Tuesday, January 4, 2011

WHAT ABOUT CONTESTS?


I promised to start a new contest in January, so consider this the beginning. But speaking of contests, do you want me to continue holding contests to give away books I've considered for my review column? I don't know if it was the end of the year busyness or if readers have lost interest, but entries have dropped, fewer comments were made the past few months. Are there too many contests on book blogs? Do you prefer longer or shorter entry times? Something I've thought about is a long contest taking us up to the Whitney awards and awarding the winner and several runners up with finalist books. I've also thought of reviewing one book each month and making it the prize. I welcome your suggestions.

In the meantime, I'll begin a new contest today and since I'm off to a slow start. This contest will run for the entire month of January. Every comment is an entry. Every follower is automatically entered and you can enter multiple times. Comment on any blog I write this month. And to start us out comment on how you'd like me to change the contest, a blog topic you'd like me to write about, or about your New Year's resolutions. Also I'm going to begin telling you what I'm reading and which books are on my stack of "to read" books. You can also comment on any of them, say what you like or don't like about any of them, or even recommend which ones you think I should review for Meridian. And speaking of Meridian, I appreciate your comments posted there as well as those here.

I just finished The Sheen on the Silk by Anne Perry, Free Men and Dreamers O Say Can You See? by L.C. Lewis, and Heroes of the Fallen by David J. West.  Reviews of all three will be on Meridian with a few weeks.

My "to Read" stack holds:

The Pharaoh's Daughter by N.C. Allen
The Prodigal Son by Alison Palmer
Meg's Melody by Kaylee Baldwin
The Rogue Shop by Michael Knudsen
Smoke Screen by Traci Hunter Abramson
The Wishing Hour by. J. Adams

10 comments:

Stephonie said...

As much as I love books I no longer have a bookshelf available to put them in and all of my books are now boxed and waiting to be taken to the basement for storage for.... who knows how long. My 2 yr old started climbing the bookshelf (which is solid oak, 7 ft tall, and overflowing with books) because of the nature of our house we are not able to anchor it. So for the safety of my child, my books, and my sanity we had to put the bookshelf in storage and the books put away. It saddens me greatly.

What do you do with all of your books?

I personally like longer entry times because often times I read a blog and don't have enough time to formulate a response until my daughter is asleep in bed and by then I have forgotten what I wanted to write or worse yet completely forgotten that I was going to write something at all! (That's what happened last time. I got busy and forgot to do it.)

As for new year's resolutions, I was going to write down, "Be more kind to myself." but then something else came up and it appears that our first book signing/Launch Party EVER is eminent. So my new year's resolution now is to not drop dead from unadulterated excitement or abject terror... or both.

Lisa And Randy said...

I love your contests, and would like you to continue. Going for a month would be ok, except it is always fun to be able to win more often. I have been so busy the past few months that I had to let most of the contests go by the wayside. Maybe a monthly contest would work better.

As for my resolutions. I plan on getting all of our home videos transferred to DVD, all of my books cataloged, and I am going to try very hard to fix dinner each night for my youngest daughter and I. These are all things I have put off long enough, and need to get them down.

Of course there is always those things such as lose weight, read the scriptures regularly, and several more. These ones tend to fall most often by the wayside.

I feel the best resolution will be to enter Jennie's contests more often.

Jen plus 6 said...

I too have had to box my books to protect them from little hands that have not yet learned to be gentle with pages, and little teeth that do not realize that books are to be read not eaten. It is so adorable to see a toddler with Mommy's book pretending to read it though! And, I do keep one shelf (up high) stocked in my bedroom so that I can get to something if the chance to read arises. And then there are the times when I make the chance available for myself ;^)

Contests are great fun, and I love to enter. The end of the year was absolutely crazy! And now even though it is less so, it is still busy! Also, I know I have had problems viewing the verification word on several websites and without it the site will not post comments...
One of my other problems is that I haven't had time to keep my wishlist current, so I haven't wanted to enter and possibly be the winner and not know what to ask for, although with a bit of time that should not be too hard to fix! I'll have to work on it ;^)
So, YES! continue with your contests, a longer contest period is a good thing to try... I'm going to keep thinking to get some other ideas, and if/when I come up with anything I'll post it.

