The Goodreads Giveaway has long been used by indie authors and small publishers to build reviews for their books by giving away free copies of their paperback editions. Goodreads did not charge for this but beginning January 9, 2018 they are implementing a 2-tier pricing structure along with a few other changes.
Summary of changes
- Kindle eBooks are now eligible for giveaways if published on KDP (you cannot use aggregator services such as Draft2Digital and Bookbaby)
- Entrants must be U.S. residents
- Standard Giveaway, per format: $119
- Premium Giveaway, per format: $599
- Giveaway up to 100 copies
- Save 50% if ordered between 1/9/18 and 1/31/18
This is obviously something that will negatively impact self-publishers, requiring us to pay for something we used to get for free. On the other hand, there are some that complain that the program has lost its effectiveness because giveaway winners simply don’t follow-through with writing reviews. Perhaps this will address that.
A second major change is that Goodreads has expanded the Giveaway program for Kindle eBooks to self-publishers using KDP. This has been available to larger publishers during a beta program that was announced in May of 2016. The cost of that program was $119, so no change in pricing.
Program details
Note that the regular giveaway program is in effect until January 9, 2018 so if you have a paperback, now is the time to list it. Also, pricing is half off until January 31, 2018.
Standard Giveaway (Print or Kindle ebook format) $119 per giveaway
- Everyone who enters your giveaway automatically adds the book to their Want-to-Read list. This results in your book being promoted to your friends’ updates feeds.
- Your followers and anyone who has already added the book to their Want-to-Read list get a notification, letting them know there’s a giveaway starting.
- About eight weeks after your Giveaway ends, winners receive an email from Goodreads to remind them to rate and review your book.
- Giveaways are featured in the Giveaways section of Goodreads.com,
Premium Giveaway (Print or Kindle) $599 per giveaway
- Premium Giveaways include all the benefits of the Standard package.
- Premium placement on Goodreads’ Giveaways page.
We are interested in your feedback, especially if you participate in one of these two new programs. Add your experiences in the comments below.
Do we know how winners will receive Kindle Ebooks from the authors? Will authors have to gift copies through Amazon or will Goodreads work Amazon to send eBooks?
Good question: Goodreads sends those automatically (via Amazon).
I’d be glad to see some kind of improvement in this program. Those 5-star ‘honest reviews in exchange for a review copy’ have no credibility at all.
But although I’ve never received (or asked for) a free review copy, I think it’s grossly unfair to restrict giveaways to US members. What about The Rest of the World, which has helped to make GR what it is today?
As a reader/shopper, I share your opinion about the credibility of 5 stars for free copies. Regarding GR giveaway, they specifically said “initially” which I take to mean that it is coming. It also makes sense because it is so expensive to ship paperbacks internationally.
I think this is one of the most vital information for me. The website style is ideal, the articles are really great, D. Good job, cheers
Can you delete the info below, which is outdated? Yes, I see comments posted in December ..
Program details
Note that the regular giveaway program is in effect until January 9, 2018 so if you have a paperback, now is the time to list it. Also, pricing is half off until January 31, 2018.
I find it maddening really that people are excited about the GoodReads giveaway when the Librarything giveaways are basically free, and better. No strings attached and you can allow it for non-US citizens….
https://www.librarything.com/er/list
https://www.librarything.com/er/giveaway/list
Goodreads ended it’s giveaway service to India in 2019. And there is no specific reason, can you enquire into that?
BTW good info.