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An Easy Way to Promote Your Book: Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaways
Posted by Mimi on November 1, 2019Whether you want to break out your debut book, keep the momentum going with your latest release, or rekindle interest in an older title, Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaways is here to help. Authors and publishers use Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaways as a creative way to promote their books to potentially millions of readers, add an element of excitement to their marketing, and help readers introduce their books to friends.
We designed Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaways to deliver several marketing benefits to authors:
Help build your audience and discovery of your book:
- Giveaways are shown in the popular Giveaways section of Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, where readers can discover new books.
- Your giveaway is prominently displayed on your book page on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to help your title gain more entries to your giveaway and keep building the audience for your book.
- Your followers on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and anyone who has already added the book to their Want-to-Read list automatically get notified about your giveaway.
- Everyone who enters your giveaway automatically has the book added to their Want-to-Read list on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. This builds an audience of people interested in your book on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and provides opportunities to engage with them in the future, e.g. when the book goes on sale, if you share Kindle notes and highlights about your book, etc.
Help drive reader-to-reader discovery:
- Learning about a book through a friend is one of the most powerful forms of discovery. Every time a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ member enters your giveaway and your book is added to their Want-to-Read list, an update is shared in the newsfeed of that person’s friends and followers, introducing your book to even more people.
- About eight weeks after your Giveaway ends, winners receive an email from Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to remind them to rate and review your book. This will help other readers discover and decide to read your book too.
Choice of format - print or Kindle ebooks:
- You can offer up to 100 copies (either print book or Kindle ebook) in a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ giveaway.
- Print books are often preferred by winners who like to post a photo of the book in social media. You are also able to include a personal note and signature in your print book for additional excitement around your giveaway. Authors and publishers are responsible for the cost of the books and mailing them to winners.
- With our Kindle Ebook Giveaways option, you no longer have to spend time and money mailing books to winners as Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ handles the distribution for you. Another benefit is that winners immediately receive the book upon winning the giveaway, allowing them to start reading (and talking about) the book much sooner. This option requires a account.
- PRO TIP: The Kindle ebooks are included in the giveaways listing price (there is no additional cost to you)Ìýso you may want to choose 100 copies to get the book into the hands of as many readers as possible.
All of the above benefits are included in the Standard package which costs $119 (either Kindle ebook or print book). The Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaways program is open to your choice of U.S. and/or Canada residents.
EXTRA BENEFITS IN OUR PREMIUM PACKAGE
The Premium package gives you even more chances to personally connect with readers. For $599, in addition to all the benefits of the Standard package, you receive:
- Exclusive “Featured� placement on the highly-trafficked Giveaways homepage with millions of visitors each month, helping to give your giveaway significantly more visibility and potentially more entrants.
- A message written by you to readers who entered but didn’t win, giving you the opportunity to connect directly with readers interested in your book and potentially convert their interest into purchase.
- PRO TIP: Consider a limited time offer for your book immediately after your giveaway ends as a thank you to those who entered and a reason to buy now.
Get started with your Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaway. Click here to learn more.
BONUS TIPS TO GET MORE OUT OF THE GOODREADS GIVEAWAY PROGRAM
To help you get the most out of your giveaway, here are five tips:
1. Maximize the exposure for your book by running the giveaway for 30 days.
Since the goal of your giveaway is to gain as much awareness as possible, take advantage of all the time your book can be shown to potential readers.
2. Get the word out about your giveaway.
Don’t forget to promote the giveaway yourself! It gives you a fun reason to talk about your book again. Share the link to your giveaway on your website, via your newsletter, and your social media accounts. Link to your giveaway at the end of any excerpts you create online. Just before the giveaway ends, promote the giveaway again so people don’t miss their chance to win.
3. Run multiple giveaways in advance of publication.
If you have budget, a series of giveaways can fuel continuous buzz for your book, building readersâ€� anticipation. Many authors and publishers start running giveaways over six months in advance of publication. With each giveaway, you may grow the number of readers invested in your book launch. It also helps to keep your book top of mind among readers as Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ emails those who entered previous giveaways, letting them know about the next one.
