Contest | Cathy C. Hall Writes

I’m a winner!

Last month, in an effort to increase her followers, my writer friend, Gail, sponsored a giveaway contest. Her goal was to make it to 50 followers, which she did, and then some! And because she was giddy with success, she gave away a few more prizes than she’d planned. So guess who won a book and chocolate?

I won the award-winning book, Savvy, by Ingrid Law. I’ve already read Savvy, but I’ll be feasting on this wonderful juvenile read again. Because reading good books makes good writers. And giving away good books (and don’t forget the chocolate!) makes gaining followers a snap (and Gail a savvy blogger!).

Hmmm. I’m not sure whether I’m tooting my horn for me, Gail and her successful giveaway, or Ingrid Law’s book, Savvy. I guess I sort of threw in a toot for us all. And while I’m at it, I’ll throw in a toot for my dad, the Birthday Boy.

He’s 87 years old today. Wow. That can’t be right…’cause if he’s 87, then I must be, um, getting back to work. Those contest giveaways aren’t going to win themselves.

The other day (which is Southern for “could be last week or a year ago”), a writer friend left a comment, asking if I’d share some of my favorite spots to find contests.

Which got me thinking. How to find those contests quickly? Because even though I keep the Mondo Master Submission Tracker Notebook, which includes tons of contests, I’m much too lazy to write all that down for all my writer-ly friends (lovely as you are).

But what I can do, here on the blog, is direct you to that lovely tag o’ mine, “Contest” (Or Contests, as the case may be). Click on that tag and you’ll find posts about all kinds of contests. Granted, some may be book giveaways, and some may be one-time only contests. (Read fast and skip those.) But many will be annual contests. And I’ve usually thrown in links. So, tags are good. Tags are your firiends.

Which leads me to the Tuesday Tip. When it comes to tags, make ’em work with the title of your posts.Then everything ties together. For example, if you’re writing about a contest, say the Highlights Fiction Contest, use that as a tag as well as the post title. The tag makes it easier for your readers to find information quickly. And the simple post title will come up in search engines, driving traffic to your blog. Assuming you want blog traffic.

Which brings me to the last point of the post. My friend, Gail, is having a contest, trying to grow her blog readership. And it seems to be working. Because when you use that Contest tag and post title, readers follow.