Has anyone else done a Goodreads Giveaway?

3342 Views 38 Replies 22 Participants Last post by RobertCharles, May 20, 2015

Lucien Romano

Discussion Starter · May 18, 2015

What was the result? I was led to believe this would be a way to get some good reviews, which would then help to drive further sales of the Kindle version. But for the trouble and expense of sending out 20 paperbacks, I got 1 review and 2 ratings, which was disappointing to say the least.

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Joe Mynhardt

· #2 · May 18, 2015

I've done giveaways with one book and a few with two books. The results were the same. About 500 people entered, and about half added the book to their 'want to read' list.
I did not see a rise in sales, and whenever I check back, they all still have it as 'want to read.'

If you can afford giving away 20, I'd say do one or two in every possible country. Then promote like crazy. Could work.

SteveHarrison

· #3 · May 18, 2015

I gave away 8 books over two giveaways (one worldwide, the other to Australian readers) late last year and early this year. I got two very good reviews and one of the winners is now reading the novel, so maybe a third is on the way. I didn't notice any impact on sales.

I received over 500 listings on to-read lists, which, as doing this is an automatic choice when entering, doesn't mean anything. I looked up a lot of these people and they have hundreds if not thousands of books on their lists. By the end of the giveaway I doubt any would remember the book.

Despite the above, I really enjoyed both.

I will do another, but I will give away 3 books and do it over a very short period to see if that makes any difference. I did them over three weeks last time, but I will try a week or less this time, in the theory that if readers are interested (and not just entering because it costs nothing and they can), they might stay aware of the short deadline and remember to buy when it's over. Like I said, it's a theory

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farrago

· #4 · May 18, 2015

May 18, 2015 Reply to Lucien Romano: I often 'hear' indie authors say they have good luck with Goodreads ads and giveaways. However none ever share actual sales or download numbers or review results. To learn for myself, I gathered 5 colleagues and we each ran a GoodReads campaign on a title priced 99¢. Not a single one of us sold a book. Some titles were put on TBR. Next, three of us with titles on FREE ran Goodreads campaigns. Same thing. NO Sales. Readers even added the FREE title to their TBR. Two of the authors are Amazon and USA Today best selling authors. All of the authors, save one, have had slots on Bookbub. We just could not interest the Goodreads community. We don't spend our promotion dollars there. A few of my colleagues have a nice Goodreads presence and get some traffic to Cover Reveals and Rafflecopters off-site. But seldom see a review from a giveaway. We all have much better results for giveaways via Rafflecopters on our blogs. Because entrants must sign up for a newsletter, follow on Twitter, Facebook or Amazon. Most of us use Book Partners in Crime Promotions to set up the Rafflecopter. Very inexpensive and Margaret Hughes does all of the tech work and banner presentations. To encourage reader reviews we put this gem at the foot of our books right after The End: Thank you for taking time to read [title]. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author's best friend and much appreciated.. During and after running a title in a FREE campaign, reviews start ticking in. One of my colleagues saw 125+ reviews within 15 days a a FREE run. One writer friend has a title on FREE right now and since the promotion started has 15 new reviews in the past 3 days. Hope this helps. Good luck with your books.

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Lucien Romano

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 18, 2015

Thanks for your insights, folks.

Being a naïve newbie, I thought more would be better, which is why I went with 20. Having checked, I see now that most others go with single figures. The "To Read" numbers are also misleading. After the Giveaway ended, I discounted the title by 50%, hoping to pick up a few sales from folk who didn't get a free one, with zilch result.

I guess a lot of Goodreads' readers apply for everything in their chosen genres and if they get lucky, hope it's worth reading, but it's still disappointing that they can't take two minutes to rate it and post a brief review.

Flay Otters

· #6 · May 18, 2015

In my opinion (and with all due respect), the people that hang out at Goodreads are just not trustworthy on any meaningful level.

