One of my goals for 2011 is to grow the readership of this blog – it can feel quite lonely sitting here, prattling away and 
not knowing if anyone will read it!
I plan to do this in 2 ways:
- Include information that can be ‘used’ (e.g. markets, competitions and writing tips etc.) in as many posts as possible
- Hold a prize draw
The draw prize is the 3 best-selling books in the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. If you’ve already enjoyed these novels about Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, then they’d make a great gift for a book-loving friend.
To be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is use the box to the right of this page to sign-up for email updates. This means that each post on my blog will be sent directly to your inbox. You can un-subscribe at any time (although I hope you won’t!).
Simply enter your email address at the Email Subscription heading to the right of this post. You will receive a confirmation email asking you to confirm your subscription and then, hey presto!, you’re done.
Everybody on the subscription list on Friday 4th February will be entered into the draw – including those of you that already subscribe. I will contact the winner via email and when he/she has confirmed their name and address, I will announce the result here. I will also give a plug to the winner’s blog, book or anything else (writing related) they wish to publicise.
Please note the books can only be posted to UK addresses (excluding the Channel Islands).
N.B. If you prefer to manage your blogs via RSS Feed you can still enter the draw. Just add this blog to your feed, contact me via the form on my ‘About’ page and I will enter you into the draw.
Another couple of things I’ve thought of since originally posting this:
- If I can’t get hold of the winner within 14 days of the draw taking place then I reserve the right to re-draw (so let me know in advance via the contact form on my ‘About’ page if you’re going away).
- If your confirmation email isn’t coming through – check your spam folder in case it’s hiding there
Best of Luck!
Sally Jenkins 
#1 by Helen Yendall on January 3, 2011 - 5:19 pm
Sally – great idea, good luck with your competition! You might also want to think about putting in a ‘clause’ that states that, if you haven’t been able to contact the winner within X weeks/days of the closing date, you reserve the right to ‘re-draw’! I speak from experience, as I can’t get hold of the winner of the bundle of books that I gave away in a draw on 16th December! Anyone know Tim Pope…?!
#2 by Sally Jenkins on January 3, 2011 - 7:17 pm
Thanks for the tip, Helen – I’ll bear that in mind.
#3 by Mary Pearl on January 4, 2011 - 11:10 pm
Good on you, Sally. Writing is hard work, do what needs to be done and get that traffic moving along. I’ve come to believe that blogs are more than the electronic version of the desk drawer where we used to shelve our work. For instance, I’m in Australia and you are in the UK. Wow! I’m old enough to still find that sort of thing amazing.
ps, Sally, another way to find out how many people are coming through your site is to set up a Statcounter, it’s free.
#4 by Sally Jenkins on January 5, 2011 - 1:25 pm
Great to hear from you, Mary. I agree, it’s wonderful how we can now communicate and make new contacts right across the world. I do have a Statcounter and am hoping to increase the number of repeat visitors to my blog. Best wishes with your writing!
#5 by Mel H on January 31, 2011 - 1:48 pm
Well this is a bonus! I had signed up to read your blog anyway and then thought I’d better investigate when your email wished me luck in the draw. I haven’t read these books so am keeping my fingers crossed. Good luck with increasing your following, with the grand total of 4 followers so far, I shall have to do the same before long. Right now I’m off to find a stat counter as advised!
#6 by Sally Jenkins on January 31, 2011 - 8:23 pm
Mel – great to have you on board! Watching blog stats can become a bit obsessive and eat into writing time but it’s interesting to see what posts are attracting people. Best of luck building up your followers – the more posts you get up there, the more people will find you.