What's the etiquette on giving samples?

[Lee]

Hi. I was wondering what the etiquette was on giving away free samples. I'd like to give away fifty or a hundred copies of a short novel I have.

Is it okay to go into specific forums and mention I'm doing that, or is there an established manner in which it should take place?

[rivka]

Is this an ebook or dead-tree book?

[Lee]

Oh, yes. I knew I was missing something important haha.

It is most certainly not made from the mulch of a once-living thing. As much as I like living things in general. So yeah, ebook.

EDIT: You know what, I think i'm still vague. In essence, I had hoped it was fine to give away, say, 50 copies of a piece I've published with coupons from Smashwords.

I've seen people doing it, but is it officially kosher, is there an established manner in which to do so?

[rivka]

If it were a once-living-mulch book, I'd suggest using our giveaway program. It's not yet set up for ebooks, so that won't be an option for you.

I don't think we have any established protocol for giving away ebooks, but many authors here have successfully used their GR blog to let users know about such giveaways. I see you import an external blog feed, so you could either post it on the external blog and let it import, or if you wanted it to be GR-only, you can manually add a blog post on GR.

[Lee]

Great. Thank you very much.

[Ted]

Hi Carroll. If you've had no reply within 30 days of sending your work then I'd email/contact reviewer and ask for a firm date for interview/review so you can help promote the upcoming review/interview.

If you don't receive a reply, try again. If you don't receive a reply on the third attempt then I'd go ahead and write about the reviewer/blogger.

Use your emails to backup your story.

There are people in this world who will act as reviewers in order to get a copy they can then sell themselves.

I haven't sent a book out for review. I just wait until a reader offers one.

[Gwendolyn]

Carroll;

I'm an editor and author, so I read a fair number of ARC's every year for agents and publishers. It's easy to get behind on comments & corrections when I'm also on dead-line for not only clients but also my own work.

And based on my own experience with reviewers, I know how back-logged they can get.

Ted's given good advice, but I would have to caution that unless there was an agreed upon deadline, it may simply be a matter that the reviewer reads and reviews in the order in which the books are received, and you are somewhere in the queue.

Be polite with your inquiry. Reviewers are a relatively close community, and the last thing you want is to become known as that demanding, pain-in-the-derriere author.

After all, a free review is a free review, and in these days when we [authors] are pulling most of the marketing weight ourselves, good reviews and favourable interviews are, as the saying goes, better than cash money.

[Carol]

Right on Gwendolyn. Reviews are so welcoming. I get as big a kick out of a good review as I do from a book sale.