A MONSTROUS SUMMER GIVEAWAY!!!

Firstly, I hope all those in the US had a great long weekend and did lots of long-weekenderly stuff, like eat a crazy amount of food that one would normally avoid in fear of putting on the pounds! Was it good? Still feel bloated?

Secondly, if you subscribe to my newsletter, you are going to receive the following in your inbox this Friday.

Not a subscriber? Want a chance to win something from this amazing list? It's not too late. You can sign up now!

Want to donate something to the giveaway? For every prize donated I will give 50 cents to BuildOn.org. Email me with the following info:

item(s) + link (Amazon if book) + format + personal website/blog

Hey Everyone!

It's SUMMER! And what do people like to get in summer? FREE STUFF!!! I'm going to make that happen for you.

As a token of appreciation to you all, I'm hosting a monstrous summer giveaway. There are lots of books up for grabs, a few services such as manuscript edits and book cover design, and even some music and really cool T-shirts!

So, this is how it's going to work:

• If you are a subscriber of this newsletter, your name will be put in the hat.
• If you become a subscriber upon hearing about this giveaway, your name will be put in the hat.
• Winners will be chosen randomly and announced in two weeks time via this newsletter.
• Prizes will be allocated randomly, but you may email me with your preferred category prior to Friday, June 14. (i.e. Services, Poetry, Young Adult, etc). 
• If you win (one prize per name drawn from the hat), and your prize is digital, you will receive it automatically via email. If you win something physical (i.e. paperback, CD, T-shirt), your donator's email address will be forwarded to you, so that you can contact the donator with your postal address. If you win a service, your donator's email address will be forwarded to you. It is your responsibility to follow up on your prize.

See below for the list of fabulous prizes up for grabs!

*All items are linked to a product page, and all names are linked to authors'/donators' websites. Just click on them to check them out!

Services

$40 Morgan Media Voucher (author services), by Rachel Morgan

10 chapter (up to 25,000 words) developmental edit, or a 20 chapter (up to 50,000 words) copy edit. A $1,000 value, by Amie McCracken

Free book cover design for paperback and/or eBook. by Virginia Haenni

Apostrophe Apathy and Comma Chaos (a writing workshop), by MM Pollard (PDF)

Poetry

Fabric (Goodreads Choice Awards 2012 Semi-finalist), by Jessica Bell (eBook, PDF)

Twisted Velvet Chains, by Jessica Bell (eBook, PDF)

Muddy-Fingered Midnights, by Laurel Garver (eBook)

i cannot bring myself to look at walls in case you have graffitied them with love poetry, by Dan Holloway (PDF)

Romance/Historical Romance

Ripper, My Love, by Glynis Smy (eBook)

The Role of a Lifetime, by Jennifer Shirk (eBook, PDF)

A Love Rekindled , by Myne Whitman (eBook) 

Young Adult

Rouge, by Leigh Talbert Moore (eBook)

Bestest. Ramadan. Ever., by Medeia Sharif (eBook)

Shifting Pride, by Laura Diamond (eBook)

Neverlove, by Angela Brown (eBook, PDF) 

The Breakaway, by Michelle D. Argyle  (eBook, PDF)

Transcend, by Christine Fonseca (eBook)

Lacrimosa, by Christine Fonseca (eBook)

EleMental: A First-person Shooter, by Steven O’Connor (eBook)

Escapement, by Ciara Knight

Battle for souls series: Rise from Darkness, Fall from Grace, Ascension of Evil, by Ciara Knight (eBooks)

Thriller

The Mistaken, by Nancy S. Thompson (eBook)

Oracle, by J.C. Martin (eBook, 2 copies avail)

Inceptio, by Alison Morton (eBook or paperback)

Literary/Contemporary Fiction

The Book, by Jessica Bell (eBook, PDF)

String Bridge, by Jessica Bell (eBook, digital soundtrack included, Melody Hill: On the Other Side)

Black Cow, by Magdalena Ball (eBook, PDF, 5 copies avail)

Never Gone, by Laurel Garver (eBook)

Up So Down, by Briane Pagel (eBook)

Just Exactly How Life Looks, by Briane Pagel (eBook)

Dancing Shadows, Tramping Hooves, by Dianne Ascroft (eBook or paperback)

Science Fiction/Dystopian

muted: a short story in verse, by Jessica Bell (eBook, PDF, or paper chapbook)

Debt Collector (Vol 1-3), by Susan Kaye Quinn (eBook)

Eclipse, by Briane Pagel (eBook)

Santa, Godzilla, and Jesus Walk Into A Bar, by Briane Pagel (eBook)

Lyon's Legacy, by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan (eBook)

CassaStar, by Alex J. Cavanaugh (eBook)

Becoming Human, by Eliza Green (eBook)

Fantasy

The Faerie Guardian, by Rachel Morgan (eBook)

