Last week I held a giveaway for this really pretty golden rutilated quartz pendant set in sterling silver (made it myself so you know it’s good) and advertised it all over social media. To get a chance to win it, all you had to do was subscribe to my newsletter or join my reader group on Facebook. Current NL subscribers and RG members were automatically entered to win.

I got a new subscriber and a new group member, which made me happy, and ran the giveaway last Friday. For any giveaway I compile a list of people who are entered, then use a random number generator to select the winner. And lo, Number 25 was my winner. Sent her an email on Friday aying that she’d won and to let me know where to send the pendant.

Never heard back from her. Yesterday I sent out a newsletter telling everyone about the giveaway and asking her again to get in contact with me. As of today I have heard nothing. So I’m going to roll the random numbers again and pick a new winner.

But this illustrates an inherent problem with building newsletters by using NL swaps, free stories, or giveaways. You wind up with a lot of people who signed up for the freebie and have no real interest in your books or your work. I’d rather have a small but absolutely devoted group of subscribers who are actively reading my books (and newsletter) and looking forward to my next release than a large group of subscribers who immediately delete my newsletter when it lands in their inbox. Big numbers are only accurate when they reflect people who are genuinely interested in your books—otherwise it’s just padding.

Anyway, let’s hope that the new winner gets in contact with me!