As a participant in give aways, what is your preferred method?

[Shera (Book Whispers)]

Lately I've been trying to look at other blogs and see some of the common methods for signing up for giveaways. Basically, I'm shopping around for the best method to host my own giveaways.

 

My initial idea was to host a giveaway with some form of a contest, which I haven't seen too many around the blog sphere.

 

One of the more popular ones is you feel out a form for all of the places you've spread the word of the giveaway, then tally up points. I felt that this process was really tedious, and not everyone has facebook and twitter accounts, so it seems a little unfair.

 

Second common, was just using random.org to pick the winner. It's nice, easy, and very simple. I liked this one a lot, but I felt it may not be really fun.

 

Personally I'm really fond of the contest idea, but I still want feedback as to what participants of the giveaways like the most.

 

[Enbrethiliel]

+JMJ+

I've become pretty efficient at meeting the follow/comment/sidebar requirements, but I draw the line at writing a separate blog post, tweeting, and doing anything on Facebook. (I hate Facebook.)

At first I didn't like cluttering up my sidebar, but then I learned to love three blogs that I only started reading regularly when I had them on my sidebar. (I don't pay that much attention to my reader, but I visit my sidebar links every other day.) So I consider the duration of the contest a "trial period" for the blog.

I like the fairness of spreadsheet contests that give every person only one entry, but I admit that having it so easy means that I feel less invested in the outcome--whether or not I win.

[Chotti]

On my old blog, I use to just make you leave a comment with your email address, and that was it. Then I'd use random.org to find the winner. It's nice getting your giveaway promoted, but with giveaway blogs like West of Mars, it's easier to get the word around.

[Lisa Richards]

In a word simple, one entry per person.

[Joy Tamsin David]

I like simple giveaways best and I like to know the blogger uses Random.org to pick the winner, not just chooses one of their bloggy friends.

[Brooke Hostetler]

I like when you just have to fill out a form like from google docs or something. Just your Name,blog address, and email and thats it. I hate all the extra stuff.

Or, just leaving a comment and using random.org

http://cupcakequeenbookreviews.blogspot.com/

[Amber Stults]

I prefer being able to leave a comment or fill out a form when I enter a giveaway.

When I run a giveaway I usually ask for a comment to be left. They have to give an email address when they comment so I don't ask for that in case someone is trolling my blog for email addresses. (Though I doubt my blog is visible enough for that. lol)

One way to make the simple version fun is to ask for an answer to a specific question such as "This author usually includes a recipe in every book. What recipe are your friends always asking for?"

[Kaye]

The simpler the better! Don't send me to another site and ask for info from that site. That drives me nuts. If I have to fill out a form with address other an e mail, I'll usually just pass. That's not necessary. The only thing negative about forms is that sometimes I enter contests and then forget which ones. If I go to one with a form requirement I may have forgotten if I entered or not. If it is in comments, I can just scroll the comments to see if I did indeed already enter.

[Booklover Book Reviews]

I don't think you can go past Google forms. If you're an entrant it's easy and your personal information isn't on full display in the comments section. If you are the giveaway host, Google docs does all the work for you in collating the information!

www.bookloverbookreviews.com

[Rebecca]

i love google docs! Its the only way to go!

[Terra]

With my current give away I decided to just ask entrants to be a follower and to leave a comment with their email address and I'll select a winner with random.org. I didn't want to make people have to jump through hoops just to have an equal chance at winning because I don't like jumping through hoops. I think that it is fair for give away hosts to make giveaways followers only and I don't mind tweeting a contest but I don't want to clutter up my sidebar with more icons than I have to and I only have so much time to write blog posts about my own content to even consider writing posts to advertise other peoples giveaways. That said, I would gladly put in the effort for a giveaway that requires a quirky or creative response to enter.

[parchmentgirl]

I usually give one free entry (just leave a comment) and then give extra entries for following, subscribing, following on Twitter, liking on Facebook, linking to me, tweeting about the giveaway, and posting about it on your blog. That way people who don't want to do anything extra can just leave a comment, and those die-hard giveaway-ers can gain a ton of extra entries and be rewarded for their extra effort.

Kate
http://parchmentgirl.com

[Enbrethiliel]

+JMJ+

LOL! I'm a die-hard giveaway-er! I don't mind promoting other people's contests. =) It makes the experience more fun or me because I feel more invested in the outcome.