Is a Goodreads Giveaway Worth It?

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Here's the link to THE SECRET GIFT giveaway on Goodreads! www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/332234-the-secret-gift

[@Floridameerkat93]

Can you read this if you haven't read any of the other books in the series?

[@bahora3]

As someone from Canada, I was heartbroken when it was listed for US only, but I totally understand how expensive the shipping is. From Canada to US, shipping a small parcel (small book) is around 30$ CAD so that’s like 24$ USD. I wish you all the best for the giveaway and I’m sure it will be a great success! 😊🍁

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

I'm so sorry! I wish I could include everyone! :( If this goes well, I will definitely try a kindle giveaway next so it can be international! But yeah, shipping is wildly expensive, it's crazy!!

[@jhouserwrites]

I've never heard a successful GR giveaway story, sadly. I hope it at least breaks even for you. Looking forward to an update!

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

I don't think I have either, so we shall see haha! Thank you! :)

[@rachelharris5001]

Good luck with your giveaway. Also, just a note, if you run a giveaway again, set it up to run and end before the book's release because once you add a book to your To-Read shelf, you will get an email telling you the book is now available. So anyone who enters and puts it on their shelf but doesn't win will still hear about it again because they will get the release announcement.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Thank you so much Rachel! That's a genius idea, love that!

[@connielafortune1299]

Thank you, I just entered and as of right now you have 1011 requesting The Secret Gift. Congrats!

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Yayyy! Thank you so much! :D

[@candicejenee-soulcadence5040]

Can’t wait to see how this works for you. And also, maybe those winners love it so much, they buy up the whole series. Even more ROI

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Love that thought! Thank you so much!

[@KaciRose]

A big reason to do them is is to end the giveaway BEFORE the book releases because then they get an email when the book releases because it's on their TBR. So it's another bonus email and POC.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

That's genius!! I'll have to keep that in mind for future books for sure!

[@ScullyPop]

I so need to check my Goodreads account.

[@kathleencontine3496]

I did a Goodreads giveaway. I'll never do it again. A ton of people put it on their 'to be read' and I received maybe one or two reviews? Not worth it for me lol But you also have a series so you might see people buying the next book which is always a plus.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Aww bummer, sorry to hear that! It's really hard to predict how it'll go, but a lot of people are saying it's most valuable if you run the giveaway before the book comes out - because then Goodreads sends an alert email to everyone who adds it on release day!

[@hannahj4265]

Ok! 😍 I entered. It would be so exciting to actually win!! Can’t wait to see how it goes!

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Yay! Thank you!

[@mrslilivincent]

Just double checking that I didn't miss something. Good reads contest is not live yet correct? So excited to see how all this comes out. You're so funny with all your math and your decision making is so statistically oriented. I love it! I feel like all of my decisions are made with my heart and emotion. I need to learn from you

[@SDHuston]

Her giveaway is live! I entered a couple days ago - I think on the day it started. I'm so excited as I would a copy of the book!

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Ahh so sorry Lili, I forgot to add the link to the video, I knew I was forgetting something! Here's the link! www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/332234-the-secret-gift :) thank you for checking on that, and I'm so glad you liked the video!

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

@@SDHuston yay thank you for catching this and for entering woohoo! :D

[@MargaretPinard]

GREAT video, Bethany! And minor light bulb moment at the point where you chose Fantasy for primary, vs. YA...brain wave! Wonder what a book would be that fits into the opposite YA>fantasy??

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Thank you so much, so glad you enjoyed!

[@peterronhovde]

Thanks for the video. I'm excited and anxious at the same time for your sake to hear how it goes. By the way, since you have an established series, you may have a "buy through" percentage of those that like it and buy through at least part of the rest of the series, so it's not just the 40 books in your estimate, more like 80 or 100, hopefully assuming a modest buy through rate.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Thank you! And that's a very good point, my sell through is really great so that will be extremely beneficial and I can consider talking about that in the results video for sure! :)

[@wilbarraj9212]

The secret gift is very good

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

yay thank you! So happy to hear you say that!

[@gregwatson5315]

Wish you well. I did a giveaway on Goodreads in 2018. Not sure it helped in terms of increased sales. Writing reviews on Goodreads has seemed to help though.

[@SDHuston]

Thanks for that tip about writing reviews! I wonder if it helped authors at all in terms of visibility for their works, but I was doing it already as I finally joined social media in general.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Thank you so much! I'm not sure either, but I'm excited to find out!

[@peblezQ]

Aw, yeah, I got the newsletter and was super excited but then was bummed when it didn't include Canada ): I get it tho. That's expensive as hell. (I recently found your channel and your videos have helped me with my self publishing process! I'm finally working on publishing now! Thanks!)

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

So sorry! Hopefully if this one goes well than someday I could try the kindle giveaway option which is international! :D And thank you so much!

[@katiemarie8580]

I've already joined!! XD You'll have to let us know later on if it really was worth it.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Woohoo! Thanks Katie! I can't wait to share the results and see how it goes!

[@MomOfMany]

Entered :) I’m excited to see how this advertising does for you! I just released my first book two weeks ago and am trying to clean as much knowledge as I can from great content providers like you! Thanks for sharing

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Yayyy! Thank you so much! And we can learn together on this one! :D

[@catherinedownen3359]

Would love to hear how it goes for you! I think I’ve heard some people like to run them leading up to a book’s release to grow their TBR numbers and then on release day Goodreads may (it’s random) email readers and say “hey this book on your TBR just came out” and that could produce sales! I’m attempting this route with my next release!

