I had another blog on which I held an essay contest and the prize was a surprise object of undisclosed value. I pretended that it was a great success, but in reality, I only got one entry.

The contestant was a nice young Texan and I mailed her a piece of hand made lace. I have to say I probably would have gotten a lot more entries if the prize was cash, even just a small amount. I might actually consider doing that sometime, but I will have to check out laws and such first.