Letters to Psyche, by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan (eBook)

Fireseed One, by Catherine Stine (eBook)

To Carry The Horn, by Karen Myers (eBook)

Ghost

The Glass Guardian, by Linda Gillard (eBook or paperback)

Despite the Angels, by Madeline A. Stringer (eBook)

Nonfiction (Writing/Publishing)

Sell Your Books!, by Debbie Young (eBook)

Nail Your Novel, by Roz Morris (paperback)

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Expression , by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi (PDF)

Nonfiction (Self-help)

Keeping Your Spirits Up, by Sarah Dale (paperback)

This We Know, by Tom Evans (eBook)

The Zone, by Tom Evans (eBook)

Horror/Speculative

River of Bones, by Jodi Cleghorn (eBook) 

The Scariest Things, You CAN'T Imagine, by Briane Pagel (eBook)

the After, by Briane Pagel (eBook)

Children’s

Zeb and the Great Ruckus, by Josh Donellan (eBook)

The Secret Lake, by Karen Inglis (eBook or paperback)

Eeek!: The Runaway Alien, by Karen Inglis (eBook or paperback)

Anthologies

The Best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal 2012, donated by co-editor Jessica Bell (paperback)

Spirited, donated by contributing author Dawn Ius (paperback or eBook)

The set of Literary Mix Tapes anthologies, donated by eMergent Publishing (4 x eBooks) 

Music Albums

Melody Hill: On the Other Side, by Jessica Bell (CD, 2 copies)

Bitter Delicious, by Lola Demo (MP3s)

T-Shirts

Ithacagreece.com T-shirts, donated by Erika Bach at Ithacagreece.com

NOTE: This is just a heads-up for my Friday newsletter announcement, if you want a chance to win one of these items, please sign up to the newsletter. It's also possible that additional items will be added to this list before I officially send it out.

Why you should NOT mark newsletters as SPAM. Think before you click. It has consequences.

Lots of authors and artists send out newsletters to fans to let them know about their latest news. Newsletters are usually sent out with a service such as MailChimp. Sometimes people sign up, and either forget that they've signed up, or the author/artist has signed them up on their own. I know that I've signed some people up to my mailing list myself because I converse with them frequently on social media and genuinely think they would be interested (I'm talking about FRIENDS here, not just anyone). And if they're not interested, all they need to do is unsubscribe from the newsletter, and Bob's your uncle, everyone is happy. No dramas.

But ... some people think that it's easier to just mark the newsletter as SPAM so they don't get it anymore. WHOAH! THIS IS NOT GOOD! Seriously, do NOT mark people's newsletters as spam. The consequences suck. Big time. Please legitimately UNSUBSCRIBE from the newsletter by clicking the link at the bottom which says, you guessed it, UNSUBSCRIBE. It's not rocket science.

So why should you not mark newspetters as SPAM?

Here's what it says on the MailChimp website.

"At first, you should take an abuse alert as a "heads up" that people are complaining about your campaigns. We've found that 100% double opt-in lists get about 2-5 abuse reports per 50,000 recipients. If you get more complaints than that, you should be concerned. It's highly recommenced to re-evaluate your email marketing process to prevent further complaints.

You should be very concerned if you see more than a small handful. Once abuse complaints exceed our threshold (1 complaint per thousand (1000) recipients) you will receive a warning notice. If the complaint rate is far beyond that threshold, a suspension notice will arrive in your inbox from our abuse team. They will ask about your list collection process and ask for other details about the health and life of your list. We'll need that information because by then ISPs and anti-spam organizations are threatening to blacklist us unless we explain why your list generated so many complaints. A full investigation will proceed once we have the requested information from you.

Even if you're a legitimate marketer who does everything "by the book" and only uses opt-in lists, you can still get reported for spamming. Basically, when a recipient gets your email and thinks it's spam, or just "junk mail," they can click the little "Report Spam" or "This is spam" button in their email application (even if they signed up for it!) Some people just think the button is an easy way to unsubscribe from your list. Some people are just too lazy to scroll down and click your opt-out link. That's why a couple of complaints are understood, but several gets into sticky territory."

So there you have it. Do not take that SPAM button lightly. Newsletters are not spam, they are not people trying to scam your bank details from you by claiming you've won a million bucks; they are not people saying they're abandoned in the middle of nowhere and could you please wire them some money to get them back home; they are not suspicious standalone URLS; they are not people trying to steal your identity. They are artists, trying to gain exposure.

PS: Those who run the newsletter can also see exactly who makes what actions. So if you mark a newsletter as spam, you are likely going to offend the sender because they will know exactly who you are. :-)

Next time you get a newsletter, think twice before you decide what to click, because that one click may just be the click that gets the sender banned from ever sending out a newsletter again.
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NOTE: I'm posting over at Laura Diamond's today for Mental Health Monday. Would love it if you could pop by!