4. Giveaways aren't just for new books.
A giveaway for an older book can be run anytime to rekindle interest in an older title or be used to cross promote your next book. It can also re-engage the audience you have already built to start reading your book.
5. Craft your giveaway description based on reader feedback.
You have around 150 characters to hook people in. That’s the amount of copy shown for each giveaway on the page listing current giveaways. But you’re a writer and we think you’re up to the challenge! Think about the words that will prove irresistible to readers and drive them to click “view details� to learn more about your book. If this is your first giveaway, study the descriptions and reviews of similar books and see what piques customers� interest.
PRO TIP: Look at how people who have read and reviewed your book already are describing your book and use that as your guide when writing your description and choosing the genre.
6. Complete your bio on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.
The first few lines of your bio get pulled onto the unique landing page for your giveaway, along with a “Follow Authorâ€� button to allow readers to stay up-to-date on your activity on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. We recommend making your bio personal and friendly, while drawing attention to any previous success. For inspiration, see Lauren Blakely, Mike Omer, and William P Young.
Do you have more tips for giveaways? Please share your tips in the comments!
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Comments Showing 1-50 of 170 (170 new)
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E.A.
(new)
Nov 04, 2019 07:40AM
In the article above, it says that the cost of the Kindle ebooks is included in the list price of $119. Am I missing something? My books list for $3.50 each so if I gave away 100 ebooks, the cost would be $350.
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I used to offer Giveaways for my poetry books, but once you imposed a price--and a very high one at that--I was no longer able to offer them. As a small press publisher of poetry books, I cannot afford your Giveaways. I wish you would provide Giveaways at a more affordable cost. Preferably free!
I put three of my books up for Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaways at four copies each. My purchase price plus shipping cost me about $60 for each giveaway. I received ONE review on Amazon that could be identified as from a Giveaway. If you are now charging for Giveaways in addition to the purchase price and shipping of copies, that puts the Giveaway WAY OUT OF REACH for a beginning or independent authors in a small, tight genre. We are now excluded from participation. So be it!
In the past, I posted the first two books from my Shakespeare in the Vineyard mystery series---for free. I would like to post the 3rd book in the series. Sadly, it won't happen because I cannot afford your cost. What a loss for readers as well as for a promotional opportunity for me.Carole Price
I can see why best selling authors could benefit from the cost to post giveaways. But for little known authors who don't sell thousands of books, the cost is prohibited. Some kind of sales numbers generated by giveaways would be very helpful in deciding whether or not there is a reasonable cost/benefit to authors who are exploring ways to boost sales.Patricia Campbell
The cost for running a giveaway is way too high for those of us who publish independently. We have limited budgets and, if you aren't selling a lot of copies already, it doesn't make sense. I can just do a free promotion right through Amazon. Thanks but no thanks.
Michelle wrote: "The cost for running a giveaway is way too high for those of us who publish independently. We have limited budgets and, if you aren't selling a lot of copies already, it doesn't make sense. I can j..."Sadly, Amazon has discontinued giveaways I'm told.
I can remember when the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ giveaway was a no cost benefit for the authors who participated in the program. Looks to me like some bean counter came out with the idea to squeeze out revenue for Amazon. what they have done, sadly, is to squeeze out the independent writer/publisher from participating in the giveaway market. Couple that with Amazon bailing out of the giveaway program on line and I'm squeezed out of the giveaway option both ways. Oh well, life goes on.
I know, right! Amazon was a great option and now I don't even know how to do a giveaway anymore.
Hi all, after a huge amount of research we found the marketing value of the giveaways feature underappreciated whilst they were offered at no charge. At the same time, authors and publishers asked us to make our giveaways even more powerful. We've therefore designed two packages that have some of the most-requested features from authors and publishers and have priced these to reflect the increased value we're offering.We understand that the current price of giveaways may not be affordable to all authors right now, so it's important to inform all those interested that we have several other free features for Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Authors, including Ask the Author, which allows you to answer questions from your fans and readers, posting excerpts of upcoming publications on your author blog, and sharing your list of favorite books and recent reads with your fans. I understand that these features don't replace giveaways for you, but hope you will take advantage of the many other ways to connect with readers on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.
