July 2, 2009 | Contests

Sorry for being tardy in getting the winners’ post up today, folks. It’s too hard for me to deal with the random number generator and multiple emails while I’m sitting in the truck. We’ve landed at our next stop, though, and I have your winners.

So! There were quite a few of you hoping for a trio of Elin Hilderbrand novels, and five of you are about to be very happy. The winners are: Amy (commenter 235), Tiffany C (commenter 71), Alisa (commenter 146), Candy (commenter 159), and Heather (commenter 198). Congratulations, ladies! Please check your email!

Big thanks to all who played, and special thanks to our friends at Hachette Book Group for hooking us up with all of these great prizes. Reading is fundamental, but free books are awesome.

I’ll be back with the winner of the first round of the GoodNites contest, too, probably tomorrow or the next day. And there’s always another contest coming up!

July 1, 2009 | Contests

Whoops! Sorry I forgot to reminder you earlier—you have just a few more hours to enter the contest to win a trio of Elin Hilderbrand novels to take to the beach! (No, you don’t have to take them to the beach if you win.) There’s going to be five winners for this one, so your odds of bagging a prize are better than usual.

If you haven’t entered yet, get moving! And make sure to enter on the contest post, not this one. People who enter on reminder posts have been known to develop persistent cough, hair loss, and relentless mocking. Stay safe out there.

June 29, 2009 | Contests

I am at this very moment headed towards the campground where we’ll spend most of this week. We are loaded up with camping supplies, food, and—of course—books. I don’t know why books are better when read outside, but I’m pretty sure it’s a proven scientific fact that they are. I have a giant bin of excellent camping books with me, but maybe you are headed to the beach and need some beach-appropriate reading. I have it on good authority that today’s contest offers up a trio of books that are “as dishy as books can get!”

Sound good? Five lucky Want Not readers are going to win three fabulous books by Elin Hilderbrand: A Summer Affair, Barefoot, and her brand-spanking-newest release, The Castaways. It’s everything you need for a perfect beach getaway! Except the beach. And the food. And the rest of your stuff. Okay, fine, you probably still need reservations and a suitcase and stuff, but these books will make your trip even better.

For a chance to win one of the five Elin Hilderbrand bundles, first go read the contest rules and regulations, then come back here and leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. Eastern (8:59 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 to be entered into a random drawing. Winners to be determined via random number generation and overall dishy-ness.

Ready? Go!

June 23, 2009 | Contests

Oh, whoops—I sort of left you all hanging on that weekend contest, huh? Sorry about that. Having kind of a busy week, here, which is also why we’re not having a contest this week. (But there will be one next week, of course. Unless I forget. Or see something shiny.)

Anyway, this weekend a bunch of you threw your hats in the ring for some Success Rice coupons, and the random number generator has finally spoken. The winner is commenter 53, Catherine. Congratulations, Catherine! Please check your email!

Thanks to all who played, and big thanks to Success Rice and their helpers at Barkley for getting us the coupons.

Didn’t win this time? Don’t worry! There’s always another contest coming along, and more fun things to win. Stay tuned!

June 22, 2009 | Contests

Y’all do realize that the contest for a GoodNites swag tote is running all the way through the end of the month, right? And that you can enter once per day? There should be thousands of entries on that post! Upping your odds of winning couldn’t be easier!

Remember, too, that I’m trying to garner entries because the blogger with the most entries at the end of the contest period (that’s a few months away; remember I’ll be giving away three swag totes over the summer, here) wins $1,000 worth of books. I want to be able to donate those books to my local library’s outreach for disadvantaged kids. If you can’t be bothered to enter daily for the swag tote, maybe do it for the children, man.

Why, no, I’m not above guilting you into entering. Why do you ask?

June 20, 2009 | Contests

I am lazily combining the announcement of the winner of the previous contest with this next contest. I trust that you’re smart enough to detangle the two things, and that it’s okay that I’m not doing it as two separate posts.

Okay! First of all, thanks for your patience while I crossed the country and meanly did not announce the winner of the Build-a-Bear contest in a timely manner. Sorry about that. But after over 400 entries (man, you folks love you some BAB!) the winner is… commenter 214, Aleah. Congrats, Aleah! Please check your email! (And big thanks to all who played, plus to Build-a-Bear and their PR team at Barkley for the fun prize pack, too!)

