Thanks to the fine people at Sony and the very savvy folks at Harlequin, I’m announcing a very cool and unique opportunity. For those of you who have expressed an interest in the Sony Reader 505 and the Sony Reader 700, but were wary of the pricetag, it’s Test Drive Time.
Sony has given me 30 refurbished models – twenty 505’s and ten 700’s – for the Smart Bitches Sony Reader Test Drive. I’ll select 30 Test Drivers, and those folks will have 60 days to use and experiment with their Sony Reader.
But wait, there’s more! We interrupt the awesomeness for a special message from Harlequin: Harlequin invites you to try out our eBooks along with the Sony Reader. To get you started, we’re giving a you an exclusive gift of $25 off Harlequin titles. We’d love for you to enjoy some of the series and authors that you already read and perhaps try out some new series or authors – on us. We’d love to hear your feedback on some of the eBooks you read!
Harlequin and Sony: bringing new meaning to the words, “Damn, you’re swell.”
Want more info? Keep Reading!
I get a Sony Reader?
If you are selected, yes, you’ll get a Sony Reader, either a 505 or a 700, to use for 60 days.
What’s the catch?
Catch? Like I want your kidneys or something? No, no catch. I want to spread the word about digital reading, and allow people the chance to experiment with the Sony Reader without having to spend what for many of us is a huge amount of money. The Test Drive is open to residents of the United States and Canada – sorry, folks. I fully expect hatemail from Europe, Australia and New Zealand. I still love you and think you are fab.
For those chosen for the Test Drive, I will ask for the following:
1. Two reviews of the Sony, in any web-friendly format. An essay? Epic poem? Limerick series? A video? Photo essay? Collage? Hideously obnoxious Flash animation? (Oh, yes, that!) Your choice, but I’d like two pieces of review, reaction and feedback.
2. One book review. Because Harlequin has been so generous as to hook Test Drivers up with the free books, I ask that you review one of them.
3. A credit card number on file with Smart Bitches Trashy Books LLC (that’s us) as deposit against loss or damage to the Reader.
4. Return postage at the end of the Test Drive.
Really, that’s it.
So how do I get in on this EPIC PILE OF DIGITAL AWESOME?
Easy: Send an email to testdrive@smartbitchestrashybooks.com with the following information:
Your Name:
Your Location: (city, state or province or territory)
In 250 words or less: Why do you want to Test Drive a Sony?
Email entries are due by midnight Eastern Time on 27 June 2009. I’ll be selecting 30 Test Drivers from the pool of applicants. You can flirt with or harrass me over Twitter (@SmartBitches) to pick your application, if you like – the hashtag is #sbtd – Smart Bitches Test Drive.
Those selected will be sent a PDF contract outlining all the terms of the Test Drive to be signed and sent back to me (digitally, please). The contract is all formal and contains words like “whereas” and “hereunto” and “monkeybutt’ (ok not so much that last one) and spells out the terms for the Test Drive for both the Driver and me.
The program begins 1 July (or as soon as the Test Drivers receive the Sony Reader) and the Test Drive will run for 60 days. Two months of summer in which to vrrrread, vrrrread, vrrrread.
For additional details, please feel free to ask questions in the comments. I’ll answer as quickly as I can. Happy Test Driving!
This is an amazing giveaway and like everyone else I would so love to win! Now, I’m hankering after a Sony reader…
Thank you
This is pure awesome. Cant enter because I am already in love with my 505. But seriously whoever test drives these babies will be charging up their credit cards to buy the 505/700 at the end of the 60 days.
RIP in Michael Jackson.
I’ve entered the test drive lotto – but I’d like to up the ante by offering to do one of my reviews in stop motion lego figures. I just have to talk my sibling (tothiro) into making me a buxom young minifig …..
Well, and figure out how to do that. But details, details.
oh I’d like to say a word for the kindle…she grew up cute and sassy in Seattle….she grew up cute and sassy with no sonys for a friend….but I sure am liking her still even soooo… (sing along to “Oklahoma song” ‘Territory folks should stick together’)
What’s with all the dissing of my Kindle2???