Scott wrote: "I know, right! Amazon was a great option and now I don't even know how to do a giveaway anymore."I've been using social media groups for giveaway contests which require contest entrants to register for the giveaway by e-mail and after a given number of participants enter I use a random number generator to select the winners. Everyone likes a fun contest that offers a free prize. I've also created a Facebook Group, "Authors, Readers and Movie Fans" and post information about my titles from time to time along with the Amazon link to the specific title. Authors that become part of the group may also share information about their latest work as well. The group is fairly new, but growing. I hope to continue the group growth during the holidays with special offers centered around my ten titles.
This (very expensive) program seems to be aimed at self-published authors. What about those of us whose books are traditionally published?
Shaun wrote: "Hi all, after a huge amount of research we found the marketing value of the giveaways feature underappreciated whilst they were offered at no charge. At the same time, authors and publishers asked ..."Thanks for the explanation, but I'm not buying it. No one asked for a Giveaway option that would cost an exorbitant amount of money with no significant benefit. Why not continue to offer the no-cost Giveaway to small presses, a Giveaway that would not include whatever benefits you say go with Giveaways at the higher cost? As a small press publisher of poetry books, I cannot afford the high cost of your Giveaways now.
Bob wrote: "Scott wrote: "I know, right! Amazon was a great option and now I don't even know how to do a giveaway anymore."I've been using social media groups for giveaway contests which require contest entr..."
Facebook is a good alternative in that you can do a Giveaway for free and get fairly good exposure.
E.A. wrote: "In the article above, it says that the cost of the Kindle ebooks is included in the list price of $119. Am I missing something? My books list for $3.50 each so if I gave away 100 ebooks, the cost would be $350."Hi E.A., apologies for not addressing your comment sooner. Whether you're purchasing the Standard ($119) or Premium ($599) Kindle Book Giveaway package, the costs of distribution to winners is included in the giveaway's price. There's no additional costs to the author!
I hope this information helps.
(This comment was edited for clarity)
Shaun wrote: "Whether you're purchasing the Standard ($199) or Premium ($599) Kindle Book Giveaway package, the cost of the Kindle ebooks as well as the cost of delivery to winners, are included in the giveaway's price. There's no additional costs to the author!"If this is true, why wouldn't everyone sign up to give away ebooks? For example, most of my ebooks sell for $3.50. If I gave away 100 ebooks and Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ pays for them, the cost to you would be $350 yet you're only charging me $199 for the standard package. Please clarify. Thanks.../Ernie
E.A. wrote: "Shaun wrote: "Whether you're purchasing the Standard ($199) or Premium ($599) Kindle Book Giveaway package, the cost of the Kindle ebooks as well as the cost of delivery to winners, are included in..."Hi E.A., sorry my previous message wasn't clear! It's a giveaway, so as the author you're giving the books away at no charge to the lucky winners â€� they aren't being purchased. In the Kindle Book Giveaway, the cost and time it takes to distribute the books to winners is all taken care of by Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ â€� this is the 'book cost' we're referring to.
(I've gone ahead and edited my previous comment slightly for clarity)
Does that help to clarify?
I suspected the offer was too good to be true. The "Pro Tip" in the original post should be changed because it is misleading. It says "the cost of the Kindle ebooks as well as the cost of delivery to winners is included in the price."
So apparently this thread;/blog/show/1...
answers everything, except, er, it doesn't.
It is verging on useless, as no allowance has been made for the fact that unknown authors are, yes, UNKNOWN, and it is a means of GETTING KNOWN that they require. Namely, affordable advertising.
'Giveaways' are mentioned, as is the fact that they are only available in the USA and Canada. Absolutely wonderful for all of us that don't live in the USA and Canada! And just look at the cost. This cannot be described as affordable.
'Ask the author' is mentioned, as is 'authors personal blog'. Both may be useful for authors who are known and so have readers flooding to their pages. But most Indies are NOT KNOWN. Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ appears to have completely forgotten that an author has to be discovered BEFORE readers start asking them questions or looking at their blog. What an Indie author needs is a route to being discovered. This is where advertising comes in - to drive readers who don't know an author to their pages.
