Giveaways – Bargain [#5]

Bargain: Giveaways

Overview: Giveaways are promotional tools where something is given away for free. You can find giveaways in every corner of the internet – Twitter, blogs, Goodreads, etc. The format will determine how it is managed and how the winner is picked. Basically, you’re putting your name in the pot and hoping it gets drawn.

History: Fun fact – Publisher’s Clearing House was founded in 1953. While giveaways probably existed before PCH, we’ll use that as the inception.

Breakdown: 

Pros:

• Free books and things!
• Even if you don’t win, you may discover a new/different book that you’re interested in.
• Giveaways make you follow new people (either on their blog or Twitter) and they’re usually pretty great.
• Your entry is promoting some really great books and blogs!
• You may help one of your followers win.

Cons:

• Frankly, the odds are not in your favor.
• Entering can be kind of spammy to your followers (especially Twitter and Goodreads).
• It’s a bummer when you don’t win.
• Cheating/favoritism is possible.

Personal Experience:

I’ve been extremely lucky lately!

I enter a lot of Twitter giveaways (sorry if you follow me!), so I was pleasantly surprised when I won not one – not two – but four Twitter giveaways this holiday season. Most Twitter giveaways are just follow/RT types. All you have to do is follow the person and re-tweet the giveaway tweet.

The first one that I won was through Shannon at leaninglights. She did 4 giveaways and I won the 4th for a big stack of children’s/middle grade books.

I ended up giving these to a coworker who has a younger daughter. Her daughter absolutely loved them and even did her book report on the robot one — A WEEK EARLY! My coworker was so excited, so thank you so much, Shannon!

Next, I won a giveaway by Anna Breslaw, author of the 2016 debut Scarlett Epstein Hates it Here.

She included a handwritten note that was so thoughtful! I will be reading this one very soon. Thanks Anna!

My third holiday Twitter giveaway win was through Nicole, an editor at Skyhorse Publishing. She was giving away some health books.

I chose The Paleovedic Diet, which seemed like a reasonable and balanced approach to health. Thanks Nicole!

And my final Twitter giveaway win was through Heidi Heilig, 2016 debut author of The Girl From Everywhere. She was giving away some TGFE swag to the first 5 people to tweet screen-caps showing they’ve got the book on hold at their local library.

Here is my lovely signed bookmark, map, and letter. Thanks so much Heidi!

That’s all for Twitter giveaways, but that’s certainly not all! I also won two blog giveaways recently!

The first was hosted by Nori at ReadWriteLove28. Her giveaway was through Sunday Street Team in November, when they were promoting The Anatomical Shape of the Heart by Jenn Bennett.

This book has been on my radar for a while now, so I’m thrilled to own my own copy! Can’t wait to read it. Thank you, Nori!

And last but not least, I also won a Christmas giveaway through Kaitlin at Next Page Please! Her’s was unique in that she gave a few options and really let you choose what you wanted.

I ended up choosing the first option, where I chose 2 bookmarks, 1 magnetic bookmark, some candles, and a book.

I already own The Winner’s Curse and have a feeling that I’m going to love it, so I picked The Winner’s Crime so I can continue on right away. The adorable bookmarks will be put to good use and I will be burning those candles soon!

I just had a few giveaways on my Twitter that ended on Sunday, so if you aren’t following me, you’re missing out!

I will be doing a giveaway here on my blog when I hit the next follower milestone, so stay tuned.

Bottom line, I love giveaways. I think they’re fun and exciting. Give ’em a shot – what do you have to lose?