More blogs in the theme and does anyone want free books?

Cold Cleveland Author James Renner, who is putting Cleveland on the map of criminal history with two books in the theme, has begun a blog called The Coldest Cases. The site reflects his interest in unsolved cases from The Cleve. http://jamesrenner.wordpress.com/

The Innocence Blog A few years ago, stories of the wrongfully convicted did not hold much appeal for me. Like most conservative-leaning, cynical civil defense lawyers, I didn't think -- or want to think -- that travesties of justice were all that common in our criminal courts. Then I watched Father Robinson's murder trial on TV. Now I'm hooked on the blog run by the Innocence Project. Rather than being downers, I consider these to be inspirational stories of triumph. This isn't a new blog, but it's, well, a new interest for me. http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/1925.php

For Librarians, The Early Word A blog aimed at librarians promises to predict which books are going to be in the highest demand at our beloved book-sharing institutions. Recently I wrote to them suggesting a true crime category, since it currently doesn't have one. As I have it, the average true crime section in the average public library is large and circulates heavily. They were kind enough to reply, saying they'd consider the suggestion. Even without it, the site is interesting to bibliophiles and library patrons. http://www.earlyword.com/

Free books? I am flattered with offers of free books for review and giveaways. I don't accept all that many for review because of time constraints, and I've never given any books away on CLEWS. Some other literary sites do competitions and book giveaways.

Just this week I've had two offers for books to give away to CLEWS visitors. If this is something anyone is interested in, I could accept books to give away, either new ones or ones I've read for review purposes.

Normally I keep them, but lately I've just run out of room so I donated a few to my very grateful local library. But they couldn't take them all - they're even tighter on shelf space than I am and already had some of the titles I offered.

If anyone reading this has any ideas on how to manage a competition or how to determine which readers should get them, I am all ears. (Please feel free to email me or leave a comment.) 

Comments

[Jeff Smith]

I have a new blog on late nineteenth century American crime boss, "Soapy" Smith of Colorado and Alaska fame. It is called Soapy Smith's Soap Box.

[Connie]

I am a regular reader of your blog. I would love opportunities to win free books.

[Nancy]

I would like to win free books, also! One author that often has online contests for free books is Lynn Viehl. If you'd like to see how she does it, her website is http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com