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Goodreads Hack: Your Guide to Book Giveaways
Here's a question for you: Do you like books? Well, of course you do. Here's a followup question: Do you like FREE books? OK, I think you'll see where we're headed with this.
Every year Goodreads readers win thousands of free books through our popular Giveaways program. In fact, more than 400,000 books were given away last year alone. Publishers and authors offer the giveaways to build buzz for their books. Not only do you have the chance to win a free book, but many of the books are months away from publication so you'll be one of the first readers to discover and review them.
Insider Tips for Giveaways:
New Kindle giveaways:
We have good news for everyone who loves to read Kindle books. Our Kindle ebook giveaways program is rolling out of beta and more publishers are being added, which means you can enter for the chance to win even more books. Another perk? You'll get the Kindle books right away instead of waiting up to six weeks for a physical copy of the book. You just need to make sure your Goodreads account is linked to your Amazon account so you'll get the book. You can do that here.
Choose either print, Kindle ebooks, or both:
When you're on the giveaways page, you can specifically filter for Kindle or print books at the top of the page.
Find out about giveaways for books on your Want to Read shelf:
We'll let you know when there’s a giveaway running for a book you have on your Want to Read shelf—it’s another reason to keep updating your shelf with new and noteworthy books as you hear about them.
Filter to find your perfect book:
You can browse book giveaways by most requested, popular authors, recently listed, or ending soon. You can also search for giveaways by your favorite genres. So, go right ahead and search for books ranging from science fiction novels to the latest memoirs.
Ready to try your luck with a Goodreads giveaway? See which books tempt you here. Want some suggestions? How about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, The Electric Michelangelo (P.S.), Finding Claire Fletcher, A Column of Fire (The Pillars of the Earth #3), and The Revolution of Marina M.
Check out more recent blogs:
7 Great Books Hitting Shelves This Week
20 Years of Harry Potter: Goodreads Members on the Magic of J.K. Rowling's Books
Nina LaCour's Ultimate Pride Month Reading List
Every year Goodreads readers win thousands of free books through our popular Giveaways program. In fact, more than 400,000 books were given away last year alone. Publishers and authors offer the giveaways to build buzz for their books. Not only do you have the chance to win a free book, but many of the books are months away from publication so you'll be one of the first readers to discover and review them.
New Kindle giveaways:
We have good news for everyone who loves to read Kindle books. Our Kindle ebook giveaways program is rolling out of beta and more publishers are being added, which means you can enter for the chance to win even more books. Another perk? You'll get the Kindle books right away instead of waiting up to six weeks for a physical copy of the book. You just need to make sure your Goodreads account is linked to your Amazon account so you'll get the book. You can do that here.
Choose either print, Kindle ebooks, or both:
When you're on the giveaways page, you can specifically filter for Kindle or print books at the top of the page.
Find out about giveaways for books on your Want to Read shelf:
We'll let you know when there’s a giveaway running for a book you have on your Want to Read shelf—it’s another reason to keep updating your shelf with new and noteworthy books as you hear about them.
Filter to find your perfect book:
You can browse book giveaways by most requested, popular authors, recently listed, or ending soon. You can also search for giveaways by your favorite genres. So, go right ahead and search for books ranging from science fiction novels to the latest memoirs.
Ready to try your luck with a Goodreads giveaway? See which books tempt you here. Want some suggestions? How about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, The Electric Michelangelo (P.S.), Finding Claire Fletcher, A Column of Fire (The Pillars of the Earth #3), and The Revolution of Marina M.
Check out more recent blogs:
7 Great Books Hitting Shelves This Week
20 Years of Harry Potter: Goodreads Members on the Magic of J.K. Rowling's Books
Nina LaCour's Ultimate Pride Month Reading List
Comments Showing 101-150 of 193 (193 new)
Amber wrote: "I enter these but never win. would love to win one of the giveaways I enter for on here."One thing I have noticed is that the Kindle giveaways tend to be 100 copies given away with usually less than 500 people entering. Pretty good odds as compared to print books. Those are usually 5-10 copies given away with over 1,000 people entering.
I've been entering Kindle giveaways almost since they started and so far have won about 40 books. Of course, I tend to enter nearly every Kindle giveaway. My basic criteria is: If I wouldn't read it even if I won it, don't enter. Otherwise, knock yourself out.
Sarah wrote: "Ruthie wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I've been doing these things for about 4 years and still haven't won a giveaway."Agree with you and others - I always write reviews on GR and Amazon and never win - l..."
I've been on Goodreads for several years and had entered a handful of giveaways on a whim or from the emails from my tbr list. I actually won a book last year and didn't even know until it showed up in my mailbox.
Spurred on by the win, I've been entering for all the giveaways that look interesting to me (or my nieces and nephew) for each one expiring that day. I mean it, I enter every. single. day.