And for goodness sake Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, read the comments on the above thread and take note of them. Don't just sit there and assume you are right and everyone else is wrong and make excuses.
I thought that Giveaways were also a way to make myself as an indie author (completely new), that not many people know of my work. My Christian fiction series The Hero Within - Awareness and Power, I am even creating a Manga from my books, but results from the Giveaway has not been as expected and I gave 100 free copies.Honestly speaking, I have not seen much change after the Giveaway; I am not sure if it is fulfilling the purpose of taking me from the Unknown to the Known. I am kind of disappointed with the results.
Ìý
Shaun wrote: "Hi all, after a huge amount of research we found the marketing value of the giveaways feature underappreciated whilst they were offered at no charge. At the same time, authors and publishers asked ..."Hi Shaun. Are you finding that giveaway winners are leaving honest and meaningful reviews on Amazon? I realize that this isn't explicit in a giveaway but wonder if Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ has any data on the reach extending to reviews. Thank you sir.
I see the price differently, and it's not bad in my opinion.Under the old Amazon ebook giveaway program, I had to buy the books I wanted to give away. So, at 99 cents, I spent $99 (+tax) to give away 100 of them.
Under this program, I'm spending $119 to distribute 100 ebooks. So, to me, it looks like I'm really only paying about $20 for the service. Under the old Amazon system, I would have had to buy the books anyway.
Yes, truly free is where I email a mobi to someone and they side load it on their Kindle. Or, I can run a KU book free 5 days every three months and let people know about it.
But in terms of giving away something on Amazon, using the Amazon distribution system, this is priced about the same as it always was. And my extra $20 is buying some good exposure on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, IMHO.
As said in my earlier mail, giveaways is a complete non-starter for all who don't live in the USA & Canada. Our situation is that we have lost the only mode of reaching out to readers who do not know us and Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ/Amazon has put nothing in its place to replace this.Why can't people THINK before making changes?
E.A. wrote: "In the article above, it says that the cost of the Kindle ebooks is included in the list price of $119. Am I missing something? My books list for $3.50 each so if I gave away 100 ebooks, the cost w..."Hi, EA. I have run a few goodreads giveaways, and love them. Since you will give kindle versions away (for free) and goodreads/amazon does all of the work for you, they have a fee of $119. And yes, in theory you will be giving up what you could make on the book should copies sell. Technically you are not "paying" per book. It is a giveaway, and therefore no money will come to you....but this is a phenomenal way to gain new readership. : )
Leslie wrote: "Since you will give kindle versions away (for free) and goodreads/amazon does all of the work for you, they have a fee of $119. And yes, in theory you will be giving up what you could make on the book should copies sell. Technically you are not "paying" per book."I guess I'm still confused as to how Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ gets the "free" copies of my Kindle book to distribute to the winners. The cost of the books is $3.50 each and I will sometimes drop the price to 99 cents during a promotion. How would Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ get them without it costing them anything?
I used to run Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaways for paperback copies (ebooks weren't an option back then) of my books before Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ raised the price and I did find them a good way to promote my books. Now, I don't see the value.
They get them "free" because Amazon now owns Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. They work in tandem. I just ran a giveaway for my new book coming out in mid-Nov. I paid $119. People sign up for the giveaway if they are interested. In the past, I have garnered readers in the high hundreds for the contest. At this point in time, I am only giving away kindle copies. These are digital, and don't cost Amazon a thing as their computer system will automatically upload them to readers' kindles as soon as the winners have been selected. While I do not make a dime, the kindle copies do not cost me anything either. Only print costs me (and Amazon) money. This is the reason I do kindle only. I used to do 10 print copies, but then I had to mail them out. As an indie author, my goal is to gain as many new readers as possible. Ten print copies, or 100 kindle? This is a no-brainer for me. While $119 does sound like a lot, I find it worth it to get readers, and hopefully get some reviews. I got about 20 reviews from my last giveaway. So for me, it was worth it, because some of those readers now follow me and have even purchased other books. It is a super slow climb to find new readers who will stick with you. For me, this is a great way to do that. Feel free to ask me any questions you have. I love helping other indie authors navigate these unchartered waters. God knows things are changing fast in this industry!!! ; )
I have read the above comments and am still not clear about how much the giveaway of Kindle copies of my book would cost and would appreciate an answer from a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ representative. If I give away 100 Kindle copies at $5 each, would that cost $119 total or would it be $119 plus $500 for a total of $619?
