Teresa Tsalaky's Blog - Posts Tagged "contests"
I GAVE AWAY A KINDLE. WAS IT WORTH IT?
Several authors asked me to post the results of my book review contest and discuss whether it was worth it. So, here goes:
More than 250 people viewed my posts about the contest. Eighteen people qualified by reviewing The Transition Witness on Amazon.
The winners are (using their Amazon reviewer names):
-1st place, Kindle Fire HD or $130 Amazon gift card – Rachel B.
-2nd place, Bluetooth Keyboard or $30 amazon gift card – Gloria Piper
-3rd place, signed copy of the book – Melissa Mazzur
First, was it worth it from a financial point of view? Since I own a business (see ZerodraftUSA.com), I can't help but analyze everything based on return on investment. From a strict business point of view, it was not productive to spend $9 per review.
Second, was it worth it for exposure? Definitely. Every reader is precious to me. As an unexpected extra, three of the reviewers were book bloggers and also wrote about The Transition Witness on their blogs.
Third, was it worth it for the feedback? Absolutely. I wanted to know if the story is touching people's hearts. Do the characters have enough depth? Is there too much introspection between the action? I needed that feedback before writing the second book in the series.
Fourth, was it worth it for the ratings? The contest entrants' ratings averaged 4.4. My star rating is higher from reviewers who were not contestants. I think that's because Goodreads members are aficionados and have a higher standard for the books they read. In other words, they're a tough audience. But as you know, some of the bestselling books today have an average three-star rating, so it's not the number of stars, but the total number of ratings that helps sell books.
Were the reviews honest? Probably. I announced the contest through Goodreads because here, you have a reputation to uphold and a peer group to think about. Most of the contestants posted their reviews on Goodreads as well as Amazon.
Was I honest? Yes. I had expected at least 100 entrants and got only 18. I completed the contest anyway. Winners were drawn from a hat (in this case, a baseball cap).
The most valuable lesson was this: Target your book to the audience that will like it. Because The Transition Witness is visionary fiction (see the videos on my author page), readers with very traditional religious beliefs may not like it. The ones who loved it call themselves "lightworkers" or "spiritual." By holding a contest, I got reviews from people who read it not because it fit their interests, but because they wanted to enter the contest.
Conclusion: If I could find a way to reach a large target audience of visionary fiction fans, I would do it again for a book launch, even at a cost of $9 per review.
More than 250 people viewed my posts about the contest. Eighteen people qualified by reviewing The Transition Witness on Amazon.
The winners are (using their Amazon reviewer names):
-1st place, Kindle Fire HD or $130 Amazon gift card – Rachel B.
-2nd place, Bluetooth Keyboard or $30 amazon gift card – Gloria Piper
-3rd place, signed copy of the book – Melissa Mazzur
First, was it worth it from a financial point of view? Since I own a business (see ZerodraftUSA.com), I can't help but analyze everything based on return on investment. From a strict business point of view, it was not productive to spend $9 per review.
Second, was it worth it for exposure? Definitely. Every reader is precious to me. As an unexpected extra, three of the reviewers were book bloggers and also wrote about The Transition Witness on their blogs.
Third, was it worth it for the feedback? Absolutely. I wanted to know if the story is touching people's hearts. Do the characters have enough depth? Is there too much introspection between the action? I needed that feedback before writing the second book in the series.
Fourth, was it worth it for the ratings? The contest entrants' ratings averaged 4.4. My star rating is higher from reviewers who were not contestants. I think that's because Goodreads members are aficionados and have a higher standard for the books they read. In other words, they're a tough audience. But as you know, some of the bestselling books today have an average three-star rating, so it's not the number of stars, but the total number of ratings that helps sell books.
Were the reviews honest? Probably. I announced the contest through Goodreads because here, you have a reputation to uphold and a peer group to think about. Most of the contestants posted their reviews on Goodreads as well as Amazon.
Was I honest? Yes. I had expected at least 100 entrants and got only 18. I completed the contest anyway. Winners were drawn from a hat (in this case, a baseball cap).
The most valuable lesson was this: Target your book to the audience that will like it. Because The Transition Witness is visionary fiction (see the videos on my author page), readers with very traditional religious beliefs may not like it. The ones who loved it call themselves "lightworkers" or "spiritual." By holding a contest, I got reviews from people who read it not because it fit their interests, but because they wanted to enter the contest.
Conclusion: If I could find a way to reach a large target audience of visionary fiction fans, I would do it again for a book launch, even at a cost of $9 per review.
