For Beginners Anniversary Contest

This coming Monday marks a very special day for us: it’s the fourth anniversary of For Beginners! We’re still going strong, with plenty of new books on the way for next year, including Marx’s Das Kapital, Jane Austen, Women’s History, The U.S. Constitution, Dante, and Unions For Beginners. To celebrate, we’re holding a contest on Facebook and Twitter for our readers. On Monday, be one of the first four people to comment on our Facebook page with your favorite For Beginners book that you’ve read or retweet our message with your favorite, and you could win your choice of one of our books! Check out this list for all the possibilities.

Thanks to all of the readers and fans who have kept us going for four great years!

Our New Slogan

Our birthday celebration is finally over and after three long years of absence, we finally have a tag-line: Know More. Read Less.


That's the winner folks, of the many entries to our Third Birthday Tagline Contest, that shimmering jewel of inspiration from Ginny Hull Hartline was our favorite and will now be used on anything and everything published by For Beginners. And, as we promised, Ginny will soon be receiving the grand prize of a full catalogue of For Beginners books. That's right, all thirty eight title from Anarchism to Zinn. Congrats Ginny and thanks so much for participating in our contest. We love our new slogan!

Last Day of For Beginners Birthday Contest

I can't believe our birthday is coming to a close. I just don't feel like we've celebrated enough. If you haven't already, don't forget to submit a few taglines for our Big Birthday Contest. The contributor with the best tagline will get it published on all forthcoming For Beginners products and will win an entire catalogue of our 38 titles!

It's a big prize for a small amount of work, don't let it pass you by.

Post your ideas as a comment here, on twitter with the #forbeginners hashtag, or on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/forbeginners

Reminder: One Week Left in the Tagline Contest!

There is only a week remaining for entries in the Tagline Contest. We have already seen some great entries but there is plenty of time for new and creative ideas. Remember, the winner can look forward to seeing their idea on all sorts of For Beginners® merchandise as well as receiving a collection of all 38 titles from the For Beginners® catalog.

Continue to post your ideas via our twitter and facebook pages. A list of some of the earlier entries can be found here.

Tagline Entries And Summer Contests!!!

We want to know what you think.

It's day two of our HUGE Birthday contest and we've already received a few taglines (If you don't know what we're talking about, get caught up here or here). So we decided that we'd put them up on our blog and let y'all give us a little feedback. Let us know what you think; which ones are good and which ones are gooder. And make sure you participate yourself: there's a whole stack of 38 For Beginners books in it for you.

So here are the contestants so far:

1. For Beginners: Start Here
2. Knowledge is the key that no locked door can resist
3. Open mind begins with an open book
4. Knowledge begins with an open book
5. To Begin is the road to an adventure
6. To Begin is a step closer to accomplishment

Also, be sure to check out our Twitter. We'll be throwing around a few contests from now until our Big Birthday Blow Out ends on September 15!!!

For Beginners Third Birthday Tagline Contest!!!

Wow! Three years old already. It seems like just yesterday we were releasing our first batch of books. Where did all that time go? And since when have we had thirty-eight titles?!

This is a big birthday for us and we have a very specific wish: 1. Tagline for the For Beginners graphic non-fiction series (it’s hard to imagine we’ve gone this long without one). Tell you what, we’re willing to let go of an entire catalogue of all thirty-eight of our titles. From African History to Chomsky to Existentialism to Plato to Zen and Zinn. Each one fully illustrated and presented in an entertaining and informative style for those who want to know more about great thinkers and complex subjects minus the boring, dry facts. Plus the winner’s catch phrase will appear on every new title forthwith along with t-shirts, the website, and other swag.

We really, really want this for our birthday this year. Even more than a gift card or the latest electronic device. But if you really want to get us an e-book reader, we won’t complain. So go on, post your ideas on our Facebook wall or at the Facebook event page, as a comment on our Blog, email it to us at info@forbeginnersbooks.com, or on Twitter with the hashtag #ForBeginners. There’s no limit to the number of tagline’s you submit or the number of websites you submit them to, just please, send us your ideas. Judging criteria are inventiveness, creativity, and – where appropriate – humor. You know what we want, you know where to find us, and we know you really want those books for that empty shelf in your den. Happy Birthday For Beginners!!!

UPDATE: Winners of FDR And The New Deal For Beginners Giveaway Drawn

We officially have two lucky winners for our FDR and The New Deal For Beginners Facebook Giveaway. But we can't give away any names until we have recieved confirmations from both of them.

Upset you didn't win? Don't give up yet, our Birthday is coming up and I think I smell a CONTEST!!!

First Review of FDR and the New Deal!

FDR and the New Deal For Beginners is out and receiving positive reviews. The first review has been published on the People's World website. Reviewer John Pietaro says of the book:

"Agitated by radical visions of generations past and the urgent needs of right now, FDR and the New Deal For Beginners speaks to us in a gripping prose that is at once familiar and startlingly relevant, right here, right now."

Read the full review here.

FDR and the New Deal For Beginners is on sale now at RandomHouse.com in both trade paper back and e-book.

But if you want a copy for free, try winning one in our Facebook giveaway. Just friend us (ForBeginners Series) on Facebook and RSVP to the event GIVEAWAY: FDR And The New Deal For Beginners - Now Available

The Contest Winner Is Official! Congratulations Julia Zay!!!

We have just received confirmation from our randomly selected winner for our FDR and The New Deal For Beginners Giveaway! Her name is Julia Zay, she's from Olympia, WA, and she's about to receive a free, advance copy of our brand new title, FDR And The New Deal For Beginners. Let's give Julia a round of applause and make sure to check out FDR and The New Deal For Beginners at Random House or Facebook.

Contest Winner Has Been Drawn!!!

Today at 10:48:32, Random.org's integer generator spat out the number 38. What does that mean exactly? It means we have a WINNER for the FDR and The New Deal For Beginners Giveaway!!! We can't say who lucky number 38 is just yet, but stay tuned and we'll post his/her name right here when we get a confirmation.

The First Submissions For The 'Where Do YOU "Begin?"' Photo Competition

The First Pictures are in! Enjoy some of these great shots of people (and other things) reading our books and go submit your own!

...And a few more

CONTESTS! CONTESTS! CONTESTS!

I don't know what it is but we over here at For Beginners just feel like giving away some free books. It must just be a generous time of year. We currently have two contests running on Facebook.

The First is to win an advance copy of FDR And The New Deal For Beginners. Just friend us on Facebook and RSVP to the event and you could win a copy. But hurry, the contest ends TONIGHT at 9:00!

The other is the "Where Do You 'Begin?'" photo contest. Again, friend us and RSVP to the event then show us pictures of you reading our books. The winner will win a copy of any For Beginners title they want!

And word has it there's a contest lurking in the near future. You heard it here first. Stay posted for more.

The links to both contests are under the "Our Links" menu on the right.