I was thinking today (scary, I know) about contests. You have to admit they’re fun. Is there a better feeling than getting something for free? But really, it’s not always fun for the person running the contest. Sadly, there are some who would ruin it for the rest.
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Contest Whores Contest Whores will enter a contest regardless of what the prize is. There’s a prize, that’s all that matters. It’s pretty shiny and they want… so they enter. All too often Contest Whores also feel the need to brag about all the prizes they’ve won by entering contests, or to rub in the fact that won.”Oh, I already read this book. I won it over at *insert random place here*” or even worse, IMO, are the ones who don’t even cop to where they got it. “Oh, I have this book already. And this one. And that one.” |
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eBay Bitches These are the asshats who enter to win so they can immediately turn around and sell the prizes on eBay. You’ll find these ones mostly surrounding contests for ARCs, because there’s big money to be made selling ARCs on ebay. Bastards. |
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Sad Tales These are the big babies who have a sob story for why they should win. “My husband left me.” “My dog just died.” “My life is horrible and awful and this would be the only bright spot in my otherwise wretched existence.” |
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Sybil’s Socks These are Syb’s favorite! *g* These are the sad, sorry fucks who have no life and make up pretend names/email addresses so they can enter a contest more than once. I’ve personally never understood the point. But then, I don’t really enter contests, so I might not be the person to ask. |
TGTBTU does contests because we are a reader site for readers. And we love the idea of helping readers find their next MUST READ author. Especially if they happen to be MUST READ authors for us. Tis fun to share, no? But sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it to give away ARCs, to hold contests, to share the wealth. But then it’s not really fair if one person ruins it for everyone, is it?
It’s really a crapshoot, isn’t it. I’ll join contests when I want the book, or maybe it’s a new to me author, or some such thing. And if I don’t win, that’s great too. I’ll look for the book at my library or local BN.
The one thing that really irks me are the ARCs being sold on Ebay. I’ve been known to report them, because it’s illegal to sell them (not to mention the morality of the whole thing). Nothing ever seems to get done, though. But, I’ll continue to report them. Maybe one day, Ebay’s customer service will surprise me.
Hi,
Interesting post.
I’m rather mindful about not entering a contest if I have already won something from that site or blog in the past. I’ve had a chance to win, so its fair to let someone else win (IMO)
Lucy Monroe had a party on her blog, and I won twice in a row. Both times they were awesome prizes. One was a massive gift bag full of books and other goodies. I almost cried when I opened it, it was jam packed full of cool stuff!
The next prize was the re release of one of her books, plus a water bottle with the book title and pic on it. (AND she included a birthday card for me with that. I almost cried, again, lol. I’m a sap. It’s not every day your favorite author sends you a birthday card.
I also won some books from Book Binge, so I wont enter contests there anymore. I like to give others a chance.
I’ve seen the ARC’s on eBay. You can report it, but they still stay up.
Winning just to sell on ebay and entering more than once, not fair, I agree. I guess you can’t really avoid these things when running contests, but I’m sure there are plenty more of us who do appreciate getting those arcs or finding a new author to follow, and who do then talk about them to our friends, which is the point of giving them away.
Ohmigod, I LOVE that Contest whores picture – I choked when I saw it, too funny!
I’ll only join contests when I really want the book – what’s the point of entering one when you don’t want to read the book? that just doesn’t make any sense!
I won’t brag about it – unless it’s a really good book lol – but if someone wonders where I got said book, I’ll tell them.
I’m thinking of having a contest(s) this weekend – I’ll let you guys know. 😀
I’ve been such a dimwit in the past that half the time I haven’t noticed that I’ve posted on a contest thread; I’ve just found the subject question interesting and posted.
Now, I’m a bit more cognizant of which threads are contest threads and I purposely won’t post under it. Or I’ll post and say don’t enter me, unless I really, really want the book.
I spend so much money on books, it is nice to get a free book that I really want sometimes.
Other contest give aways, which aren’t books, I don’t care so much about.
People who sell ARCs on eBay suck. Suck big time. And those that try and cheat to get stuff, suck as well. Do they really need to do that?
I’ve been thinking about this lately. I see more and more contests showing up, and I enter more…but only because I see them more. Does that make sense? I don’t enter for something I won’t want, that just means more crap laying around the house lol
I pass on any ARCs I’ve won to friends who I know won’t turn around and sell them.
Like Dev, I’ll enter a contest if it’s a book that looks like something I’d want. If I don’t win, I’ll look it up at the library to see if the author is someone I can spend my book budget money on!
