Spooktacular Giveaway Hop!

The picture pretty much sums up the point of this post! I am happy to be participating in the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. This is my first time participating in this blog hop and let me tell ya this thing is HUGE! There are over 300 blogs participating each giving away a prize worth at least $10. I looked around at my options and finally decided to make my prize 1 kindle copy of Stephen King's new book entitled Sleep Doctor! Enter to win. a Rafflecopter giveaway
And when you are done entering my contest go here to enter a whole lot more!  *Note: I does not seem to be showing up on my Rafflecopter but the book will be an E Book that I will be purchasing and gifting to you from Amazon.

Good Publicity

newswireservice.org
  Press releases are something that I never considered when thinking of the bloggerverse in general. I always thought of them as fancy packets that big companies send out in order to get publicity for their business. If you don't know what a press release is check out this helpful wiki page. As it turns out press releases can be used to bring publicity to your blog as well! There are a few things you should know when considering a press release, call it press release etiquette, and you can find 5 really helpful tips here.  I found one of the most helpful tips to be that you shouldn't be discouraged if you send one out and it is not picked up by anyone in the media or reported on, there is always a chance that someone in the media will find your blog interesting enough to subscribe to and that could really open some doors for you. I am excited to research this new method of blog promotion and I recommend anyone with a blog to do the same!

Buyer Beware!

Recently I decided to check out a popular sale site named KarmaLoop. I watched the site for a few weeks and eventually saw a pair of shoes that I fell in love with. The price on the shoes where decent and they had them in my size, so I placed my order and waited excitedly for them to arrive. They arrived about a week later and I eagerly tore into the box only to find that the size 8 I ordered was way too big. I was extremely disappointed and began the process of returning the shoes. At this point I had spent $19.21 on the shoes and the shipping. KarmaLoop does not pay return shipping so I had to pay an additional $8.75 to ship them back. I waited for a while and eventually got an email saying that they would not be sending me a replacement pair and instead would be giving me a $10.46 store credit which is the cost of the shoes originally. I was frustrated that I lost out on so much money with shipping but figured I would just use my store credit and be done with the company. I went to the site and with such a small credit and not intending to spend anymore money with them chose to purchase a small ring. The ring was priced at about $4.00 and with the shipping my credit would cover the full cost. As I tried to check out however I was informed that I would not be able to use the regular shipping and would be forced to use a more expensive shipping that would ensure that the credit would not cover the full price and not only would I be spending more money but the shipping would cost more than the ring its self. I was pretty angry with the company at this point and decided to email them to express my feelings. This is the email I sent and the one I received in reply:

Tonight I attempted to use up my store credit and was met with more disappointment. I figured with only $10 there was not much I could buy and decided on "The Early Bird" ring in gold. I went through the process of checking out and added my credit which brought the total down to 0.00 which I found reasonable considering how much I have already spent. When I attempted to place my order however I received an error message saying that the shipping method I chose could not be used in this scenario. The only other shipping option is one that would have me paying more in shipping than the ring even costs.  I do not think that I should be required to pay even though my credit covers all costs, at this point I am beyond frustrated with this whole thing and will certainly not be recommending this site to anyone in the future. If there is no possible way for me to actually receive my refund or use my store credit I intend to contact paypal to see what can be done about getting some of my money back. My intentions are not to be rude, but, surely someone must understand how I could become so frustrated, with my first purchase I lost $16.75 in shipping fees, and now I'm being told that I cannot even use my store credit unless I intend to spend another $4.69. In the end I spend $21.44 and all I get in return is a lot of hassle and a $3 ring. I really hope we can find a suitable solution to this issue and I do appreciate that you are speedy in your reply emails. 

Thank You.
The Reply:

Hello Crystal,

Thank you for contacting us. The problem is that store credit can not cover the shipping fee for that item. I apologize for the inconvience. If you have any more questions please let me know.

Thank you.

As you can see I did not receive any help or understanding from the customer service people. At this point I have decided to forget about the credit and be done with the company all together. I have certainly learned my lesson and while I am not suggesting that every interaction with this company by every person would be the same I wanted to share my story in the hopes that others can be more aware of what could happen if your purchase does not turn out the way you would hope it would. In this case the discounted price was just not enough to make up for all of the hassle and in the end money that I lost.

