New Giveaway Policy...what do you think?

I had thought to start a new giveaway policy August 1st. Then the unthinkable happened. Someone deleted all of her entries to a couple of giveaways because I had said that I wouldn't be notifying the winners, except in the comment section of the post. I have seen other giveaway bloggers who do this and it seems to work fine. Heck, I've had winners email me before I even had a chance to email them. So, I'm trying to come up with a way to notify winners, without offending anyone, but if I don't get the email out right away, it will still work.

Let me backtrack for a minute.

The reason I had even considered changing the way I do things is this: My work (you know, where they pay me) is picking up. I'm receiving more books to review, so I'm reading every spare minute I can squeeze a page in. I'm falling behind on getting those emails out. NOT THE EMAILS TO THE PUBLISHER. Once I get the address' for all the winners, I immediately send them to who they need to go to.

So I'm trying to come up with a compromise (cause hey, I want people to be happy and hopefully enter & WIN some books!). I mean that is what this blog is here for.

1. Keep things the way they are now. Email & post the winners.
2. Just post the winners*edit* in a new post!
3. Email & post the winners once a week. Like on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

Think about it, there's a poll over at the top of the sidebar! Your vote does count!

Chic Lit & Rachel Gibson...

Chic Lit... It's been awhile since I've read alot of straight chic lit. And to be honest, I never really understood until recently what qualified as "chic lit".

Anyway, about a month ago, I was yard saling one Saturday and came accross a neighborhood sale, so obviously I had to make the rounds. I came accross a family having a sale and they had NO ONE there, so I stopped just to take a look. The first thing I see is a box (you know the kind that holds copy paper) overflowing with paperbacks. So I start looking and inside are books buy Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson, Nora Roberts, etc. You get the idea, all chic lit. So I start going through making my selections and the woman walks up to me with a couple of bags. Yes that's how many I had already chosen. We start talking and finally I just get exasperated and ask how much for all of them. (Now she had already said the books were a buck a piece. I bet I had at least 15-20 books in my hand). Do you know how much I paid for a box of books that I've already read only 3 out of? $6. Yep, thats it. So I (of course) paid her the $6 grabbed the box and hauled a*s outta there before she could change her mind. So right now, I have a box of books in my trunk, waiting to be read. Now, I will say that I went through them and immediately took some to my UBS for credit. I just did not think they sounded interesting enough to read, or I'd already read them (the Nora Roberts).
So the point I was going to make: I sat down Saturday to read "Not Another Bad Date" by Rachel Gibson. I read it in less than 6 hours and laughed my way through it. Rachel Gibson is now on my list of "must buys". I've already went to the bookstore and bought all of her books they had available! I can't wait to sit down and read them all! The characters she creates are hillarious! I'll be doing some short reviews for these books within the next couple of days.

Audibook Giveaway~$20 Per Gallon by Christopher Steiner

$20 PER GALLON

By Christopher Steiner, read by John Wolfe

Imagine an everyday world in which the price of gasoline (and oil) continues to go up, and up, and up. Think about the immediate impact that would have on our lives. Steiner will probe how the liberation of technology and innovation, triggered by climbing gas prices, will change our lives. The book may start as an alarmist's exercise.... but don't be misled. The future will be exhilarating.

About the Contest:
Open to US & Canadian addresses. No PO Boxes please.
3 winners will be chosen by random.org
Deadline: Friday, August 28th
To win:
Your first comment should be your name & email address (1 entry)
Your second comment should be that you are a follower (but only if you are!) (1 entry)
Your third comment, should you choose to do so, should be a link where you have posted about the giveaway (this will count for 2 entries)

Audiobook Giveaway~ Daniel X: Watch The Skies by James Patterson & Ned Rust

DANIEL X: WATCH THE SKIES

By James Patterson, Ned Rust, read by Milo Ventimiglia

A terrifying outlaw has just arrived in town, with the goal of throwing it into chaos--and filming the pandemonium for the fellas back home. Only one person can stop him and his thugs from destroying the city and everyone living there. Daniel X assembles an all-star team of his own creation, but not even he could imagine the enormity of this made-for-TV-villain's powers.

About the Contest:
Open to US & Canadian addresses. No PO Boxes please.
3 winners will be chosen by random.org
Deadline: Friday, August 21st
To win:
Your first comment should be your name & email address (1 entry)
Your second comment should be that you are a follower (but only if you are!) (1 entry)
Your third comment, should you choose to do so, should be a link where you have posted about the giveaway (this will count for 2 entries)

Audibook Giveaway~Ravens by George Dawes Green

RAVENS

By George Dawes Green, read by Robert Petkoff and Maggi-Meg Reed

When Shaw McBride and Romeo Zderko drive into the small town of Brunswick, Georgia, their only thought is to fix their car's leaky right tire and continue on to Key West, Florida, away from their dead-end jobs as computer technicians in Ohio. But when Shaw discovers that the 318 million dollar Georgia State Lottery has just been claimed by an ordinary Georgia family, he sees an opportunity - he and Romeo will blackmail the Boatwright family for half their winnings and ditch their deadbeat lives for good.

