Thanks soooo much to everyone who participated in the Christian Fiction Fall Scavenger Hunt. There were over 800 entries for the prizes--how thrilling to see how many people stopped by the blogs, took the time to read the posts, collected the information, and completed the entry form. Congratulations to the following winners:GRAND PRIZE--Kindle Fire & 31 novels: Jennifer Friedley
The $50 gift certificates went to: Laura McEwen and Gretchen Michels Garrison
The carved cross goes to: Melissa Jagears (Melissa, please send me your snail mail addy via kim at kimvogelsawyer dot com so I can get it sent to you)The participating authors had a great time putting the hunt together, and we especially enjoyed reading such comments as "I've never heard of you before, but I'd like to check out your books." That is music to a writer's heart. :o) And it leads me to a question (or two)...
For those of you who participated, would you please share your thoughts with me? Answer as many or as few of the following questions as you desire:
1) How did you find out about the Scavenger Hunt?
2) What helped you decide to participate?
3) Did you meet any new authors? If so, have you investigated their books at a library or bookselling location?
4) What did you enjoy the most about the Scavenger Hunt?
5) What did you enjoy the least about the Scavenger Hunt?
Thanks again to everyone who played--all the planning would be meaningless if nobody showed up to participate. :o) And thanks to all who take the time to share your thoughts on the end result.
May God bless you muchly as you journey with Him! ~Kim
Well Kim, I'm not new to you or any of the regular authors on this blog,but I did enjoy the contest and I came across some very interesting people! I tried to read a lot of the comments and it was truly amazing to come across the same people commenting again at the next station. It was as though you had struck up a kinship just by their names reappearing. It got to the stage where I wondered whether I would see"such and such's" name and comment. If it wasn't there you wondered why!
ReplyDeleteI did battle to get through the contest in the required time..had a few hiccups along the way. I unexpectedly had to take my Mum to hospital,which necessitated me staying with her for a good part of the night and all the next day. I decided to take my comp note book, so I could continue with the contest,while she slept. Unfortunately my contract with my provider was almost expired...(I don't use the notebook very often) so I tried to renew online unsuccessfully, (which did not please me!) so had to drive to the nearest Telstra shop, buy a voucher and renew. It still didn't work ,which didn't please the Telstra Staff either as they had to try and figure out why. I don't think they have EVER had anyone urge them to fix it (like NOW) because of being in the middle of a contest!LOL! Finally two hours later, back to the hospital with renewal completed! YAY!
I did come across quite a few authors which I hadn't heard of..(perhaps because of living down under, their names weren't familiar to me ) but I did enjoy their posts and have added quite a number of BTB (Books to Buy)list should they become available here.
I thought the prizes were amazing and congrats to all the lucky winners!:0)
The amount of effort you authors put in to make this contest a success is nothing short of amazing, so BOUQUETS to you ALL!
The thing I struggled with was the rafflecopter.It would not allow me to enter, so Lisa very kindly entered my name manually.
In short Kim,it was truly fantastic and certainly kept me on the ball! LOL
Sorry about the length of this comment, but.. HAD to say it! Thank you all so much!:0)
Loved the contest as well. As Rosie said, we're not new to this blog, so that's how I found out about the scavenger hunt. The extra prizes were amazing!
ReplyDeleteI did find a couple of books and authors I hadn't heard about before that I would like to read.
Rosie, I hope your mom is doing better!!
And now, we need serious prayers over here. We were informed a few weeks back, maybe a month or so, (I may have told ya'll) that Erik's mom is pretty much in remission. As of about two weeks ago, she stopped chemo. Well, we got the phone call last night that the cancer is back and in the cerebral-spinal fluid. Without treatment, it is fatal. We don't know the prognosis with treatment. Mom D is getting a port put in today, and I believe is starting treatment beginning of next week. We've already planned on being there for Christmas...and what hurt so much was when Mom said "I don't know if I will see ya'll again"...so our plan is to head to Texas after work tomorrow and stay a few days. Unfortunately, with the time of year, I can't miss more than a couple days of work...
We don't know if she said that because prognosis is really bad even with treatment, or if it was just fear because of the return of the cancer. Just pray...
