Help! - COMPLETE

[J.M.]

Hi all,

I've got this giveaway thing going on from tonight, but where can I advertise it? Do I wait until it's started before I put a thread up? Really confused! Is it right it starts at midnight (midnight where?).

I have to be honest I'm struggling to find my way around this massive site - I'm impressed I've managed to find this group. Blushes and scuttles away.

[M.G.]

Hi J.M.,

Moved your comment to the Giveaways thread, since that is your topic. Here in the GMGR group I suggest that you start a thread with the title of your book and the exact dates of your giveaway. I'm sure that the time it starts will depend on how you are going to give it away. (GoodReads? Amazon? Smashwords?) Your chosen channel should be able to tell you which time zone they use.

Good luck with your giveaway!

[J.M.]

J.M. wrote: "Hi all,

I've got this giveaway thing going on from tonight, but where can I advertise it? Do I wait until it's started before I put a thread up? Really confused! Is it right it starts at midnight ..."

Thanks, M.G. I've now found out that my giveaway has already started! So, here's the link:

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

It's only up for a couple of days, so be quick!

[Rebecca]

Got it! Glad you found your way to the group and the site! I suggest sharing on your social media (blog, FB, Twitter, whatever you do), and if you can get friends to share too, that can help. You have an eye-catching cover, which might help pick up some folks cruising the giveaway pages, but you really want to share. Check all your groups for appropriate places (author sections, "pimp your book" threads, etc.) to post in, and if there is no appropriate place, well, skip that one, because you do NOT want to be THAT author, the one who posts their ad on every thread (not that I think you would!).

You only have a couple of days (next time, consider running it for 2 weeks), so dedicate some time to getting the word out!

[J.M.]

Rebecca wrote: "Got it! Glad you found your way to the group and the site! I suggest sharing on your social media (blog, FB, Twitter, whatever you do), and if you can get friends to share too, that can help. You h..."

Hi Rebecca, thanks for the useful tips. I'm new to marketing stuff, so all tips are gratefully received. By the way, I have just looked at your Halitor book cover - it looks fantastic!

[Rebecca]

Thanks, JM! I'm still learning the process myself (does it ever stop?), and have been helped a lot by the generosity of others around here. I'm still experimenting with the best way to do a Giveaway; GR suggests giving out a lot of books at once, but I read a blog that suggested doing only one or two, but doing multiple giveaways. That made sense to me, since each time you do one you increase the exposure (and most of the exposure comes right when you post it, and on the last day when it moves to the first page or two of the lists).

The other thing I learned the hard way was that doing it internationally can be very expensive! On my next-to-last giveaway, I ended up sending I think two books to England, one to Canada and one to Australia, and the shipping cost over $50. Ouch! So I shifted to doing US only, but running a simultaneous e-book giveaway on my blog and advertising it as the option for my non-US fans (note the assumption that I have fans. Have to just go on faith!).

[Jemima]

Rebecca wrote: "The other thing I learned the hard way was that doing it internationally can be very expensive! On my next-to-last giveaway, I ended up sending I think two books to England, one to Canada and one to Australia, and the shipping cost over $50. Ouch! So I shifted to doing US "

Of course, some of us just have to pay the extortionate costs to get them to US addresses :)

[Rebecca]

It's not fair, is it Jemima? Because while I have to option of limiting to the US, it wouldn'tt work the other way.