goodreads Author Giveaway User Guide
- June 6, 2024
- goodreads
Table of Contents
goodreads Author Giveaway User Guide
GETTING STARTED
Goodreads Giveaways are an effective way to promote your book, as they generate interest among a large community of readers, causing them to add your book to their want-to-read shelf. Getting started is a breeze, and this guide will walk you through each step to ensure you’re up and running in no time!
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Visit www.goodreads.com, and log into your Goodreads Author account. If you are not yet a Goodreads Author, find out how at www.goodreads.com/author/program
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Navigate to the Giveaway creation page through the Goodreads Homepage or from your Author Dashboard (as shown below):
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List a Giveaway From Homepage
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Click ‘Browse’ from the top nav bar.
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Select ‘Giveaways’ from the drop-down menu.
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Click ‘List a Giveaway’ in the right sidebar.
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List a Giveaway From Author Dashboard
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Click your profile picture/button in the top right
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Select ‘ Author Dashboard’ from the drop-down menu
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Scroll down the page and select ‘List a Giveaway’ and then click ‘List a Giveaway’ on the right side of page.
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Choose the book format for your Giveaway → Print Book (for this guide)
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Choose the Giveaway package option → Standard ($119) or Premium ($599). Visit the Giveaways FAQ page for more information.
SETTING UP YOUR GIVEAWAY
In this section, we’ll cover each step of the Giveaway Details page, providing
helpful tips along the way to get you going as quickly as possible. Be sure to
click on the ? symbol next to each section if you need any further
clarification. Steps 5-15 (as marked in the image below) are explained
further here.
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Select the date for your Giveaway to begin.
Pro Tip: Make sure the start date is at least 3 days out from the current day, but no more than 6 months. For example, if today is Jan 1, the earliest start date is Jan 4 and the latest start date is July 1. -
Select the date for your Giveaway to end.
Pro Tip: Make sure the duration is a minimum of 7 days, and no longer than 30. We recommend 30 days to maximize exposure and entries. -
Select the release date for your book (regardless if it is pre or post launch).
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Provide your ISBN or ISBN13.
Pro Tip: ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. An ISBN is a 10- or 13- digit number that works as a unique identity number for a book.
The ISBN can usually be found in several places on a book: on the back cover by the barcode, inside the front cover, and on the copyright page. It can also be found on the (print) book page on Goodreads, under the “Get a copy” links below Book Details lower on the page. -
Choose where you’d like the winners to be eligible. Print book giveaways are open to U.S. and/or Canada residents.
Pro Tip: You can be anywhere so long as you can ship to U.S. and/or Canada – please keep in mind shipping costs when considering where you’d like to allow entrants and winners from. -
Determine how many copies of the book you’d like to give away (Between 1 and 100).
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Check the box if your book contains mature content. Leave it blank if not. ‘Mature’ includes sexually explicit content, excessive curse words, etc.
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Write a description of your Giveaway (book description will automatically populate on the Giveaway page).
Pro Tip: Descriptions are typically written in third person. You have 150 words to hook readers in on the page listing current Giveaways. Look at how readers are describing your book or similar books to see what piques their interest and consider including a brief excerpt. Special offers, such as a discount or BOGO if your book is part of a series, also gives readers who didn’t win the Giveaway a reason to pick it up at launch (must be a valid offer, promoting another giveaway is not permitted). You may also bundle additional items (i.e. swag) as long as all winners receive the same set of prizes. -
Choose the appropriate Primary and Secondary Genres for your book from the drop-down menus (both are required).
Pro Tip: Readers typically search for books by genre, so choose ones that have wide appeal and fit your book to maximize discoverability -
Provide your contact information (Name + Email address).
Pro Tip: This is only for internal purposes in the event Goodreads needs to contact your about your Giveaway. This information will not be shared publicly. -
Click ‘Next’ at the bottom
if you receive an error message, please review the corresponding ‘?’ button for more direction, or visit Goodreads Help for added info.
CONFIRMATION & PAYMENT
In this section, you’ll simply review the details of your Giveaway as you’ve entered them, and confirm that everything looks accurate before you submit payment.
- Review your Giveaway details, confirming everything looks accurate based on what you entered.
- Proceed to payment by clicking on the “Amazon Pay” button down lower on the page. Confirm your Amazon login details, and complete payment.
- At this point, your Giveaway setup is complete! Your Giveaway will be routed through the Goodreads approvals team. Once approved, you will receive a confirmation email of when your Giveaway will start.
Congratulations on setting up your Giveaway! The Goodreads community of readers loves the Giveaways program, regularly checking to see which books are available to win each and every day. We thank you for choosing Goodreads to promote your book!
DON’T FORGET!
PROMOTE YOUR GIVEAWAY
Be sure to promote your Giveaway on your website + social to maximize reach and engagement! Use the URL provided in the confirmation email (social), or the HTML code on your Giveaway page (website/blog) to share out!
EDIT IF NEEDED
If you need to make any edits to your Giveaway, click ‘Edit Giveaway’ on the right side of your Giveaway page. You can make edits any time up to the Giveaway launch date. Edits may require additional approval from Goodreads.
References
- Goodreads | Meet your next favorite book
- Goodreads | Meet your next favorite book
- The Goodreads Author Program
- Goodreads Help
- Goodreads Help
- Goodreads Help
- Upload and Preview Book Content