To enter the giveaways, you must have J. Kaye’s Book Blog listed under the blogs you follow.
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Additional Rules:
• You must be 18 years or older (Under 18, get your parents to enter.)
• Some giveaways will be US. Some will be US & Canada. And some for just international. This information will be posted on the giveaway.
• Winners will NOT be notified by email. If you don’t want to miss the announcement post, be a subscriber to the blog. Not sure how? Look in the right sidebar under Subscribe.
• Unclaimed books will be entered in a Quickie Twitter Giveaway.
Top Commenter Giveaway
The Top Commenter Giveaway is something very different from the weekly giveaways. Click here for details on that.
58 comments:
Interesting.
I think you've made some good changes. I hope it works better for you!
I think that the numbered comments and separate entries will make things a whole lot easier for you! Although it won't be nearly as fun - you'll have to find a new plan for the end of the month cut, paste and name draw parties! LOL
I like that things may be different each time. Keep us on our toes! I think I subscribe and follow - I certainly hope I haven't been screwing it up all this time...
Jenn M., well, the changes were brought on by viewers. It really didn't matter to me one way or the other to be honest.
LOL @ Pam. What will I do with the extra time...lol!
I like numbered comments - I'll just have to remember to do separate entries! It might hurt my brain, but I'll try :p
virginiebarbeau, for each giveaway, the guidelines will be listed. No worries on having to remember as it will be there for you. More viewers than you might think don't bother to read. They see giveaway and that's all. I feel bad, but this will be the new way of doing things.
Good for you, J. Kaye. Lay down the law! In my giveaway I ended up emailing people who had said they were Followers but after writing their comment had forgotten to do so. It happens. But who has the time to email people? Certainly not you...ha!
And I just wanted to say I finished "Open House" and luuhhhved it!
Can't wait for more giveaways :) I promise to follow all guidelines. A TEN HUT!! LOL
J. Kaye~ I have to get rid of the image of you and the kids cutting up entry slips!
I kinda liked that! :)
These are great guidelines that simplify things for you and I believe distinguish those who are really interested in your blog and giveaways. I just started doing them and I can see why you came up with the changes. I think I will take your example!
LOL @ Lynne - I am so glad you enjoyed it. That book was sooooo emotional for me. The feelings stayed with me for so long.
Jenn M., I so wasn't the one cutting those dang things up. It was Nona....lol! And Jimmy, but he was a wee bit slow. ;)
Laura Fabiani, I can't take the credit for all of this. Questions started popping up about the extra entries and then there was a poll. Viewers spoke and this is the result. :) Power to the viewers!
Looks good J Kaye :)
Looks good to me!!!
Looks good to me! I think it's great that your going to seperate the posts for giveaways and reviews now. It will make it easier on you when your trying to distinguish between comments and actual entries. I try not to do too much commenting on giveaway/review posts...for that reason. Sometimes I just want to leave a comment about the book..but not enter, lol..so this will help a lot :)
You say there are Us giveaways and non-Us giveaways, and jsut below you talk about US and Canada only.
Is Canada included in Us giveaways or non-US giveaways?
Having you comments numbered and using Random.org, will save you sooooo much time. I hope that your new guidelines make your giveaways a lot easier on YOU!
I think your changes sound great and well defined! Can't wait to enter some more!
Sheila (bookjourney) & CelticLady, we'll have to test run it for a month, maybe to before knowing if it will be doable. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Falling Off The Shelf, yes! Because as it stands now, I don't comment on the giveaway posts or try not to.
Tynga, read under Same Rules:
Many of the same rules still apply. That said, in 2010, there will be a division of giveaways. There will be US and Non-US giveaways.
• You must be 18 years or older (Under 18, get your parents to enter.)
• US and Canada residents only
• Winners will NOT be notified by email. If you don’t want to miss the announcement post, be a subscriber to the blog. Not sure how? Look in the right sidebar under Subscribe.
• Unclaimed books will be entered in a Quickie Twitter Giveaway the following month.
The key phrase there is 2010. New changes are a coming. ;) Next year there will be US giveaways and Non-US giveaways. This year, things remain as stated.
