I've written previously about my experience with GoodReads ads. It was a positive experience in terms of the novelty of it, but I did not see the return on my investment that I would have liked. Well, because I believe in the goodness of a site dedicated exclusively to reading the books, I tried another promotional technique offered by the site: the giveaway.
          Originally, I was going to give this post more time to see if the giveaway worked to the final goal of getting readers and, therefore, reviews for my novel, but I realized that, even if the actual winners do not read and then give me a glowing review on all available social media, I still want to encourage my other self-pub friends to give them a try. Why? The reasons are numerous.
          1. The TBR list. One of my personal favorite features of GoodReads is the ability to list the books I want to read when a friend technologically recommends it. I follow a few folks whose reviews are candid, thorough, and in-line with my own tastes, so it's nice to be able to see what they thought and then add it (or not) to my to-be-read list. I've got the GoodReads app, so I'm never further than my phone away from having that list handy. As a result of my giveaway, 300 more people added me to their lists. Now, if you're familiar with GoodReads, you may be saying 'yeah, but, there are people with tens of thousands of books on their lists' (I kid you not, a few of the people who added me have lists that are 10,000+ books long). True, but, if you recall, the ad campaign was geared to get people to add me to that same TBR list. In one week, and for only about fifteen bucks more (when you include the costs of the books and shipping), I got far better results than the cost-per-click ad. I understand that people adding my novel to an already engorged TBR list might not be a victory for some, but that shows a misunderstanding of advertising. I wanted exposure for my book. I got it in spades.
          2. Other social media. I love following authors on Twitter. Until they tweet for the third time that day about how great their book is. I am aware that you have written a book, and, if it interests me, it's already on my own GoodReads TBR list. If it doesn't interest me, I had held out hope that you were a fun person who would have some intersting author-related banter to contribute to the discussion even though you write in a genre that I don't happen to prefer. An advertisement does not count, in my world, as witty banter. Especially if you abuse the emoji (I get it, hearts in every color because I'll reeeeeeeeally love it). However, I don't ever mind when  those who I follow tweet about giveaways or sales. I know that those tweets are specifically purposeful and they rarely monopolize that person's feed. Running a giveaway on GoodReads gave me a chance to blog, tweet, and post onto Instagram about my book in a way that was less offensive than the bland "please validate me by buying my novel" tweet/post.
          3. The 'People Like Me' Response. Judge me if you will, but it felt insanely good to have hundreds of people expressing interest in my book. It was absolutely worth the work to gain recognition like that.
          4. Truly Blind Readers. In theory, the three good people who won my novel will read it. As I sit here in PA, it's very cool to onsider that a copy of my novel is in California where one winner resides. They are not connected to me in any way. If they like it and tell their friends, those will be people who I have never met or coerced/worn down by repeatedly mentioning my great literary accomplishment. This was a great way for me to get my book out into the world. Now, again, they may not read the book or they may read it and dislike it, but the possibility exists that there will be a great outcome. And all I can ask for are those possibilities.
          I had a great esperience with my GoodReads giveaway. It ended up costing me a bit more than the cost-per-click ad, but I got MUCH better results. And I had much more fun! If you're on the fence and considering it, I recommend that you give it a try. I'm planning to do it again myself. Updates to come on whether any reviews were spawned by the experince or not. The copies of my novel, ready to be shipped away to their new homes.