Saturday, November 10, 2012

Contests (updated) and a rant about requirements...


Sorcha Mowbray is having a Love Redeemed blog hop at this link.
and for those who are reading on Nov. 11, she is holding an Author Chat at this link...with pretty good chances to win one of her e-books.

There are tons of participants in the aforementioned hops...enjoy!

Romance Books 4 Us has a Thanksgiving (or is that Htanksgiving?) Contest at this link

and there are plenty of other contests going on at the usual places (Writerspace, Fresh Fiction, Coffee Time Romance, Night Owl, etc.)



Those of you who don't want to hear me whine should stop HERE, lol.



I have a complaint (well, actually, I have a lot of complaints but this is the one that is forefront in my mind right now).

I DON'T use Facebook.  I also don't use Twitter (although I discovered I had signed up on it many many moons ago in order to enter a contest...and promptly forgot about it until my brother 'Tweeted' me one day).  I haven't been on Pinterest although it does sound interesting and I don't plan to join it in the near future, either.  This lack on my part automatically disqualifies me for more and more contests, coupons to my favorite restaurants and other goodies and I have idly wondered whether it is worth going through the hassle of trying to set up a Facebook account...a frustrating experience the last time I tried it.  I waste (ahem, devote) far more time to writing this blog than I probably should and I don't keep up with posting about the books that I am reading because of the lag time before some of my reviews are posted on the Night Owl Review site.  (so, I have about 20 that I need to make blogposts for at this time and the number continues to mount!)

In my opinion, far too much time can be spent updating social media sites or reading postings from social media sites and I'd much rather spend that time reading.

Ok, so what does that have to do with anything?  I participate on Street Teams for several authors.  Usually that involves notifying others about new releases, promotions and contests.  I enjoy helping out authors whose books I have enjoyed and am happy to do so on my blog, with or without bribes--although those are always enjoyed, lol.  I was dismayed to discover that I wasn't 'suitable' to join one of my favorite author's 'Ambassadors' team because I don't have three forms of social media that I am active on.  I hate being discriminated against although this is not unusual...I can't apply to do reviews for certain publishers also because I lack the requisite number of followers on my small blog.  I realize that I could increase my numbers by participating in giveaways and requiring that entrants become followers but that just isn't my style.  I greatly appreciate those who have taken the time to follow my blog but I hope that those who do, follow because they share my love of reading and like to hear about the new releases...not because I twisted their arm in some way (sorry, RMR and those of you I begged to follow me, lol).  I don't really want to use my spare money for shipping books to winners, I'd rather use it to buy things for the soldiers who are serving far away from home or donating books to the local library...but that's my choice.

It irks me that I am not considered good enough to join a team that should be comprised of fans who want to share their love of a particular author just because I don't Tweet all day or spend my day 'liking' things on FB.  It is my impression that there are a few of us 'dinosaurs' around...and we are readers too!  I'd love to hear people's opinions on this if you took the time to read this far.  I am going to stomp away pouting and exclaiming, "it's not fair!" and grab my next book now...thank you for listening (virtually).

8 comments:

  1. I'm right there with you. I don't facebook, tweet, or pinterest either. I don't have the time or energy to devote to so much stuff. I read my blogs and books and there just isn't enough time. Plus, I'm not comfortable being so visible... I'm a private person by choice and so much social media takes that away. I don't have a blog but I have noticed more and more blogs "disqualifying" readers from joing contests, etc b/c they don't blindly follow w/ the social medias. Just looks like a numbers game to me and not really a way to create community.

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  2. Thanks for taking the time to answer. I am basically a pretty private person also so it took me some time to start the blog itself. I certainly don't want to tell the world (and can't imagine why they would care) what I am doing every moment. Sigh, maybe one day publicists will realize that there are quiet people out there as well...after all, most of us dedicated readers devote our time and energy to...reading, lol!

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  3. Elf, I sympathize with you because I feel the same way. I had a Twitter account, but it got hacked, and I haven't gotten back on it. Pinterest is dangerous, and I will eventually get around to closing mine down. FB is okay, but you do have to be careful there because there are people out to get you there, too. lol The one place I've never had any trouble at is MySpace.

    I'm going to start following you, and I hope it helps.

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  4. That's very sweet of you Sandy, thank you so much. I am glad to hear that I am not in such a minority as I had feared (0:

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  5. I completely understand. I do have a fb and twitter account, but I pretty much just use my twitter account for contests. I've had my fb account for a long time and I enjoy talking to my friends, but I keep my fb account set to private and only follow people I actually want to talk to.

    I decided against joining pinterest, I just don't have the time. I don't think joining, subscribing or friending should be a requirement to enter a contest.

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    1. Thanks for your opinion...I don't know, it's just my paranoia combined with my shyness but I think we share far too much on social media nowadays!

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  6. Hi Elf,

    I'm an author, and honey, you can join my team anytime! As I'm sure the majority of writers still agree, reader support regardless of social connectivity is what allows us to do what we love.

    So, on behalf of them and myself, thanks much for that.

    Kymber

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  7. Thank you so much Kymber! I appreciate your taking the time to visit and I wish you great success with your new release, "Wild for Cowboy"...it sounds yummy!

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