Today’s contest is slightly less exciting, particularly if you’re a kid, but perhaps exciting enough for your average busy mom. Remember boil-in-bag rice? The stuff that only came in white, and tasted sort of… blah? Success Rice now offers boil-in-bag rice in all kinds of flavors—white, yes, but also brown rice or even jasmine rice. Good stuff! I have four coupons here for free boxes of any variety Success Rice. One lucky Want Not reader is going to win all four coupons, and each box contains four pouches, so very soon someone is going to have sixteen pouches of free rice to enjoy. Woo!

Want to win ‘em? Sure you do! First go read the contest rules and regulations, then come back here and leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. Eastern (8:59 p.m. Pacific) on Sunday, June 21st, 2009 for a chance to win. Winner to be determined by random number generation and what sort of interesting things you can do in those 10 minutes while your rice is cooking.

Ready? Go!

June 17, 2009 | Contests

Don’t forget—you have until just before midnight tonight to enter the contest to win a Build-a-Bear prize pack! Haven’t entered yet? What are you waiting for?

And please, for the love of all that’s holy, enter on the contest post. This post is just a reminder, and potentially a place for the clueless to be mocked. Don’t become an unfortunate statistic, people.

June 15, 2009 | Contests

When I was approached to help spread the word about GoodNites’ new Special Bedtime Moments campaign, I said yes almost immediately. For one thing, bedtime is a sacred time in our house, and not just because it means the short people are headed to sleep. It’s when a lot of the deep conversations happen, it’s how I fostered a love of reading in my children (gotta love that nighttime snuggling up with a book), and it’s a great time to wind down from the day together. For another thing, one of my kids was a bed-wetter for years, and so GoodNites holds a special place in my heart. (By “holds a special place in my heart” I mean “kept me from changing sheets in the middle of the night,” naturally.)

So here’s the deal: There’s prizes in it for you! First, you can share your own Special Bedtime Moment with GoodNites for a chance to win one of two grand prize $2,500 bedroom makeovers, and they’ll be running the contest from now through August 7th, 2009. You can enter once per day, and each entry is another chance to win. Second, I’ll also be giving away three great GoodNites swag totes worth $250 each here on Want Not. The tote includes a $100 gift certificate to PajamaGram.com, a $50 gift certificate to Borders, a fuzzy blanket, a special bedtime journal, and of course the tote itself. Interested? Read on for the details! (more…)

Contests

What’s more fun than one contest? Two contests! Or three! Or… you get the idea. I’m going to tell you about today’s standard contest—it starts today, and will end on Wednesday—but there will actually be another contest later today, a different sort of contest, so you’ll want to come back for that one as well. Yay for extra contests!

Okay, back to this contest. The fine folks at Build-a-Bear have put together a little package for the 4th of July—the winner will receive the brand new Patriotic Pup, an exclusive Endless Summer of Hugs beach towel, and a $25 Bear Buck$® gift card to spend outfitting your new friend. (And yes, it does all come in one of those cute Build-a-Bear boxes with the air holes in it. So adorable!) Sound good? Of course it does!

All you need to do for a shot at winning is leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. Eastern (8:59 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 for an entry into the contest. Winner to be determined by random number generation and overall cuteness.

Hurry up and enter, and then check back for the next contest!

June 13, 2009 | Contests

Y’all were so interested in that last contest, for Joshilyn’s latest book, that her publicist was generous enough to suggest I offer up some other books from her house. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do! This weekend I have up for grabs five copies of Tess Callahan’s debut novel, April & Oliver, fresh off the presses and already garnering rave reviews. If you want to learn more about it, Joshilyn just did an awesome 3 Questions with the author, although her contest over there to win a book is already over. That’s okay! I’ve got five copies up for grabs here!

Want to win one? Of course you do! First go read the contest rules and regulations, then come back here and leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. Eastern (that’s 8:59 p.m. Pacific) on Sunday, June 14th, 2009 for an entry into the contest. Winners to be determined by random number generation and overall dark-and-twisty-ness (that’s a nod both to Gray’s Anatomy and this book).

Ready? Go!