Because this is a long list of giveaways, I will be posting my “Simplify” series in another post.
Today, I want to ask you if you would like to be a part of something I am putting together. A while back I did a series called 17 Days of Natural Cleaning. It was well received. So well received in fact that I decided to put them all into an ebook, but it won’t just be recipes. I am going deep into how to naturally clean, maintain, and enjoy your home. I’m going to include 75% new and unpublished material. I don’t plan on leaving any stone unturned with this one. 
It will be a complete guidebook for natural cleaning. My tentative launch date is July 4th.
I am looking for adventurous homemakers to help me test my recipes, systems, and theories. I have a very talented and highly educated Environmental Engineer helping me with the scientific specifics, however I still would like a test group. I need women who are interested in trying and testing new things and who can give an objective and unemotional opinion about the process and results: homemakers, chemistry fans, natural living enthusiasts, and others who are interested are welcome. We will simply chat via a private Facebook group and I’ll lay out all assignments there. All will be voluntary. Those who contribute to the overall results of the book will be given credit and free eBooks to keep and share.
Besides, I think we’ll have a lot of fun! If you would like to participate simply friend me on Facebook and send me a private message saying you’d like to be a member of the group. I will then add you.
Here is what we have up for giveaways today! {CLOSED}
Bundle 1
Blogger Behave by Laura @ 10 Million Miles | If blogging is like a road-trip, then the best thing about it is the brave traveler herself: the you behind each word and image. From one traveler to another, here are the secrets that have helped me to enjoy the journey.This eBook will inspire you to blog well and live well.
(purchased by AB.com)
How to Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too by Mandi @ Life Your Way | How to Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too is for every mother who’s ever wondered if it’s possible to pursue her own passions while investing in her family and managing a home.
(purchased by AB.com)
Tell Your Time by Amy @ Blogging with Amy | This book outlines a straightforward, step-by-step approach to controlling your schedule and ensuring the important things don’t fall through the cracks. Tell Your Time helps you accomplish not only what’s on your to-do list today, but what’s on your to-do list for life.
(purchased by AB.com)
Your Blogging Business: Tax Talk & Tips from a Bookkeeper Turned Blogger by Nikki @ Christian Mommy Blogger($4.99) | Do you love blogging, but need some direction when it comes to how to keep track of your blogging bucks? Whether you are a blogger, editor, designer or any another other small business owner, you can benefit from this book!
(offered by author)
Bundle 2
Plan It, Don’t Pan
ic by Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home | This book will help you to: Find the method of meal planning that will suit you and your family best; Tweak and perfect your meal planning style with unique tips and strategies; Make it easier to work around special/restrictive dietary needs; Become a grocery-shopping ninja and never go to the store without a genius plan in place for maximizing your money; Learn how leftovers can become your best friends in the kitchen; As well as how to store your recipes, easily find your favorites, plan for hectic times, and even what to do when you mess up.
(purchased by AB.com)
Real Food Basics by Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama | This book will show you how to cook real, recognizable foods in your own kitchen. Foods that everyone loves, like pizza, ice cream, and French fries, that have been made over with healthy ingredients! People will be amazed that these foods are healthy because they are so delicious, but it’s true. You don’t have to be deprived when you’re living the real foods lifestyle!
(purchased by AB.com)
Real Fast Food by Trina @ Trina Holden | It’s a treasure trove of time saving techniques and simply wonderful recipes that are custom fit for you and your schedule. You’ll learn everything from painless freezer stocking and bulk food prep to quick, healthy meals for day trips.
(offered by author)
Inside Out Simplicity by Joshua @ Becoming Minimalist | Get ready for a 360 degree approach to the simplified lifestyle. “Inside-Out Simplicity: Life-Changing Keys to your Most Important Relationships” is a brand new e-book that goes beyond external fixes to our complicated lives. Instead, this book dares to focus on the very heart and soul of a simplified life.
(purchased by AB.com)
Giving Up Normal by Alene Snodgrass @ Positively Alene | Giving Up Normal will inspire you to step away from your own-little-routined-world so that you can bless others who God has put in your path. This all-important message has been brewing in her heart for years. You will be inspired and challenged as she shares openly about her journey to follow her heart when it went against the core of her daily-suburban-routine. You, too, can make a difference in this big world if you take a step-out into the unknown. Alene writes, “if your heart is leading, you are called. If you are called, others are waiting on you.”
