Thursday, March 25, 2010

Querying Anniversary Contest!

Photo by darkewolf

It's been a while since I did a contest, hasn't it? It's time for another one.

What are the rules? Well, this one's gonna be easy. No genre-blending, worst first lines, or flash fiction writing requirements. This time, I'm going for the followers. You know how it goes: you get points for following me on this blog and/or on Twitter, extra points for referring people directly and/or for passing on word about my contest on your own blog or Twitter account. I'll put the specific details at the bottom of the post.

What's the occasion? On April 15th, it will be the one-year anniversary of the day I sent out my first-ever query letter for my novel.

What's the prize? I'm so glad you asked! I will be giving away a copy of Steve Almond's amazing self-published chapbook, This Won't Take But A Minute, Honey. Thirty flash fiction stories on one side, then you flip the book over and get thirty short essays on the craft of writing on the other side. The stories are good, no question... but these essays, people, are GENIUS. It's an MFA program in the palm of your hand. You need this book.

Even better, the copy that I'm giving away has been SIGNED by the author. He doesn't know your name, but he knows what you need to hear, and he inscribed it just for you.

The contest starts NOW, and will close at midnight on April 14th so that I can pick and announce a winner on April 15th. Each point gets you one entry into the contest, yadda yadda.

RULES:
  • You must comment on THIS blog post to be entered. That gets you +1 point.
  • You get +2 points for being a blog follower.
  • You get +1 point for having commented on my blog at any point before today. (I wanted to reward those who've been with me for a while, but was afraid I'd lose track of which people are new blog followers and which are already following as of this writing. So, I'm rewarding participation instead.)
  • You get +1 point for following me on Twitter.
  • You get +1 point if you've retweeted me or my blog at any point before today.
  • You get +1 point for Tweeting about this contest/retweeting this post.
  • You get +2 points for blogging about this contest.
  • You get +1 point if someone writes in their comment that YOU are the reason they found out about this blog/contest. (Please do give credit if you were referred here by someone! It doesn't lower your chances that much, really.)
  • You can obviously un-follow me again at the close of the contest, but I'm really quite amusing, and I'm sure you'll want to stick around.
So! That means new followers can get EIGHT possible entries, and loyal followers can get as many as TEN entries.* Sounds pretty good, right? Plus, if I get enough new Twitter & blog followers, I'll post a link to something amusing and embarrassing online. I have 140 blog followers and 96 Twitter followers as of this moment. Any suggestions for what my target numbers should be? (Don't say 150 and 100. Smartass.)

And you don't need to provide links as proof -- just tell me how many points you get and how you calculated it when you post your comment. I will check up on the winner to make sure that person's points were all honestly claimed; if I find out you didn't really earn one of the points that you said you did, you will be disqualified, and I'll pick another winner.

Let the games begin!

* Update: duh! The number of points you can get is actually unlimited because you get a point for EACH referral, not just one point for all referrals combined. Go to it!

38 comments:

  1. I agree with David -- those odds are pretty darn good.

    I think I'm up to 7 points. I know I've got six -- comment here, comment in the past, the retweet of this, and I'm a follower both here and on Twitter.

    I might have retweeted something in the past, but I'm not sure.

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  2. Cool contest! I've been following and commenting a while, and I blogged you yesterday, so I'm counting that in lieu of Twitter (which I'm not on and don't care to be right now)--and I believe I sent you at least two new followers based on yesterday's post (to encourage folks to submit microfiction like you did). And...I'll be adding your contest to my sidebar. I think that gives me at least +7, more if you decide to be generous about the folks I sent just before the contest.

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  3. Look at all that has happened in a year! It's exciting to think of what's ahead.

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  4. Wow, did I pick a good day to visit your blog. I saw your great post on Between Fact and Fiction, so I came over to see what you've been writing.

    You inspire me to get my own stuff out! Thanks!

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  5. Yay! Fun times and congrats!

    4 entries for me please

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  6. Good luck with upping your follower numbers. You know I give you plugs every now and then. We're partly here to help one another.
    Lee

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  7. Lee, I know you do, and I know you are!!!

    Thanks everyone!

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  8. Great idea. Sounds like a great book, too. Happy anniversary. I won't even admit how many years I've been querying. It's too sad. Of course, I did take about a decade off when I actually had a publisher.

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  9. Great contest, and congrats on the one year mark! Dang, that's a lot of points to sift through...I think I'm at

    1 for this comment
    2 for following
    1 for commenting before
    1 for following you on Twitter
    1 point for Tweeting your contest

    So that's 6 entries. :)

    Great prize!

