Recently my friend Elisa A. Varey posted the picture to the right on Facebook showing she received a free copy of From Beer to Eternity through the Kensington Cozy Card program. I realized not all of our readers knew about the program so I invited Larissa Ackerman, Communications Manager at Kensington Books, to join us to explain the program.
Love Cozies & Free Books? Join Kensington’s Cozy Card Program!
Do you love cozy mysteries? Do you also love free books? Then sign up for Kensington’s Cozy Card program!
The Cozy Card program is a rewards program created by Kensington Publishing to support the cozy mystery genre and get people excited about cozy mysteries via a loyalty card that rewards fans for reading cozy mysteries. It’s like coffee shop punch cards where they offer a free coffee after ten punched purchases, only this loyalty punch card is for free books—exclusively cozy mysteries—provided by the publisher, Kensington!
The best part is it’s a FREE program (besides the cost of a stamp) for bookstores, librarians, and cozy readers.
How does it work? It’s simple!
If you’re a reader, you can either sign up for a Cozy Card on this form [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/kensingtoncozies/reader/] or ask your bookseller or librarian for a card. If a bookstore or library isn’t aware of the program, invite them to visit KensingtonBooks.com to learn more, or email Larissa Ackerman (LAckerman@KensingtonBooks.com). She will reach out to the bookseller or librarian with more info. If the bookstore/library won’t stamp or initial your card, just contact Larissa at Kensington and she’ll make special arrangements for you!
If you’re a library or bookstore, visit Kensington’s Website and sign up for a Cozy Card Starter Set (it includes: 50 cozy cards, instructions/information to keep at your counter, and a stamper), through this form [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/kensingtoncozies/library/]. Distribute the cozy cards to interested readers, or simply make them available at your counter. Any time a patron checks out a cozy mystery from your library or purchases from your store, stamp their card with the Kensington Cozies stamp. Once a patron/customer checks out/purchases 10 cozies, they must mail the card to Kensington Publishing who will take care of the rest by sending the patron a free advance reading copy of an upcoming cozy mystery AND a new cozy card.
Here are some of the advance reading copies already sent to readers in Kensington’s Cozy Card Program: Sherry Harris’ FROM BEER TO ETERNITY, Maddie Day’s NACHO AVERAGE MURDER, Cate Conte’s WITCH HUNT, Cheryl Hollon’s STILL KNIFE PAINTING, Mary Marks’ KNOT OF THIS WORLD, Daryl Wood Gerber’s A SPRINKLING OF MURDER, and many more!
A reader can redeem up to ten (10) cards total, which means they can send in a total of 10 stamped/punched cozy cards and Kensington will mail them 10 total cozy mysteries. They are keeping track of how many are redeemed by each reader and will let a reader know when they’ve reached their max. They are also keeping track of which books have already been sent so readers never get the same book twice. Completed cozy cards must be mailed to:
Kensington Publishing
c/o Larissa Ackerman
119 W 40th St., Floor 21
New York, NY 10018
We love when librarians and booksellers help readers discover books published by Kensington, that’s why we created the Cozy Card program to build excitement and community around the cozy mystery genre. All cozy mysteries qualify, regardless of publisher or author, although we understandably appreciate it if the cozy mystery is from Kensington Publishing!
Sometimes the line between a cozy mystery and a regular mystery can be thin. If you are uncertain whether a book qualifies as a cozy mystery, we encourage you to err on the side of inclusion, especially if it is a traditional, historical, or light mystery. However, thrillers, dark mysteries, hardboiled mysteries, and crime novels don’t count!
Due to COVID-19 restrictions set in place, there are some updates to the program related to the coronavirus outbreak—we thank you very much for your patience during these abnormal times!
- Please keep in mind mailings for the cozy card kits, cozy cards, and redemptions are delayed and can take over three weeks to arrive.
- If you already signed up for a cozy card over a month ago but haven’t received it yet, please contact Larissa Ackerman at LAckerman@KensingtonBooks.com. If you recently signed up for a cozy card, please know it is most likely on its way!
- If you mailed in a completed cozy card over a month ago but haven’t received your redemption yet, please contact Larissa.
- We understand many bookstores and libraries are either closed or only doing curbside pickup and thus readers can’t have their cards stamped by a librarian/bookseller. If this is the case for you, please contact Larissa and she will chat with you on a way to make it work!
We hope you enjoy Kensington’s Cozy Card program!
Readers: Did you know about this program?
Bio: Larissa Ackerman is a Communications Manager at Kensington Publishing Corp., where she handles publicity and marketing campaigns for many of their cozy and historical mystery series. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College in 2012 and has been working in book publicity ever since. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two cats, and she is still trying to solve the mystery of how to stop eating so much chocolate.
I was glad to see those pandemic updates, Larissa – thanks for including accomodations!
What an exciting program. Sharing with all my cozy reading friends.
Thank you, Kait!
No, I didn’t know of this program.
Thank you for the heads up and all the information.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
You are welcome, Kay!
Welcome, Larissa! I’m not sure I even understood the details of this program. Thanks so much for the explanation and update.
I’ve just sent in my second card now that stores are open and I was able to get the last book I needed.
That is fabulous!
I don’t have bookstores anywhere close to me and I don’t do libraries. I buy all my books, paperbacks and hardcover, from Amazon. How would I get a card stamped? Or does it not apply to those of us that use online booksellers?
Hi, Laurie. I don’t have the answer to this so please email Larissa at: LAckerman@kensingtonbooks.com Thanks!
I got Cate Conte’s book, Witch Hunt, as my free book. I love this program!!
I’m just reading it now!
“Maria DiRico” here! Thank you SO much for sharing all this info, Sherry. And congrats on the next series!!
Larissa did the heavy lifting! And I love the title of your next book — Long Island Iced Tina — so funny!
Great to learn about the program. I think I’ve heard of it, but I hadn’t really explored it.
It’s a great program!
This is such a fun program, Larissa! Thanks for making the ins and outs of it clear for mystery lovers!
I signed up right when the pandemic started and just mailed my library rewards card. I hope they don’t mind that the librarian and now the Barnes and Noble clerk just initialed the cards. Guess no one has a punch anymore. Have to wait to finish the Barnes & Noble card since I was getting books by mail and on my Nook until last week when I went to the bookstore. Stay safe and well.
I’m glad you are using the program!
Hi Sally, initialing is accepted on the cards 🙂
Thanks Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
No, I did not know about this program! Thanks!
FREE BOOKS! What else do you need to know? Well, except that Larissa has done an extraordinary job in this truly insane pandemic!
First time I’ve heard of this program and it sounds fantastic. Unfortunately, with Covid19 our local library is closed for the foreseeable future.
If you’re interested in participating you can send me an email, with many stores and libraries being closed due to the pandemic we will find a solution that will work for you! Lackerman@kensingtonbooks.com
I probably have more than a hundred books in the ARC queue, so I won’t be needing to go to the library anytime soon.