Goodreads Introduces New U.S. Giveaways Program–A More Powerful Book Marketing Tool for Authors and Publishers

Today, we’re announcing our new U.S. Giveaways program, with two packages offering new high-impact features to drive increased book discovery and reader reviews. The new program is designed to deliver additional marketing benefits that authors and publishers have been asking for, including more ways to reach the author’s readers, and automatically adding the book to the Want-to-Read lists of anyone entering the giveaway. And for the first time, Kindle Direct Publishing authors can run giveaways for Kindle ebooks—a feature previously only available to traditional publishers.

All of these benefits are included in the Standard package which costs $119 for up to 100 copies (either Kindle ebook or print book). The new Goodreads Giveaways program, which replaces our current Giveaways program, will go live on January 9, 2018, and will initially be for giveaways open to U.S. residents.

We’re also introducing a Premium package, offering special “Featured” placement on the highly-trafficked Giveaways page, as well as all the benefits of the Standard Package. The Premium package is $599 and is available for either print books or Kindle ebooks.

To celebrate the new Giveaways program, we’ll be offering special introductory pricing of $59 (save 50%) for all Standard giveaways and $299 (save 50%) for all Premium giveaways created between January 9, 2018, and January 31, 2018.

Since we launched Goodreads Giveaways nine years ago, we’ve helped authors and publishers get millions of books into the hands of readers to drive prerelease buzz, discovery, and reviews. Giveaways have become a core part of Goodreads’ suite of book marketing tools (advertising, deals, and giveaways), and have become a must-do tactic for authors and publishers, helping many titles – including The Girl on the Train – break out to early success.

Starting on January 9, 2018, you can choose from the following two giveaways packages:

Our new Standard Giveaways will help drive more buzz and get your book onto more Want-to-Read lists than ever before. A Standard Giveaway includes:

• (NEW) Everyone who enters your giveaway automatically adds the book to their Want-to-Read list, promoting your book via updates in their friends’ updates feeds, and building an audience for your title.

• (NEW) The author’s 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. This helps generate even more entries, creating more stories in the Goodreads updates feed.

• About eight weeks after your Giveaway ends, winners receive an email from Goodreads to remind them to rate and review your book. This will help other readers discover and decide to read your book too.

• Giveaways are shown in the Giveaways section of Goodreads and the book page, allowing readers to discover new books.

The new Standard Package is $119 per giveaway for either print book or Kindle ebook format. Until 1/31/18, take advantage of our introductory price: only $59 (save 50%).

Our Premium Giveaways are designed to give you more chances to connect with readers than ever before. A Premium Giveaway includes:

• (NEW) Exclusive placements on the Giveaways homepage on Goodreads with tens of millions of visitors each month, giving your giveaway significantly more visibility and more entrants.

The Premium package also includes all of the benefits from the Standard package:

• (NEW) Everyone who enters your giveaway automatically adds the book to their Want-to-Read list, promoting your book via updates in their friends’ updates feeds, and building an audience for your title.

• (NEW) The author’s 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. This helps generate even more entries, and creates more stories in the Goodreads updates feed.

• About eight weeks after your Giveaway ends, winners receive an email from Goodreads to remind them to rate and review your book. This will help other readers discover and decide to read your book too.

• Giveaways are shown in the Giveaways section of Goodreads and the book page, allowing readers to discover new books.

The new Premium Package is $599 per giveaway for either print book or Kindle ebook format. Until 1/31/18, take advantage of our introductory price: only $299 (save 50%).

New Giveaways created on or after 1/9/18 will initially be open to US residents only. Giveaways created prior to 1/9/18 will continue to run as scheduled, but will not benefit from any of the enhancements in our new Giveaways program.

Have questions? We’ve got a full breakdown of what this means for authors and publishers. Learn more

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