Am I the only person I know that is entirely frustrated with Goodreads Giveaways.
Yeah ... yeah ... I know, I get it. Less than 2% of readers actually leave reviews, or some such nonsense. But knowing the numbers does nothing to curb my anger at the entire situation.
Numbers? You want numbers? Sure ... I can give you numbers? How are these for numbers?
I've done at least at least 4 Goodreads Giveaways, for 4 different works, totaling about 14 books given away. Sum that up to (ball parking it here) $8.00 a pop for 9 of those 14, and then $12 for the other 5.
That's about $132!
And what have I gotten out of it?
1 Review!
That's right, you read that right! Ultimately, I have paid $132 FOR ONE REVIEW!
So, is it worth the hassle? I think not!
You mean to tell me that I am LITERALLY PAYING PEOPLE TO READ MY WORK?!
I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't write for the money, I write because I love the art. However, THIS IS my full time job! One which I have yet to get a paycheck for IN 5 YEARS!! Yet, I continually give away freebies, and do Goodreads Giveaways because I'm told that you have to invest money to make money ....
BUT I'M NOT MAKING ANYTHING!!
Is it worth the hassle? Should I just get myself a full time job, and write for the sake of writing, and just give away the books for free all the time?
Well, damn!
Let's look at the Pros and Cons here:
PROS & CONS
- Freebies may equal reviews. Not guaranteed ones, but some ... hopefully.
- Yet, if it's free, do I invest my precious time and energy in making the book perfect? That's A HELL OF A LOT OF WORK. Exhausting! Worth it? I dunno.
- Is it worth leaving my family and life on the back burner to put forth all of my extra time in writing a book, making it perfect to then give it away for free? I dunno, maybe.
- Should I really continue to pay people to read my work just to gain exposure, even though that exposure doesn't add up to sales? Well, hell, you tell me!
- Yet, if I DO NOT implement the time and energy that it takes to make my work perfect (I mean, it's free anyway, right? Right! Why should free work be perfect? I'm not reaping any benefits from it.) is it worth risking potential bad reviews even though the work was literally given to the reader and allowing my name to be slandered?
Still, with all of this being said, it seems ridiculous to me to PAY people to read my books and not getting reviews for them!
Totally agree with you! Its pitiful that someone puts so much effort into their work and then not get rewarded! I think you should definitely find a different approach to marketing your book because clearly giving out freebies isnt working! it doesnt surprise me though, people are greedy and selfish and if you give something for free well...they dont always bother in returning the favour which in my opinion is disgusting! i cant really give you that many tips on the marketing as im actually in the process of publishing my book and im new to it all...but this really opened my eyes and more people should know about this issue!
ReplyDeleteI was just wondering about doing one of these myself and was going to start asking around about the point of them - now I know there is no point! Thanks for your POV. :D
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