And the winner is...!

I know. I said I'd announce the winner to the giveaway for the last CM blog Carnival on Saturday, December 15th. And yes, I am aware that it is very LATE on Saturday, but I'd just like to point out that it is in fact, still Saturday, so at least I'm not too late!! ;) I wanted to give everyone enough time to get any last minute entries in... uh huh. That's exactly it. But you don't want explanations, you want to know who won! SO...

Out of 75 total entries...



I'm excited to announce...



the winner is...

Liz from Living Books Library who submitted the post, Our Favorite Christmas Story Ever!

I got to meet Liz (and her husband) and daughter Emily at ChildlightUSA this summer.
And they've sent me books! So, it's especially fun that I get to send them something in return!!
Fun, fun!

::

Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year!



::


What I've learned about having a giveaway...

• It's fun to give things away, but it makes you feel kind of sad that you can't give everyone something, especially at Christmastime.
• CM discouraged prizes and rewards, but I don't think she ever talked about blog giveaways, so I think I'm okay.
• It seems like someone who took the time to enter more than ten times would win (Catherine!). I drew a couple of names after I drew the winner just to see what the likelihood would be, and didn't draw one of the frequent commenters until the fourth and fifth draw! weird. Wanna know the names I drew after? Jessica, Lanaya, Karen in Kansas City, and finally, Catherine! 
• Only a very few people took advantage of the opportunity by actually seemingly trying to 'win'. I wonder if that is because it's not that interesting of a prize, or because it requires too much effort, or for some other reason. It makes me very curious about the psychology of a thing like this. 
• I'd like to do it again because it's fun, but...
• It's probably just as fun to surprise someone you already know randomly with a gift in the mail. :)