Watashiwa said:
As to the second, that is a highly devoted, relatively tight-knit community of individuals most (MOST) of whom are in the United States.
Uh... Not really. The prizes I've sent via BL members has been pretty even between North America versus some other international waters. Maybe a 1/3rd ratio at the least, which is still far from most. Which says that even if the general membership on BL really is mostly made up of US citizens, it doesn't mean the writers within it are.
Honestly though, I have to wonder what you would be planning on sending people if you're balking on the price of shipping overseas. I've easily spent 1000-2000 dollars on the contests I've hosted, but the majority of that was from the prizes themselves. (Not to say that shipping was cheap, because it wasn't, but it was never more than $100 for any contest, even with over 12 winners [including many based outside of the US].)
Now, granted, that's because figurines are always insanely priced (any real nice one is usually going to be in the $80+ range), but that was more for general appeal since I felt that they were something pretty much any fan of the series wouldn't mind owning. Regardless, any decent prize is still going to cost around $60 unless you're planning on skimping, which is less than a fourth of what it last cost me to send an item internationally.
Ignoring all that, there are some things you could send electronically as a prize. Steam (or GOG/Origin/whatever) games, or perhaps an art commission (which would not likely be cheap, but still) for example.