I've won about 50 books so far this year.
I did a little digging and this year alone, I've entered more than 3700 giveaways. That means there are days where I win nothing. Loads of those days. But there have also been days where I win more than one book at a time.
I think it comes down to how often you're entering and the odds.
I'm not diligent about logging hours on the site or even reviews. I don't even consider myself an avid reader. But I love books and I love getting free books in the mail. So, I will keep entering until my luck runs out.
Elyse wrote: "I've won 26 since 2012. All physical books. It's so exciting to win! It does help your "odds" if you write reviews for books you've read and not just rate them. And especially reviews for books y..."
Elyse wrote: "I've won 26 since 2012. All physical books. It's so exciting to win!
It does help your "odds" if you write reviews for books you've read and not just rate them. And especially reviews for books y..."
This was a great tip. I've been entering giveaways off and on for forever with zero luck. Went through the list last night and only entered for books with 25 or more copies, won 3 giveaways. Thanks!
I don't think "hack" means what you think it means. Just describing how the system works is not a hack.The giveaways are a nice feature, though. I've won a few and enjoyed the whole process from receiving to reading to reviewing.
Amanda wrote: "I often wished there was a way to go back to your previous page after entering a giveaway. For example, if you are looking at all of the memoirs and enter a giveaway for one, it would be nice to go..."I did a right click "open in another tab" option on the link. This opens the giveaway in another tab where you can enter the info and then just close that tab. It's especially helpful if there are several giveaways you want to enter, just right click and open in another tab on each of the links, then click on each individual tab; you never lose your original page and can enter giveaways to your hearts content.
Is the notification (of books on ones shelves being in giveaways) automatic or do I need to select it somehow? And if so, how/where?
I agree. I would love to give away my Kindle ebooks. That would eliminate the trips to the Post Office, and winners would get my giveaways much sooner!
Sid wrote: "Considering that it's Kindle, something accessible electronically, does this mean that giveaways will not be restricted solely to the US? I understand that, for print versions, it's a lot more diff..."I agree. I see no kindle books available in my region, but why should region matter?
I have some tips:I look for books
1. Offered only in few countries,
2. where multiple copies are being offered, and
3. not too many people have requested.
This way, I usually have more success in winning giveaways.
Annaki wrote: "Is the notification (of books on ones shelves being in giveaways) automatic or do I need to select it somehow? And if so, how/where?"You can select notifications preferences by clicking your avatar in the upper right hand corner, then clicking account settings toward the bottom of the list. There is an email tab, click that and change your preferences to suit your needs.
Elyse wrote: "Olivia "Don't Blame Me I Voted for Hillary" wrote: "There's one more question/complaint I have regarding giveaways: Why are some giveaways for GB (or some other country outside the US) only? You'd ..."Elyse is exactly right. You are not entitled to eligibility. It says right on every giveaway you enter that Goodreads doesn't host them. The costs for shipping something overseas is much greater than shipping domestic. As it stands I think Americans have many more giveaways open to us many other countries. I think we're lucky to already have so many options to choose from so I don't complain about the ones that weren't offered to me.
I've entered 273 giveaways in the 8 years that I've been a Goodreads member and I haven't won a single giveaway. Are there things I can do to increase my chances of winning a book, other than looking for kindle and print editions? It seems like some people have won several books while others like me haven't won any. Thanks!
I have never won in all the years I've been a member (I started entering drawings right away). I get the emails and enter the drawings just because it's there. But as soon as I enter I forget about it. It's not going to happen. Not after all this time. And honestly, I've stopped caring. I can find plenty of books extremely cheap on ebay, or just go to the library.Congrats to all who have won, though! :)
Melissa wrote: "I've entered 273 giveaways in the 8 years that I've been a Goodreads member and I haven't won a single giveaway. Are there things I can do to increase my chances of winning a book, other than looki..."273 giveaways in 8 years is very small. If you want to win, enter every giveaway, especially ones with 25 or 50 copies available. Or obscure ones where less than 1000 have entered. It's random but the more you enter, the higher your chances are to win!
Elyse wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I've entered 273 giveaways in the 8 years that I've been a Goodreads member and I haven't won a single giveaway. Are there things I can do to increase my chances of winning a book, ..."Good to know, thank you!
McKenzie wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I often wished there was a way to go back to your previous page after entering a giveaway. For example, if you are looking at all of the memoirs and enter a giveaway for one, it woul..."Jamie wrote: "I always wish that we got a notification on Goodreads when we win a book. I only add giveaway books to any of my shelves once I've won them, so that my shelves don't fill up with books I don't have..."
I have been doing this for a few years and have won lots of books and have always been notified when I win. I love this site you get so many opportunities to try all sorts of different books.
Love the giveaway feature! I've won several total. I used to be able to search all kinds of genres, but now I've noticed there's no 'more' link to click on under 'Browse by Genre' and there's only a set number of genres to look under. I wish I could search under all the genres they used to have.
