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).