I got an email this morning from Goodreads with the subject of 'Introducing the New Goodreads Giveaways'. I almost deleted it as junk mail. Good thing I didn't. It's all about the new super-special programs that Goodreads is implementing for giving away books through them.
And it's no longer free.
Starting in January of 2018 - so about 6 weeks from now - you can only give away books if you pay them to hold your giveaways. Isn't that special? I know in the email they sound super excited about it.
I remember an old saying and I'm paraphrasing because I don't remember remember it. "Marketing is telling you to go to hell and making you think you're going to enjoy the trip."
That's about how I'm feeling about the whole Goodreads Giveaway Program this morning. They've basically told me to go to hell and they're trying to make me think the trip will be super awesome.
Basically, you can get the Standard Plan or the Premium Plan. Standard is $119 and Premium is $599. But if you ACT NOW, you can get 50% off, or some such thing. So, $60 or $300... to give away a book.
I like giving away books. It makes me happy. Not $300 happy. Not even $60 happy. Lord knows it isn't like I've seen great things come my way because I've given out a book here or there. I got one review once from someone who won a Goodreads giveaway. And there's one winner who immediately listed my book for sale on Amazon. Gnarly. I'm supposed to pay someone so someone else can get a free book they can then list for sale? Ummmmmmmm. No.
Anyway, they can do what they want to do. It's their business, after all. I think it's short-sighted and stupid, but I'm entitled to my opinion. I'll still have my books listed on there for readers to add to their lists. Until they start charging for that crap.
And yes, I'm bitchy about it. It's like there a consortium somewhere thinking up ways to make the self-publishing business harder every damn day.
I have a distinct urge to run away this morning. But it's rainy and cold. Don't mind fishing in the rain. Don't mind fishing in the cold. Cold and rain? No freakin' way. I think I'll sort my library this morning and see what needs to be donated to St. Vinny's.
What are you up to today? Do you enter Goodreads giveaways? Ever won anything thru there? I have, but it's been a while.
Yeah, that $119? That's a week's groceries for me. So no. There's no way that giving away five books (my normal giveaway), the postage involved, and hoping that people who click to win are actually interested enough to buy my book if they don't win? The ROI on that is so far skewed that I can't even laugh at how ludicrous it is. I wonder if publishers are going to have to pay too? If so, then only the big names will get the exposure--like they need it--and the mid-listers are shafted once again. I'll just keep writing, publishing, and hoping people find me. *shrug*
ReplyDeleteAfter entering multiple copies of five or six books in a Giveaway, I got one review. A poor one that said the book wasn't what she expected. From her comments, she hadn't read the description.
ReplyDeleteI enter them occasionally if the book looks interesting. I won twice, I think. One was quite good, the other went to the used bookstore after about 30 pages. The POV character was TSTL.
If / when Goodreads starts charging, I'll withdraw all of my books. So not paying for something I doubt is useful.
I WAS going to offer a giveaway of my new book, once it was finished and released. And seeing how that doesn't appear to be happening this month, I guess I need to change my plan. I told Goodreads via their survey, that my money would be better spent getting a Romantic Times review, and those aren't cheap, either!
ReplyDelete