Is it OK to approach giveaway entrants?

[Suzanne]

Hi all ... Question: I was reading an article that suggested it's a good idea to be in touch with folks who joined your giveaway, To follow them on GR, to send a thank you, and offer a few free chapters. Even perhaps to offer a sign up link for your ezine.

Is this okay on GR? I thought there were stringent rules around authors contacting readers?
Suzanne

[Eric]

I don't profess to be a GR expert, but from everything I've seen in this group, and more so in the genre group to which I belong, the writer making those suggestions has no idea what the rules of the game are.

My understanding is that the rules for giveaways are very simple: You make the offer, people sign up for a chance to win, someone wins, you "pay out" the prize of the free book, and then you and "your" entrants go your separate ways.

Under no circumstances does an author do any of those things at the time of or after a giveaway. I suspect such conduct could lead to the author being banned from GR.

Just my USD .02.

Eric

[Faith]

Eric is quite right. All of the suggested conduct would be considered spamming. In fact Goodreads no longer gives authors the names of the non winning entrants.

[Suzanne]

Thanks Faith and Eric ... It's incredible to me that people spin out 'advice' that flies in the face of the rules. Glad I checked. I think it's pretty dang cool that so many authors are around to help each other out! Gotta say ...

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

The giveaways themselves, the author guidelines and goodreads TOS all say "don't" (well, author guidelines are more gently worded).

Some of the giveaway entrants may choose to follow you on your author page. You still shouldn't message them directly but they could see any updates you post from your author page (think of it like any other social media page where you post out or tweet to anyone interested from your page only).

Feel free to explore and follow anyone you like -- particulalry if you have reading tastes in common, like reading their posts or reviews, etc.

TOS pretty clear about "no commercial use" and no unasked commercial contact (aka spam). Updates from your author page don't count as spam because readers choose to view or not (unlike messages and let's face it few people join sites to have another inbox to clean out).. An exception to "no commercial use" made for disclosed free review/arc copies without conditions--and goodreads allows groups/bookclubs to set their own rules about author participation and promotions.

The groups may be one of your few "in's" with contest entrants. Keeping in mind that some outright prohibit author posts, prohibit author promotions, restrict to certain threads, love to have, entire group set up for ... all sorts of variations (if in doubt, lurk to see how other authors are or aren't received and/or ask group moderators): possibly you could see an entrant participating on one of the group threads where readers/authors participate to get/give review copies. Again, be cautious that you know how that group wants to handle author participation and their whole read-for-review program.

Two huge annoyances for some readers -- (1) authors joining groups just to (plus interrupting their bookclubs and book discussions just to) promote, promote, promote ... and (2) authors "friending" them only to immediately soam the inboxes and their activities. Authors participating as fellow readers withiut promoting books they have a commercial interest in -- not a problem, Authors participating in groups (and where in groups) for that our pose, not a problem,

Occasionally, you might spot something about how to submit a book for review on someone's profile (not usually via the goodreads inbox but rather linking to their blog or external email).

ETA: From the author guidelines:

"...Don’t spam. Do not contact (via comments/messages/friend requests) all or most of the people who add your book or a related work. You should also avoid tactics like thanking everyone who has added your book. Do not send unwanted messages or friend requests. While well intentioned, these kinds of behaviors will result in people flagging you as a spammer, and we will have to take action..."

From the giveaways:

"...Please note that we do not require readers to post reviews, and we discourage authors from contacting winners other than sending a book to them. Contacting everyone who entered your giveaway will likely result in your being flagged as a spammer..." [emphasis mine ]