Book Blogger Giveaway

Successful Book Giveaways – Print and eBooks

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Reading

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Book giveaways
are a powerful way to get a lot of exposure – and your book in the hands of new readers, who might even write reviews.  The success of your book giveaway depends very much on how you promote this event – and also how you leverage the networking possibilities you gain with new followers and contacts.
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Print Book Giveaways on Goodreads
Goodreads now allows not only paperbacks but also e-books as Giveaways.  They offer all members: “Be the first to read new books!  Pre-release books are listed for giveaway by publishers and authors, and members can enter to win.  Winners are picked randomly at the end of the giveaway.”
As Goodreads belongs to Amazon, they are setting the rules and also send out the ebooks to the chosen readers.  The cost of listing a Kindle book giveaway is $119, which allows you to offer up to 100 Kindle ebooks.  Goodreads print book Giveaway campaigns are still free.
The idea is that many of the people who win a free book will write a review of it on Goodreads (some people are so enthusiastic that they write reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Shelfari etc). Reviews help book sales, so publishers and authors are keen to do giveaways.  However, if your book is in digital format only: there are ways to print a handful of books, once you have an ISBN.
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There are some competitors to Goodreads, who offer e-Book Giveaways for members, such as BookLikes and LibraryThing, and now even Amazon.com

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Offer e-Book Giveaways
In terms of features and functionality, both, BookLikes and LibraryThing are similar to Goodreads. Of course, they don’t have the user traffic that Goodreads or Amazon have, so you should not expect similar results if you have done a book giveaway on Goodreads in the past.  To list your book giveaway on BookLikes or LibraryThing, sign up for a free account and click on the giveaways link when you are logged in.  On the next page, there should be a tab at the top of the page in the main navigation that says “Create Your Giveaway.”  You will be asked for the same info as the other sites in the form on the following page.  Their rules seem to have been almost copied directly from Goodreads, as they appear to be identical.  For more questions go to their FAQ’s.
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Best of all, on LibraryThing you can choose to pick the winners of the giveaway yourself!  It is certainly less expensive than to donate print books and you can offer easily a dozen or more copies.  You can either send the winners a PDF or you can gift the e-book via Amazon and boost your sales ranking at the same time!
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Print and e-Book Giveaways Through Book Bloggers
Consider offering copies of your book to other bloggers you follow, or you have found through a Google search and have them host a giveaway. Book bloggers often really appreciate being able to do giveaways, and this can extend your reach outside of your previous networking!
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Don’t Forget: a Giveaway on Your Website
Your blog or website are great places too for giveaways, especially if you have thousands of followers / readers there or an extensive newsletter email list. Use the same announcements and promotions as you would do for a Goodreads, LibraryThing or BookLikes giveaway.  And you certainly can choose the winners yourself!
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9 Giveaway Tips for Authors:

  1. Enter your first giveaway 4-6 weeks before your book’s launch (as soon as you have the ISBN in case of a print book) and then periodically every other month.  Schedule your giveaway at least two weeks in advance.
  2. Write a compelling giveaway description with snippets of reviews and mentioning any awards the book won.
  3. Offer always autographed books for print versions.
  4. Follow everyone who applied for the giveaway.  On Goodreads you can follow 25 people/day.  These are the people who are interested in your book. Send a thank-you note to everyone who entered, and offer two or three chapters of your book to the not-so-lucky ones, and invite them to join your email newsletter.
  5. Use the free event-feature at Goodreads and Google+ and invite everyone there to participate in the Giveaway.
  6. Announce the giveaway at least once a day on your Google+ timeline, on Twitter, FB, LinkedIn, Pinterest and share it with: the public, your circles and extended circles – and additionally use the function “Also send email to Your circles” next to the sharing button (for your first post and then towards the end of the giveaway period to remind them).
  7. Post your giveaway article on your website or blog and regularly to all the Social Media sites, don’t forget Pinterest, Instagram or Flickr (use not only your cover photo, but anything that fits to the theme of your book), and maybe create even a short video about this giveaway.
  8. Make arrangements for interviews in local newspapers, mentioning your giveaway (plan well in advance, 2 – 3 months at least).
  9. Announce your Book Blog Giveaways in these listings / blogs too:

http://bookblogs.ning.com/group/bookbloggiveaways

http://cuddlebuggery.com/previous-lbba-giveaways/

http://www.iamareader.com/giveaway-hops

http://bloggiveawaydirectory.com/tag/books/

https://www.facebook.com/freebookgiveaways

http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/2014/06/giveaway-book-of-life-by-deborah.html

http://mostlyyabookobsessed.com/2012/09/blog-makeover-and-giveaway.html

http://www.yabookscentral.com/info/10186-ya-and-kids-books-giveaways (YA and Kids)
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IMPORTANT:  Don’t start or end your giveaway on a holiday or the days before. People are busy with other things around this time or they travel.  And don’t limit your giveaways to your own country, offer it worldwide.  It means more exposure and if your giveaway is only one to three copies it’s affordable, especially if you let it send as a gift through Amazon – this way it helps your ranking too. But always include / send a friendly note, even when you gift it via the online retailer.  Don’t delay the delivery to the winner.
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For Readers and Reviewers On LibraryThing:
“The August 2015 batch of Early Reviewer books is up! We’ve got 87 titles this month, and a grand total of 2,716 copies to give out, including a collection of previously unpublished stories and essays by The Haunting of Hill House author Shirley Jackson. Which books are you hoping to get this month? If you haven’t already, sign up for August 2015 Early Reviewers.” http://blog.librarything.com/main/  Lots of books to win and review!

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If you would like to get a mentor and our support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer for three months all this and more for only $179 – or less than $2 per day!  Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting / Book Marketing for your success: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

To learn more about professional book marketing and publishing, please read also
“Book Marketing on a Shoestring”
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UAVL3LE

Our email newsletters with free insider tips are sent out once a month. To sign up, just go to the form on the right site of each blog post.
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7 Ways How Readers Can Find Your Book

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Bookstore .

… and How YOU Can Find Your Target Audience.
As an author you need to know the answer how to find your target audience and set up accordingly your professional marketing strategies.

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A Pew Survey Shows How People Find Books – in this Order:

  1. Search on Top 100 Bestseller lists
  2. Shopping for books written by a favorite author
  3. Trustworthy Media Recommendations
  4. Word of mouth – or word of mouse
  5. Book search by genre or keywords
  6. Meeting the author in person (or online)
  7. Deals, discounts or free books

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Bestseller Lists:
The most popular way to browse for books are Amazon 100 Sellers or New York Times Bestseller lists or the Bestseller section in bookstores on- and off-line. Many of these books are traditionally published and are written by popular authors. But more self-publishing authors are starting to show up in these lists, especially on Amazon. If your book can get into their top 100 lists, the exposure can catapult your book even further. However, you have to compete against established and popular authors

Perfect not only your manuscript, but also your books’ cover editing, and formatting. Give your readers a reasons to leave positive reviews and recommend the book to others. Build early buzz for your book with cover reveals, let others know you are writing a book, get feedback on cover, title, blurb, first chapter etc. on different occasions from different groups of readers.  Meet-up groups, book communities, contests, promotions, etc. can help you get people excited about your upcoming book.  Place it on Amazon’s pre-order program three months ahead of your book launch.
Research bestsellers covers in your genre. If you want a top seller, the cover has to proof that it is the kind of book that the reader is looking for. Create a professional-looking and appealing cover that will attract customers, but also a great blurb that will entice interest without giving too much away.
Start early to market your book. Once it is published, it’s almost too late. Find bloggers in your genre who also review books. Start half a year in advance of publishing, bloggers may have hundreds of requests and reading takes time.

What’s More:

– Arrange book signings and readings
– Join a dozen reader communities
– Arrange for pre-sales on Amazon
– Plan a book launch party
– Set up giveaways on Goodreads and LibraryThing
– Create a professional press release package (on your website and in print) and contact local media.

Find many more tips for book marketing and your book launch in former blog posts.

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Shopping for Books Written by a Favorite Author
This will help authors who have written more than one book. When readers like them they will often search for other books written by the same author and frequently sold this way. Write two or even better, more related books, or a whole series in order to benefit from this type of book sales. The first book of yours they read has to be good enough to make your readers want more.
The more followers who read one of your books and love it, the more of your other books will be likely sold. It also improves your sales rank, chances of getting reviews, and prospects for word-of-mouth sales.
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Trustworthy Media recommendations
Editorial reviews from The Guardian, The Globe&Mail, MacLeans, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times or Washington Post can have a positive impact. However it is most unlikely for independent authors to get a review there, also it is not impossible. Check out this article: Prestigious Reviews and How to Get them.
Try to get reviews from bloggers in your genre who review books. Regularly writing a blog and being active in Social Media might help to make valuable connections. But remember that some reviewers and book bloggers receive a very high number of requests and that it takes time to read books.

