Dirty Tips for Goodread Giveaways

There are many good tips out there and I don’t want to repeat them. Below is what I found useful.

1. Don’t waste the “book description” window

When readers browse through the giveaway lists, they only see a tiny portion of the whole book description, and many authors waste it by repeating “Join and get X copy/copies of XXX”. Well, the title is already above the window, and it is very clear how many copies are offered on the right side of the window. You are simply wasting your best chance of talking about the book. 

A lot of authors put editorial reviews or blurbs written by another author there. I’m currently running a giveaway, and below is what’s showing for mine.

“A fast, entertaining read that feels a bit like a roller coaster, pulling you along at breakneck speed through twists and turns. - San Francisco Book”

Okay, the last word “Reviews” was chopped off, but it got most of the juicy part.

2. List it for a period slightly longer than a month

What determines the order of books in the “Ending Soon” list, which is most frequently visited? Just take a look and you’ll find out that the longer the giveaway period is, the earlier a book will be placed in the queue. Since Goodreads suggests listing for a month, assuming most authors follow that rule, by making yours longer than a month, you’ll get a higher chance of being placed on the first page of the list. If you set it to 3 months, your book may be the top one.

3. Don’t set up the giveaway too early

Yes, the common advice is to set up your giveaway a few days before the starting date so that the Giveaway staff can have enough time to approve it. The argument is, if your book gets approved midday, you’ll miss the early half of the day. If you follow that advice, however, your book will show up at the BOTTOM of the “Recently Listed” list, several pages down. For my present giveaway, I sent out the request on the previous day, only three hours before midnight (pacific time). My book appeared on the first page, but there were still several titles above mine. Those authors probably sent out their requests on the morning of the starting day. Yes, their book would stay on the list for < 24 hours, but how many people check Goodreads at 3am? It’s worth it!

4. Don’t specify that the copy is “autographed”

I know, this is against common advice. I admit that, by putting AUTOGRAPHED COPY in that small golden window, more people are likely to join the pool and even add your book to their “to-read” shelf. However, more is not necessarily better! Without the AUTOGRAPH, if a reader adds your book, even thought he may not like it enough to ever buy it, he is showing an interest and probably will read it. If somebody adds your book only because the AUTOGRAPH, he either likes collecting signed books, or hopes to sell your book at a high price one day you become famous. In other words, recruiting participants who will never read your book only reduces the chance of having your book fall into the hand of a reader who’d love to read or even review your book. Think about it! And you can always sign it before you mail it out.

And speaking of the “to-read” shelf, I know it feels good to see that so many people have added your book, but it seldom means anything. Every time I saw a reader having three or four thousand books on the to-read shelf, I wanted to ask, “Do you realize that if you read one book every single day, rain or shine, it’ll take you 10 years to go through your shelf?”

And a final conclusion: This is why everyone should’ve gone traditional publishing. Those self-promotions are wasting our precious time that could’ve been used for writing our next books!