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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
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Sandy wrote: "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?..."You can get free Kindle apps for your smartphone or PC.
I have won approximately fifteen books through Goodreads giveaways. Some of them were pretty great. I like a lot of different book genres, so I enter any of them that look like they might be good. I go to the giveaways page and enter as many as I can. I try to enter the ones that have multiple copies available, instead of just one copy. That way, my odds of winning go up. I have also won several ebooks through Goodreads giveaways. I love Goodreads and their giveaways!
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 agree too. It is a time consuming process because one has to start all over again after each give away.
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 open the giveaway(s) I want to look at more closely in a new tab just for this reason.
Rachyl wrote: "I noticed there is not a "short stories" genre category to search by. I think that would be one that you should look into adding."I agree with Rachyl about having Short Stories as a genre added.
I love your site. It's a great way to keep a running list of titles that I have read. I read all forms of books including hardback, paperback, large print, audiobook, and kindle. Is there any way to list all forms of the title together? I guesstimate the percentage I have read when it is a kindle book or a large print copy because I don't want to scroll through all books by an author until I reach the form of the book I am reading or listening to. This would be extremely helpful to me, and, I am sure to others as well.
Thanks for the tips Goodreads. I have won some really great books and than not so great. Thanks for the emails I get about books I want to read when there are giveaways for them. My TBR list has both books I do have and a lot I do not have. So I appreciate the emails.
None of these are hacks, since they don't actually help you win. You'd think probability would be on my side, since I enter every.single.one. that enters my inbox. But keep entering, I will.
I've been entering giveaways for a couple of years too and haven't won. I usually write reviews for books I've read.
This is a sad and in surprising thread for me. I know we're book lovers and that's what I love about GR, meeting new friends, learning about and discussing books if all kinds, and learning about the lives and dreams of people I've come to care about.I enter giveaways, and I've won a few. I'm thrilled and excited and take the responsibility of being a winner seriously for the authors and the publishers who are asking for help in the bookselling business.
I'm really saddened to read on here the ways to beat the system by doing things such as entering every giveaway. I do enter quite a few in honesty, but there are many I stay completely away. I figure there are thousands of us that want each book and why should I ask for a book that is only intriguing to me when there are others who really want the same one?
Good luck with your giveaways! :-)
Kim. E. wrote: "This is a sad and in surprising thread for me. I know we're book lovers and that's what I love about GR, meeting new friends, learning about and discussing books if all kinds, and learning about th..."I feel this way too. I know in previous posts I've stated how many books I've won and giveaways I've entered but I definitely don't enter every one just to win. And, like you, suggest that people only enter for those books they're actually interested in. I would much rather know that a book went to someone that truly wanted it than see it sitting on my shelf knowing I'll never read it.
Kim. E. wrote: "This is a sad and in surprising thread for me. I know we're book lovers and that's what I love about GR, meeting new friends, learning about and discussing books if all kinds, and learning about th..."I used to enter every single one. Five years ago. Ain't nobody got time for that. I only enter ones I'm interested in now.
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..."Agree! This would be an excellent improvement.
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..."Keep entering, Amber, because you really can win. I won a couple of weeks ago.
Jennifer wrote: "Kim. E. wrote: "This is a sad and in surprising thread for me. I know we're book lovers and that's what I love about GR, meeting new friends, learning about and discussing books if all kinds, and l..."I do enter the giveaways for books that interest me & that are on my "want to read shelf." That's why I get the notifications of the giveaways sent to my email. I just wish that I could win one!
T.L. wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "T.L. wrote: "Amber wrote: "I enter these but never win. would love to win one of the giveaways I enter for on here."Hi Amber- I just joined goodreads and am excited to learn all ..."
There are many authors who will put in their biography notes to message them if they want a free ebook version. I don't see what the big deal is for what you did.
I only enter the giveaways for the books I am interested in. It is a great way to find new authors if you do happen to win. But even if I do not win, if the book really interests me I will end up finding a copy of it to read. I also love the discussions and all of the new friends I have made on here that love the same kinds of books I do. Happy Reading everyone!
Shelby wrote: "I've never been notified when books on my shelves are listed for giveaways! I always have to search for them myself."do you have them listed as “want to read”?
Have any of you considered LibrartThing? They have a list of books in many formats on a monthly basis. You register for what interests you and typically at the end of the month you have a good chance of winning one. They do want reviews in exchange. If you do that then you have a good chance the next month, and so on. It is free.Another place is First to Read. Again free. It's run by one of the publishers and is a way to start buzz. These you get electronically.
How good it was to receive my giveaway - Because I was Lonely - thoroughly enjoyed it thank you - fingers crossed for some more please.
Rachyl wrote: "I noticed there is not a "short stories" genre category to search by. I think that would be one that you should look into adding."Ditto
Gene wrote: "Goodreads has a Giveaways? How long did you think you could keep this from me???"I didn't know as well! Figured it out two months ago. I'm still trying to catch up!