Another trustworthy source that’s very valuable is the retailer itself. Once a book sells a few times along with another book, it can show up on “Customer Also Bought” lists. The more frequently your book sells – and the more effective your marketing efforts – the more these lists can help give your sales a significant boost.

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Word of Mouth – or Word of Mouse
The easiest book sale is via word-of-mouth sales.  If it’s a great book, a percentage of the customers will recommend it to others, this can generate valuable sales. If only a fraction of those people recommend it to others, sales can really grow in the long-term.
But it might take some time, until it naturally comes up in conversations. They might not buy your book right away. It can take weeks after they hear about your book before they consider buying. It can take several months for word-of-mouth sales to build up. In the meantime you can write more books. And your books have to be good enough to receive those recommendations.
If someone very social (or on Social Media) loves your book, or if people who are really connected in the Social Media world enjoy your book, it will be recommended and sales grow over time.
If a book blogger falls in love with your book, or if a book reviewer for a magazine likes your book, or a customer who often reviews books on Amazon, LibraryThing or Goodreads enjoys your book… all recommendations help, especially when they come from trustworthy sources.

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Book Search by Genre or Keywords
Readers often go to Amazon and other online booksellers to search for books by keywords or just browse page by page through categories or search within a specific category. The problem is that there are tens of millions of books to search for. Books that show up on the first page of one or more keyword searches are much more likely to sell through keyword searches.  However, only a few books show up on the first page of very popular keyword searches.
The better your book is categorized (and sub-categorized) and the better your keywords are, the greater your sales rank and the more reviews you will draw, which in turn can help to improve your book’s visibility.

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Meeting the Author in Person (or online)
Many books sell through personal interactions with the author. It’s amazing to be able to read a book by an author you have personally interacted with. When people meet you and enjoy the interaction, they are much more likely to read your book, enjoy your book and review it.
Especially if you make each person you interact with feel special. Don’t interact with people just because you want to sell them something. Interact with them to get to know them. If you really care, this will show and can make a huge difference.

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Deals, Discounts or Free Books
Consumer love sales. But they have to know about the sale, which means that you have to promote your discount. And they have to want the book, it has to be a good fit for them. That means you have to find your target audience and market your promotion directly toward them!
Time-limited discounts, such as Amazon Kindle “Countdown”entices customers to buy before the sale ends. Contests and giveaways can help stimulate interest, too, such as the Giveaway program at LibraryThing or Goodreads.  How to run successful Giveaways can be found in a former blog post.

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Who is Your Target Audience?
These are the people you want to interact with you personally because they are many times more likely to buy your book than anyone else. If you write steampunk and market it mainly to people who never read books in this genre, your marketing will not be successful.
Think carefully where and how to find your target audience. Don’t go there or contact them just to sell your book. Attract your target audience, and let them discover that you wrote a book that may interest them.
If you have a large Social Media following, you can tap into this for initial sales. You can meet people anytime. If it comes up that you are an author, even if they don’t read that genre, they might have a friend who does.
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Find your target audience well before your write or finish your book. Networking takes time. As earlier you start as better. And later when your book is out, send a thank-you note / email to anyone who recommends or reviews your book. They took time reading and reviewing your work, writing an article and get back to you, so take five minutes and write them a thank-you letter!

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,140 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? There is also the “SHARE” button for easy sharing at Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.

 

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17 Tips How to Successful Run Book Giveaways

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Giveaway

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Book giveaways are a powerful way to get a lot of exposure – and your book in the hands of new readers, who might even write reviews. The success of your book giveaway depends very much on how you promote this event – and also how you leverage the networking possibilities you gain with new followers and contacts.
.