Karen wrote: "I have read the above comments and am still not clear about how much the giveaway of Kindle copies of my book would cost and would appreciate an answer from a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ representative. If I give aw..."Hi Karen, I'm glad to help. It would be $119 total. I hope this clarifies it for you but feel free to ask any other questions.
I thought that Giveaways were also a way to make myself as an indie author (completely new), that not many people know of my work. My Christian fiction series The Hero Within - Awareness and Power, I am even creating a Manga from my books, but results from the Giveaway has not been as expected and I gave 100 free copies.
Mimi wrote: "Karen wrote: "I have read the above comments and am still not clear about how much the giveaway of Kindle copies of my book would cost and would appreciate an answer from a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ representative..."Mimi, given that those not living in the USA or Canada cannot access giveaway, what do you recommend as a substitute now that Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ has removed its adverting facility?
As an indie myself I prefer the cheaper the cost of promotion the better, but one of the things missing in this discussion is the legal component. After looking into doing a give-away myself I discovered there is a huge amount of legal that goes into being able to run a give-away and not running afoul of laws, which nearly every jurisdiction has their own set of for regulating contests and sweepstakes.Sweepstakes are games of chance where winners are selected at random and don’t have to have any particular knowledge or skill � just good luck. OTOH, contests are games of skill - winners are determined based on some type of skill, knowledge or other attribute that they possess.
Virtually every state has a law that prohibits illegal gambling, which is what sweepstakes (random give-away) are usually considered. Because there is no or little chance in a contest, it is likely free from anti-gambling laws but requires higher overhead to administer.
Because Canadian and US legal systems are so similar (and probably the largest markets), it makes sense for Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to offer their service there first.
I'm sure this is little consolation to others (and myself) but there is a direct cost to Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to offer a give-away promotional service and while I'd like to see it cheaper, I do understand why they've switched from doing it for free.
Verne wrote: "As an indie myself I prefer the cheaper the cost of promotion the better, but one of the things missing in this discussion is the legal component. After looking into doing a give-away myself I disc..."There is a key requirement for Kindle giveaways - MUST BE ENROLLED IN KDP. I am not. My publisher distributes my book through Ingram. Therefore I interpret this as ebook giveaways are not available to anyone not doing business directly with Amazon. Also - the comment about sweepstakes makes no sense. I did two giveaways prior to the imposition of cost - all three of my winners were from the UK, and I did pay for international shipping. I want to run a giveaway - but a US and Canada only market is smaller, and cost-to-benefit ratio is uncertain.
Katrina wrote: "There is a key requirement for Kindle giveaways - MUST BE ENROLLED IN KDP. I am not. My publisher distributes my book through Ingram. Therefore I interpret this as ebook giveaways are not available to anyone not doing business directly with Amazon. Also - the comment about sweepstakes makes no sense. I did two giveaways prior to the imposition of cost - all three of my winners were from the UK, and I did pay for international shipping. I want to run a giveaway - but a US and Canada only market is smaller, and cost-to-benefit ratio is uncertain."Hi Katrina - I'm in a bit of the same boat vis-Ã -vis Kindle as my ebooks are through Comixology which is sorta-kinda Kindle now that Amazon has taken them over, but not really so I don't think they qualify either (but I could be wrong). My paperbacks are through Ingram but appear to be available for a give-away (but I've not drilled that far down yet.)
I've been online since the early 1980s and have been able to watch this internet monster take over the world (I'm a systems analyst). In quite a few cases big tech has done things ("move fast and break things" mentality) that are questionable only to later be pulled in line under threat of legal action. Over the past year or so various nation-states have been suing big-tech to force them to comply with laws, which Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ previous give-aways don't appear to be as far as I can tell.