(offered by author)
Bundle 3
From Debtor to Better by Barry @ Debtor to Better | This book is not your average get-out-of-debt book. I don’t just want you to get out of debt, I want you to understand the monster that is debt and be equipped to not only tackle your own debt, but also know how to help others who may be struggling with their own debt issues.
(offered by author)
My Buttered Life {Summer + Gift Giving Editions} by Renee @ MadeOn Hard Lotion($10.00) | Five recipes: sunscreen, tan enhancer, bug repellent bar, foot protector bar, and body skin conditioner, each with five ingredients or less. Also includes instructional videos, cost analysis (compare to store bought), where to buy ingredients page, and list of quality natural oils and butters.
(purchased by AB.com)
Not a DIY Diva by Melissa @ The Inspired Room | This book is about embracing your authentic style and way of living at home so that you can be content, even in this “perfect image” world we live in. I know first hand it is so freeing to choose to grow to be who I am instead of trying so hard to be something I am not.
(purchased by AB.com)
One Bite at a Time by Tsh @ Simple Mom | One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler is a simple living handbook. Tsh took her favorite ideas that she already wrote on Simple Mom, then rewrote and reorganized them into manageable chunks.
(purchased by AB.com)
Friday, April 20th was my birthday. The older I get the more simplified I want my life to be. I believe in some way we all want to simplify things. I’ve decided to celebrate my birthday week by hosting giveaways (from Oreck, TrueLemon, Lodge, Couponizer, Thrity-One Gifts, and many more) and sharing some posts on simplifying life. If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe because over the next week we’ll discuss:
- Simplify Your Cleaning
- Simplify Your Cooking
- Simplify Your Time
- Simplify Your Creativity
- Simplify Your Blogging
- Simplify Your Relationships
- Simplify Your Finances
In order to enter all you have to do is answer the following question in the comments: what type of quality do expect to receive when purchasing an ebook? That’s all. Really. No hoops to jump through. However, I would be honored if you would subscribe to my free blog posts, like my page on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter. The giveaway will end on April 23rd at midnight CST.
By the way, be sure to enter the Oreck AirInstinct giveaway.
Disclaimer: Each and every one of these ebooks were purchased, full price, by me or were provided by the author. I do have proof of purchase or emails requesting giveaways for each one.
I expect an e-book to deliver well organized, grammatically correct, quality content.
It needs to 1)provide information in an organized fashion that’s easy to follow, 2)be accurate (ie. spelling, etc.), and 3)give me that something special that I couldn’t easily find elsewhere.
Happy birthday and thank you for the giveaway. I expect the same thing from an ebook as I would from a hardcover book. Quality, clean writing, and interesting!
I don’t necessarily expect an ebook to have all of the elements of a “traditional” book but I do expect that it will be proofread and organized well. I expect to get something “extra” from an ebook.
If I am going to pay for an e-book, there should be no reason why it should be any less in quality than if I were to purchase a “regular” book. It should be as free of typos and other editing errors as possible (one of my big pet peeves when reading any kind of book). The formatting should be such as to make the information easy to read. My biggest issue with e-books is that it sometimes seems as though “everybody and their dog” is publishing one, trying to make a buck, when the authors aren’t really publishing any new insights or inspiration, just rehashing the same simplistic information that everybody has already heard a hundred times over. An e-book…just like any book, needs to inspire me to try new things, think in new ways, or make some kind of change, otherwise, it isn’t worth the paper it’s NOT printed on.
I expect e-books to be well edited and well organized. I usually read them on my Kindle so the graphics aren’t super important. I just expect to find information that I couldn’t get with a simple Google search! I usually buy an e-book to save myself time researching something.
I feel that ebooks should be of the same quality as print books. While I don’t mind if they are more informal, I do expect to not find several typos and making sure the content is well organized and presented. I also prefer a table of contents and index or other resources if applicable to the subject. If it is heavy on graphics or colored ink, it is also nice to provide a simple black/white alternative for printing.
That’s a great question…the main thing I look for is quality content in a quick easy to read format. Of course the graphic should be great and the layout too, but the main thing I look for is that it is easy to read while at the same time giving me something I can put action steps too or think about.