Sure I”d like to try out for the Sony reader, but I won’t. ‘Cause I”m a nice gal and since this contest is in the spirit of letting people know the goodness of ereading, I’m backing off and letting others have a chance since I’m already in ereader loveland with my kindle2. Okay, maybe she has some quirks, but so does Mr. Sony. Hmmh. I’ve also got the free Harlequins on my Kindle2!! So they are available for all ereaders 🙂
And SBSarah, please get the Amazon link up for all the books because I was trying to buy some book you were pimping earlier today and it kept taking me to the indiebook site and I can’t use that, dangit!
Now that I”ve offended possibly 2 segments of the readership, I say good day!
I have a Sony Reader, so I won’t be trying for this, but I just had to say: What an awesomely cool idea!! Wow… Good luck and much e-reading joy to all who participate :).
This makes me wish I had a credit card…Would a checking account number work?
I mean, I’m spending about an hour on the bus each day, so I’d definitely a read a book in the sixty days. Actually, considering I got through a hundred pages today in fifty minutes…I’d say I’d be good for a few.
I’ve been lusting after the Sony ereader for a while. I’ve dragged multiple family members past the display at the local Borders and watched their eyes glaze over. I’ve been dropping hints like mad. And then I got a nice new industrial size rice cooker for Christmas. I guess they at least got the whole electronics idea. And they tried to buy me books again for my birthday. Never pretty. I’ve been looking at the Sony and the Kindle. I’m keep books forever, so I’m a little leery of the Kindle based on feedback from friends who worship at the alter of Amazon (usually anyway).
Is the Sony pretty easy to read? As in, clear fonts, no vibration/flickering in the text, etc? And what about glare issues? I have a lot of problems focusing, and wonder if I’d be able to see the screen.
Thanks Sarah— for the info and for the opportunity for a test drive and lots of good books!
Diane :o)
Wow! Awesome promotion! I have been reading ebooks on by computer, blackberry and now my iPhone. I have been debating about putting out the money for a dedicated ebook reader. I would absolutely love the chance to try one out.
I’ll be entering. Thanks for the chance!
What a fantastic promotion!! It is too good to pass up! Thanks SB and Harlequin! Maybe I will finally be able to end my internal debate about ebooks vs. print and whether I can migrate my love of reading to the digital age. This dinosaur appreciates the opportunity to enter!
mmm…..I don’t about europe but here down south in Argentina we would like to test drive too, but what can I do I still love you guys …..buahhhhh……
I was thinking about getting a sony reader as a bday gift, so this would be a great chance to try one out. Count me in, please!
(Frantically waves hand in air)
YES!! please oh please oh please.
I’d love to try it out.
I’d be ever so careful with it and not eat or drink coffee in the same room with it or let any of my cats sleep on it—not even the really cute one—and I’d tell it a bedtime story EVERY night…oh wait. It’s supposed to be providing the stories.
Anyway, I’d take extra special good care of it.
And I have several credit cards. Your choice.
spamword: designed 32
The ereader is designed for a reader who EATS books
Already entered, but quick question: I’m switching to Ubuntu (Linux) in about two months, if I buy the reader will I have a problem with compatibility (such as Mac users seem to)?
From what I know, yes. But the solution is the same, Calibre.
I would love to test drive it before I buy it. I’m on the fence on what to buy so I would definitely appreciate this opportunity.
I’d love to get my hands on one. I want an e-reader so bad I can taste it, but none of my local stores carry them, and I’m too much of a technosaurus to make head or tails out of the info on the web sites.
I’m with Jody, I am frantically waving my hand. My cat might be allowed to lay on my lap as I read, but he will not be allowed to think of the reader as one of his toys. He has enough of his own.
And SB Sarah, don’t forget my offer of a bribe. What goes better with romances than chocolate? Well maybe also a glass (or three) of wine.
The only problem I see with the reader before I actually try it, is that I sometimes like to read and craft at the same time, and can only do that with audio books. Haven’t yet figured out how to read a book and cross-stitch at the same time. Not enough hands and eyes.
Was going to tweet a poem, then realized that the poem was too many characters. So, here it is:
Smart Bitches were giving away Sonys
Which are better for you than ponies
It is a great reader
Which is why it is a leader
So don’t be fooled by all the phonies
Now, does that help you pick me? Please, please
OK, I don’t think Tweet and I are agreeing at the moment. So can’t harass you there.