C. Gockel

· #7 · May 18, 2015

I use GoodReads giveaways to advertise my permafree. (I always mention that it's free as an ebook in the blurb). It's a decent promotional tool.

markbrandonpowell

· #8 · May 18, 2015

I am about to try another two giveaways for a couple of books I just finished. I had some reviews out of the 15 books that I have sent out. I also had the same bump in TBRs well over 800 on each. I also put up a link in my book description telling everyone that the second book was free for signing up on my mailing list. I got about 16 people out of 1200, but I only had to pay the 60 bucks for the books and 20 for shipping. So it was like 5 dollars per subscriber. Everything isn't as good as I would like it to be, but that happens. Giving it one more go, and seeing what happens. I can come back here and tell you what the results are after.

edit - one more thing, I don't know how many people downloaded the free book but didn't sign up. I am still trying to figure out how to do that on my website.

SteveHarrison

· #9 · May 18, 2015

Flay Otters said:
In my opinion (and with all due respect), the people that hang out at Goodreads are just not trustworthy on any meaningful level.

I hear that a lot here and across the internet, but my experience is very much the opposite. I've made a lot of good connections through participating in various groups, though in my opinion, it doesn't have a lot of value if the sole aim is to sell books. It is primarily a site for readers.

The people there seem exactly the same as those everywhere else (often the same people), but they are there in such huge numbers perhaps the 'feral' element is bigger

Flay Otters

· #10 · May 18, 2015

SteveHarrison said:
I hear that a lot here and across the internet, but my experience is very much the opposite. I've made a lot of good connections through participating in various groups, though in my opinion, it doesn't have a lot of value if the sole aim is to sell books. It is primarily a site for readers.

The people there seem exactly the same as those everywhere else (often the same people), but they are there in such huge numbers perhaps the 'feral' element is bigger

I'm sure it's a fun place to hang out if you want to talk books.
I'm also sure there are many terrific folk there, maybe even a majority.
But if you want to sell books to those readers then things become a little more difficult.
I stand by my statement. But it was offered by a guy whose interest is in selling books, not exchanging thoughts about books.
And I agree with your premise: "it doesn't have a lot of value if the sole aim is to sell books."
Which seems odd as the supposed reason for Goodreads is a club for people who like to read books.
Hence my statement.

SteveHarrison

· #11 · May 18, 2015

Flay Otters said:
I'm sure it's a fun place to hang out if you want to talk books.
I'm also sure there are many terrific folk there, maybe even a majority.
But if you want to sell books to those readers then things become a little more difficult.
I stand by my statement. But it was offered by a guy whose interest is in selling books, not exchanging thoughts about books.
And I agree with your premise: "it doesn't have a lot of value if the sole aim is to sell books."
Which seems odd as the supposed reason for Goodreads is a club for people who like to read books.
Hence my statement.

That's fair enough. I have an author profile on Goodreads, but my participation is mainly as a reader, with the occasional opportunistic promotion.

Marina Finlayson

· #12 · May 19, 2015

C. Gockel said:
I use GoodReads giveaways to advertise my permafree. (I always mention that it's free as an ebook in the blurb). It's a decent promotional tool.

That's a good idea! I'll have to remember that when I have a permafree.

My first GR giveaway just ended on the weekend. I had 1218 people enter, and about half added the book to their TBR lists. I only ran the giveaway for a week, and only offered one signed copy. It was won by someone in France, so I had the cost of international postage, but since I live in Australia the odds were pretty good that I'd be mailing the book overseas somewhere.

Though of course I would love all those people who didn't win to buy and review the book anyway, I was looking at it less as an exercise in getting reviews and more as a way of spreading awareness of the book's existence. I know a lot of people have enormous TBR lists over there, but even if only a handful go on to buy and read the book, that's a few new readers I wouldn't have had otherwise, and I figure that's worth the cost of one book plus postage. It's not just about winning readers for that one book, but growing a fanbase for all the books I intend to write.

Ironically, the giveaway was won by a person who was listed as "currently reading" the book anyway!

Also, here is a great article on running a successful GR giveaway that helped me a lot: http://www.novelpublicity.com/2012/02/how-to-run-a-goodreads-giveaway-with-maximal-results-11-tips-we-know-youll-need/

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RachelSilbes

· #13 · May 19, 2015

Flay Otters said:
In my opinion (and with all due respect), the people that hang out at Goodreads are just not trustworthy on any meaningful level.

Gee, thanks.

For authors I understand your hesitance, but as a blogger and reader Goodreads is very helpful. I participate in group book clubs and use it to track my reading goals. When I find a book I want to read and the Goodreads reviews are bad I don't pick up the book. You might not like it but the site impacts buyers.