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Yay! I'll do my best to do a results video and try to watch all the data closely, we shall see how it goes haha! :D I really like that idea of building up interest in a book before release, that's smart!

[@littlerascaleventing]

I'll be interested to see how this goes... A goodreads giveaway would be fun, but I just don't know if it's worth it for me.

[@MichaelMurrayIsMessy]

If I'm not mistaken, the personalized email sent to non-winners USED to be part of the Standard Package. Interesting that they changed it...

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

could be!

[@gracethewriter08]

I enter Goodreads giveaways all the time. I have won a few books, but not very often.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Oooh yay love hearing that! And that's so cool that you've won a few times!

[@AuthorJessiElliott]

Awesome video! I think if I was going to do a Goodreads giveaway, I would do a first in series for potential read through. Thanks for sharing your experience! :)

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Thanks Jessi! I have gotten a few comments about how the best time to do a giveaway is before a book is released, because then they get that "new release" alert on release day when it's on their TBR too - so I might try that in the future! :D

[@ashleyhannah6467]

Hey -- Just a thought, but on KDP couldn't you lower the price of your book so you're not making much money, then quickly go make a purchase of each of your books in a regular amazon account and send each order directly to the winners? That way you don't have to pay for shipping twice?

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Well first, there’s an easier way to save money, by using your “author copy” feature, you can mail them the book at print cost. So yes absolutely. BUT in this case I had advertised them as signed copies for the giveaway, and the only way to provide that signature is by having them sent to me first.

[@ashleyhannah6467]

@@BethanyAtazadeh I'm new to publishing so did NOT know you can send an "author copy" to specific addresses. That's awesome. Thanks for replying. :) Been loving your videos.

[@SaraLea]

Really curious to see your outcomes. I have entered some giveaways that I lost and then got an email saying “hey you lost” basically. I just delete those emails though 🥴

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Haha I would probably do the same, that's fair! But yay I will do my best to do a results video for sure!

[@skyewinterbooks]

Hey Bethany, I can't enter because I'm not in the US. But I just thought of something. Couldn't you simply put the winner's shipping address in Amazon and have them ship it to Canada. It would be a tad impersonal but it may be a cheaper option for shipping, right? Anywho, sending you lots of sales from the giveaway! Cant wait to see the results.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Great question! Unfortunately I have shipped a couple books directly from Amazon to Canada and it's about the same cost-wise. :( And then they wouldn't be signed either sadly. But if this one goes well, I would love to do another giveaway in the future and try the kindle option which is international! :) And thank you so much!

[@skyewinterbooks]

@@BethanyAtazadeh Oh lol I didn't know that. Well that idea went out the window 😆 haha. Here's to manifesting great sales from this one.

[@Artraive]

@@BethanyAtazadeh if you go onto the canadian amazon and ship from them, the shipping will be lower. That's something you can do on the european amazons too. Shipping for a book on there is about 6 euros.

[@roshanrahealer]

I entered the day I got the email! Good luck, everyone!

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Woohoo! Love hearing that, thanks Kara! :D

[@roshanrahealer]

@@BethanyAtazadeh No Problem! I LOVED your other books. I'm behind on reviews but I will write them soon! I felt they were all 5 stars!

[@laurenpatzer]

Interested in your results. I did one five years ago and it was not worth it. Lots of entries, gave away ten books, got three reviews and zero sales. Different genre than you and clearly Goodreads has changed quite a bit since then.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Very excited to share the results too! We shall see how it goes!

[@HollyJoFlora]

How did the giveaway go? Worth it? I’m considering doing one.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

I answered this in the video! ;)

[@HollyJoFlora]

@@BethanyAtazadeh Oh I’m sorry! This video ended with there’d be a follow-up video to let us know how the giveaway went and if it was worth it, but I couldn’t find the next video. Just found the next video’s link in the description to this video - don’t know why I didn’t check there first.

[@wilbarraj9212]

👍👍👍👌👌👌👌

[@SabrinaGiles]

Loved the video! Also, I hope Penny didn't take offense to you reminding her she's short! Short people/dogs tend to get a little sensitive, ya know. Jk lol I'm 5.1 😄

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Haha thank you! :D

[@SDHuston]

Thank you for this video! I have already entered your giveaway, so check ✔️. I would be really interested in your follow up video - especially as my debut novel comes out 1 November. I would appreciate knowing your results to see if the giveaway is worth the money before trying it myself. Good luck to you! I hope it brings you a decent ROI.

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

Yayyy! Thank you for entering! And I will definitely pay attention to the data as closely as I can and try to report the results as best I can! :D We shall see how it goes haha!

[@lucymiller6616]

Answer: NO it is NOT

[@megankirrmann6624]

Have you had success previously on a Goodreads giveaway??? Sorry.....just wondered......

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

I shared the results of my previous giveaways in this video if you watch the beginning you'll see those two! They were free though, so I didn't do this type of ROI tracking back then, since I didn't spend anything ;)

[@SaraLea]

I find it shocking that 10 print books are $119 to giveaway!!!!

[@BethanyAtazadeh]

I know right?! It's crazy!