I’m not as considerate as Chantal though and I’ll enter contests at a site I’ve already won at. LOL Not that I win much. :o)
I just don’t get the people that try to cheat using different names/emails. Enter once and see if you win.
the funny thing about the people who make up names and emails is that they don’t realize WE CAN TELL! all we have to do is match the IP address to the emails and we KNOW IT’S YOU! we have one chick who enters over at FCD who does this, and she always uses the same fake emails and the same fake names. So if we have a guest who has to choose a winner, we’re always like, “pick someone from the comments. Oh, but not her. Or her. or her.”
Am sad to say that I have been hearing more and more about the difficulties of running contests due to participants like the ones you have listed. It is a shame that there are people who attempt to win what they don’t truly want, try to cash in on what they win, or try to cheat. Sincerely, wish I had a good suggestion to guard against the problem.
Winning books are a great way to discover the next glom author and in my case, much-treasured opportunities to get something personalised by a fave author since I don’t get to attend conferences and signings. It’s a shame that some non-readers want to cash in on the bounty but not running the contests would deprive more readers than not, imho. A possible solution against cheats is to limit entries to one person per household and ask them to supply addresses beforehand.
Wow. what a mind/eye-opening post. I had little idea people did this but I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. I’m impressed with the blog/site contests around, and I’m very appreciative when there’s a chance for a non-US prize winner (thanks duckies:)! As I mostly lurk/read, I return to a site to check out the new posts and if there’s a contest there that interests me, I’ll try my luck too. I do think it would be nice to have a guideline that if you’ve won something eg. in the last month or whatever you could wait a month after to try/win again….?
I don’t care how many time people enter (unless the rules state one time only).
I don’t care if it is an author you adore and want an early read or signed copy.
I don’t care if it is an author you would like to maybe try but wouldn’t spend the coin on.
The main thing for me is – readers win. Be it authors (cuz uh you guys are readers too) or romance reader or even people who hit here that are readers in general and never TRIED a romance.
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People like Chantal or MB, you guys do NOT need to not enter if you just won. Play! It is fun. We want readers and bloggers to play.
To me contest whores are the ones that stalk those message boards that direct you to contests – any contest – for anything. Is that wrong? Maybe not… and there is no way for me to stop it but if I find the ping back and see a name there who has posted only once and was directed for the contest and has no interest in the book- I toss the name.
If it is a first time poster with a reader blog or posting on some reader board or something like that of course we count it.
If it is someone who only posts in contest posts and has an ebay store – toss. If a reader is ebaying books after they read them (and they aren’t ARC’s) than I have no issue with that.
Socks are evol. They are a big reason why it can take so long for us to award contests because I try and kill them. BUT I have to say in the last few months there has only been about one. So YAY.
We have a lot of contests. I know that and some people don’t like that. Tis peachy… you can fill in the email address as noenter@gmail.com if that makes you feel better. We are pretty lucky and have author offer up books all the time. And with the Harlequin Spotlights we are trying to do contests to get people to try the lines we love. So of course you should post! And we hope you win and hope you LOVE the book.
But maybe you will get it and decide eh just not your thang and you can’t get into it. ::shrug:: I tried :). And ten to one you will give it to a friend or a family member who will love it, hug it, squeeze it and call it george. So I hope you keep entering and if it isn’t for you send someone else over to enter who might like it.
Romance rawks so it makes sense that romance readers rock just as much 😉
I, too hate it when people tell their sob stories. I try to keep an open mind and give them the benefit of the doubt. I also don’t enter contests where the prize is not my cup of tea.
I once won a book here from Nora Roberts and it totally made my day because I didn’t even know I had somehow got into a thread for a free give away.lol. That’s about how good I am at entering contests. Kind of like when I won a thousand dollars playing slot machine keno in Vegas, and I thought it was the lady next to me who hit something.
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It seems like from what you are saying that some people don’t seem to appreciate something until they ruin for everyone else by being greedy.
I’ve been silent on this post, even though I’m usually rather vocal about the topic (yeah, shock, I know). I’ve been reading, though, and still pondering the matter.
I love contests, giveaways, scavenger hunts, what have you. I love being introduced to new authors through them–new subgenres, new archetypes, new myths.
I hate knowing that it becomes a chore for whomever is holding the contest to weed out cheaters.
It just sucks, frankly, for those of us who are truly fans of reading and of romance in particularly.
I love book contests and giveaways because libraries in the area where I live have very, very few romances in English (and that’s when they do have any) so I have to buy all those I want to read. It gets expensive so I tend to keep only to authors I know and love. God knows there are lots of those already. It takes many, many excellent reviews to make me try a new author. Winning a book is often the opportunity to read something new that sounded interesting, but that I might not have bought on my own. But entering for something you’re not even interested in, purely for the kick of it or for re-selling it, now that’s just selfish and mean. There can be people who participated who really wanted the prize.