AJ_Powers

· #14 · May 19, 2015

I am running one now on Ash, and I was expecting at least 500 entrants (since I only did a 2 week run instead of the month). I'm sitting at 180 right now, kind of bummed out by that, but that's the way things go. I only did US, and did 3 copies. I've had nearly 100 add to read, but I suspect that this is just the default when entering---who knows how many will actually follow through. Good luck!

Flay Otters

· #15 · May 19, 2015

RachelSilbes said:
Gee, thanks.

For authors I understand your hesitance, but as a blogger and reader Goodreads is very helpful. I participate in group book clubs and use it to track my reading goals. When I find a book I want to read and the Goodreads reviews are bad I don't pick up the book. You might not like it but the site impacts buyers.

Obviously my comment was not meant as an insult on an individual level, so please, no faux umbrage.
I was simply trying to be as succinct as possible for writers.
I'm sure Goodreads is great fun, but your own words simply back up my premise: you put your trust in the unverified opinions of others.
I would rather have my reviews on Amazon, there seem to be fewer people there whose sole amusement in life is to critique the efforts of others.

RachelSilbes

· #16 · May 19, 2015

Flay Otters said:
I would rather have my reviews on Amazon, there seem to be fewer people there whose sole amusement in life is to critique the efforts of others.

That makes no sense and you have nothing to base your facts on. You're saying most of Goodreads reviews take a book and crap on the author for no reason? We have opinions and want to share them... yes, some people can be kind of cruel, but that's a part of being an author. Getting a critique from a reviewer.

thewitt

· #17 · May 19, 2015

I've done 3 Goodreads giveaways for three different books.

The first one ran for a month. There were 993 requests for 10 books. I received 1 review that I could tie back to the giveaway after 2 months.

The second one ran for 2 weeks. There where 483 requests for 4 books. So far I have not been able to verify any reviews.

The third one finishes tonight, after 3 weeks. So far, there are 453 requests for 10 books.

To be honest, I have had better results with reviews from Goodreads users by contacting individuals who review books regularly through the private message system, and offering them a free eBook for "comments" - not specifically for a review.

I have continued to do print book giveaways to simply raise awareness of my books there. Not sure it's of any value or not...

SteveHarrison

· #18 · May 19, 2015

thewitt said:
I've done 3 Goodreads giveaways for three different books.

The first one ran for a month. There were 993 requests for 10 books. I received 1 review that I could tie back to the giveaway after 2 months.

The second one ran for 2 weeks. There where 483 requests for 4 books. So far I have not been able to verify any reviews.

The third one finishes tonight, after 3 weeks. So far, there are 453 requests for 10 books.

To be honest, I have had better results with reviews from Goodreads users by contacting individuals who review books regularly through the private message system, and offering them a free eBook for "comments" - not specifically for a review.

I have continued to do print book giveaways to simply raise awareness of my books there. Not sure it's of any value or not...

I think awareness is the key gain from Goodreads giveaways. A lot more people now know about my book on the site, even if they haven't bought it, so I'm happy with how it panned out. For the cost of a few books and postage, it's not bad and you never know how far the small ripples generated will travel. And I've made friends and met a lot of nice people on the site directly as a result of my two campaigns.

Lucien Romano

Discussion Starter · #19 · May 19, 2015

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and advice, everyone.

I don't want to cancel my current giveaway completely, but I've cut it down to 2 copies and will end it tomorrow. It's clear that running it for several weeks (as they suggest), produces lots of signups when it's new, then just a few, and a last rush when it joins the 'about to end' list. Fewer copies and a one week campaign would seem to be just as effective.

As for their 'do not contact the entrants' policy, I understand now why they make such a big deal about it...

Ceinwen

· #20 · May 19, 2015

I ran one about a year ago for my release, offering 3 copies (I think one of the winners reviewed it, which is a pretty good ratio!). I got 2600 entrants, about half of which added it to their to-read list. I see them gradually getting through it and rating and reviewing it. I also had some book bloggers contact me as a result, which was cool.

I can't report any direct influence on sales, but I'm a big fan of Goodreads and I had a positive experience with my giveaway so I'll definitely be running more in future. Though I might only offer one book... mailing paperbacks from Australia adds up pretty quickly, and the number of books on offer doesn't seem to affect the number of entrants.

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