Sunday, March 4, 2012

Contests - love them or hate them?


      Authors love to do contests so readers can win! As a reader, do you enjoy contests or steer away from contests? Author interviews usually include a contest, blog hops have contests, author sites have contests. Personally, I don't like a contest that makes me jump from one site to another, following and liking, then returning to the main site to comment and prove I did something. I don't mind maybe following a blog or subscribing to an email newsletter plus leave a comment. Those are pretty simple things to do.

      More complicated contests are usually held on sites that want you to view all the rooms they've added to the site such as when a scavenger hunt is put on. Don't get me wrong, I love scavenger hunts, but I do have to be in the right mood and have lots of time in order to enjoy participating.

     I've started a new newsletter and am hoping most of my blog followers will subscribe because I'm not going to be doing my Google newsletter anymore. If you were receiving my Google letter, please subscribe to the NEW one over on the sidebar. Part of the sign up will ask you what kind of gift card you'd like IF you're chosen as a monthly winner. That will make it easier for me to send the gift card to you rather than hoping you answer my email back to let me know your choice.

     Along the same note, if you sign up for the newsletter and are then chosen as a winner and I auto send that gift card to you, will you find it or will it go to your junk mail? I hope it won't. One way to make sure you received your gift card is to check the newsletters when they arrive as I will always include the list of the two monthly winners - one blog follower and one newsletter subscriber.

      In addition to my two monthly giveaways, I usually include a giveaway in my interviews that I do on other author sites. So....if you love contests, you'll want to follow my interview schedule so you can stop in and leave a comment to be included in that drawing. My interview schedule is on my web site calendar and also below my blog schedule of my guests - I list where you can find me out there at other author sites doing a guest blog spot. I hope you follow along and get into the drawings.

      Back to our main question...do you enjoy contests? What do you like and dislike about them? Let's chat here!

Don't forget to subscribe to the NEW newsletter!