I don’t do many contests, but when I do it’s usually for books. I do a lot of giveaways when I come across to Romantic Times, because it’s great to see the people you’re giving to, so if you want a goodie from me, that’s the place to go. Since I was all Indian this year, I gave away Indian jewelry.
But with the books, I’ve found that they don’t really help with promotion, as far as I can tell, so I do contests as thank-yous or bonuses. So it’s a real pain when it’s won by somebody like that.
However I do think that it’s a good idea sometimes to give away the first book in a series, to attract readers to a new venture. So that’s what I do, for the most part.
Living in the UK makes running contests a bit of a pain, which is why I mainly stick to books and jewelry. Customs won’t let me send food over and these days more and more parcels seem to be getting “lost.”
I also enjoy a chance to win a free book or reading-related item, but, most of the time, the contest shows me a new work or author to find and read on my own. I appreciate the time, energy and money that Sybil and the rest of the group spend on sharing the romance. Too bad a few people make the experience less enjoyable.
I agree with everyone else. I like to enter contests, but only enter those that are giving away a book/books that I will actually read. Entering contests under more than one name? Jeez, it’s really pathetic the lengths that some people will go to . . .
Okay…entering a contest on the same site more than once with a diffrent name is just plain old lame! I LOVE being introduced to new authors here and on other blogs, for me thats the fun part! And if it’s a book I already have, I always say not to enter me in the contest because someone else should get to enjoy…
Oh…and you run a great site here Sybil…I’ve been enjoying it for a while now and have recommended it to my other book-loving friends! I appreciate all the work you put into it. 🙂
Oh I don’t think it has anything to do with appreciating the contests or not. Most of the time people who sock really don’t care about anything but themselves. Be it to win a contest or ‘defend’ their work.
And I can’t speak for Holly but for me TGTBTU doesn’t hold contests expecting anyone to be grateful or whatever. It is just fun. I think winning is fun. I think the mix of reviews we do and the mix of authors that guest make it easy for people to step outside their comfort zone.
If it was just about the work and it being hard we would just slow down. But heck as is we have a contest for Jill Shalvis going on, will open one for two more authors today and now have the grand prize basket up for Harlequin Historicals (which I will take a picture of or something soon).
So no need to say thanks just follow the rules ;). Which right now really MOST contest don’t have many. You have to answer a question (many don’t even say you can enter only once – but hello do it under your name). We try and keep as many contest as we can open to everyone. Sometimes it is just USA/CA. But more often than not, it isn’t.
Wow- loved this post. I only enter contests when I sincerely WANT the book or whatever the author is giving away. I was lucky to have gone to RT and when I saw authors giving prize bundles away from there, I didn’t enter those. Duh- I already got that stuff already. Let someone else have the chance.
I have been blessed to win a few ARCs. I couldn’t imagine selling them on Ebay but yes, I have seen them. It’s a shame that Ebay can’t do anything (or won’t) do anything about it. I would think that with so precious little ARCs going around, an author would be able to track just whom they gave them to, and figure out the culprit.
I didn’t realize what measures people will go to or the things you do here to find out who’s cheating. Can someone please explain “ping back” to me because I don’t get that!
Here’s to the USPS that they won’t loose my book I won recently from you ladies! (Noelle Mack one)
Oh man, I hate to think that there are cheaters out there who might ruin it for the rest of us. I love contests! I have won a couple of books (some of them were new to me authors) through contests and have had a wonderful experience. I would hate to have that opportunity taken away.
Like Sybil, I don’t mind when regular visitors or regular readers enter numerous contests. It’s the ones that Google “contests” and enter just to win that piss me off. Or the ones who enter ARC contests only so they can turn around and sell them on eBay (or other places).
And no, I don’t expect or even want gratitude. We hold contests because we like to share. If I find a new to me author or read a new book by one of my favorites, I want to share.
Although, I think I might get annoyed if someone was all, “Ugh. That’s it? That’s all you’re giving away? This contest SUCKS!” LOL But then, chances are, that isn’t going to happen. 🙂
Laura K, all the mack books should have been sent out already. I looked but don’t see an email from you. And haven’t checked to see if you are one I didn’t get am email from.
I had an issue with about 5 or 6 emails getting spammed that I found about a month ago but even those have gotten to the correct homes. Can you please email me your address again or forward the email you sent before. Send directly to me – redwyne @ gmail . com (no spaces of course) and I will see what’s up with that.
What is a ‘ping back’.