About the Contest:

Open to US & Canadian addresses. No PO Boxes please.

3 winners will be chosen by random.org

Deadline: Friday, August 14th

To win:

Your first comment should be your name & email address (1 entry)

Your second comment should be that you are a follower (but only if you are!) (1 entry)

Your third comment, should you choose to do so, should be a link where you have posted about the giveaway (this will count for 2 entries)

Audiobook Giveaway~The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

THE CASTAWAYS

By Elin Hilderbrand, read by Katie Hale

Greg and Tess MacAvoy are one of four prominent Nantucket couples who count each other as best friends. As pillars of their close-knit community, the MacAvoys, Kapenashes, Drakes, and Wheelers are important to their friends and neighbors, and especially to each other. But just before the beginning of another idyllic summer, Greg and Tess are killed when their boat capsizes during an anniversary sail. As the warm weather approaches and the island mourns their loss, nothing can prepare the MacAvoy's closest friends for what will be revealed.

About the Contest:
Open to US & Canadian addresses. No PO Boxes please.
3 winners will be chosen by random.org

Deadline: Friday, August 7th

To win:
Your first comment should be your name & email address (1 entry)
Your second comment should be that you are a follower (but only if you are!) (1 entry)
Your third comment, should you choose to do so, should be a link where you have posted about the giveaway (this will count for 2 entries)

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

FOR:

JULIE & JULIA

heatherzilla

Emma

My Blog 2.0 (Dottie)

tetewa

~THE OPTIMISTIC PESSIMIST ~

FOR:

KNIGHT OF DESIRE

etirv

AMYH

Misusedinnocence

PAM P

budletsmom

I will be emailing you at some point within the next 24 hours. Please respond back to me with your mailing address within 24 hours!

Congratulations to all the winners!

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

And the winners for "Any Minute" by Joyce Meyer are:

Elaing8

Commchick

CherylS22

You should have an email from me asking for your address!

Congratulations!!

crazy girl rambling...

I have the opportunity to either do a Q&A with a guest author or she can guest blog. Every time I try to think about which I want to do or try to come up with half way intelligent ideas for the questions or ideas for her to post about, I start to panic and my mind goes utterly & completely blank. Is this normal? Am I just paranoid? What is happening to me?!? I mean, come on, I'm definitely new to the whole blogging experience (not even 6 months yet!) and I'm already considering hosting a guest? I've lost my mind, that's the only answer there is for it. I have completely & utterly (oh crap, I've already used that phrase, oh well, it's accurate so I'm going to keep it) lost my mind. That's all I needed to say. I'm going to the back office and curl up in the corner till this passes. See ya later.

Giveaway~ The Blue Star by Tony Earley

Seven years ago, readers everywhere fell in love with Jim Glass, the precocious ten-year-old at the heart of Tony Earley's bestseller Jim the Boy. Now a teenager, Jim returns in another tender and wise story of young love on the eve of World War Two.Jim Glass has fallen in love, as only a teenage boy can fall in love, with his classmate Chrissie Steppe. Unfortunately, Chrissie is Bucky Bucklaw's girlfriend, and Bucky has joined the Navy on the eve of war. Jim vows to win Chrissie's heart in his absence, but the war makes high school less than a safe haven, and gives a young man's emotions a grown man's gravity.With the uncanny insight into the well-intentioned heart that made Jim the Boy a favorite novel for thousands of readers, Tony Earley has fashioned another nuanced and unforgettable portrait of America in another time--making it again even realer than our own day.

About the Contest:
Open to US & Canadian addresses. No PO Boxes please.
Five winners will be announced on August 21st
To win:
Leave a comment with your name & email address
For an added chance, be a follower!
I will notify the winners by email & on my blog on
Please respond within 48 hours with your mailing information!

Giveaway~ The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser

Tom Loxley, an Indian-Australian professor, is less concerned with finishing his book on Henry James than with finding his dog, who is lost in the Australian bush.Joining his daily hunt is Nelly Zhang, an artist whose husband disappeared mysteriously years before Tom met her. Although Nelly helps him search for his beloved pet, Tom isn't sure if he should trust this new friend.Tom has preoccupations other than his book and Nelly and his missing dog, mainly concerning his mother, who is suffering from the various indignities of old age. He is constantly drawn from the cerebral to the primitive--by his mother's infirmities, as well as by Nelly's attractions. THE LOST DOG makes brilliant use of the conventions of suspense and atmosphere while leading us to see anew the ever-present conflicts between our bodies and our minds, the present and the past, the primal and the civilized.

About the Contest:
Open to US & Canadian addresses. No PO Boxes please.
Five winners will be announced on August 20th
To win:
Leave a comment with your name & email address
For an added chance, be a follower!
I will notify the winners by email & on my blog on
Please respond within 48 hours with your mailing information!