Thursday, July 29, 2010

A Birthday Gift --- for YOU!



Sometime in the next few weeks, I will be celebrating my birthday. I won't tell you exactly when, because for identity theft protection purposes, I protect the date almost as well as I protect my social security number and full name. I will divulge that I am a Leo. And, don't ask how old I'm going to be either! ;-)

To celebrate, instead of collecting gifts, I am giving one away--in a contest that I'm running both here and on my personal blog. I will give away a personalized autographed copy of one of my books (your choice), plus a selection of books written by other mystery authors, to one lucky winner.

How do you enter the contest, you ask? I would like to encourage people to sign up as followers both here and on my personal blog. So, that's all you have to do to be entered! Sometime in the next 4 weeks, sign up as a Google/blogger follower on both blogs. If you're already a follower of both blogs, you're already entered into the contest.

At the end of 4 weeks, when I'm due to post here again, I will use a random number generator to pick the blogger profile of someone who follows both blogs. Then I'll contact you through the email associated with that profile to find out your mailing address and send you the books. That's all it takes. So, if you ever read Inkspot or my personal blog, now you've got a good reason to sign up as a regular follower!

To encourage comments, I'd like to know what your thoughts are on author contests. Do you enter them often? What kinds of prizes do you prefer? Do you prefer ongoing contests (such as the one that I keep running all the time for subscribers to my email newsletter) or contests that are one-time shots like this one? Do you prefer that the prize be divulged ahead of time, or would you rather have it be a mystery?

37 comments:

Lisa Bork said...

Happy Birthday, Beth, whenever the day arrives!

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

May you have many more very blessed years!

I usually enter contests by accident. They ask for comments or such and it's what I would have done any way.

Kaye said...

Whenever the day arrives, have a most happy birthday.

G.M. Malliet said...

Happy Whenever Birthday, Beth!

Rena Jones said...

Happy Birthday, Beth!

Beth Groundwater said...

Thanks for the birthday wishes, folks, even though they're early. ;-) And thanks, Rena, for signing up as a follower for both this blog and mine. You're entered in the contest for free books!

Kathleen Ernst said...

Happy day, whenever it comes!

Darrell James said...

Happy Birthday, Beth! I still think you deserve the present.How 'bout a "you" contest, where the winner has to give you the prize?

Beth Groundwater said...

And who would sign up for that contest, Darrell? ;-)

Cricket McRae said...

A Very Merry Unbirthday, Beth -- since I'm pretty sure it isn't today. ; - > And good luck to all the contest entrants!
Hearth Cricket

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, dear Beth.

Books by the author in a contest are fine by me.


CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

Barb said...

Happy early birthday Beth! I'm signing up as a follower here as well as on your blog! I love to win books!!

Unknown said...

Love book contests, especially if the author autographs the book! Knowing the book title ahead of time is great, but surprises can be fun, too!

Thank you for offering this contest, Beth, and Happy Birthday!

--Cecilia

Deb said...

Beth, looking forward to a new birthday is half the fun!! Hope you get a beautiful cake. I appreciate getting this heads up from you...I'm psyched to enter any book contests you're involved in. Deb

Beth Groundwater said...

Hi Barb, Carol, Deb, and Cecila,
Thanks so much for coming over from Goodreads and entering the contest!

nightreader said...

Wow! I was #100 on the InkSpot followers! Whoopee! Beth, was I supposed to follow the whole site or just your part of it. Anyway, I do love Author contests and have been very pleased with the results. You & I have been friended on other sites, but I still haven't had a chance to read one of your books! (Shame!) You are always on my top list.
Happy Birthday! Thanks for the invitation!
aka Betty Gelean

DarcĂ­a Helle said...

Happy upcoming birthday, Beth! I love author contests, both hosting them and entering them. I'm more a fan of the one-time contests because of that excitement of entering. The ongoing contests I forget about.

N A Sharpe said...

Wow - so many great authors on this site. I see a lot of familiar names of my faves. Definitely will be a fun blog to follow.

Happy Birthday, whenever it may be! Thanks for the fun contest.

Nancy, from Realms of Thought…

Beth Groundwater said...

Thanks, nightreader, for becoming follower #100, and thanks, Darcia and Nancy, for your feedback. Yes, Nancy, there's a lot of terrific authors published by Midnight Ink!

Irene said...

Happy Birthday, Beth! My brother's birthday is coming up too!

Annerszz101 said...

Happy Birthday, when the day arrives!
(:

gloria said...

To my Puerto Morales friend, Happy Colorado Birthday, Beth & many more! I hope I have the opportunity to win autographed books from your collection. It would be lovely to read any/all of them! Gloria
PS Thank you for the info on England - our trip is coming up in a few months. Where have you been traveling?

Beth Groundwater said...

Thanks for the birthday wishes, Irene, Annerszz101, and Gloria! As for your travel question, Gloria, my husband and I spent a week in the Texas hill country in June and went on a 2-week Caribbean cruise in January. We're plotting our next travel adventure now, so stay tuned.

Robyn Campbell said...

Happy birthday, Beth. I hope you have many, many more. :)

Timothy Hallinan said...

Count me in. Want one of my new ones to give away?

Tim Hallinan

Vickie said...

I love author contests! It's as much insight into the author's life as much as their blog is. The kind of contest, the hoops we jump through, the prezzies offered up...

Sherri said...

Happy Birthday when the day comes! Thanks for having this wonderful contest. I'm a follower of this blog and Inkspot.

Beth Groundwater said...

Thanks, Robyn, Timothy, Vickie, and Sherri, for following and for the good wishes! Timothy, I emailed you on Goodreads about your generous offer. Yes, let's talk. ;-)

Rox said...

I hope you have the best birthday ever!

Ann said...

All entered now. Fingers and toes crossed.

Sheila Deeth said...

I love author contests. There's something very special about feeling like you know the author, or at least you've met and exchanged comments.
Hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Beth Groundwater said...

Thanks, Rox, Ann, and Sheila, for your comments and entries! I'll be drawing a name shortly before my next scheduled post on August 26th. Good luck to everyone!

Picks by Pat said...

Great idea to boost your following as well as celebrate your birthday. I used a contest to attract people to my website when my first novel was published, and received a pretty good response, considering I had no web presence. Using a book as the prize is a natural winner.
I think people prefer to know the prize.

Judy said...

I enjoy winning a book by the author of the contest!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Signed up here as a follower!!!

Beth Groundwater said...

Thanks so much for your birthday wishes and feedback, Pat and Judy!

Tange said...

May you have a wonderful birthday Beth!

ford said...

Advance Happy Birthday for this year may you have a great birthday. :)

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