Posts Tagged ‘special offers’

Berlitz Spanish Lessons Now Free on DailyLit

DailyLit and Berlitz have teamed up to offer Berlitz DailyLit Spanish lessons, which are now available for free.

I’ve already gotten a few of these lessons in my inbox, and I have to say they’re great fun. I never thought I’d have the time to pick up a little Spanish.

To receive these 90 lessons for free, you need to sign up for them before May 1, 2010.

Here’s a fuller description:

Berlitz DailyLit Spanish Lessons—available only on DailyLit—allow students of all ages to study Spanish at their own pace and according to their own schedule. Readers can personalize the pace of their study—from leisurely to intense—by electing to receive weekly or daily installments.

Berlitz DailyLit Spanish Lessons are ideal for those who are just beginning to learn Spanish and for those who would like a refresher course. The lessons cover the most essential topics for language learners, including greetings, traveling, and working. Plus, each lesson is presented with clear explanations and helpful content, including:

•Useful everyday vocabulary
•Grammar and pronunciation
•Important cultural information
•Self-test for each lesson

And remember, sign up by May 1, 2010 to receive these lessons for free.

Announcing Survey Winners of Advance Copy of Major Novel

Lots of you took our recent Reader Survey and we want to express our thanks–your feedback is incredibly helpful!

As promised we chose five lucky winners at random, each of whom will receive a free advance copy of bestselling novelist Henning Mankell’s new thriller The Man from Beijing. (It’s available in the U.S. starting February 16.) Congratulations to our winners:

Leah59
Canutillo
muse03
agauthier79
booka

Happy reading!

DailyLit News: January 2010

Note from the CEO

I’ve been thrilled by your enthusiastic response to DailyLit and how much you appreciate our making all our books and stories free. Now it’s time to share the love. Tell 5 friends about DailyLit—pass on the word at dinner, forward installments to your colleagues, or mention DailyLit to moms at pick up. You can also now use your address book to invite your friends to read along or publish to your Facebook page. Thanks for spreading the word!

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger@dailylit.com

Berlitz Spanish Lessons

Ever wanted to learn Spanish? Enjoy our daily, complimentary Spanish course created exclusively for DailyLit by Berlitz. Available only through May 1st. Read it here.

DailyLit’s Big Read

January is the month of Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday, so in his honor this month’s Big Read is his short story “Murders in the Rue Morgue.” It’s the world’s first-ever detective fiction—without Poe’s Auguste Dupin there might never have been a Sherlock Holmes. Read it here.

Reader Challenge

It’s a brand new decade, full of possibilities and hope. This month’s reader challenge taps into that optimism. Complete this sentence: “What I wish for the world in 2010 is….” And remember, one complete sentence only! Share your wishes for the world—literary, political, imaginary, whatever—in our Reader Challenge Forum.

New Feature: Invite a Friend

Don’t go it alone—invite your friends to join you. Now, when you start reading a book on DailyLit, you’ll be able to instantly publish what you’re reading to Facebook, Yahoo, and other sites. And if you open up your address book, you can invite any number of friends to join in one big read-along.

New Short Fiction from Laurel Dewey

Laurel Dewey’s compelling heroine Detective Jane Perry returns in this fourth original piece of short fiction. Here Jane investigates a suspicious death and uncovers secrets she could never have imagined. Read it here. (And find three other pieces by Laurel Dewey here.)

Make 2010 the Year of The Book

Always wanted to read Anna Karenina? Moby Dick? Pride and Prejudice? Make this the year that you finally tackle The Book—you know, one major classic you ought to have read at some point in your life. Take it one day and one installment at a time—you can do it! Check out our Classics for inspiration.

Your DailyLit Story

Thanks to everyone who took our reader survey last month—we loved reading your feedback (and your kind words about DailyLit). We’d like to feature stories about your experience with DailyLit and what you’ve been able to accomplish so if you have a story to share, please email us at support@dailylit.com.

Last Day to Enter Reader Challenge with Guest Judge Anne Rice

It’s the last day to enter our Reader Challenge with Guest Judge Anne Rice! We’ve timed the challenge to end right when the ’00s decade does: tonight at 11:59pm EST. Here’s the challenge: In exactly 50 words, tell a story of an encounter with an angel. Anne Rice will select her three favorites, each of whom will win a signed copy of Rice’s new book Angel Time. Post your encounters in our Reader Challenge forum no later than 11:59pm EST tonight (December 31st). Get writing!

