A little history first:I used to have a monthly book giveaway for the top commenters on this blog.The way it worked was that I installed a widget which counted each reader's comments and then would list the 10 readers with the most comments.The widget would count the last 500 comments and take the figures according to that.This worked well the first month but the next month I had to count them out myself because it still included the figures from the previous months.That turned out to be a mission but I carried on because I had a super Trio of commenters who I am very loyal to.In the meantime,Missy's mom has been really sick,EH has been super busy and Sharon I think has been getting frustrated with being the lone ranger.SO I came up with this NEW idea!!!
I am now going to count each and every comment as an entry for my monthly giveaway which is a $15.00 Amazon gift card.Having an Amazon Gift Card as a prize works well as I can then include everyone,anywhere in the world and the winner then also gets to choose whichever book they would like to read by redeeming the voucher which would be delivered via e-mail.The winner can also give it to anyone else as a gift if they prefer.
P.S. this is also for the unfortunate readers with IE browsers who sometimes try over and over again to leave one comment and when they eventually do get it right,this is my way of saying thank you for not giving up.I am one of those people and really if I don't get thrown off a blog immediately,I get thrown off just before I click "send".It has gotten better recently so they might have fixed up that problem but you never know.
So basically it works like this:
Any comment counts as 1 entry.(except comments on other book giveaway posts)
The giveaway runs over a calendar month.The winner will be announced within the first week of the next month.
Making comments like "great review"," Ja Rule" and "P Diddy ain't got nothing on you" will earn you extra entries.Okay just joking....
I,unfortunately cannot include the "anonymous" commenters in this giveaway for obvious reasons unless they choose to include a contact e mail.Otherwise having a link which takes me to your blogger profile which has a contact e mail is ok.I even have some commenters which have their MySpace profiles linked which is also ok as I can contact them that way to give them the good news,should they win.
Before I enter all the names into Random.Org I will personally make sure that each entry has a contact e mail or blog.
This is the best part-choosing the winner:I am going to flip open the Pretoria business telephone book(yellow pages) and randomly dial a number which comes up.Whoever answers will be asked to choose a number between 1 and the total number of entries supplied by Random Org.This number will then be compared to my list and hey,presto we have a winner.How's that???
Okay what's in this for me?
Well I love comments and comments do feed my blog and help with my rankings.Receiving and reading comments ranks in the top 3 things I love best about blogging.
And what's in it for you?
You mean apart from letting me know how much you love my posts?? Ok enough already!I will be adding a link to each of my Top 13(nice no,hey!~)commenters on a monthly basis starting with July 2009 which will be further below in the interests of "spreading the love with linkage".This post will be a permanent link from my sidebar.
The "I have a winner" post will include ALL the commenters for that specific month and then obviously the winner.Just a little more publicity for your blog/personal self and to let everyone know the owner is a very nice blogger/reader who comments and is much loved and appreciated!!If you want me to do your link a certain way then one little e mail to me (e mail:yk(at)toptruecrimebooks (dot)com) with your specific requirements e.g. your Twitter Handle.You will only need to do this once.I will save it under a "special" file created just for this.
I am open to any other ideas anyone else can think of.I am also thinking of other giveaways to run apart from my usual Hachette Book Group ones.I will have the next personal giveaway I can think of, run from 7th to 7th,then 14th to the 14th and the last one,21st to the 21st.This one will always run from 1st to 1st.Still thinking though...
Finally here are my 5 Star commenters for:July 2009
(Cecile) All I want And More
(Holly) 2 Kids And Tired Book Reviews
(J Kaye) J Kaye's Book Blog
(John) John Abuzz
(Kim) Metroreader:Reading One Mile At A Time
(LazyKing) Bored...Get Unbored
(LuAnn) Reading Frenzy
(Missy) Missy's Book Nook
(Natalie) The Book Inn
(Sharon) A Bookworm's Reviews
(Sheila) One Person's Journey Thrugh A World Of Books
(Suzanne) Chick With Books
(Trishalynn) Trisha's Book Blog
August 2009
(Cecile)All I Want And More..
(EH)Erotic Horizon
(Heidi V)The Blackcell
(J Kaye)J Kaye's Book Blog
Karen H in NC
(Kate)Another Book Blog-Whore
(Kim)Metroreader:Reading One Mile At A Time
(LazyKing)Bored..Get Unbored
(LuAnn)Reading Frenzy
(Missy)Missy's Book Nook
(Sheila)One Person's Jurney Through A World Of Books
(Teddyree)The Eclectic Reader
(Trishalynn)Trisha's Book Shelf
Further good news!! I am not publicizing this giveaway at all so this information is only available to my followers/readers/subscribers so the chances of winning are quite high(lol)
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Oh no! You count each one? Wow...you are a better person than me. I have a top commenter giveaway each week, but I'd NEVER count the comments personally. No way! Also, you can adjust the 500 to whatever number you'd like using the Yahoo Pipes. I've already tested it out to be sure.
ReplyDeleteReally nice of you to do this.
Hey J Kaye
ReplyDeleteYour blog is a whole lot more popular than mine is so counting for me now is okay.I might have to revise this strategy later on if I ever get as many comments as you do(lol).Nice tip about the adjusting of the numbers.I had another set up before not th Yahoo Pipes so I will check it out.Also I just count via my e mails which is easier.
I am back - I am back....
ReplyDeleteI was on all the last month post yesterday - so now I have to go back and leave a comment - I think I have the trick to the comment on your blog now....
I hope my partners in crime all are well and will be back this month as well...
Do you have a list of your August reads yet...
Loving the give away....
E.H>
This is an awesome idea. I will have to do this later on down the road when I get more people reading my blog.. :)
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Thank you and seriously, P Diddy aint got nothing on you! LOL
ReplyDeleteI have been racking my brain trying to think of a good way to do something like this for my commenters. You and J Kaye both have great ideas.
Hey EH,I missed you so much.I used to go to your blog to try and get an idea of what was going on,then I convinced myself that my guest spot was so bad you had decided to throw me away(lol)BTW all your comments on last months posts count for August so don't worry and I still have to go answer all of them.I have to go to some homework first like find out what happened to Angela Dove.Good questions and I need to think about the John Glatt question....
ReplyDeleteAbout the August reads I am in a bit of a predicament with my new hectic interest in autobiographies which dont really fall under true crime so I might have to have non true crime reviews soon but at least I am catching up with reviews on my old true crime books.
TrishaLynn thank you.I was a bit worried at first because I dont want anyone feeling pressured into leaving comments.just needed a way to say thanks for keeping me entertained.I love your blog and I will do what I can to let everyone know about your blog.I think the library post I am going to do soon will help a bit.
ReplyDeleteSheila,thanks for stopping by.I know what you mean.I thought for so long and hard about the best way to write out the post so it wouldnt feel like I was paying to get comments and more that I was saying thank you.I hardly slept last night worrying about it and when I woke up I wanted to come and put the posts back into "draft" until I read all your wonderful comments and realised all was ok.So a big thank you for letting me know.
ReplyDeleteI have other ideas in mind like quizzes and stuff but I dont want it to be hard work.I want it to be fun so I have still "tweak" those ideas.
I really should work up something for my top commentators. I started keeping track and then got distracted and will have to find where I left off. Blah!
ReplyDeleteThe counting sounds like a lot of work. P Diddy aint got nothing on you :D
ReplyDeleteLuAnn don't worry you will think pf something soon...
ReplyDeleteKate luckily I only get to count once a month(lol).And don't I know it bout me and P Diddy