Tips for Self Promotion, Sales, and Advertising discussion
Self Promotion Tips
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Would you consider it spam?
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I tend to think that announcing giveaway at random would annoy readers and might alienate them. But if you stick to the topics of groups that talked about giveaways or groups that are looking for giveaways I guess that's okay. It would be better if you announce the book giveaway in your profile only for now and attract interests to your profile by making thoughtful and good comments about books in groups that you are member of. That how I got fifteen people to go on my to read list of my book.
You can check out my profile and see if that look good to use as a guide or not.
But it is your decision to do that or not. Good luck with your work. :)
I would not mind getting an email offering a book discount from the author whose book I tried to win and didn't. The only problem that could arise from that is: some people enter only to win, not to buy. I do not think this would bring a lot of sales, but you never know. I would like to know if it worked. If you offer a special discount coupon, you will be able to track it.
I do not think this would be SPAM.
Mod
I've known authors who have emailed every entrant. Personally, I only emailed the winners to congratulate and collect mailing info.
The list is there, so it is tempting. Better perhaps to thank everyone, if so inclined and slip a link to "find out more about a discount" into a signature... not that we are supposed to use sig files on GR, but you could in a private email.
Then, you're offering, but not offering.
Rowena wrote: "Gregory,I've known authors who have emailed every entrant. Personally, I only emailed the winners to congratulate and collect mailing info.
The list is there, so it is tempting. Better perhaps t..."
I think Rowena has a perfect advice here.
I would consider it spam, yes. Sorry, but you did ask :) My advice would be that you advertise your proposed discount on your Goodreads profile page, or in your blog/website, and let people decide.
I think that Rowena has to Great Idea in emailing the non-winers to tell them thank You and just include a link to your works that way if any of them had really wanted it they may go for it at that point and buy it.. Rowena wrote: "Gregory,
I've known authors who have emailed every entrant. Personally, I only emailed the winners to congratulate and collect mailing info.
The list is there, so it is tempting. Better perhaps t..."
How does one go about setting up a goodread giveaway????Gregory wrote: "I've got a Goodreads giveaway going on right now, and I'm staring at the list of people signing up and thinking... "Here's a pre-selected group of people who are at least on some level interested i..."
Thanks for the helpful comments everyone. I think the conclusion is that enough people would consider it annoying that I'll content myself with offering a discount on my author page. And I suppose Rowena's suggestion is a good way to lure them there. Coupled with an announcement on my page before the contest ends (thank you Patrick) that there will be a discount for people who entered. That should encourage people who are genuinely interested to check back. But question for Maria - would you consider the "thanks for entering" email to be spam?
To list a giveaway, click on Explore in the main menu, then choose Books. There are then some tabs that appear along the top of the page, and there you'll see "giveaways." Once you're in Giveaways click "list a giveaway" and they give you instructions. It's not exactly in your face, is it? As to whether it's worth it... well, over 600 people have at least clicked on the picture of my book. They say people need to see something six times before they are willing to buy it, so at least there are 600-odd people who have seen it at least once. I'll report back on whether I get a spike in purchases once it's over.
I have tried to find the 'giveaways' but with out success how do you do it...
Hi Gregory, I suppose if you were to word it well, then a 'thanks for entering' email might not be considered spam. If it looks too much like you're saying 'buy my book' then maybe it would be. There's a fine line. The main problem is, there are too many authors out there who send spam emails, so, even if your intentions are good, you could be seen as one of them if you're not careful. Personally, I don't mind authors sending me a recommendation to read their new book. If I like the idea of the book, I often put the books on my 'to read' list. I just don't like it when the author sends me a big advert telling me how great their book is and where it's available to buy and quoting reviews from obscure people. Obviously an author is going to like their own book, (I'd be worried about them if they didn't!) we just have to be careful that we don't lose potential readers by putting them off, sounding too desperate. Less is more in this case, I think. If the book is good it will speak for itself.
