A few days ago I had what I thought was a brilliant idea. Sales for Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort have been good, but reviews were a little light. The reviews the book received were outstanding; there just weren’t that many of them.
So, I thought, why not have a drawing on my Facebook author page? When the number of reviews reached 40, I’d draw a reviewer’s name at random and give away either a Scout’s Honor coffee mug or a signed copy of Mayhem. Cool, huh?
Except I didn’t take into account that many reviewers on Amazon use nicknames or initials instead of their actual names, so for the last couple of days I’ve been trying to figure out who “Keek” is, and who among my readers might be “Amazon Customer.”
Also, and this is both a wonderful thing and an almost impossible impediment, I don’t personally know at least five of the reviewers! How would I contact them if they won?
Sometime this weekend the number of reviews not only reached, but exceeded the 40 mark. I was able to track down all but two reviewers through connections on Facebook and friends of friends, but those two were untraceable. I felt awful, but went ahead with the drawing as promised, and notified the winner.
So, any suggestions for future giveaways are welcome. I believe this was good for book sales and review numbers, but as Mayhem wanders away from my core group of friends and followers, it might be impossible to track down a winner. This one has given me a massive headache. But I’m also smiling!
Peace, people!
