Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Goodreads Giveaways

Jennifer is running a giveaway... I’m running a Goodreads giveaway for my new book, Miriam’s Surrender. You have to have print copies in order to do it (seems a bit dinosaur-ish) and mine arrived last week. I ran one for one of my other books, Skin Deep. The good thing about the contests is that they draw a lot of attention to your books. I always get more than 100 people who add it to their TBR lists. But like most mass promo things, I think there are people who troll the sites looking for ways to get free stuff. The same thing happens with the blog tours in which I partake. Because Goddess Fish runs giveaways with them, there are people who follow the tour just to get the gift card or the free books. I’ve even seen the same people comment this time around as the last time I took part in a blog tour, and some of those people comment at every stop (makes me wonder what they do in real life, since that has got to take a lot of time). But despite this, I really believe they’re good things to do. They get my name out there, and my books. It’s like that old shampoo commercial, “You tell two friends and they tell two friends and they tell two friends…” and pretty soon there are a lot of people hearing about your book. I do get people reading and reviewing. And I do see sales spikes. Do I think all 164 people are going to buy my book? No. But I’m hopeful that the added exposure will allow people who normally wouldn’t see my book to see it. And read it. And buy others.

8 comments:

  1. Must admit I've stayed away from Goodreads after I heard of several people being 'attacked' by trolls there (plus I don't find it a very user-friendly site anyway). But good luck with your giveaway!

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  2. I think you have to be much more interactive than I am there, so I haven't had a problem. And there are a lot of readers there.

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    1. I've not had any problems either, but hearing about others put me off. However, I had a quick visit there this evening - and found two great reviews for Irish Inheritance that hadn't also appeared on Amazon! Maybe I should check the site more often LOL!

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    2. Congratulations! And personally, I think wise usage of any social media prevents a lot of the problems that people talk about. But that's just my opinion.

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  3. Jen, I know what you mean about those 'prize-hounds' who follow tours, etc. on the net just looking for freebies. However, I also agree about the shampoo commercial thing...it's all about getting your name out there. Word of mouth is huge.

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    1. Yep. And they're people I wouldn't have connected with otherwise.

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  4. I joined Goodreads but have not spend any time there. In time. When time. Need more time.

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