Goodreads Giveaways

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve read a lot about writers’ disappointment with the pricing for the revised Goodreads Giveaway  feature (the changes started in January this year).

The feature had previously been free for writers, who could give away printed copies only of their books through the platform.

Goodreads opened up the giveaways to digital copies.  But now giveaways cost $119 for either digital or print copies.

For me, the cost wasn’t as much of an impediment to participating in a giveaway.  I’ll write it off on my taxes as a promotional cost of doing business. Also, whenever I did print giveaways, I found the process cumbersome and rather expensive. I’m happy to have Goodreads handle the digital distribution of the titles.

My purpose for the giveaways is just to generally gain visibility and awareness for the title/series being promoted, and possibly hook a few new readers. Whenever readers enter the giveaway, it adds the title to their ‘want to read’ list, which shows up in their friends’ feeds.  Reviews are not as much of a priority for me, although Goodreads does send follow-up emails to readers after 8 weeks, reminding them to rate and review the title.  Reviews obviously also help with visibility.

Although Goodreads has a page with best practices for the giveaways, I’ve read on various author blogs that there is a better approach than what Goodreads outlines.

Tips: 

Instead of giving away as many books as you can, give away the smallest number you can (10) because the visibility you gain will be the same (unless your purpose is to gain more reviews for your title).

Instead of the recommended month for the giveaway, it’s important to know that you’ll be featured in Goodreads’  ‘recently listed’ and ‘ending soon’ alerts if you keep your giveaway short.  I set mine for 10 days (with the giveaway ending one day after the book’s release).  If you can afford it, the best approach is to set several short giveaways back to back for maximum exposure.

How to Set up a Giveaway: 

Here’s a step-by-step guide for setting up a giveaway (via Goodreads):

• Before listing a giveaway, you will need to connect your Amazon and Goodreads accounts here.
  1. Click on “List a Giveaway” from the giveaway page or your Author Dashboard.2. Select “List a Print Book” or “List a Kindle Ebook.” If you want to create a Kindle ebook giveaway, select either “Publisher” or “Author using Kindle Direct Publishing​.”3. Select your giveaway package: Standard or Premium.4. Find your book by searching for the ISBN or ASIN, then fill in your giveaway details.

  5. Click on “Pay with Amazon.” You’ll be prompted to sign in to your Amazon account and choose a payment method.

  6. Confirm that your giveaway and payment details are correct, agree to the Goodreads Service Agreement, and click “Place order.”

Still on the fence about whether it’s a good investment? I can understand that.  The money is nothing to sneeze at.  David Wogahn wrote a guest post for me in January for good alternatives to a Goodreads giveaway.

Further reading:

Goodreads Giveaways help page

Maximize Goodreads Giveaways by Penny Sansevieri (note: this post was prior to the January 2018 changes, but still lists good information about giveaways).

Have you run a Goodreads giveaway since their changes were implemented?  How did it go? What other ways have you used to gain visibility for your titles?

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