I've been selling on Amazon since 2005 and can say for fact that Amazon suffers a "silo" problem. This is when they have various divisions that are developed in isolation of the whole causing issues with integration. This is likely playing into why some things work and others don't, but can't say for sure.
While I don't work for Amazon and have no inside track, my best guess is that Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ did the give-aways before fully understanding the legal ramifications and the policy changes discussed here are the result of reconsideration in light of tightening legal environments.
I do agree with others that there needs to be some disclosure regarding how the give-aways are handled. Traditional media needs to show audited circulation numbers and etc. to sell their demographic to advertisers and I suspect some time down the road lawmakers will be required to force new media to fall in line with traditional generally-accepted advertising practices.
It sucks but I must say that being an indie publisher in 2019 is light-years ahead of where things were in 1990. Paying for services, like management of a give-away which is extremely expensive from a legal POV if you do it yourself, is a small price to pay for the market access we now have.
If I wanted to do a Kindle giveaway for three books at once ( I have a series and the fourth book will be coming out in a few months) would that be $357 to do a give away of 100 kindle copies of each book in the same giveaway? Is that possible?
Shannon wrote: "If I wanted to do a Kindle giveaway for three books at once ( I have a series and the fourth book will be coming out in a few months) would that be $357 to do a give away of 100 kindle copies of ea..."Hi Shannon 🙂� there's two ways you can do this:
Option 1) Setup three separate Kindle giveaways each with their own unique ASINs and run all three simultaneously. This would cost $119 x 3 = $357 and, assuming you've selected maximum amount of copies to giveaway, 100 of each book in the series (300 total) would be up for grabs. As giveaway winners are selected randomly, it's very unlikely the same winner will win all three books in the series. If that is your intention, the option below may be a better fit for you.
Option 2) If you have a 3-in-one boxset published (Here's an example) you can list one giveaway at $119 using the boxset ASIN at max 100 copies up for grabs, and each winner would receive the boxset (i.e. all three books in the series).
I hope this helps!
Can an author run an ebook and a print book giveaway simultaneously for the same title? If so, would others recommend this, or is staggering them a better approach? If simultaneous is not possible, is there a required window between giveaways for different format / one title? Thank you!
I have used Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaway for two books. Both were a complete failure. I cannot contribute a single sale to the events even though the few reviews I got were very good. In my experience, this program is a total waste of money for unknown indie authors. It's great for people who want to read FREE books.
I thought that offering a Giveaway was to help any author who wanted to promote their book on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. I understand the need to charge something for the time it takes to take care of the administrative costs, but for me, $119 -$599 is too expensive. Maybe rethinking your pricing to make this more affordable to more authors would be a good thing.L. Enjara
It saddens me that Amazon is now trying to charge for a service that used to be available free to authors. For books that are published through Amazon, Amazon profits when the author succeeds. If the author sells a book, then Amazon is rewarded monetarily through that sale too. Instead of fostering a partnership where Amazon supports authors in efforts to sell more books, they are further trying to squeeze out more money from authors who all ready have a very marginal profit margin on books. In my opinion, this is a faulty business model and backwards way of thinking.
Christine wrote: "It saddens me that Amazon is now trying to charge for a service that used to be available free to authors. For books that are published through Amazon, Amazon profits when the author succeeds. If t..."Couldn't agree more Christine. However, Amazon have been doing a very similar thing with book reviews for ages.
US readers may not appreciate that reviews that are not posted on amazon.com don't show up on amazon.com or any other amazon site except the one on which they are posted. Amazon pretend they are trying to sell books worldwide, but they steadfastly refuse to post reviews worldwide. They could easily do this. Just look at the booking.com model where reviews of hotels, etc., contain those from countries all over; one from Germany and written in German, sits alongside those from the US written in American, those from Italy written in Italian and those from the UK written in English. It could easily be done, but Amazon doesn't wish to do it, and one can only assume doesn't wish to benefit from the extra sales that this would generate.
