Strange Happenings on Goodreads

In an effort to improve my online presence for my books, I participated in a Goodreads Giveaway.

Here's how it works...

If you have a newly published or soon-to-be published book, you can give away a number of books (your choice on the number) to randomly selected Goodreads members.  I chose to giveaway ten signed copies of my latest book, Workshop Til You Drop.  I allowed readers from Canada to participate, which wound up costing much more than I expected and was also a challenge to get through the customs paperwork.  The latter was mostly because of a grumpy postal worker, but that's another post...

Once the books arrived, I was pleasantly surprised that I received some very positive reviews from people that I wasn't related to!  Awesome!  Unfortunately, only 3 of the ten chose to leave a review, but I'll take what I can get and thank you very much!

Fast forward to last night.  I'm trying to drum up support for my entry in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) Contest and I notice that there's a brand new, signed copy of my book for sale on Amazon for half price.  I contacted the buyer with righteous indignation oozing from every pore.

Me: "How dare you, you cad!  I never authorized this!  Are you cheating my trusting, adoring public?"
Or something like that.  Whereupon I received a much calmer and somewhat contrite reply from an Extremely Nice Seller (ENS).
ENS: "Sorry if this upsets you, but I buy boxes of books from Goodreads and it just happened to be in there.  Have you heard of the site?"

Huh.

In a weird way, I felt betrayed, disappointed and cheated.  I can just picture the 'super' members on Goodreads (if you have a certain number of reviewed/shared books on your bookshelf, you're given preference in the Giveaways) signing up for all the Giveaways willy-nilly.  Once they receive a certain number of free books, they box them up and sell them to whomever wants them.

As long as they read the book and review it, I don't really care what they do with them after that.  But I have a feeling they don't take the time to do their due diligence.  And, as far as I can tell, there's no attempt and, really, no way to get them to actually read the books.  That's what disappoints me the most.

I have two takeaways from this.

1. I probably won't ever do another Goodreads Giveaway.
2. The ENS wrote me a lovely review on my ABNA entry.

Not the Best at Social Networking - Maybe Even One of the Worst

Workshop 'Til You Drop (Excerpt) - ABNA Entry

Was extremely excited when I made it to Quarter-Finalist status in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) Contest with my novel, Workshop 'Til You Drop and thought it would be available for review if I made it to the Semi-Finalist level.  This level is comprised of the top 25 entries out of the original 10,000.

WRONG!

Not only is it available now, reviews and feedback from Amazon customers will be used to determine - in part - who moves on.

ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!

I'm reduced to begging, pleading and groveling for reviews.  

Hey, I'm not that proud...  Here I go!

On June 13, the top 25 entries - the Semi-Finalists - will be announced. In the meantime, you can download my entry (excerpt from Workshop 'Til You Drop - first twelve pages) and read it for free.The finalists will be based on readers' inputs so it would really, really, really help me if you could download it and write a review. Doesn't have to be long or extravagant or anything that takes a lot of time, but the more the merrier! Here's the link - and please pass it on to readers you think might enjoy it...

Workshop 'Til You Drop (Excerpt) - ABNA Entry 

American Breakfast in Lipari, Sicily

Just returned from an amazing vacation in Sicily.  My husband and I traveled to Marina Di Portorosa, Sicily, to charter a sailboat in order to sail to the Eolian Islands.  Bad weather kept us close to port the first two days, but we were able to set out for Lipari on the first good day.  We tried all things Sicilian and loved most of what we encountered, but one morning we decided to see what the Sicilians considered an American breakfast.






The results were fantastic.  So good that we tried it on two separate days.  Both gave us scrambled eggs mixed with ham and cheese, bread and pastries.  Absolutely delicious!


A surprise was how orange the eggs were, however.  Curious, I looked up what gives egg yolks their color.  Found out that a deep orange color indicates a happy, healthy hen being fed a well-balanced diet.  When allowed to graze and eat a omnivore's diet, the eggs provide vitamins A, D and E, omega-3 fatty acids and xanthophylls (carotenids - beta-carotene).

How to Get Those Delightful Orange Yolks in Backyard Hens

Can't wait to return to Europe.