Jmh
Happy to hear about the Kindle option on the Goodreads giveaways! I love reading both print and kindle editions and hope to have some success in the future. I've been entering since I first joined Goodreads but have never won any of them.I love the chance to read favorite authors, current bestsellers and new up and coming authors!
Not sure I already asked/read about this, but is there a way to filter giveaways by the language the book was written in?I'd love to be able to selectively search e.g. for German books instead of stumbling upon them only occasionally (found some really good stuff that way).
Elke wrote: "Not sure I already asked/read about this, but is there a way to filter giveaways by the language the book was written in?I'd love to be able to selectively search e.g. for German books instead of..."
No, unfortunately there isn't. Yet?
Harini...I also have at least 3 books I have never received and I even marked never received and I hear nothing back on them. I have complained too but that usually does not work either. One child's book I won the artist for the book saw my complaint and apologized and sent me a copy. But another time I complained and got a response they said they would check with the author to see if I could still get a copy and than never heard back. So now I do not even waste my time complaining.
The give away books should not be in kindle format only. Im from nigeria so i prefer ebooks as waiting for printed editions may be frustrating. How about uploading the free books in say epub format on the goodreads site without having to open an Amazon account just to get the books?
Gail and Harini please email us at support (at) goodreads (dot) com about those books you haven't received – we'd be happy to look into this!Andrea wrote: "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?"
You'll need to connect your Amazon and Goodreads accounts, which you can do via your app settings when viewing Goodreads on the desktop site. Scroll down to the Amazon heading to link the two.
Sandy wrote: "Is it possible for the eBooks be offered in a universal form for those us that don't own Kindles?"
We don't have plans to offer these books in a different format at present. But don’t worry – you can still enter Kindle giveaways if you don’t have a Kindle e-reader. You can read ebooks you win using the free Kindle iOS app, the free Kindle Android app, or in a web browser using the free Kindle Cloud Reader.
Thanks for all the great comments on this blog post! If you have any outstanding questions on giveaways please feel welcome to reach out to us at support (at) goodreads (dot) com.
In the meantime, I made my own suggestion a reality:I made a script that can scan your shelves and then auto scan for giveaways by the authors on your shelves.
It does require some tech ability - you need to install a chrome plugin like tampermonky, and the best feature requires a goodreads developer api key (they're free). If those 2 things scare you, it's probably not for you.
https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/317...
I have won six books this summer! It's very exciting! I say to anyone that hasn't won yet, to hang in there. Sign up for any book you might be interested in reading. Also, always add the book to your "want to read" shelf. Then, you will be notified when there is another giveaway for that book. Most books have multiple giveaways!
I only enter give-aways of books I would really like to win. Plus, I only enter if I know that I will have the time to review. Since 2013, I have won three books. As for my own books, I have had mixed reactions. As a group, IS readers have been the most consistent reviewers.
I see that many people say add only the books you are really interested in and plan on reading. I agree that when you enter a giveaway, the outcome should be that you read the book and give an honest review. Authors and publishers count on this to get the buzz out there for their books. One other perspective on how many to enter is to enter for books you MAY be interested in reading. My feelings on this are that it will expand your horizons on different genres, writing styles, and authors. You will most likely approach reading this book unbiased, since you may not have chosen this book to purchase. Perhaps, it will help you give a honest, thoughtful review. Maybe it's just the elementary teacher in me, I try to get my students to read everything they can. Thank you Goodreads!
Donna wrote: "Back before it was totally random, I won 3-4 books a year, but in the past three years, I've won one drawing."Same here. At first I won 3-4 books a year...then it stopped and I haven't gotten any books in a very long time. Recently I noticed that the terms have changed and now Goodreads says that winners are randomly drawn. So rating and reviewing everything you read (which I do) no longer helps you get free books. Obviously, I liked the old way better, when readers who actually wrote reviews had a slight advantage
.
It's definitely worth entering the giveaways. I have won 4 books this year and I just signed up for Goodreads in February. Its all luck.
Shelby wrote: "I've never been notified when books on my shelves are listed for giveaways! I always have to search for them myself."They send the notifications by email.
Angela wrote: "Shelby wrote: "I've never been notified when books on my shelves are listed for giveaways! I always have to search for them myself."I get emails every time one of the books I've shelved is availa..."
As do I. If I have marked it as 'Want To Read' I get an email saying it's available as a giveaway. Sometimes I have multiple emails from Goodreads in a day. Check settings.
A Man Called OveSmall Great Things
Born A Crime
I did a quick look over to all of the comments on this post I don't think I'm asking something someone else has already asked and answer so I'm sorry in advance if I missed it I was wondering if anyone knew how to change the shelf the giveaways go to after your entry so instead of my want to read list I can put it on my maybe list
Rachyl wrote: "I noticed there is not a "short stories" genre category to search by. I think that would be one that you should look into adding."This is not a default setting. You need to set it up. (1) Click on the icon to the far right at the top of the page - (2) Go to Account Settings - (3) at the top hit Email - (4) scroll down and check the appropriate box.
Again, Amazon owns Kindle and Goodreads so it makes sense that they would only use their own platform. Licensing and such as well.