Print Book Giveaways on Goodreads
Goodreads only allows print books as Giveaways. They offer all members: “Be the first to read new books! Pre-release books are listed for giveaway by publishers and authors, and members can enter to win. Winners are picked randomly at the end of the giveaway.”  The idea is that many of the people who win a free book will be good enough to write a review of it on Goodreads (some people are so enthusiastic that they write reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Shelfari etc). Reviews help book sales, so publishers and authors are keen to do giveaways.  However, if your book is in digital format only: there are ways to print a handful of books, once you have an ISBN. However, there are some competitors to Goodreads, who offer e-Book Giveaways for members, such as:
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BookLikes Allows e-Book Giveaways
In terms of features and functionality, BookLikes is similar to Goodreads. Of course, they don’t have nearly the traffic that Goodreads does, so you should not expect similar results if you have done a book giveaway there in the past. If GoodReads allowed e-Book giveaways, they would be almost perfect in my mind. But since they don’t, sites such as BookLikes are another alternative for authors who don’t publish print books.
To list your book giveaway on BookLikes, sign up for a free account and click on the giveaways link when you are logged in. On the next page, there should be a tab at the top of the page in the main navigation that says “Create Your Giveaway.”
You will be asked for the same info as the other sites in the form on the following page. Their rules seem to have been almost copied directly from Goodreads, as they appear to be identical. For more questions go to their FAQ’s.  Best of all, you can choose to pick the winners of the giveaway yourself. It is certainly less expensive then to donate print books and you can offer easily a dozen or more copies. You can either send the winners a PDF or you can gift the e-book via Amazon and boost your sales ranking at the same time.
.

Print and e-Book Giveaways Through Book Bloggers
Consider offering copies of your book to other bloggers you follow, or you have found through a Google search and have them host a giveaway. Book bloggers often really appreciate being able to do giveaways, and this can extend your reach outside of your previous networking!

.
Giveaway on Your Website
Your blog or website are great places too for giveaways, especially if you have thousands of followers / readers there or an extensive newsletter email list. Use the same announcements and promotions as you would do for a Goodreads or BookLikes giveaway (see below).

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Do’s and Don’ts of Giveaways

Do: Enter your first giveaway 4-6 weeks before your book’s launch and then periodically every other month. Schedule your giveaway at least three days in advance.

Do: Write a compelling giveaway description with snippets of reviews and mentioning any awards the book won

Do: Offer always auto-graphed books, when it is a printed version.

Do: Follow everyone who applied for the giveaway. On Goodreads you can follow 25 people/day. These are the people who are interested in your book. Send a thank-you-note to everyone who entered, and offer 2-3 chapters of your book to the not-so-lucky ones, and invite them to join your newsletter.

Do: Use the free event feature at Goodreads and Google+ and invite everyone there to participate in the Giveaway.

Do: Announce the giveaway at least once a day on your Google+ timeline and share it with: public, your circles and extended circles – as well use the function “Also send email to Your circles” next to the sharing button (for your first post and then towards the end of the giveaway period to remind them).

Do: Post your giveaway regularly to all the Social Media sites, don’t forget Pinterest or Flickr (use not only your cover photo, but anything that fits to the theme of your book), and maybe create even a short video about this giveaway. Make arrangements for interviews in local newspapers, mentioning your giveaway (plan well in advance!)

Do: Write a blog about your giveaway – and post this blog article not only on Social Media, but also on free e-Zines.
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Do: Announce your Book Blog Giveaways in these listings / blogs too:

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Do: Vary the giveaway time length: One giveaway only for a week, and later another one for three weeks.

Don’t start or end your giveaway on a holiday or the days before. People are busy with other things around this time or they travel.

Don’t limit your giveaways to your own country, offer it worldwide. It means more exposure and if your giveaway is only one to three copies it’s affordable, especially if you let it send as a gift through Amazon – this way it helps your ranking too. But always include a friendly note, even when you gift it via the online retailer.

Don’t delay the delivery to the winner. Send or let it send the same minute the giveaway ends or you receive the name of the winner.
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Conclusion:
Using best practices, planning well ahead and using every kind of promotion will deliver a successful campaign for your book.  And don’t forget the benefits of connecting with new followers and readers of your books. And here you can find tips for readers, how to win books on Goodreads.

Which additional giveaway possibilities did you use – and how did you promote your own giveaway?

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
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Tagged: Book Blogger Giveaway, BookLikes ebook giveaway, Goodreads Book Giveaway, Goodreads giveaway tips, print books giveaway, promote your giveaway, SavvyBookWriters.com, schedule your giveaway