I also agree with Maetreyii vis-a-vis the cost of this, especially when, as Lawrence points out, the gain - if one wishes to call it that! - is so minimal. What is the point of paying $120 so those who don't wish to pay can have a free book? If there was some form of guarantee that they would actually leave a review, or purchase futher copies, fine. But there is nothing.
This is as it says; a giveaway - from the author to both readers and Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ/Amazon.
I gave away one book through Amazon. In one day, 2700 copies were downloaded. I got zero reviews. The reviews I have received are all 5 stars, but for one 2 stars by a guy who rates every book at 1 or 2 stars. It was obvious he never read it. People who get things for free don't appreciate them. I will never give away a book for free again.
Sorry John, if you have ever been involved in a free deal on amazon, you would know there is one very BIG FACT and Stuart has just highlighted it. Namely, free handouts do not get you reviews. I have not had 2700 downloads in a day, but have had over 500 on several occasions, and not a single review from any of them.
I would be a whole lot more in favour of this if Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ charged according to how many reviews one got i.e. on a no win, no fee basis, that would show their faith in this as a marketing method, but oh no, they don't. As it stands, Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ will get their $120, the reader will get a free book and the author will get nothing.
Happy Christmas everyone!
Leslie wrote: "Sorry John, if you have ever been involved in a free deal on amazon, you would know there is one very BIG FACT and Stuart has just highlighted it. Namely, free handouts do not get you reviews. I ..."
Leslie wrote: "Sorry John,
if you have ever been involved in a free deal on amazon, you would know there is one very BIG FACT and Stuart has just highlighted it. Namely, free handouts do not get you reviews. I ..."
Oh, dear! I definitely am looking into doing a giveaway once I can afford it. I can only hope there is a sound benefit in doing so.
Thanks for the feedback.
I truly appreciate all of the comments and inspiration you guys have provided via this thread.
Scott wrote: "I know, right! Amazon was a great option and now I don't even know how to do a giveaway anymore."I too am an independent author and therefore in the same limited financial boat as y'all. What I have done, since Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ ads are so costly, and ads on kdp are a waste of money, is either I join the kdp select so I can do 5 days of FREE, or I use bookfunnel ($10 per month) and give out my book that way. Or, you can not use bookfunnel, and simply send out pdf's of your book. Amazon is turning the screws on independents like us. It is quite common to publish a book on kdp and have zero reads, until the book whimpers to death. Good luck.
I am uncluttering my library and wanted to give away some extra copies of my book, so basically, I would just have had to pay for postage. But now I see that you are charging over 100 bucks for a giveaway. That's too expensive uncluttering in my eyes so I'll find another way to get rid of them. Sorry.
The Fiery Eye Beast: Rolling Calf By Roland Brown a thrilling evocative piece with poems created base on experience.
Shaun wrote: "Hi all, after a huge amount of research we found the marketing value of the giveaways feature underappreciated whilst they were offered at no charge. At the same time, authors and publishers asked ..."Hi, Shaun.
When are ebooks delivered when an ebook giveaway ends prior to the publication date? Are the ebooks delivered as soon as the giveaway ends (assuming the final ebook has already been uploaded to KDP), or are they delivered on the publication date down the line?
This makes a difference with respect to whether advance reviews are possible as a result of a giveaway.
Dedra wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Sorry John, if you have ever been involved in a free deal on amazon, you would know there is one very BIG FACT and Stuart has just highlighted it. Namely, free handouts do not get ..."
Alicia wrote: "Shaun wrote: "Hi all, after a huge amount of research we found the marketing value of the giveaways feature underappreciated whilst they were offered at no charge. At the same time, authors and pub..."
Roland wrote: "The Fiery Eye Beast: Rolling Calf By Roland Brown a thrilling evocative piece with poems created base on experience."
So, I have some questions. I'm currently doing a give-away and data reports more queries than the number offered. I get that a random draw selects those who receive the free-be sample; 1) am I notified of who receives those, and 2) can I learn of those requesting sample but not selected so that I may offer an incentive for them to consider a discounted purchase? please advise. thank you. wsh