Neas Nuttiness, that's what I am thinking. And a good thing too. Lots of stuff happening next month!
Amy, I have a feeling it's going to confuse the heck out of many of the participants.
I hope this turns out well for you :) This almost makes me glad I don't have giveaways all the time :) LOL! Good luck to you! I think it will be great, though :D
You're changes look good!
Now I just have to remember to follow directions.
So, you will have winners announced more often and not just at the end of the month?
Sounds good! And I think using numbered posts and random.org will make things so much easier on you. Have fun!
This seems like it will be easier for you to do. The amount of giveaways, blogging, reviews, commenting and just blogoverse omnipotence, I just don't know how you have the time.
sounds like you've put a lot of time into thinking this out. My favorite new feature will be separate posts for give aways and reviews. I think that will be helpful! :)
oh kk =P
I feel stupid but.... "subscribe" is when I get an email of several posts? I get the follow part!
Book Dragon~ You can subscribe through a 'reader' like google, or through email. J. Kaye is talking about subscribing to the blog posts. That means you would get an email or a new item in your reader every time she posts. There is an option to subscribe to comments on specific posts as well.
These sound like some good changes. I like that you are separating the review from the giveaway. I know sometimes I want to comment on a book I've read and own but hate throwing off your count by leaving a comment w/o wanting to be entered into the giveaway.
Hope these new rules work better for you!
Yay for non-US giveaways !!
Yet another reason for me to read your blog :P
As for the rest of the changes I think they're great, especially the numbered comments part, I bet it makes your life a lot easier :)
I'm a bit peeved at the difference made between a follower and a subscriber. While I agree that there's no way to check whether someone really is a subscriber or not (other than a screenshot hehe), I don't see how a subscriber is less worthy of recognition than a follower. I am not trying to criticize you in any way, after all it's your giveaway and you could choose to enter only blue eyed people should you wish so, I am just curious about the reasoning behind it.
PS Oh, and I have created a Google account just to be able to become a follower should the need arise in the future (*cough-non-US-giveaways-cough*). Ironically, although not a follower, I am probably one of your earliest readers, have been a faithful subscriber for years now. Hence the above question.
So organized as always J.Kaye ;)
It all looks great, one thing I'm especially looking forward to is the separation of reviews and giveaways. I like reading the comments that a review can spark and sometimes it's difficult to navigate so many comments looking for the relevant non-entry ones.
Like Joanne I'm looking forward to the separation of reviews and giveaways for ease of commenting.
I used to comment on the combined post but I imagine it would have been a bit of a pain for you taking out the comments from bloggers who say "I'm not entering, just want to say ...blah, blah, blah before drawing the competiton.
Anyway hope the changes are not too painful :-)
I like the idea of separating the review from the giveaway. I think it allows more time to think about what the book is about, etc. Then, when the giveaway is posted you know whether you really want to read the book.
Well, we will see if people follow the "rules" or not. It seems every contest I hold there are entrants who do NOT read the directions at all. Yes, I have found people who say they are followers but are not. Good luck with the new rules.
Krista, I think this will actually turn out to be more simpler for viewers. True, it might be a pain at the beginning, but there won't be many ways to enter.
Page (One Book At A Time), nope, it will still be at the end of the month. Bad wording on my part. I saw that when I was rereading the post.
Alexia561, I think it will be easier on everyone. ;)
ParaJunkee, more changes are getting ready to happen. This is just the beginning! :)
tea, Joanne ♦ The Book Zombie, Debbie's World of Books & J.T. Oldfield, wait until you find out about my latest idea. No more review posts. ;)
Book Dragon, don't feel stupid. It's better to ask. Like Jenn M. said below, this could also mean RSS. BUT for the giveaways, it will mean like you said, the email one. Follower is through that Google friend thing from Blogger that has everyone's avatar in the box.
Jenn M., for the giveaways, it will be the email subscribers. There is no way to verify the RSS readers. And many sign up and never confirm through FeedBurner.
Kay, there is a way to verify as mentioned above. And all entries will be verified. If not, those will be deleted. Subscribers will be verified through their email. The Blogger/Google followers will need to be linked to their Blogger Profile page where it has the list of blogs they follow.