I am willing to up my bribe. Will also include a personalized cross stitch bookmark (or two since there are two of you). And, if you are nice (ie give me a reader), I will include a 3-D plastic canvas cardinal. Good for the Christmas tree, or you can be like Mom, and hang it in your car. Cardinal is the statebird of Virginia so appropriate. What else can I offer? (Sorry, little light on handsome boy toys to keep tied to your bed. I don’t want to give up mine at the moment.)
I submitted my entry to test drive the Sony only moments ago. Yeah, my middle name is procrastination, with less than 10 minutes to spare. I have no spamword, which I assume is in an acknowledgment of my entry, as yet.
Anyway, something that I have rarely, if ever, seen mentioned in reviews for any ebook reader is handicapped accessibility. I have severe arthritis in both hands, and have already had one thumb joint replaced, and the other thumb will need the same surgery, though I have been delaying it for as long as possible. I had to elevate the hand above my heart 24/7 for 5 weeks post-op, and was only allowed to move (but not *use*) those fingers for the same time frame. Full recovery was months. My PT looked in all her catalogs for any assistive devices for turning pages of books, but they were all cumbersome or extremely (like $300) expensive. Try holding any PB (forget trade size) with one hand and turning the pages with the same hand for longer than a few minutes – and I read quickly so it really was an impossibility. I HAD to be able to read during recovery or risk my sanity. I ended up with a Palm TX mostly for the extreme light weight, and have loved it. But now vision issues require that I at least consider something with a larger screen. I’d offer reviews/feedback in the form of letters to the Editor of Arthritis Today or to the Arthritis Foundation, as well as a more reader-oriented forum.
Chose me, and I’ll give an under-served reading sub-population an honest opinion of the Sony, and perhaps introduce them to ebooks and ereaders as a hand-saving option.
I think you should definitely keep Amy T on your short list. She would give a different perspective. And we want to make sure she keeps her sanity.
And now we all sit breathlessly and await the results….
Did you see where she had 190 applicants. Hoping my bribes worked.
Good luck all.
*twitching*
weeeeellllll???????
I don’t know if I’m still in time, but one can always hope lol!
*fingers crossed*
spamword: done37. Does that mean the SBs will be done picking a winner in 37 minutes?
ok… I’m waiting…. Please please pick me pick me…. I wanna try the 700 or the 505.
Methinks the mention of July 1 as a prospective start date may have been a trifle optimistic….
Yeah, Mr. Bunnell: you were right. 🙂 I’d hoped to have the packages ready to rock and the email sent on Sunday, but alas, due to a delay with the Sony refurb units shipping to me, I’m still waiting for some of them to arrive.
What does that mean for you? Well, it means that if you’re picked you get 60 days, and your coupon from Harlequin is still valid, and you get a Reader to Test Drive. Maybe not on 1 July but asap afterward. My postage machine is ready to RUMBLE, let me tell you.
Winner announcement coming soon. You want winners on 1 July? You can has. Stay tuned.
I love that Sarah has her own postage machine. My inner-office-supply-geek is mightily jealous 🙂
This is my postage setup: the scale and the printer ROCK. Endicia starter kit
It wasn’t cheap, but in terms of not having to go to the post office, it’s a wonderful thing.
I buy big boxes of assorted padded mailers from cheap office supply vendors online, and the USPS will send priority flat rate Tyveks and cardboard envelopes for free through the US mail. That way, when I do giveaways or contests, I have everything I need to stuff, weigh, label, and stamp the package.
The only trick is the weight limit with mailboxes. Sometimes I have to drop packages off at the PO.
Dang! Should have started bribing sooner! Holding breath waiting for results. Too late to add chocolate to the sparkly things? Perhaps an offer of representation from Syndey T. Cat? (http://www.yorkwriters.com/2009/06/announcing-really-bad-literary-agency.html)
Anything else? I’d offer mt firstborn, but he turned into an attorney, so I’m not sure that’s such a good deal….
(Verification: trouble 43—is that a portent, or a character evaluation?)
OHHH I hope I get picked and I hope I get picked for reviewing the 700!!!
I have a box of Dark Chocolate does it work as a bribe?
M
Am following the teases from twitter and realizing that my entry was totally not worthy… Note to self, do not rush entries for SBTB, remember clever people live here. I do hope you post some more bits here so I can console myself with the Dew-nose spewing hilarity.
Is it to late to try for the ebook player?