The first thing I’m going to tell you is to never have a contest.
Have a giveaway, or a sweepstakes, or a drawing, but not a contest. The reasons are legal and boring, but take it from me, I’ve checked, and you just don’t want to use the word “contest.” Random drawings, in fact, are the easiest legally, so I’m sticking with drawings!

Biggest tip of the day:

When I put the call out for contributions for this 30 Days to a Book Launch series, specifically for this post, I received an email from someone. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever do what this person said he or she did. (I’m working hard here to not out him or her because what he or she did is really not good. In fact, I’m just going to say it. It’s bad. Very bad. On a lot of levels and for a lot of reasons.)
“Confession time – I am so bad with contests. I’ve held several on my blog, but haven’t gotten around to sending the winners their prizes. I’m hoping that I’ll get around to doing this.”
If you are “bad with contests,” that is, sending prizes to people who legitimately won them, don’t run a giveaway.
Moving on…

There are so many fabulous ways to generate excitement and a sense of fun around your book, and it doesn’t even take that much, especially with social media tools at your fingertips. All you have to do is a search for “creative twitter giveaways,” or “social media contests,” (I know I used the Bad Word. You can use that word for the search, just not in your info about it!) and you’ll hit the jackpot for examples. Try to come up with something that will not only promote your book but be fun for the participants, too.
Everyone likes to get something for nothing! Give great prizes! Here is what I’ll be doing for four consecutive weeks to celebrate the publication, or as we like to say, the hatching of Little Chicken’s Big Day. Every Tuesday, starting on publication day (April 19), we’ll start a new sweepstakes, and it will end a week later on Monday at midnight. The next day, Tuesday, we’ll announce the winner and the new sweepstakes. I will have big prizes, ranging in value from $35 to $150 and at the end, I’ll have a fifth drawing of all the entrants, so even if someone didn’t win one of the weeklies, he or she has a chance to win anyway!
Week 1: The Book Trailer Word of Mouth Drawing
The prize: This onesie and a signed copy of Little Chicken’s Big Day!
What you have to do:
Share this link!
If you share it on

• Facebook, just post it on your wall and tag Katie Davis Books
• Twitter, just tweet the link to the video with the hashtag #littlechickensbigday

OR

• Send (preferably funny) chicken pictures, drawn or photo’d, of people or fowl to
  
  ka********@ka********.com
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  .

Deadline:
11:59 p.m. EST, April 25

Share this link to be automatically entered into the drawing.
Tues, April 26^th, I’ll post a video at katiedavis.com of the winner
being drawn. We’ll also announce the next sweepstakes that day, so
you won’t have to be so sad if you didn’t win the first. All entrants
will automatically be entered to win a grand prize to be announced on May 20th!

————————————————————————————————–
Week 2: The Audience Participation Contest
The prize: A signed copy of the book and a baby quilt, handmade by Katie!
We’re now in week two of Little Chicken’s Big Day contests, and if you didn’t win week one, take a deep breath and cluck happily—we have another!
What you have to do:

• Take a (ONE minute at most) video of your kids (nieces and nephews and neighbors count!) saying, “I hear you cluckin’ Big Chicken!”
• Upload it to YouTube.
• Send us a link either on Katie Davis Books Facebook wall here or on Twitter with hashtag #littlechickensbigday.
• Be as creative as you want!

OR

• Send (preferably funny) chicken pictures, drawn or photo’d, of people or fowl to
  
  ka********@ka********.com
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  .

Deadline:
11:59 p.m. EST, May 2^nd
Tuesday, May 3 I’ll post a video at katiedavis.com of the winner
being drawn. We’ll also announce the next sweepstakes that day, so
you won’t have to be so sad if you didn’t win yet. All entrants
will automatically be entered to win a grand prize to be announced on May 20th!

————————————————————————————————–
Week 3: Little Chicken’s Big Test Contest
The prize: A signed copy of Little Chicken’s Big Day and a child-sized (medium) Who Hops! tee shirt

What you have to do:

• Watch this Little Chicken’s Big Day video.
• Answer these questions:
• In the video, one of the little chickens says that her mom makes her wear a certain piece of clothing but that she always takes it off. What is that piece of clothing? Another little chicken also asks, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” What is the answer?
• Answer these questions SECRETLY (Why? Because otherwise everyone would know the answers, silly!) Email the answers to
  
  ka********@ka********.com
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  .

OR

• Send (preferably funny) chicken pictures, drawn or photo’d, of people or fowl to
  
  ka********@ka********.com
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  .

Deadline:
11:59 p.m. EST, May 9^th
Tuesday May 10^th I’ll post a video at katiedavis.com of the winner
being drawn. We’ll also announce the next sweepstakes that day, so
you won’t have to be so sad if you didn’t win any yet. All entrants
will automatically be entered to win a grand prize to be announced on May 20th!
————————————————————————————————–
Week 4: Little Chicken’s Big Classroom Contest
The prize: A signed copy of the book and a one hour Skype visit with Katie!
What you have to do:

• Teachers, we want you to share this video with your kids.
• When it’s over ask the kids to act like the chickens. What do chicken’s look like? How do they stand? How do they move?
• Snap photos of the little chickens—oops, kids—and post them to Katie Davis Books Facebook wall or share them on Twitter with the hashtag #littlechickensbigday.
• If you post a video (ONE minute, no longer) you will be entered twice! Here is a permission slip, in case you need to send one home.
  

Deadline:
11:59 p.m. EST, May 16^th
Tuesday, May 17^th I’ll post a video at katiedavis.com of the winner
being drawn. All entrants will automatically be entered to win a grand prize to be announced on May 20th!

————————————————————————————————–
Ready, set, win!