4 Year Blogiversary, 100th Virtual Poetry Circle & Giveaway
It has been four years since I started blogging here at Savvy Verse & Wit, and over that time, there have been many changes from different headers and backgrounds to a move from Blogger to Wordpress self-hosting. I've struggled a lot with what to cover from day-to-day, mainly keeping Sundays as my day off from the blog, and at times, blogging was more sporadic than consistent.
I thank all of my readers for sticking with me. I also want to thank you for listening to me brag about poetry books and poets, for joining with me in the celebration of poetry each April, and for discussing poems with me in the Virtual Poetry Circle. Speaking of, I can't believe I've had 100 meetings of the circle and they continue to receive comments. Thanks again for that!
This year, I'm hosting my first poetry challenge, The Fearless Poetry Reading Challenge, to encourage people who don't read poetry to at least give it a try this year. I hope that you've all thought about joining or have joined and tried a book of poetry.
Poetry is the one element of the blog that has been consistent. I love it. I write it. I read it. I recommend it. Do I want you to love it? Yes. Will I not like you if you don't? No. Will I like you better if you give it a try? Probably.
I'm also the director of the Indie Lit Awards Voting Panel for Poetry this year. We're soliciting readers for this year's awards, so please head over and sign up, unless you're on the voting panel. Voting members already have their contact information on the site for publishers to use. Beginning in September and running through the end of December 2011, we'll be soliciting nominations for the best 2011 published poetry book, so please check back here or the Indie Lit Awards site for information. In the meantime, I'm hosting a list of 2011 published poetry books for consideration by readers and voting members, please keep adding to the list.
Ok, enough of my babbling . . . what I really want to say is that I appreciate you, whether you are lurking or commenting. So I've got a giveaway for all of my readers in the U.S., Canada, and abroad.
To enter and win 1 $35 gift certificate to either Amazon.com or Better World Books:
1. Leave a comment about what changes you've seen on the blog and enjoyed or what you miss from the old blog.
2. Gain a second entry for reviewing the past 100 Virtual Poetry Circles and letting me know which poem you liked best from those posted.
3. For 3 more entries, buy one of my recommendations in poetry and email me a receipt of that purchase to savvyverseandwit AT gmail
4. For an additional entry, please spread the word about the giveaway via Twitter, Facebook, or your own blog.
Deadline to enter is July 12, 2011, at 11:59 PM EST.