Catherine! My heart goes out to you and Erik! I have some idea of how you are feeling right now! Prayers going up for you all!
ReplyDeleteLove Rosie
@ dear PJ... I'll get in first, my friend!
Prayers continuing for you and Hugh!
Love Rosie
I found out about the scavenger hunt thru fb. Since i don't have a kindle that was a big draw as far as prizes. But since i read a LOT i thought it would be fun and it was.
ReplyDeleteIj have learned more about the new authors, many I'm familiar with as i used to work in a Christian bookstore. Which we no longer have now. :(. Butt I will be trying to read more of these. Would love a list of them without having to explore all the way thru the hunt. Somewhere along stop ten or eleven it shut my internet down. That and the inability to comment till the end of the page.
Rosie, it sounds as if you had more of an adventure than any of us imagined! I trust your mother is doing better now. Thanks for your comments--it helps us in knowing how to organize future "fun."
ReplyDeleteCatherine, I am so sorry to hear this news. I am all too familiar with the pain of a loved one facing cancer, as our family is dealing with it, as well. You and your husband and his mom are definitely in my prayers.
Deenie, the small Christian bookstores are really struggling these days, aren't they? So sad... I appreciate your comments about the hunt. Perhaps a shorter hunt would be easier in the future. Hm...
Kim, the Scavenger Hunt was FUN and a great idea! As with Rosie and Catherine, I learned about it on this blog and was happy to participate. Although familiar with most of the authors, there were a few I learned about and am eager to check out their books. ~ Congrats to all the winners!! ~ Rosie, still praying for your precious Mum, and thank you for continued prayers for our situation. ~ Catherine, I am so sorry to read this about Erik's precious Mom, and please know I'm praying for her and you all (and will continue). Two favorite verses (of many) that I lean on and may help you: Psalm 61:2 and 1 Peter 5:7. Hugs, Patti Jo
ReplyDeletei had a lot of fun..somehow, though i missed the fact that though the blogs were up and working, it didn't start till later. i am challenged when it comes to knowing times...so when i'm in a different time zone i mess up. i loved getting to know new authors, but hops like this take a lot of time. Congratulations to the winners, and thanks for being a part of this hop.
ReplyDelete1) Here and Robin's Facebook page.
ReplyDelete2) Free books! And the possibility of gift certificates for more books!
3) Yes, I did meet some new authors that I think I would like. I haven't looked up their books yet because I have so much stacked up to read right now, but I am definitely keeping them in mind for the future (or for Christmas wish lists!)
4) I enjoyed meeting new authors, seeing what other authors are up to, seeing some of the behind-the-scenes peeks at the writing process or background information of some of the books. I enjoyed the clue-finding part of it, too.
5) I did not enjoy that some writers wanted us to jump through a lot of hoops in order to qualify for their individual giveaways. Some of them had the opportunity to like their Facebook page, sign up for their newsletters, etc., as extra chances to count for their drawings, and I am fine with that if it is optional. But some had signing up for their newsletter and other things as a requirement. I don't sign up for that many newsletters, but I particularly don't want to sign up for one of an author whose books I haven't read yet. I appreciated the authors whose only requirement to enter was a comment.
Thanks to all involved with the hunt! It was great fun!
I found out about the Hunt through your post. :)
ReplyDeleteI did enter the Spring one, and I got half way through this one, but my computer kept freezing on one of the blogs (tears...that would be my least favorite part of this hunt, LOL)...but I got onto like 18 authors' sites :/
I loved it though because (especially last time) I met soooo many new authors.
I had come onto this blog because of Cathy Marie Hake, who is like my favorite author, and I met the six of you! It was great because I hadn't really read Christian fiction much until last year. ( I did stick to clean books though) And now Historical Christian Fiction (romance) like all of you write is my favorite genre!
Then I found there is a plethora of such authors out there once I followed the Spring Hunt, so they are great for publicity.
I still need to read at least one book from them all! :)
So the Hunts are great, and that prize and the (bonuses) are great incentives to participate.
Thanks!
<3 Dee N
Barbara and Dee, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions--I really appreciate your input! Blessings to both of you!
ReplyDeleteOf course!! <3 :)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Dee