Does that help clear things up?
Teddyree, the idea I mentioned above about no more review posts came from posting reviews on Royal Reviews. ;)
Kaye, to be honest, I really never paid too much attention until the last couple of weeks. I just took it for granted people were basically honest. And they still could be and Blogger is kicking them off of the following widget. I think they've done it to me. I know I was following blogs and was removed.
The way I have it set up, all entries will be able to be verified. That's where I'll be spending my extra time that I saved using Random.org...lol.
J. Kaye~ Okay my turn to feel stupid! Ummmm I've never used feedburner but I subscribe through google reader and your blog is one of the ones I have pinned to my google homepage.
So ummmm...how exactly do you use feedburner and do I need to switch to email subscription, which I'd rather not do. :) I likey my google reader!
One thing I just thought of as well...how will adding to extra posts for giveaways work with the Top Commenter Giveaways? By that I mean, the point of the Top Commenter Giveaways is to reward the commenters who contribute to the conversation on the blog...correct? Someone who is just here to enter contests and makes ten comments saying "please enter me", "I tweeted", and "Follower" isn't adding as much to the conversation and yet could potentially have as many comments as someone who isn't entering, just adding to the conversation.
I try to only enter in your giveaways I am truly interested in, because I don't see the point in taking chances away from someone who is really really interested. I'm not one to enter just to enter.
I'm laughing as I type this because it is SO not me to complain about a giveaway, or about how someone else runs their blog. So please, I don't mean it to be offensive! I'm not a complainer...promise! I just thought of it as I was looking for my name in the white box!
Jenn M., no need to feel stupid. Remember we all had to learn this stuff at one time. When you click on the square Blogger subscribe button, you are using FeedBurner. From there you select your RSS reader. Because readers can't be verified and I could see this would be a problem when I was making the guidelines, viewers will have to use the email subscription option when an extra entry is available. Keep in mind though, the entries or extra entries will not be the same each time.
Before I get into the second part of your comment, I do want to say that asking questions about this is NOT OFFENSIVE. This blog has been set up to be interactive. So if you have a concern or whatever, please speak up. If you are shy, then post anonymously. Your questions will be answered that way too. Questions will bring out potential problems.
Okay, back to Jenn's second question. There won't be any more ten entries. Those days were removed with the poll question. There will be one entry. The next time two or three. Each time, something will be different as I'll alternate ways to enter. An example came from Royal Reviews. To enter, they'd need to go to that blog.
Giveaways will be creative in the future. That said, if a person waits until the last week to enter these giveaways at the end of the month, like some do, that will boost the numbers for them to make TC. Something I have noticed though is that those viewers don't respond or seem to have any interest in the TC giveaway.
This is a good point though and one that needs to be watched as this unfolds.
More about the email subscriptions...some put their email address in the little box and never confirm their subscription. They aren't officially subscribed. Those entries won't count.
If I didn't cover something or make something clear, please let me know....okay?
Looks like a great new system I am sure it will work out!
Thanks for clearing that up J. Kaye. I didn't think you would change from end of the month drawing dates. With as many giveaways as you have, I imagine it's easier to do it all at once.
Rereading your new rules, I realized that I have no idea what the following means..
"Before, there could only be one winner per month. This will no longer be the case. Whatever number comes up, that will be the winner."
I like the idea of there not being a giveaway/review post. Because if it was a review/giveaway and it was open to the US, I didn't like commenting because I thought it might interfere with the competition system.
I also have a question. You said that in 2010, there will be US and non-US. So I thought that's cool. But then a little further down it says US and Canadian residents only. So I was wondering, does that mean that there will be no international contests until 2010? Or does it mean that if the giveaway doesn't specify, we assume it's a US and Canada only giveaway? Sorry, it confused me a little.
J. Kaye~ Thanks! That actually clears it up quite a bit. I didn't think about the 'less entries' part. I liked going to Royal Reviews to enter as well.
I wouldn't consider myself shy....but in general I'm not a complainer. I just go with the flow with most things. I was just worried that it might come across the wrong way. So much can be lost or misinterprested when typing something.
