You know what really grinds my gears? Well, a lot of things these days, but today, it's those people who enter ALL THE GIVEAWAYS, even going so far as to create Twitter accounts solely for the purpose of fulfilling the "Tweet for an extra entry" option on Rafflecopter forms.
*Side note* I freely admit that I used to enter a ton of giveaways before I started blogging myself -- and even some after I'd been blogging for awhile. But I usually try to enter giveaways just for books I really want these days. I ended up winning quite a few books in the beginning, some that I wasn't as stoked for as I should have been, and I'm still trying to find time to get to them. But these books never made it to my own giveaway shelf because I feel a sense of obligation to read them since I won them. Once I've read them, though, they're fair game.
Anyway, aside from the essentially fake Twitter giveaway accounts -- which, let's face it, completely defeat the purpose of those extra entries -- it also irks me when I see people obviously not following directions or not completing the entries but clicking submit as if they did. I only spot check entries, but I do check every single entry for someone who Rafflecopter selected as a winner, and if I see any falsified entries, that person is immediately disqualified, and I remove all entries attributed to them.
Giveaways are making me kind of pissy these days. I think that only about one in ten -- maybe less than that, I'm just guessing here -- of the giveaways I host here are sponsored. Meaning that I spend my own hard-earned cash to provide most of the books I offer up for giveaways, and on top of that, I have to pay shipping, too, if I'm not ordering from The Book Depository for someone. (And honestly, I dislike that option because I like knowing a book make it safe and sound to the winner.) Guys, I'm a little afraid to admit this -- and Heaven forbid if my husband should find out! -- but I spent over $400 on giveaway prizes and shipping last year
alone. That is some serious cash, y'all.
So, it's really disheartening when I see that most of the people who enter my giveaways aren't people who normally stop by and comment or chat with me on Twitter. No, most of my entries come from giveaway bandits who want
all the books. We bloggers get accused of just wanting books for free (i.e. ARCs) all the time -- Wendy at The Midnight Garden actually did a
survey to determine
just how much of our own money we bloggers spend...still waiting on those results, Wendy! :P -- but there are worse out there. Like the giveaway bandits.
My dad's always been fond of saying that nothing in this life is free, and at the heart of the matter, that's pretty much true. In the case of giveaways, you have to complete a few tasks in order to earn your entries. I don't think that's asking too much. But I also don't think it's asking too much for people to actually be true followers, to stop by every once in awhile when there's
not a giveaway going on and just say hi, comment on a review, or just say
something besides "Thanks for the giveaway." As it is, I feel like I'm only blogging for other bloggers, though maybe that's a discussion for another day.
I'm aware that I could make one of my entries a mandatory task like "comment on any review", but even so, I'd still get stock comments, no matter if I dictated that the comment should be "meaningful" or not. Plus, that would just feel like I was bribing people to leave comments, which isn't what I want either. Ideally, I'd like this blog to be a place where we can have honest discussions about books and other bookish topics, where everyone has an opinion and feels free to chime in. And I do see that when I post a discussion, I tend to get more feedback, from bloggers and regular readers alike, which just makes me want to crank more of them out for you guys.
Essentially, I want all disingenuous contact in this space to stop. I've already decided to stop posting for most of the weekly
memes. And I plan to post more and more discussions instead. But I think I'm also going to take it easy on the giveaways this year, too. I had already let them dwindle toward the end of 2013, but the shipping on my
Clear Your Shelf Giveaway was $30 alone, and that's not taking into account how much the 22 books that were included in the mystery boxes were worth, so it doesn't look like I'm off to a very good start this year. Though I'm sure the winners might disagree. ;0)
So, this year, I'm only going to participate in giveaway hops that really interest me and give away only the books that really have me excited and chomping at the bit to share them, and I'm going to be very particular in my entry tasks in an attempt to keep people from gaming the system. Because I do this for my love of books and my incessant need to share them with everyone. I don't do it to get more followers, and though that
is considered a perk, it's only true if they're real followers, the kind who like to interact and don't just delete your new post email as soon as it pops up in their inbox.
Well, I feel better having gotten that off my chest. But I still feel like this post could alternately be titled "
Do I Look Like a Chump to You?" *big sigh*
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Spooktacular Giveaway Hop 2015 - INTERNATIONAL!!!
Rules:
- This giveaway is international. As long as The Book Depository ships to your location and the book is available from them, you are good to go. (You can double-check that here.)
- One entry per household.
- Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
- Please note that if you use your Twitter account solely for giveaway entries and you enter using the Tweet about the Giveaway entry, that entry will be disqualified. Please remember that this entry method is to spread the word about the giveaway, not simply increase your chances of winning.
- Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!!
- We are not responsible for lost packages.
a Rafflecopter giveawayNow that you've entered here, be sure to check out all of the other stops on the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop:
Thanks for entering & happy reading!
Friday, September 25, 2015
Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop 2015
Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read
September 27−October 3, 2015
(The above information comes directly from the Banned Books Week page on the ALA website.)
To view a full listing of the top ten books challenged/banned each year for the last decade, visit here or view PDFs of the lists in the BBW press kit.
To do my part to help support this worthy cause, I'll be giving away one of any of the books banned in 2014-2015 to one lucky winner, as long as the book is available from The Book Depository. Check this list to see which books are eligible and why they were banned or challenged.
Rules:
- This giveaway is international. As long as The Book Depository ships to your location, you are good to go. (You can double-check that here.)
- One entry per household.
- Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
- Please note that if you use your Twitter account solely for giveaway entries and you enter using the Tweet about the Giveaway entry, that entry will be disqualified. Please remember that this entry method is to spread the word about the giveaway, not simply increase your chances of winning.
- Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!!
- We are not responsible for lost packages.
a Rafflecopter giveawayNow that you've entered here, be sure to check out all of the other stops on the Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop:
Thanks to the ladies at BookHounds and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer for hosting!
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Spring Cleaning Giveaway Hop 2015
I'm not actually done with my Spring Cleaning yet, and I don't have a complete list of books up for grabs, so I'm just going to offer up a mystery box of books, and if I have more than will fit in the box, I'll give away TWO mystery boxes of books. These will be mixed genres, definitely some YA, and possibly some MG and adult novels, as well. I make no guarantees. =) Sorry, international folks, but due to shipping costs, I'm going to have to make this one US only. My sincerest apologies! But here's an admittedly very blurry picture of the stacks I'll likely be pulling from for this giveaway:
(It's hard to get a non-blurry picture when you're trying to get that many books to fit in one frame!)
Rules:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Now that you've entered here, be sure to check out the other giveaway stops on this blog hop:
Thanks for entering & happy reading!
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Best of 2014 Giveaway Hop {International}
And now I'm giving you the chance to win your own copy, which is kind of perfect since the sequel will be out in March! :) (I have an ARC but I haven't been daring enough to read it yet because I've heard it hurts. That makes me excited but also so, so nervous. o_O) I usually provide a list of my favorites and then let the winner choose, but I have an extra copy of The Winner's Curse in my possession and I just have to share it with you! And I'll be sharing my picks for Best of 2014 soon enough. =)
- This giveaway is international.
- One entry per household.
- Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
- Please note that if you use your Twitter account solely for giveaway entries and you enter using the Tweet about the Giveaway entry, that entry will be disqualified. Please remember that this entry method is to spread the word about the giveaway, not simply increase your chances of winning.
- Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!!
- We are not responsible for lost packages.
a Rafflecopter giveawayAs long as The Book Depository ships to your location, you are good to go. (You can double-check that here.)I have an extra copy I'll be shipping myself, so anyone is eligible.Now that you've entered here, be sure to check out all of the other stops on the Best of 2014 Giveaway Hop:
Thanks for entering & happy reading!
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Spooktacular Giveaway Hop - INTERNATIONAL!
Rules:
- This giveaway is international. As long as The Book Depository ships to your location, you are good to go. (You can double-check that here.)
- One entry per household.
- Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
- Please note that if you use your Twitter account solely for giveaway entries and you enter using the Tweet about the Giveaway entry, that entry will be disqualified. Please remember that this entry method is to spread the word about the giveaway, not simply increase your chances of winning.
- Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!!
- We are not responsible for lost packages.
a Rafflecopter giveawayNow that you've entered here, be sure to check out all of the other stops on the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop:
Thanks for entering & happy reading!
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop 2014
Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read
September 21−27, 2014
(The above information comes directly from the Banned Books Week page on the ALA website.)
To view a full listing of the top ten books challenged/banned each year for the last decade, visit here or view PDFs of the lists in the BBW press kit.
To do my part to help support this worthy cause, I'll be giving away one of the top ten frequently challenged books from last year to one lucky winner. FYI, Looking for Alaska was banned or challenged for the following reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group.
