As a total Book Nerd (and as Tom from Parks & Recreation so eloquently took back the word Nerd as part of the zeitgeist last night, swoon) I had to take part in the testing of BookPerk.com. Seriously, if you love books and you like swag this might be a place made in heaven just for you.
BookPerk.com is "Bookperk is a site for all of us book lovers. For the first time, readers get access to exclusive merchandise and experiences from their favorite authors and books." Which is kind of cool - there are autographed copies, movie posters, tote bags... that kind of thing. If you dig books this makes sense - if you aren't a reader this kind of swag would not entice you. I suppose they are counting on us die hard book fans. I can totally see a Twilight thing signed by anyone associated going really fast... people are really into their particular books and authors! It was worth checking out and I wanted to see if it was a it for me.
So, when I got the Green Light from #Cbias and #CouchCritics I headed over, signed in with my Facebook username (yes, I know that gives them access to your life, but it is easier then trying to remember a million passwords). That takes you to the Perk Page, or what they call Current Offers.
At first I was a little disappointed. There are only a few books with perks and none of the books looked like they would be something I would want to read. I am not a big RomCom kind of gal and I don't really want to read biographies from television stars. After narrowing down my purchase I chose Russell Brand's book Booky Wook, but I didn't purchase it. Instead, I waited until today.
Mistake.
The perk ended and I had to find some other book. Grrr.... not to them, but to me and my procrastination.
Back to the drawing board. Still not into the TV Personality Lit so I looked at a book I would actually never choose...Reamde by Neal Stephenson. First it is a novel. I like novels. Second I liked the cover, yes I am shallow. Third it came with a t-shirt I could give to my husband, yes I am practical.
But before I clicked the buy button I headed over to Amazon to read more about the book and the Author. Well, he is a big deal. A really big deal. This book was listed as the September Best Book of the Month. So, I purchased the futurist novel... who knows I might like it. It at least seems to be a bit more weighty then the Susan Lucci offering - sorry Susan. Maybe I should call myself #BookSnob not #BookNerd!
Anyway, I made my purchase.
Then got an email saying that there were enough people who bought it that the perk would happen. "Dear, Your Bookperk order #12345 is now being processed: enough people have purchased the offer, so the deal is on! You will receive an email when payment has gone through and your offer has shipped." I hadn't realized that there had to be a certain number of purchasers - weird. Everyone wants to be Groupon now... whatever, I am getting the book and that is a good thing.
When I get the book I'll review it... and you can see if you would want it... I'll pass it on to you! Can you say CONTEST! Why? Because, normally, I only buy nonfiction. Seriously. I figure that anything that is fiction I can borrow from the library and I don't need to own it. Sure, I have some classics, but they are classics (justified). Current fiction isn't usually worth keeping - for me. We live in a really small house and need to be careful not to get to overflowing... so YOU could be the lucky winner of this tome. After I read and review, of course!
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias. Sure, I may be paid, but anyone can tell you I am going to tell the truth.