Reader Challenge with Guest Judge Anne Rice–2 More Days!

There are just two more days left of 2009, which means you have just two more days to enter our Reader Challenge with guest judge Anne Rice. In exactly 50 words, tell a story of an encounter with an angel.  Anne will select her three favorites, each of whom will win a signed copy of her new book Angel Time. Post your encounters in our Reader Challenge forum no later than 11:59pm EST on December 31st. Get to it!

Are You Ready for Christmas?

It’s just one day away. Do you still have a few names on your list? Cards you didn’t have a chance to send out? Why not send them a fun freebie gift from DailyLit–either a whole book, like Madame de Stael (Diane von Furstenberg’s favorite summer book) or a fun holiday read, like Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol. Include a personalized message with your gift and select the date and time for delivery and you’re all set–time for egg nog.

To get you in the spirit, here’s  the classic poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas:”

‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

By Clement C. Moore

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap–

When out on the lawn there rose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter,
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon, on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of mid-day to objects below;
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blitzen–
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall!
Now, dash away, dash away, dash away all!”
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So, up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys–and St. Nicholas too.
And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack;
His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;

His droll little month was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face, and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump–a right jolly old elf;
And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle;
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

Enter Our Reader Challenge with Guest Judge Anne Rice

For this month’s creative challenge, “Encounter with an Angel,” we’re delighted to welcome guest judge Anne Rice, whose new book Angel Time recently debuted. As you might guess from the title, the challenge asks you to describe an encounter with an angel–fictional or real–in no more than 50 words. Anne Rice will be reading your entries and selecting her three favorites, whose writers will each receive a signed copy of her new book. You have until the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2009 (11:59pm EST) to submit your entry for judging here. Good luck!

DailyLit Books Make Great Freebie Gifts

We’re down to just one week for you to finish your Christmas shopping. But don’t panic! DailyLit books make great freebie gifts for those hard-to-buy-for folks on your list. Choose a book your friend or family member would like–or one you’d both like to read, so you can form a mini-book club–and select the date and time you’d like the book to start being delivered. Then you can enter a gift message that will show up in each installment of the book, reminding your loved one of you long after the holiday is over. No lines, no hassle, no rush–and it’s all for FREE. Why not give Pride & Prejudice, or Madame de Staël (Diane von Furstenberg’s favorite summer book), or Shoes, Bags, and Tiaras, or A Christmas Carol, or one of our 600+ other books?

Winners of the November Reader Challenge

Thanks so much to all who participated in our November Reader Challenge. It certainly wasn’t easy to choose three winners–there were many great entries–but here are our three favorites. Congratulations to mir777, mountaingirl, And agedcheddar! You’ll each receive a copy of Mollie Katzen’s new cookbook Get Cooking. (And remember, December’s  Reader Challenge is open right now–visit the Reader Challenge forum to enter.)

Here are the winning stories. Enjoy!

mir777:
“Martha, your potatoes souffle is simply divine,” Leticia murmured through a mouthful of marshmallowed sweet potatoes.
“Divine?” Martha burst into tears.
Raising a languid eyebrow, Letitia stared, puzzled, at Martha.
Martha, breathing deeply, replied, “I know about you and my husband.”
Harold crushed the Parker House roll, that he had just fetched from the basket, in his clenched fist and began to sweat.

mountaingirl:
No more questions about my job, cat, or horrid roommate. I will jump from my corner chair, thrust myself over yet another dry turkey, grab my mousy hair and scream my head off. But Charlie is smiling more, and Cara actually helped cook. The corner chair’s not so bad really.

agedcheddar:
Every year I put two extra place settings at the table for my Mother and Brother. It’s my way of saying that they may be gone but are certainly not forgotten. Last year was no different. Midway through the meal my five year old Granddaughter says, “Bubbe, you need to give the lady some more turkey”. No sooner had she spoken those words when her twin brother says, “And that boy needs more milk”. I was too blind to see but the eyes of five year olds are much more keen!

Holiday Reads on DailyLit

The holiday season is in full swing, so why not get some cheer by email with one of our holiday reads.

A Christmas Carol (DailyLit’s Big Read!)
The Little Match Girl
The Gift of the Magi
The Night Before Christmas

And don’t forget designer Diane von Furstenberg’s gift to you this holiday season: acclaimed biography (and one of Diane’s favorite books this year) Madame de Staël.

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