  Contests & Activities
This week: Edited by: Elisa: Snowman Stik  
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| As the holiday season rages on, many of us are starting to look in our wallets and find...nothing. Some of us are probably also looking at our portfolios and see little to no space remaining. After doing a little digging, I found a few ways to have fun around the site this holiday season without making yourself go bankrupt in one way or another. |
| ASIN: B085272J6B |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 9.99
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The holidays can drain people in more ways than one. Between parties, gift exchanges at work/school, donations to charity, gifts for your family and of course those pesky monthly bills, funds drain faster than you can "Ho ho ho!" This sort of dilemma can also occur on Writing.com. As Christmas draws closer and closer, you notice your gift point balance continuing to drop after numerous site activities: donations to charities and contests, purchasing Seasons Tickets, gifting merit badges to your friends, paying for signatures you won in an auction or even sponsoring an item. Though I try to keep a reasonable amount of gift points in my account whenever possible, I realize that for many members this isn't always possible. In that vein, I decided to search the site for ways to have fun for few or no gift points. I also decided to hunt for activities which could equal gift points for participants. After all, with the holiday season at its most insane point, we all need to unwind a little (and boost our funds, too).
MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
I'm not just talking about money here. Getting more bang for your buck means seeking out cheap or free activities. If you really want to get a sig or cNote for someone, shop around! I've seen some high quality cNote collections with prices under 500 gift points. I've even seen sig shops charge 100 GPs or less.  With these things, the key is knowing where and how to search for them. Not all signature/image shops are contained in forum items. Such shops can also exist in survey and In & Out form. If you happen to be an owner of a high-quality, low-price image shop, you can add keywords such as 'inexpensive' or 'affordable' to your item(s). This helps people who might type in such keywords to find inexpensive shops. By adding this keyword, you can lead them to your shop. 
Getting more bang for your buck isn't necessarily limited to items you can purchase. There are plenty of enriching free activities available. Check out word searches and crosswords that introduce you to new concepts and vocabulary. Jump in on a zany In & Out conversation (which move much faster than forum discussions). Let someone know your opinion by taking a poll or a survey. The cool thing about many interactive item types on the site is they can fulfill numerous objectives in one item. You never know what topic will inspire someone to create a word search, and you might get a laugh out of a fellow user's poll.
FILL 'ER UP!
Aside from saving on gifts and playing with mad libs, some activities can mean gift points for you! The gift point amounts might not seem like much, but any bit helps. Those double digit amounts begin to add up.
Many people earn gift points by reviewing, but there are other activities around the site that will help fill up your accounts. Need a break from reviewing? Take a survey! You can earn gift points by taking some surveys. If you see a message at the top saying that you can receive gift points for participating, jump on it! It's an easy way to earn 50 gift points. Gift points for participation are just the beginning. Check crossword puzzles and word searches to see if the owner doles out points for finding all the correct answers or solving the puzzle in a certain amount of time. Consider it a nice mental workout.
If you're running out of portfolio space, then look for contests which allow pre-existing items and/or allow you to post your entry in a post. This will not only help you hold onto your precious port space. You could possibly earn gift points if you win or place.  On top of that, there are other benefits to entering such contests. Aside from free advertising for your portfolio, it can motivate you to edit pieces you may have forgotten existed. Making such edits makes the piece more visible in searches (since it will appear earlier in most listings) and will help those individual items get readers and maybe a review or two.
With Christmas knocking on our doors, we're itching more than ever to have some fun for the holidays. Just remember that having fun doesn't have to cost a fortune. No matter your (virtual) budget, the site offers plenty of holiday activities and diversions for everyone. Whether you plan to celebrate offline with your family or hop online to enjoy the holiday season with your online family, I wish everyone a safe, fun and happy holiday season!
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| ASIN: B01DSJSURY |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 5.99
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Normally, I don't edit this newsletter, but I hate having an empty feedback section. So, I pounded the virtual pavement for comments. I asked people what they do around the site when they're broke yet want to do something.
From kelly1202: ~Enter lots of contests~ and do a lot of reviewing
From Waltz Invictus  : "If you're broke, one way to earn GPs while helping others is to look for and review auto-reward items - but please be sure to leave good, honest feedback! Scroll games can be fun and rewarding, too. "
Editor's note: In order to play scroll games, you must be able to have access to scrolling messages, which is available to members with upgraded or higher memberships.
From Ronis brain tumor is gone!  : I have to admit I go to Auto-rewards to review there...if there is anything new...
And considering the timing, I figured I'd answer a question by grandmapenny :
Do we have any Christmas contests for short stories (old or new)? I seem to be coming up against a brick wall everytime I try to find any.
Greetings! Seeing as how there has been a noticeable shift in emphasis on raffles this year, I agree that finding writing contests has become a little bit more difficult. However, I did find a few that might interest you.
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I hope you find these contests inspiring in one way or another. Maybe next year writing contests will make a comeback. |
| ASIN: 0997970618 |
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Amazon's Price: $ 14.99
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Contests & Activities: December 20, 2006 Issue [#1442]
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