Thursday 2 December 2010

Giveaway Winners and an important annoucement!

Ok before I announce the GIVEAWAY winners, I'd like to mention a weekly ANONYMOUS CRITIQUE session that's going on at Shannon McMahon's Blog. This is the deal:

"Have you ever wondered if a beta reader was being truly honest with their critique? What if they don’t want to hurt your feelings? What if they’re just trying to be nice?
Enough with the self doubt!

I have a solution.


How do you feel about me hosting an Anonymous Critique day on my blog?


It’s pretty simple how it would work. I would post a snippet from your work (leaving out your name, of course) and I’d encourage the readers of this blog to provide honest, constructive feedback."

You can take a look at the ANONYMOUS CRITIQUE #1 HERE. Today she is hosting the second in what she hopes to become a successful and helpful feature on her blog. So, if you're up for it, go check it out!

Ok. Now for my Giveaway winners as determined by giving everyone a number and then randomly selecting them at Random.org (see scans with everyone's name's and generated numbers below) ...

Runner-up (Surprise Prize - Something Greek!) which is this ...
One handmade traditional Greek rug.

close-up

And this:

200ml bottle of the best of the best ouzo.
close-up of label



Third Place ($20 Amazon card)
is ... Rad Hall!

Second Place ($40 Amazon card)

First Place ($80 Amazon card)
is ... Julie Musil!

Congrats everyone!!! Have a great day!!! :o)

Entries and Random number selections:



45 comments:

  1. Yay to the winners!! And I bow to you, Jessica. Congrats!

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  2. Wow!!! I won!! Too cool. What do I need to do?
    Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

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  3. Congrats to the winners! Great contest. I will check out that link--sounds like a great idea.
    Thanks.

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  4. Congrats to the winners! The "something Greek" is definitely cool.

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  5. Congratulations to all the lucky winners...I guess that makes me a loser, kidding!

    Sounds like a wonderful idea, the AC.

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  6. Congrats to the winners! Great contest, Jess!

    Thanks for mentioning the AC. The first volunteer loved his/her feedback! There are so many talented writers in this community! Thanks again! <3

    -Shannon

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  7. Yikes that's a lot of work, lol. Congrats to winners :)

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  8. Congrats to all the winners. You give away great prizes! :)

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  9. Wow! That's one heckuva contest!
    Congrats to the winners!

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  10. woohoo! Congrats girls! And the anonymous critique sounds like a great idea! I saw that on Shannon's this morning but unfortunately I'm strapped for time. I'll have to go back to it later.

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  11. What a great idea, critiquing on your website. And congrats to the winners.

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  12. you put a lot of time and money into this.
    Congrats to the winners, I'm going to make friends with the ouzo winner

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  13. Congrats to your winners, and excellent feedback over at Shannon's--I would not be concerned with being blunt, hopefully the writer is excited about the suggestions.

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  14. dang Jaydee got my prize! What IS ouzo?

    and OK okay... going over to anonymous critique... :D

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  15. Yay for the winners! That is so exciting!!! (though I still wish I won)

    I love the idea for the anonymous critique. It's very awesome. And such a great idea.

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  16. Yay! Congrats to all winners. And hey, you might know, what's the difference between Ouzo and Sambuca?

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  17. Ouzo isn't syrupy like Sambuca, it has the consistency of water, it's not as sweet, and it also has a lot more sting. I think its alcohol level is greater too. :o)

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  18. Yeay! What beautiful prizes!!! Congrats!

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  19. Love, love, LOVE your idea for critiquing anonymously. I'll so be there.

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  20. If only I was random enough to get a Greek rug and some Ouzo... but congratulations to the winners!

    I think the online critique is a fine idea. Whether or not your beta is good, a group critique can provide feedback your beta might never have considered. And while some might prefer to remain anonymous, perhaps you allow the writers to decide if they want to reveal their identity.

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  21. Yay to the winners!

    And yay to Shannon's anonymous critique. :)

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  22. Congratulations to the winners!

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  23. Congrats to the winners!! Would have loved that "something Greek" prize! :) And off to Shannon's blog now. Anonymous critiques? Awesome.

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  24. Congratulations to the winners!

    Thanks for the link!

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  25. Congrats to the winners! Great prizes!

    The anonymous critique thing sounds interesting. I wonder though, if there is a way to have the feedback ALSO be anonymous. I think people might be as hesitant about being the meany as they are about being mean to someone specific... I will have to give it a look.

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  26. Holy cow, I couldn't believe it when the Amazon gift card showed up in my email! This is so amazing, especially at Christmastime. Thank you SOOOOO much for this awesome prize. I truly appreciate it.

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  27. I like the anonymous critique thing. I would prefer to know where the criticism comes from to give me a better idea about the credibility of the critic, if you know what I mean. No one should worry about being the meanie--after all if we are writers who want to be on the market, we need to toughen our skin a bit and learn to take criticism the right way. I doubt whether anyone would be just writing reviews out of spite.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  28. I'm so bummed. I can't open Shannon's website on my computer. Can't figure that out!

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  29. Congrats to the winners. You ran a terrific contest with great prizes.

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  30. Congrats to the winners! It looks like I missed a good one.

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  31. Congrats to those who won :)
    The anonymous critique sounds kinda scary, though I very much like the idea :)

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  32. Fabulous prizes! Congrats to all the winners!

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  33. Congrats to the winners! And what a fabulous idea - an anonymous critique! Thanks for sharing.

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  34. Woo hoo!! What a great surprise - thanks so much Jessica and congrats to all the other winners :)

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  35. Just wanted to stop by once more and thank you Jessica, again, for the shout out. =)

    Also, thanks to everyone for their support for the idea and to those of you who've been able to provide a review. I know how busy everyone is - this community rocks. Thanks! <3

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  36. Amazing contest. Huge Congratulations to all the winners!!!

    (Can't believe you kept track of all that by hand. Good grief!)

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  37. Great contest, Jessica!Congratulations to the winners and to you for being such a generous blogger.

    I like the idea of the anonymous critique. I would consider posting my personal work and also offering my two cents as well.

    As far as the ID of the folks offering feedback: I think those who comment should stand behind their comments, keep in mind the Golden Rule yet be honest as well. Constructive criticism is meant to build up, build better. If a writer is not comfortable receiving criticism, or knowing when to "hear" it and when to let it roll off his/her back, then it may not be time to submit work for critique to a blog with 500 followers at various stages of their writing career. I vote for knowing the ID of those offering their opinion.

    It is difficult to put your work out there for everyone to comment on. But I think this process could be helpful and also encouraging. Perhaps those who have their work critiqued could be invited to repost their revised sections in a month or so for others to see the changes they implemented. Or, perhaps just provide a link to the revision on their blog.

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  38. Wahoo!!! Big congrats to the winners...:)

    Thanks for a great contest! So awesome that you reached over 500 followers. Yay!

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  39. Congrats to all the winners! Great contest, Jessica! :-)

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  40. Congrats to all the winners! And wow . . . look at all that hand-printed work. You are the bomb!

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  41. +JMJ+

    What a glorious list! =D

    I know my name is not the easiest in the world to spell, so I am extra touched that you took the time to get it right, even in your private notes. =)

    Congratulations to the winners!

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