I thought about New Year's resolutions this year for the first time in years, literally! In recent years I have been too busy either having a baby, or taking care of a brand new baby and during the years in between the thought seriously didn't cross my mind (my oldest just turned 7 this week, I have a 5 year old, a 2 1/2 year old, and my baby turned 1 last month).
I have thought about the necessity of a resolution being something to work toward that is also actually possible to achieve. This year it’s simple, I’m going to work on organization, because a happier Mommy leads to a happier family and Mommy is definitely happier when she can actually find what she’s looking for!

Jen plus 6 said...

I too have had to box my books to protect them from little hands that have not yet learned to be gentle with pages, and little teeth that do not realize that books are to be read not eaten. It is so adorable to see a toddler with Mommy's book pretending to read it though! And, I do keep one shelf (up high) stocked in my bedroom so that I can get to something if the chance to read arises. And then there are the times when I make the chance available for myself ;^)

Contests are great fun, and I love to enter. The end of the year was absolutely crazy! And now even though it is less so, it is still busy! Also, I know I have had problems viewing the verification word on several websites and without it the site will not post comments...
One of my other problems is that I haven't had time to keep my wishlist current, so I haven't wanted to enter and possibly be the winner and not know what to ask for, although with a bit of time that should not be too hard to fix! I'll have to work on it ;^)
So, YES! continue with your contests, a longer contest period is a good thing to try... I'm going to keep thinking to get some other ideas, and if/when I come up with anything I'll post it.

I thought about New Year's resolutions this year for the first time in years, literally! In recent years I have been too busy either having a baby, or taking care of a brand new baby and during the years in between the thought seriously didn't cross my mind (my oldest just turned 7 this week, I have a 5 year old, a 2 1/2 year old, and my baby turned 1 last month).
I have thought about the necessity of a resolution being something to work toward that is also actually possible to achieve. This year it’s simple, I’m going to work on organization, because a happier Mommy leads to a happier family and Mommy is definitely happier when she can actually find what she’s looking for!

Jen plus 6 said...

Sorry gals, My computer is going nuts. it wouldn't post my comment and so I re-did it and then it was there twice? Oops!

Jolynn_Reads said...

I'm dealing with some health issues, and don't have as much time to read or be at the computer.
I also have a stack a books I still need to get done with, before I get more. I still come to a few blogs to see the wonderful nature photos you've had here. I sometimes don't comment, but I do like to read yours and others.

Lisa said...

I love many of the authors in your to read stack. Maybe I should have chosen your profession, but then who would deal with heart attacks, strokes and traumas? I guess that's why we all do what we do. My wish for you is an abundance of creativity and time management so you can it all done. And for the record I love your contests, it's just like Christmas when your plain brown packages show up and I can't remember what I asked for. It's the closest thing I get to Santa.

battraws said...

I like your contests as is, but will continue to read your blog whether there is a contest or not or how long it is. I'm not even going to touch the resolutions - I never make them or keep them!

Anonymous said...

hi!i really like the contests although i havent commented much. i have been really busy,moving twice!, success acadamy (it is a bunch of fun. its a college highsh=chool thing), an life.

DON'T STOP! PLEASE :) i would like to be able to be appart of the contest. it wuld be fun to win a book.

i am reading a book called lady of milkweed manor ,by julie klassen, an i am realy liking it. i sugest reading it.

thanks again for writing me back when i wroye you a buisness letter almost a year ago. i was soooo excited to get it. i LOVE o\you books. i can never put it down once i have started.

thanks again,leah

Jennie said...

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm continuing the contests, but I'm going to make them monthly instead of bi-weekly. I wrote new rules in the sidebar, but may change them slightly as I feel the need. It sounds like you want the contests, but are as busy as I am so this might work better.