A blogging how to

blogskinny.com

 In my last post about blogging I discussed reasons for starting blogs and what I like to see in blogs that I decide to read. This time I want to talk a little about how to go about starting a blog. I know when I first decided I wanted my own blog I felt overwhelmed, I took things one step at a time and was lucky enough to have a friend who already had a blog around to help me. The first thing you are going to want to decide is what platform you want your blog on, obviously I use blogger, and if you are considering using blogger as well this page will be immensely helpful in getting you started. That page discusses everything from creating posts to customizing your blog. Speaking of customizing you can find all sorts of free things online to really make your blog personal to you. I love leelou blogs and have used some of her freebies on my own site. Once you have picked your platform and your design you are ready to choose the main focus for your blog. It is fine to blog about more than one thing, however, I would suggest you make sure your blog has a general theme or focus so that your readers know what kind of material to expect. At the very least try to ensure there is some sort of order to your blog, make sure people can easily find posts and don't have to search a million different areas to find what they are looking for. At this point you are ready to blog! Go out and make your first post, and don't forget to spread the word about your new blog to friends and family and anyone else you can through social media!

Blogging..Are you doing it right?

blogskinny.com

 156 million...that is a lot of blogs! Imagine how many blogs have been added to that number since 2011. One might ask how on earth can I get my blog noticed among all the millions of other blogs? My advice to you is blog about what you love. When you blog about something you love you will blog often and people who subscribe to your blog will see that you have new content posted frequently. I personally prefer to read blogs that I know will have new posts often, if they don't I tend to forget about them. I would also say don't start a blog based solely on the idea that you can make money from it. Honestly it can take years, if it even happens, for your blog to catch the eye of a company or to become popular enough that people want to pay you to make posts. There has got to be something to drive you beyond the hopes of making money or it is likely you will quickly become frustrated and lose interest. Of course you don't have to take my advice there are plenty of suggestions posted online daily about how to keep your blog relevant. If you are looking for some reading material to start with I suggest checking out this page here and this page here. Remember blogging is something you should do because you love it and you love what you write about. A blog become your own personal space to share your opinions on the things you love. Good Luck!

Evolution

Evolution:
By: Kelly Carrero
Kindle: 146 pages
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc (2012) 
ASIN: B007YX9X18
Rating: 4 stars

What Amazon has to say: 

Seventeen year old Jade Sommers' life is turned upside down the moment she sees the inch long cut across her face heal right before her eyes.

Jade thinks she is going insane, but her boyfriend, Aiden Scott, knows better. He knows what she is. And like him, she was born this way.

Now if finding out that people like her shouldn't exist isn't bad enough, Jade's best friend is kidnapped by the psycho who terrorizes her dreams. With the help of Aiden, Jade has to figure out how to save her before it's to late.

But what Jade doesn't know is not everything is what it seems. She is merely a puppet in a sadistic game to find out what she is truly capable of, and that game has only just begun.

My review: I am having a few formatting issues at the moment so I apologize if this post is not pleasing to the eye format wise. Any who lets move right along to this book! I found this book for FREE.., that happens to be a favorite word of mine, however after reading it I can honestly say that had I paid for it I would have been happy with my purchase. I also found the second book in the series and purchased it shortly after finishing the first. The story centers around a girl named Jade who unexpectedly discovers that she is not what one would call normal. As if struggling to accept that she can do things like heal her own body and read minds is not enough she is pulled into one dangerous situation after another. This book has plenty of twists to keep the reader interested in the storyline. I found the characters of the Scott family to be charming and Jade holds her own as the main character. I found myself not only interested in the story but in the story's of the characters. I wanted to know their back stories and how they came to be where they are in the story currently. There are at least another two books in this series that I know of and I am excited to read each and every one.

About the Author: Unfortunately I was unable to find a bio with information on the author, however, I did find a link to her blog which contains some info on her books as well as a link to her facebook page.

Are you a visual learner?

referencevideo.net Visual learners are those who tend to comprehend and retain information better when it is accompanied by something they can see, like a photo, or a video. The majority of people you meet are probably visual learners as it is very common. I myself happen to be a visual learner, I remember things much better if I can associated them with related pictures. I once had a history teacher who did a wonderful job of making humorous picture filled power point presentations and while I have never been great at history I kept my grade at an A all semester long. This page discusses what it means to be a visual learner and gives tips for how to use this to your advantage. I tend to draw charts and use colored pens to make the important phrases or words in my notes stick out. In a page of gray pencil a red word sticks out and my eye is drawn straight to it and for me it sticks in my mind. This links to a pdf document that also discusses what it means to be a visual learner. Whatever kind of learner you may be it is important to learn how to make your study habits to work best for you. Take some time to try and to determine how you learn best and begin working it to your advantage.