for the above comment.

Melissa
http://melissadouthit.com

Melissa Douthit said...

I'm going to visit all your blogs and put links to them on my site!

M. E. Franco said...

Put mine up tonight since I will be out most of the day tomorrow! So happy to participate :)

Melissa Douthit said...

I posted mine tonight, too:

http://melissadouthit.com/2012/02/03/spread-love-not-hate-speak-out-against-bullying/

I am looking forward to reading everyone's posts on this topic. Thank you K.C. for starting this and thank you to everyone who is participating!

Nicole said...

With you on this one, each of my books has troll reviews on it. It is the day and age of nameless/faceless internet cowards.

Melissa Douthit said...

I just saw. Agreed.

Btw, I'm putting a link to your blog on my website. =o)

Whitney said...

I just saw this on another blog, what an awesome idea! This is an issue that really needs to be addressed both off and online.

Melissa Douthit said...

I just read Kate's blog. Kate, I'm sorry that happened to you and your book. Believe, I know the feeling. It's not cool when people do that. People can be really mean.

danicapage said...

I'm in. I've linked your website in my post!

Bullying just breaks my heart!