I also think it would be nice if users could type in a specific author's name to see if there's giveaways for their books, instead of just 'popular authors' and having to wade through pages and pages, searching for your favorite authors.
katwiththehat wrote: "Kind of surprised there are so few Kindle books available. I would think that would be cheaper than sending out print books. Maybe there's something I'm missing."Yes there is (something you're missing)! Setting up print book giveaways costs nothing. There's a $119 fee to set up an ebook giveaway. Go figure.
David wrote: "Yes there is (something you're missing)! Setting up print book giveaways costs nothing. There's a $119 fee to set up an ebook giveaway. Go figure. "It's actually a relief to hear that there's something of a barrier to entry for ebook giveaways. If they were free and easy to set up, the whole category would fill up with low-quality promotional short stories and flat-out spam.
Amanda wrote: "I often wished there was a way to go back to your previous page after entering a giveaway. For example, if you are looking at all of the memoirs and enter a giveaway for one, it would be nice to go..."You can do this by right-clicking your browser's back button and choosing the page you want to view. I do this all the time!
Hi Goodreads team,I have had very good support from Goodreads team in delivering me the books I have won from giveaways, however most of the time I keep getting notification stating that my address is incomplete but I find my complete address displayed while enrolling for giveaway books.Also would suggest the team to include contact number field added as most of the shipping needs a contact number.
I have won 117 books since I joined Goodreads, I think it's probably because I tend to enter GB giveaways only.A lot of publishers can only list giveaways for certain countries due to publishing rights. 90% of the books I've won have been GB only, so it definitely ups your chances if you enter giveaways with less entries.
That said, I've only reviewed 70% of the books I have received so far with an average rating of 3 stars, so I don't think that has any bearing. I think it is completely random.
Donna wrote: "It's actually a relief to hear that there's something of a barrier to entry for ebook giveaways. If they were free and easy to set up, the whole category would fill up with low-quality promotional short stories and flat-out spam. ."Can't disagree with you. I just wish that the entry bar for shoestring indie authors like me had been set just a little lower.
I can get 20 books printed by a local PoD publisher for half of that...
I have won 3 giveaways so far in the last 3 years. 2 books arrived fine, 1 (the most recent win) not here after months. This despite me letting the sender know. I got an email saying I'd won and I checked the book page just to check I was listed as a winner and I am. Generally, how the system works is good.
Wish there were more giveaways listed for countries outside of US/ UK. I divide my time between the UK and Spain. Also, I often find there are many US giveaways for books that I cannot enter to win because of not being in the US.....very disappointing. I'm happy with the email notifications. I'd love to be able to get books delivered to me when I am in Spain. A good feature to have on the site would be the ability to have the book delivered to you in any country regardless of the countries listed for the giveaway. Also, giveaways should be global always and not limited to certain countries.
Authors should be able to ship globally to give more people the opportunity to win books wherever they happen to be in the world. More variety of books for non-US giveaways would be great, too. The ideal situation would br to have all books (including all US giveaways) listed as global giveaways
Whenever I select the option of 'Kindle giveaways' in the Giveaways section, it gives the message that there are no active book giveaways. I love reading books on my Kindle and would be really happy if there are books in the Kindle Giveaways section too...
McKenzie wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I often wished there was a way to go back to your previous page after entering a giveaway. For example, if you are looking at all of the memoirs and enter a giveaway for one, it woul..."What you can do is just right click on the 'Enter Giveaway' button and open the link in a new tab. That way you won't have to return back and search for the book you were on
Jennifer wrote: "Annaki wrote: "Is the notification (of books on ones shelves being in giveaways) automatic or do I need to select it somehow? And if so, how/where?"You can select notifications preferences by cli..."
Thank you! :)
Amanda wrote: "I often wished there was a way to go back to your previous page after entering a giveaway. For example, if you are looking at all of the memoirs and enter a giveaway for one, it would be nice to go..."Not sure if anyone has said this yet but, just open the giveaway in a new tab, that's what I do. This way I don't lose my spot. Though I agree it'd be nice to go back, too.
Just wanna say thanks to Goodreads for this service I have won a good number of books over the last 4 yrs and greatly appreciate it.
Ashish wrote: "Whenever I select the option of 'Kindle giveaways' in the Giveaways section, it gives the message that there are no active book giveaways. I love reading books on my Kindle and would be really happ..."They recently added Amazon Kindle books to the giveaways. There are fewer by far, but at least they now offer them. :)
Len wrote in message 135: "Just wanna say thanks to Goodreads for this service I have won a good number of books over the last 4 yrs and greatly appreciate it."You are most welcome, Len! 😊
Mahesh wrote in message 126: "I have had very good support from Goodreads team in delivering me the books I have won from giveaways, however most of the time I keep getting notification stating that my addre..."