I’ve just recently started reading ebooks, but I expect them to be a good read, clear, concise, simple, nicely edited, and to have nice graphics (something printed books often do not have). I am very visual, so the graphics help me out a lot! You rock Amy!!!!!
I expect an e-book to be well-edited, easy to read and easy to navigate (with a well-marked Table of Contents).
BTW – I’ve sent you a friend request on FB, but it wouldn’t allow me to send you a private message. I’d love to win any of these bundles. Thanks for all your tips! I’ve really enjoyed receiving them in my In Box.
An eBook should be of the same quality, or better than, a traditional paper book. While the content remains the same, the artwork quality should be improved.
Easy to read, easy to purchase and download to my tablet. good price!
I don’t use a lot of e-books but I guess if I bought one I would expect that it had something “more” than you could just get by reading a blog. I have read a few e-books where I have come away feeling a little disappointed because it promised so much in the build up but then didn’t measure up…so I guess that is another thing. I don’t want the “promotion” to be so hyped up that it doesn’t meet my expectations. Apart from that, being easy to “browse” through and find where things are , like having a clear contents page and being clearly page numbered. I guess the same sorts of things that are in a normal book, but even clearer really as you can’t just “flick” through to find that page, like you can with a “real” book. All the best on your new e-book Amy.
Ruth
I think e-books should be os the same quality and printed books with the addition that it must be easily readable on screen.
e-books should be of the same standard as paper books colourful pictures are also a good way of getting the points across but the true guide is the writer. If the writer has a love of life their enthusiasm will shine through whatever the media.
With ebooks, it depends on who it is coming from. When they are from bloggers I follow and trust, I expect it to reflect the quality of their writing only with that little extra something that makes it even more desirable. A lot of the ones on amazon seem to be copy pasted or jumbles of information already out there, I just try to follow the author to see what I can find.
Also, Sunday (today!) was my birthday too. I went to get a free eyebrow wax at the salon and when I looked in the mirror I noticed all these fine wrinkles I’ve never seen before. Oh how life is going by!
Hi Amy,
Just want to wish you a happy birthday ! I stumbled onto your site just recently an denjoying it! Thanks! God bless!
Like almost everyone else, I expect an ebook to be the same quality as a regular book. I do like them to have the added value of more illustrations or color photography. I think that so many print books are limited with those aspects because of the cost of printing—and ebooks don’t have that prohibition, giving ebooks a definite advantage over print books in that aspect.
I expect ebooks (as with all books I buy) to be well written and edited. They also need to offer something of value whehter that be entertainment, education or encouragement.
I expect the same quality from an ebook that I would expect in a printed one. I want something that keeps my attention…and is going to make me want to make a niche of time to get back to it.
I expect the information to be similiar quality as a printed book however I do not expect the graphics, and “extras” to be of certain quality whatsoever.
An e-book should be everything a real paper book should be…only it’s to be read on a hand held reader. I love e-books because you can carry many with you at one time and won’t break your back carrying them with you.
I also love the quality that I can have it instantly and can start reading it right away without ever leaving my house!
I expect the same quality from an ebook that I would expect in a printed one. I want something that is informative but grabs my attention. I love books that I don’t want to delete after I’ve read them once…something I can refer back to again & again. Thanks for the opportunity to win a bundle of these high quality books.
I like e-books to be practical…..full of useful information and easy to read. Clear font, easy to download, and down to the point. I don’t have a kindle or e-reader, so prefer them in pdf so I’m sitting at my computer reading them usually……can’t do that for long periods of time so needs to be ‘to the point’ to be of most value.
Would love to be part of the team if I can help as a homemaker too.
Hope this is helpful feedback :O)
I like ebooks that have easy to read font and nice pics and hyperlinks if applicable.I LOVE EBOOKS and I like supporting my favourite bloggers sally in alaska
This looks like a great list of books. For me, the quality I look for is readability. I like one page on my scren at a time. It’s easier to read…and I love it when the book comes in PDF format. I don’t have an e-reader and don’t intend on downloading any aps. So PDF format is really easy for me. That and I can print out individual pages, if I need to keep something close by for notes etc
Love and hugs from the ocean shores of CAlifornia, Heather 
I just love free ebooks! I expect ebooks to be just like a printed book. I don’t want to miss anything in the book! Thanks for a chance to win such amazing ebooks!