Yes Maria, I'm with you on that one. I tend not to get spam email on Goodreads, but the sheer numbers of authors posting naive "hey, buy my book" posts everywhere is a bit overwhelming. I just want to get people to read the synopsis and know that it exists, but it's hard - we all want to get the word out, but there's a lot of white noise making it hard to find a non-intrusive way to do it. I'm still on the fence about the email, but I guess I still have some time as my giveaway doesn't end until November. I don't do well with decision-making... This discussion has been really helpful though - thanks again everyone.
Gregory, I've entered the giveaway for your book, it sounds like just the sort of book I would like to read
Thanks Maria! Hey, if you don't win, I know where you can get a discount.... =)
So if you'll indulge me just a bit more, what would you think of receiving something like this email after the contest is over:"I am writing to thank you for having participated in the giveaway for Stunt Road. I'm sorry that you weren't among the five winners; however, if you ever decide you would like to purchase the book, please send me a message so I can show my appreciation with a 50% off discount code.
Kind regards, Gregory Mose"
It involves a lot of work sending out all the messages (over 1000 and counting!) but it seems to get around the issue of sig files while otherwise following Rowena's formula. Polite? Annoying? Thanks again. I'll go away soon. ;)
It does sound good.
I agree, it sounds good. Very polite and not too needy :)
Then I think we have a majority. How I'm gong to do this a thousand times is another question... THanks again everyone!!
Hi Gregory,I've been following this thread with great interest. Like you, I'm offering a giveaway and, like you, I debated whether to offer a discount to everyone who entered but didn't win. One the giveaway is over (on June 7), I will send a brief, polite message to everyone that entered, thanking them and letting them know, if they are interested, that there is a discount available to goodreads.com members only.
While some might, perhaps, view that strategy as spam, I believe there are many others who will appreciate the offer.
Time, I guess, will tell.
Good luck,
Mike
Hi Gregory,I'm also hosting a giveaway currently (through 6/4). I wanted to offer a discount to non-winners. I inquired with GoodReads admin. They told me the only way I could do this was to re-post my giveaway with the additional verbiage about the discount. I did that.
The agreement made when we signed up to do the giveaway states that we will not collect the names, nor will we email the people who've signed up, INCLUDING the winners with anything, ever (except to get details to send them the books they won). It says that if we violate this rule we will "never be invited over for cake again." :-)
I thought it was a great way to make the rules known. That said, I'm sure we can do what we want, but may be risking more than it will be worth.
I'm only posting this because it would be too bad if some authors were never invited back for cake by GoodReads because they didn't see the "rules". That said, everyone is free to break "rules" at their own discretion!
Hello,I am the Community Manager at Goodreads, and I wanted to let everyone in this thread know that messaging all or most of the entrants of a giveaway is not allowed. It is against the terms of the giveaway, and anyone who insists on doing it will risk having their author status revoked or potentially being banned from the giveaway program in the future.
We are aware that publishers and authors want to reach out to giveaway entrants, but we have found that when this has happened in the past, that it has not been popular with members of the site. We know that all of you are excited to promote your books, and that's great and we would love to help you with that, but please work within the approved parameters of the Goodreads Author Program. I'm afraid I have to insist that nobody message giveaway entrants in the manner described above.
I appreciate you being the one to lay down the law, Patrick! I didn't want to come off as the heavy on rules, but also didn't want to see anyone lose their ability to promote on this great site. The opportunity GoodReads is affording all of us is brilliant. Thank you!
No problem. We want everyone to be able to get the word out about their books, we just need to balance that with user's needs and desires, too.
Yes, indeed, thanks Patrick and Kimberley for looking into (and confirming) the giveaway rules. I'm sure they're posted on the site, but in my enthusiasm, it never really dawned on me to check out any applicable guidelines.Now we know,
Mike
Yes, thanks for clarifying this. Perhaps GR could consider adding a little note when people sign up for a giveaway reminding them to check the author's blog when the giveaway is over, because many authors like to offer discounts to people who enter but don't win. This would have the added advantages of encouraging more authors to do this (great for readers) and encouraging more readers to sign up for the giveaways (great for, well, everyone).
Gregory