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  10. Count me in!
    follower, comment, past commentator = 4
    (Do I get an extra point for saying the title and cover combination of that book made me smile?)

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  11. I'm on blog vacation still, so could you just put me down for 378 points? Thanks. E-mail me for my mailing address so you can send me the book. Or you could just send Steve down to my neck of the woods to take me out for coffee and talk writing. I think that'd be fun. Thanks in advance.

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  12. 1 for this comment
    1 for commenting before
    1 for following you on twitter

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  13. I'm in! I get three points for this comment and for following (took me forever, sorry about that!)

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  14. I'm in. I'm a new follower, which hurts a little (hopefully not too much). Found this through Anne R. Allen's tweet (to give credit).

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  15. Nothing like a contest - without an entry fee - to inspire submissions. Off to my blog to blog about it... :-)

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  16. THANK YOU, everyone! Keep spreading the word, and it'll get you more entries if people mention your name when they come here to post!

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  17. I'm in. I'm now officially "following," though I have been following for a long time :)

    I think I'm up to seven:

    1 for this comment
    2 for following
    1 for having commented before
    1 for following on Twitter
    1 for having retweeted before the contest
    1 for retweeting this contest

    I'll try to drum up followers and add to my totals...

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  18. Cool contest. :)

    My comment +1
    Old follower +2
    Previous comment +1
    Blog entry +2
    Total +6

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  19. Hi Carrie,
    I found your blog months ago after feeling discriminated against in my writing class for being a genre writer... I've been checking back with your blog ever since.

    As of today, I am officially a follower, and this is my first comment, so put me down for 3 points.

    Great contest!

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  20. Dawn, this comic is for you and all the other genre writers out there. Tell 'em to suck it.

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  21. Thanks for the contest. I enjoy your blog!

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  22. I should have a total of four entries...I'm a new blog follower, I follow you on Twitter and I'm commented that you are awesome. And your muse is a jerk.

    Thanks for the great contest! :)

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  23. LALALALA Oh look I guess this means I'm entered!

    (And I follow you on Twitter.)

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  24. Everyone seems hungry for contests these days, so I better jump on board. +1 for commenting
    +2 for being a follower
    +1 for having commented previously on this blog

    And, I don't tweet, so that pretty much wraps up my entries.

    Love the blog. OK bye

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  25. Ok, here we go...
    +1 for commenting
    +2 for being a follower
    +1 for following on twitter
    +1 for retweeting
    +2 for blogging
    total: +7
    Great contest!

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  26. I'm in. Here's my comment. I'm a follower. But let it be known that I'm following you because of YOU, not because of the contest.

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  27. Count me in! +1

    Uh, I'm a follower. +2

    I'm pretty sure I've commented before... +1

    I follow you on twitter. +1

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  28. Most cool of you! I am a follower and have commented before so my total is 4.

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  29. I'm in!
    I'm a new follower 1 pt
    I'm linking on my blog 1pt
    I'm following you on twitter 1pt
    I'm retweeting too! 1 pt
    I think..

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  30. I only have 2 points but that's OK. I'm feeling lucky. I'm pretty sure I've got this one in the bag. Although, now that I think about it. Maybe I have commented before. In which case I have 3 points. Hmmmm. I can't believe I would have visited before and not graced your comment section with my wit and wisdom. That's not like me at all.

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  31. I'm a new follower and I followed you on Twitter and on your blog - how many points does that give me? I'm having a contest, too, so come follow me back! It's good karma :) www.writerland.com

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  32. Okay, I will enter! I have 4 points, since I just started following today.

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  33. I'd love to win the fudge recipe!
    Have commented on blog before, follow on Twitter, and retweeted contest. :)

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  34. Happy queriversary! You had me at fudge.

    +1 for commenting
    +2 for following
    +1 for previous comments (good idea!)
    +1 Twitter follower

    Whee!

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  35. I AM HERE.

    I have 80 million points and I win.

    PS pop over to my blog and help me name my villain. YES SHAMELESS PLUGGING FOR MY OWN BLOG ON YOUR BLOG. I'm a hoor.

    Verify Word: Methone. Why, yes, I will have one meth. Thank you.

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  36. I'm keen! Clearly I can't compete with 80 million points but I think I can manage six or so...

    1 for this comment
    2 for following you (although I follow you through RSS)
    1 for past comments
    1 for following you on Twitter
    1 point for Re - Tweeting your contest (I think I get a point for that)

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  37. Great seeing you in 10 Weeks, 10 Stories - awesome goldfish story in class, too (I Am Not Worthy!). I have 5 points. Hope to see you Saturday at the Fantastical Salon -- I should be fully recovered by then. Thanks, Stephen.

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