Good, interesting content. I usually read my ebooks on my Kindle so I like an ebook to be easy on the eyes. Just like many others have said, the format shouldn’t impact the quality of the info.
I sent you an email because I couldn’t send you a pm on FB regarding the cleaning testing.
I tried to find a “Like” or “message” button on the facebook page offered, but didn’t find one. I had already liked “Cajun Joie De Vivre” on facebook so I sent the message there.
I like an ebook to be much like physical book. It needs to be cohesive and well planned out. I’ve read a few lately that completely missed the mark. It made it very hard to read and even though I didn’t pay much for the information, it felt like a bad purchase all the same.
I couldn’t fine a “like” button on the Amy Grant Bayliss facebook page. It’s probably some glitch on my computer. I did “like” Cajun joie de vivre on facebook, and send you a PM to that page. I’d love to be part of this. Because I’m a mom and grandma of 6, healthy living is at the top of my list. Let me know how I can help.
I look for relevance and tried and true testimonials along with links and forms are always some of the things I relish!
I like an ebook layout to be simple; not too text heavy on each page since paper cost isn’t an issue. I enjoy an ebook when it has a balance of photos, featured quotes and live link resources within the text and as a separate resource page. Because it’s a book I also want it to be laid out like a book as others have mentioned.
I love to search for bargin/sales ebooks but many don’t have an image to display. I guess I need to judge the book by the cover, but it’s nice to see something related to the book. As far as quality, I just want to enjoy the book, so as long as it has an image/cover, and it’s a subject that I’m interested in, then it’s what I’m looking for!
I expect the same quality and professionalism in an ebook as a conventional book. I’ve read a couple recently that kind of missed the boat in that regard. Both had good content, but one contained a number of typos and the other had a design that really looked slapped together. The first was by an author that I’d followed for awhile. The errors were distracting, but he had built enough trust and credibility by the time I read the book, that the errors were easily dismissed. The author of the other book was brand new to me, and the jury’s still out. Taking the time to produce a quality piece of work, respects those that take the time to read it, whether they pay for it or it is given away. From a marketing standpoint, it doesn’t hurt to always put your best foot forward.
The e-book needs to be relevant, just like any other book. User-friendly and easy to read. I love to have the availability on my reading device, but I need it to be easy to grab and access what I need. Pictures can’t hurt!
BTW, I’m trying to “friend” you on Facebook to be able to be a part of the cleaning group, and I can’t find a way to do it. I’d LOVE to be a part of what you’re doing with natural cleaning! Please let me know how I can do so! Thanks!
I expect to be given information that is of interest to me and something I can learn from .
I would expect an ebook to be of the same quality as a paper book. I look for ebooks on topics like computers and other things I need for my job, but do not want cluttering up my house.
To me, the most important part of any ebook is the information that it shares. I love an ebook that covers a topic extensively and in depth. Bonus points for breaking a topic down into baby steps!
I expect and ebook to be good quality with useful information.
I usually buy ebooks that deal with a subject I am currently struggling with or want to improve upon. I want the book to be FULL of practical information. I want good stuff and not fluff
I want it laid out well so it’s easy on the eyes. Lots of white space please.
When considering an e-book, I expect the same quality of information as I do in printed books. I don’t believe the format of the book should impact what is offered.
I agree with you on this Wanda, I don’t think the format should impact what is offered.
Seems like everyone’s writing a book these days and while I have no problem with it, I’m looking for quality in the content of ebooks. If its a subject or topic that interests me, I hope to learn and be inspired by the book instead of feeling like this is it?!?
Sorry, forgot to add that I’m now following you on twitter. I already like you on fb and subscribe to your blog!
And happy belated birthday!
I must agree with Kathy. I expect it to be just as good as a printed book. Great cover, table of contents, resources, and something that will grab my attention right from the first chapter. If I can’t get into by the end of the first chapter I have a tendency not to finish it.
I would expect an ebook to have all of the qualities of a printed book: reader friendly with table of contents, index, pictures and captions, and references or resources noted. An attractive cover and front page with an opening sentence that grabs the reader’s attention and not let her go. An easy to-go-to resource for what the reader needs.