Rules:
- This giveaway is international. As long as The Book Depository ships to your location, you are good to go. (You can double-check that here.)
- One entry per household.
- Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
- Please note that if you use your Twitter account solely for giveaway entries and you enter using the Tweet about the Giveaway entry, that entry will be disqualified. Please remember that this entry method is to spread the word about the giveaway, not simply increase your chances of winning.
- Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!!
- We are not responsible for lost packages.
a Rafflecopter giveawayNow that you've entered here, be sure to check out all of the other stops on the Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop:
Thanks to the ladies at BookHounds and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer for hosting!
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop - Summer 2014 Edition
I decided to clear my shelves of series that I've either lost interest in or that I have very little faith I'll ever return to for a re-read. Nothing against these books...there are just too many stories to get to and not enough time. Without further ado, here's what I'll be giving away:
So, yeah, a little something extra in each giveaway besides the books. =)
And now, here's what April's got for your guys:
Rules:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don't forget to check out all the rest of the stops on the Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop:
Thanks for stopping by & happy reading!
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop 2014
I can't remember a time when I didn't read. And my own little munchkin is a big fan of books, too. So, let's all celebrate Children's Book Week with a giveaway!
- This giveaway is US only.
- One entry per household.
- Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant.
- Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!!
- We are not responsible for lost packages.
And now on to the fun stuff! All entries/follows are appreciated! :Da Rafflecopter giveaway
Now that you've entered here, be sure to check out the other stops on this blog hop:
Thanks for entering & happy reading!
Friday, February 7, 2014
Romance is in the Air Giveaway Hop
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Nothing in This Life is Free...Even If Someone's Giving It Away
*Side note* I freely admit that I used to enter a ton of giveaways before I started blogging myself -- and even some after I'd been blogging for awhile. But I usually try to enter giveaways just for books I really want these days. I ended up winning quite a few books in the beginning, some that I wasn't as stoked for as I should have been, and I'm still trying to find time to get to them. But these books never made it to my own giveaway shelf because I feel a sense of obligation to read them since I won them. Once I've read them, though, they're fair game.
Giveaways are making me kind of pissy these days. I think that only about one in ten -- maybe less than that, I'm just guessing here -- of the giveaways I host here are sponsored. Meaning that I spend my own hard-earned cash to provide most of the books I offer up for giveaways, and on top of that, I have to pay shipping, too, if I'm not ordering from The Book Depository for someone. (And honestly, I dislike that option because I like knowing a book make it safe and sound to the winner.) Guys, I'm a little afraid to admit this -- and Heaven forbid if my husband should find out! -- but I spent over $400 on giveaway prizes and shipping last year alone. That is some serious cash, y'all.
My dad's always been fond of saying that nothing in this life is free, and at the heart of the matter, that's pretty much true. In the case of giveaways, you have to complete a few tasks in order to earn your entries. I don't think that's asking too much. But I also don't think it's asking too much for people to actually be true followers, to stop by every once in awhile when there's not a giveaway going on and just say hi, comment on a review, or just say something besides "Thanks for the giveaway." As it is, I feel like I'm only blogging for other bloggers, though maybe that's a discussion for another day.
I'm aware that I could make one of my entries a mandatory task like "comment on any review", but even so, I'd still get stock comments, no matter if I dictated that the comment should be "meaningful" or not. Plus, that would just feel like I was bribing people to leave comments, which isn't what I want either. Ideally, I'd like this blog to be a place where we can have honest discussions about books and other bookish topics, where everyone has an opinion and feels free to chime in. And I do see that when I post a discussion, I tend to get more feedback, from bloggers and regular readers alike, which just makes me want to crank more of them out for you guys.
So, this year, I'm only going to participate in giveaway hops that really interest me and give away only the books that really have me excited and chomping at the bit to share them, and I'm going to be very particular in my entry tasks in an attempt to keep people from gaming the system. Because I do this for my love of books and my incessant need to share them with everyone. I don't do it to get more followers, and though that is considered a perk, it's only true if they're real followers, the kind who like to interact and don't just delete your new post email as soon as it pops up in their inbox.
Well, I feel better having gotten that off my chest. But I still feel like this post could alternately be titled "Do I Look Like a Chump to You?" *big sigh*
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starryeyedjen
- I work with numbers by day, and I'm a mommy and avid reader by night. I'm a self-proclaimed Spreadsheet Queen, and I'll read anything you put in front of me. I seriously love all the books! And I adore audiobooks, too!
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