I don’t know if you noticed this morning and last night – I was fixing some old Harlequin Historical posts. The posts ‘link’ to some other posts here on the blog. (fixing meaning correcting smart quotes and changing the link which had redwyne.com which no longer worked to goodbadandunread.com)
Once I was done and saved the post. The corrected URLS (redwyne.com to goodbadandunread.com) created comments in the posts I was linking to. Those comments then showed up on the side bar. So you would see Review: A Western Winter Wonderland commenting on Pam Crooks excerpt. And so on and so on. That is basically what I mean. (those are not there any longer because I manually deleted the new comment).
Any time you link to a certain post it will create a comment here it makes a comment in that post.
If someone on one of the contest message boards links to the blog or a post I can (usually) see that link because it ‘pings’ the blog.
LOL clear as mudd…
Kinda makes me a little afraid to ever enter one of your contests. Wow.
I don’t enter ALL contests or even cry, sob, or brag about winning or losing. I enter the contests that have books that I’d *like* to win, not that I *expect* to win. And I NEVER sell my winnings or ARCs on Ebay. That’s just BS and ticks me off.
I thought I had commented on this but I skimmed and could not find a comment from me. 🙂
I can’t imagine winning an ARC and selling it on e-bay or any other way. I don’t understand entering contests that one would not want to win.
I enjoy entering contests and I enjoy reading blogs. It really is too bad that some people have to think of ways to “better” their odds.
LOL why Anne? I mean really, most people and anyone who really would take the time to stop and even think about this post – are the types of people we WANT to enter.
The ones Holly is mocking are the ones that would never pop in here really or take the time to read it – muchless comment.
I imagine that there are also a few who need to game the system–to get one up on the blog owners, simple because (if they succeed, of course) they can.
Juvenile and dishonest, if you ask me.
For me, I don’t care who enters the contests, how many times they enter different contests on our blog because half the time I don’t even remember who entered the contests and what not, so meh don’t care.
But that is effed up about selling ARC’s on eBay, I’ve seen those once or twice before and I couldn’t believe it…that’s so shady.
Thanks, Sybil, on the clarification of “ping back”. I’ve seen that several times not only on this blog, but others. I also contacted you again with my info.
It’s interesting to hear things from the other side of the netz. I was naive. No clue about the hazards of holding a contest!
I have had occasional good contest fortune, here (thanks round robin Sabrina Jeffries duckies! posted about it at my site) and in other places. The way I see it is that blog readers who enter contests do so on condition that a) there is a reasonable chance they will like the book, b) they review the book somewhere if possible or at least talk about it to some other people, c) recognize that blogs live from traffic, so one should be prepared to participate in blog discussions etc. – and not just on the contest thread, d) not get greedy.
That means for some months after winning on a blog when I post again I’ll include a phrase to the effect that I’m taking myself out of the draw. It’s not a hardship, considering the whole point of visiting blogs is to chat with other readers and sometimes authors on the threads. That’s the whole attraction for me anyhow.
Because Sybil, you can be kinda scary sometimes. LOL!!! I still enter when it’s a good book. I lurk a lot, comment when my fave authors are here or I’ve read one of the books reviewed, but mostly I lurk. I am not poaching on contests… sometimes I just don’t have much to say. Yeah, I know! Big surprise! Snort.
I’ve been missing a LOT of stuff over here lately. I’ve actually been writing…LOL! (got that Blaze done and sent in – yeehaw!)
Re: ebay selling….every time I get alerted to one of my books over there…I take a peek. I’ve yet to find an autographed one. YAY!
Does that mean that the people who’ve won them can’t part with them? Hope so.
I’ve won a contest once…it was here…I entered b/c I wanted to blab about something. I was THRILLED to get the book! I’d never actually read one before…and have enjoyed more since. So, that was exactly what the point was, which was way cool.
Back to work,
(nice to have time to check out the site again!)
Bonnie
You know what I just realized?
There are Sybil socks, but there are no cock puppets on that list!
You guys don’t like me no more? *sniff*
Coolest thing to happen to me this year was winning an autographed ARC from Deborah Cooke!! I NEVER win ANYTHING! Why in the world would anyone win one and sell it?????
I just learned about most of these blogs, had never read any kind of blog until this year. Now I’m on bunches. SO FUN!!! And to win something besides? Hooyah!!!!! You guys all rock!!!!!
Hi,
I love to enter contests, because I discovered so many new authors that way. But I only enter those, where I know the genre would interest me, would be unfair otherwise.
I truly can’t understand people who enter just to sell the books on ebay or even worse to sell ARCS their. That’s just unfair. The same goes for people who enter more than once or under several names.
Wow, very interesting post.
I actually found your site for a contest for a book that I really want. I only enter contests if I’m interested in the book or author and follow the rules. I understand about some of these paople and it’s not right to sell them for sure. Once I visit a site and it’s a fun one, like I see here, it becomes a fav I return often, so it’s a win for me that way too.