I've just updated the Freebies page on our website and added a lot of new give-aways from mystery authors. Mary did all the work. She gathered most of the information for an article that recently appeared in Gayle Trent's Writing Up A Storm newsletter.

These days authors are admonished to do publicity (I try but my heart's not in it) and giving stuff away is a time honored device, as anyone who has ever gone to the county fair and come home with a bagful of rulers, magnets, calendars and the like knows.

It's interesting to see what authors choose to offer. Not surprisingly, bookmarks, bookplates and postcards are popular items, as are writing advice, stories, and pens and pencils. There are also recipes. Quite a few offerings are signed.

If you want to go in for a contest or drawing you might win such prizes as t-shirts, wall clocks, books, magazines, refrigerator magnets, gift baskets, or even cash.

Quite a few offerings are signed by the authors.

Here's one of the more intriguing give-aways:

Larry Karp not only has bookmarks but will also send a copy (email or snail-mail, signed if requested) of an important scene cut from his standalone, First, Do No Harm, along with a short explanation of why it became The Little Scene That Isn't There. http://www.larrykarp.com.