Goodreads Authors & Book Giveaways - Do Goodreads Book Giveaways Work?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
- Goodreads Authors & Book Giveaways - Do Goodreads Book Giveaways Work?
Are you an author on Goodreads wondering about offering a Goodreads Book Giveaway? I did one, and I learned a lot. Here's my complete Goodreads Book Giveaway experience (including actual numbers), plus some questions to ask yourself as a Goodreads author BEFORE you choose to do one.
Wondering how Goodreads Book Giveaways actually work? I made a video for that, too: • It's Easy? Yes, but......
Visit howstorieswork.org for my FREE Goodreads Book Giveaway marketing plan!
VIDEO CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Should Goodreads Authors Offer a Goodreads Book Giveaway?
0:56 - What Does a Successful Goodreads Book Giveaway Mean to You?
01:48 - As a Goodreads Author, Do You Have An Established Audience?
04:49 - The Kinds of Numbers Goodreads Authors Need to Hit
05:17 - Are You Willing to Promote Your Goodreads Book Giveaway?
06:03 - What's Your Budget for Your Goodreads Book Giveaway?
07:04 - My Experience with Our Goodreads Book Giveaway
09:28 - The Results of Our Goodreads Book Giveaway!
0:11:55 - Who SHOULD Offer a Goodreads Book Giveaway?
0:13:21 - When is a Goodreads Book Giveaway NOT Worth It?
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TRANSCRIPT - ABRIDGED:
Goodreads Authors & Book Giveaways - Do Goodreads Book Giveaways Work?
Should you do a Goodreads book giveaway? The answer to that question is… maybe.
I did one and learned a ton.
Let's take a detailed look at the numbers from MY Goodreads Book Giveaway… Should YOU do a Goodreads Book Giveaway? Let me help you figure it out.
How will you define success AFTER your Goodreads Book Giveaway has ended?
As a writer, do you already have an established audience?
That's going to have a big impact with how well a Goodreads Book Giveaway works to help you achieve your goals.
Most people watching this video will NOT have a giant following. That's totally fine, but it means a Goodreads Book Giveaway probably looks very different for you than it does for someone like Stephen King.
A Goodreads Book Giveaway for a known, established author, looks very different than one for someone just starting out.
In other words, if you have a following, then I'm guessing that a Goodreads Book Giveaway would work pretty well for you…
BUT, if you're like me, then you can't bank on a Goodreads Book Giveaway actually producing SALES without some additional effort…
You're going to need to do some additional things if you want a Goodreads Book Giveaway to drive SALES for you. But most of us can't expect 10,000 people to sign up for our Goodreads Book Giveaway.
Are you willing to put in additional time and effort to promote your Goodreads Book Giveaway? If you're a lesser known author and you answer this question with "no," then a Goodreads Book Giveaway likely won't work for you…
Which means a Goodreads Book Giveaway for someone like you or me will require additional effort in order to really maximize your book's potential.
Next question: How much are you willing to pay?
Maximize the number of people who sign up AND maximize your conversion rate. If you're not willing to do that, then you can probably pass on offering a Goodreads Book Giveaway.
Our book was self-published by our small, independent press that we set up. Nathan, our freelancer, and I do 100% of the publishing and marketing. The book we used was genre fiction-a weird western, or what you might call a supernatural steampunk western.
We ran our Goodreads Book Giveaway during Goodreads' Book Giveaway Month, which was in August of 2021. We chose to give away 100 Kindle copies. We chose the more expensive option, the Premium package, which was on sale during Goodreads' Book Giveaway Month. We promoted our book giveaway through social media and email, not paid media.
I haven't attempted a Goodreads Book Giveaway for nonfiction, but I'm sure the results would be slightly different. Now for the important part… what were our Goodreads Book Giveaway results? We ended up with 1,453 Goodreads users entered to win. Since August 31, 2021, we've had 7 total sales and we've received 10 ratings and reviews on Goodreads. Even if all 7 purchases were from the 1,453 entrants, that's less than half a percent for our conversion rate of entrants to purchasers.
And, in order to recoup our $499 investment, we would have needed to sell somewhere around 100 books. Should YOU do a Goodreads Book Giveaway? Maybe.
Have you done a Goodreads Book Giveaway?
#HowStoriesWork #Goodreads #AuthorTube #JaySherer
Have you done a Goodreads Book Giveaway? Let me know how it went for you! - Jay
I’m considering it. But the marketing piece of a giveaway, I might have to wait to get an audience under my belt. Thanks for the video!
Definitely! Best of luck. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Great video not only on Goodreads, but sharing some insights on overall marketing options. Thanks for sharing your actual numbers also, very helpful for me to make some decisions😆
Awesome! Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for this video!
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!
Great video! Very practical and useful. Loved it! I will do a Goodreads Giveaway and let you know how it went.
Excellent! Looking forward to hearing your report!
Just followed you on GoodReads :) Gonna do a book giveaway. Will keep you Posted.
Awesome! Looking forward to learning how it goes!
I'm going to try and do a book giveaway on Goodreads! Thank you for your advice. I'll come back and let you know how it goes.
Awesome! I’d love to hear more about your experience. And good luck! I hope it goes really well!
So here's my update on my giveaway. I did a 100 ebook giveaway with the standard payment. I did the giveaway from April 5th-April 26th which was about 3 weeks. I did all my own marketing on social media and the total I had was 737 people who entered. I spent about $110 for this giveaway and since it just ended I have not gotten any reads or reviews yet but we'll see. Overall I think it was worth it, I was amazed so many people wanted my book. Any exposure with my books to me is good exposure.
@@lizlovestowrite Nice! Thanks for the update! It took a while for me to get readers from my giveaway. I think exposure is good, and then I later, when you want to convert more sales, I think that's where it gets to be more complicated. I have a whole marketing plan I prepped that I need to try myself. Good luck!