How I Got 80 Free Books & a Contest!

Woo Hoo!  It’s time for my first contest on this blog.  I’ll be giving away the book Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran.

But first, the answer to your question…

Why did I get so many books?

Several times at the RWA National Conference, I heard this advice:  The best way to determine if your work is ready to be published is to read debut authors.  In the vast majority of cases, these authors didn’t get a contract because of who they are, but simply because of the quality of their writing.  To be published, your work needs to be at least as good as theirs.

So I decided to pick up as many free books at the conference as I could without actually having to work very hard at it.

80 Books?  Really?

Yep, here’s the proof:

The stack on the left was from my registration bag and from the included banquet luncheons.

For the other three stacks, I merely had to be at the right place at the right time.  Other than three books from the aptly named Goody Room, the books came from the book-signings the various publishers sponsor to help publicize their authors.  I made it to 8 of the 10 different book-signings spread over two days and spent about a total of 45-60 minutes “gathering” the books.

All the books at these book-signings are free.  You just walk up to the author and ask for one and they’ll sign it and give it to you.  It’s like Christmas.

How did I get so many books?

No, I didn’t cheat and just take books off the tables without waiting in line.  That would be rude and not cool.  But I do have some tips for getting this many books—legitimately.

• Go to the first round of book-signings.  Especially with so many First-Timers at this year’s conference, a lot of people didn’t know what these book-signings entailed—until they saw people walking around with box-loads of books.
• Don’t stand in line for a specific author.  Again, my goal wasn’t to go for Nora Roberts or Kresley Cole, but to go for the debut authors.  I purposely went to the tables with no lines.
• Have a hotel room in the same building as the conference.  I lucked out here, but this meant I could run up to my room after a book-signing and drop off my bag full of books and be ready for the next round.

Now for the contest.  If you attended the RWA conference, this contest probably won’t interest you very much, as this was one of the free books in our registration bags (somehow I ended up with two copies, hence the contest).  But for those who missed out on the conference…  Well, this is for you—and anyone else who just wants a free book.

To enter, leave a comment by midnight, August 16th.  In the comment, tell me how many entries you have.

• Simply leaving a comment = 1 entry.
• Tweeting a link to this contest = 2 additional entries (mention @jamigold in your tweet or include a link in your comment so I’ll see it)
• Linking to this contest on another blog or website = 2 additional entries (include a link in your comment so I can see it)

Since this is a new blog, I don’t get much traffic yet, so you have an excellent chance of winning.  The winner will be drawn at random from all the entries.  Good Luck!