I have to say...I am amazed with the amount of effort you are putting in to listening to your viewers and adjusting to and listening to what we have to say.
Momma Hunt, thanks!
Page (One Book At A Time), when I first started giveaways, I was pulling names out of the bucket once a month. Then I moved on to weekly and now back to monthly. One rule that has remained is you can only win one book per giveaway announcement day. Whether it was weekly or monthly, only one book per winner. With the Random.org, that won't be the case. Whatever number comes up will be the winner. Doesn't matter if that person just won a previous book. In other words, when I make the announcement at the end of the month, one person might win more than one book.
Did I explain it better this time?
J Kaye - I was a little confused about that too (one winner thing), lol. You really summarized it well though, so I understand it now. Thanks for the elaboration :)
Jenn M., I don't view you as a complainer whatsoever and yes, you are right about so much can be misinterpreted. And let's face it, I am not the best at explaining...lol.
Kate, for the remainder of the year, it's US & Canada. In 2010, I'll do away with the US & Canada giveaways and make it US giveaways and Non-US giveaways.
Falling Off The Shelf, I keep forgetting not everyone has been with me from the beginning. ;) When I write these posts, it's like we've known each other forever.
Sorry about that!
I like the new changes :)
I thought that's what the comment meant, but I wanted to be sure. I hate not understanding things lol
Very clear well thought out plan! I think you've done a great job. It is great the way you take on board what people want. Well done J. Kaye!
Ok, I realllly don't want to subscribe via email. And, I would hope there are a few of us that you probably KNOW by now that really are subscribed to your blog and read it every day. My email is messy enough. There has to be a better way to verify subscribers/followers than that and I know nothing about this stuff!!But alas, this does not worry me since I don't enter but a few giveaways each month, but I do enter every Top contender I can catch because it has more of my genre of books available.
Whatever happens, I sure we will all adapt or talk it to death trying!!! Have a great weekend all and WAR EAGLE!!!!!
Alaine - Queen of Happy Endings & miss cindy :), thank you!
Page (One Book At A Time), it's better to completely understand than be in the dark. :)
ccqdesigns, it's the only way to verify if a person is a subscriber and like Kaye has pointed out, not everyone is honest. Sad, but true. The good thing is not every entry giveaway will be the same every time.
Sounds good!
I'm looking forward to seeing how the new giveaways work out! Should definitely be less work for you!
I'm glad about the reviews and giveaways being split. But you don't mean we're going to be going elsewhere for every review, do you? You're not stopping all reviews on this blog?
Anyway, the only other question I had (after my questions earlier this week) was about the one winner comment, and that's been answered so I'm good. =)
Natalie W, thanks!
MarthaE, I am hoping. :)
Jo, technically, I do reviews elsewhere for every review now. All my reviews are posted on Amazon. This month, Nov, and Dec, I have nine reviews for Royal Reviews. Things will change here, but you'll have to really be studying the blog to know it's happened. :) I'll have a post about what is to come soon.
Unless you've already answered this and I missed it as I skimmed through the comments, could you please share with us how to number the comments? I've tried a few times but haven't been successful. For my giveaways, I number the coments by hand - a time-consuming process when there are more than 100 comments! Can you tell us where you found the code?
Thank you!
Gwendolyn B., I'm not sure if I answered it above, but it's been in several of the comments. I have a Q & A post coming later on Sunday and it will be there too.
No questions here... You seemed to explain it quite succinctly. Good for you, making it easier for yourself (I hope).
Thanks for always having giveaways for us, it is really not necessary, we like to read your blog for the content, the giveaways are just the extra. If people complain, ignore them - they don't deserve to win anything!
I like your new rules for giveaways, J. Kaye!
Cindy
Socmom213@aol.com
You are always so organized J. Kaye! I like that the giveaways and reviews will be separated. Thanks for all the fun!
suddenly i got nervous...could i be someone who thinks she has been in your parade all this time only to find out... heavens to betsy! so, i checked...little white dog is there. checked in my blog...there is your name on blogs i read...and there you are on the side of my postings! i think i am covered.
just don't stop really fast! there will be such a crush! i don't want to get stepped on!
heheheheheheeee
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