We've chosen not to include a telephone number field to protect the giveaway winner's privacy. That said, I'll pass your feedback on to our developers.
Sue wrote in message 125: "i did win one book but i never received it"
Hi Sue, feel free to write in to our Support team about this. We may be able to help!
Katherine wrote: "Authors should be able to ship globally to give more people the opportunity to win books wherever they happen to be in the world. More variety of books for non-US giveaways would be great, too. The..."You want to foot the costs for that? It's not going to happen.
C wrote: "I've been doing them for several months and have won like seven times, some kindle but mostly paperback. Love these!"I've been doing this for YEARS and have only won once. What's your secret?
Sharah wrote: "I've been on Goodreads for 2.5 years now and have won about 140 books so far. I try and read and review them as quickly as I can but I have gotten a bit behind now as I'm reading other books as wel..."How is this possible? I've entered SO many giveaways and only won ONCE over the many years I've been entering. Some people posting here have won many times, some never. I don't get it.
Katherine wrote: "Authors should be able to ship globally to give more people the opportunity to win books wherever they happen to be in the world. More variety of books for non-US giveaways would be great, too. The..."Will never happen. First, there is cost to the author (or publisher), either out-of-pocket or against their marketing allowance. They're already giving away work for free and don't make that much anymore anyway because people are too cheap and greedy to pay for books. Second, there are licensing restrictions on e-books by country. Third, there are a handful of countries that restrict content. Not many, but enough to cause problems for both sender and recipient.
I'm wondering how long it is going to take before publishers (and writers) realize that giving books away for free hundreds at a time just makes people expect free books all the time. People seldom value anything they get for free expect the bragging rights of having gotten something from someone for free.
Reading this thread has convinced me to stop entering the few giveaways I do, even if I really want the book and know I would read it (and review) immediately. I hadn't realized before how insulting it must be to writers to have the public constantly demand content but essentially say their time and talent isn't worth compensation.
Amber wrote: "I enter these but never win. would love to win one of the giveaways I enter for on here. I write reviews on goodreads of books I've read and write a review of the books I get for reads for review r..."Try increasing the number of books you enter and make sure you do the drawings atleast a few times a week, the giveaways actually have helped me expand past my go to genres and I've recieved some amazing books I wouldn't have tried. I've won 14 books since Febuary.
Always enter but never win and now I know why. I'm not big on giving book reviews but if I were to win I would definitely give one. Maybe I'll try writing more reviews and see if I'd win then.
Michelle wrote: "Always enter but never win and now I know why. I'm not big on giving book reviews but if I were to win I would definitely give one. Maybe I'll try writing more reviews and see if I'd win then."They've since said that it's really just random and the more you enter, the higher your chances of winning. It now doesn't have anything (supposedly) to do with activity or reviews. But reviews ARE helpful in a general sense.
I enter only the books I'm really interested in, which probably means my ratio is always going to be low. I'm reviewing more this year. Still haven't won a thing.
Elyse wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Always enter but never win and now I know why. I'm not big on giving book reviews but if I were to win I would definitely give one. Maybe I'll try writing more reviews and see if I..."Thanks for informing me. I've been entering giveaways more than ever lately and also trying to enter in ones that offer more copies, still no luck yet but I'm determined.
Michelle wrote: "Elyse wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Always enter but never win and now I know why. I'm not big on giving book reviews but if I were to win I would definitely give one. Maybe I'll try writing more review..."It'll happen. Stick with it!
One tip I have is entering giveaways towards the end of the month. I have found that ALOT of giveaways will end the last day of a month and that gives you better chances. For example, The last day of June I won 4 giveaways! 3 were kindle and 1 print. That is the only time I have ever one more than one giveaway in a day. I know it is possible to win multiple kindle books but has anyone won multiple print books in one day?
Leanne wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I've been doing these things for about 4 years and still haven't won a giveaway."I haven't either!"
Me neither :(
I too have been a member for 4 YEARS and have won nothing!!
Courtney wrote: "One tip I have is entering giveaways towards the end of the month. I have found that ALOT of giveaways will end the last day of a month and that gives you better chances. For example, The last day ..."I have won 2 print books one one day 3 times this year. None of them were the last day of the month.
I followed the link to connect my Kindle to ny goodreads account but i found nowhere in tge settings a way to do so. Where do i have to go?
Many thanks for your giveaways. I have won a few books, enjoyed them and passed them on so my friends will follow these authors. The new Kindle ones also sound wonderful but what about Nook owners? Is it possible for the eBooks be offered in a universal form for those us that don't own Kindles?
That's why I right-click on the book I want to take a closer look at. I also right-click on the "enter giveaway" button. It opens another tab in your browser or another window. And when you've finished this side trip, you can close it and be exactly where you were before in the giveaway list.