When writers give away free copies of their books, it costs them money. The printed copies themselves cost money and the postage costs money. So why does Goodreads charge anything from $119 to $599 to do a book giveaway?
Goodreads competitor LibraryThing doesn't. Amazon (which owns Goodreads) doesn't. So why does this lot do it? Most independent authors will be publishing through Amazon's print on demand, so Amazon will still get money. Why do these people feel the need to profiteer from independent authors who have limited means to begin with? Is it just to make a quick buck? Or to squeeze out the competition that the major publishers would rather be rid of?
At any rate, there are ways of fighting back.
Firstly independent authors should not pay a penny to these people. There are alternatives, not only on Amazon itself but through competitors to this site. In fact I have just done such a giveaway with my debut legal thriller Degree of Guilt book 1 of the Baby if the Bailey series, on another platform. And I'll tell you what: the first five people to private message me here with their name and address will get a free paperback copy.
One another thing: I urge people not to enter giveaways from sites that charge the author or publisher money. It is a nefarious practice, and the best way to discourage it is to refuse to engage with it
Goodreads competitor LibraryThing doesn't. Amazon (which owns Goodreads) doesn't. So why does this lot do it? Most independent authors will be publishing through Amazon's print on demand, so Amazon will still get money. Why do these people feel the need to profiteer from independent authors who have limited means to begin with? Is it just to make a quick buck? Or to squeeze out the competition that the major publishers would rather be rid of?
At any rate, there are ways of fighting back.
Firstly independent authors should not pay a penny to these people. There are alternatives, not only on Amazon itself but through competitors to this site. In fact I have just done such a giveaway with my debut legal thriller Degree of Guilt book 1 of the Baby if the Bailey series, on another platform. And I'll tell you what: the first five people to private message me here with their name and address will get a free paperback copy.
One another thing: I urge people not to enter giveaways from sites that charge the author or publisher money. It is a nefarious practice, and the best way to discourage it is to refuse to engage with it
Dan Cogan