By J.L Greger
Feb. 16, 2018
Author–sponsored book giveaways are contests, too. Theoretically, free book giveaways, such as those sponsored by Goodreads, generate publicity for a book in several ways.
• Individuals are more apt to read a blog or Facebook post that announces something free.
• Authors tend to post more on Facebook when they’ve set up a giveaway.
• Applicants for a book in a giveaway are likely to remember the book’s title.
• Goodreads encourages applicants for a giveaway to include it on their Want-to-Read list.
• Winners of a book from a Goodreads giveaway are supposed to post a review.
My Real Experience
I’m not expert on giveaways but I’ve done giveaways for four of my books during the last three years with Goodreads. Each time I publicized the giveaway on twenty different Facebook sites at least twice, sent over fifty tweets, and wrote blogs mentioning the giveaway on at least three different sites.
The books generated 347 to 657 requests each even though I offered only three to five copies of the book. I think most giveaways are for less than five books. I suspect Murder: A Way to Lose Weight garnered the most requests because of the cute cover and humorous, catchy title.
The first two giveaways were free for me because my editor supplied Kindle copies of my books to the winners, but I received no reviews. I offered signed print copies for the last two books and tucked a thank you (in advance) note for the reviews in each book. Thus, those giveaways cost me the books and postage, but I got the reviews for The Good Old Days? A Collection of Stories. The giveaway for She Didn’t Know Her Place ended just before Christmas 2017 and it’s too early to assess results. I couldn’t discern an increase in Amazon sales of books (paperback or Kindle versions) in the month following any of the giveaways.
New Developments. I don’t think I’m the only author disappointed by my results. Goodreads announced a new giveaway program starting in January 2018. Three features are interesting. Everyone who enters a giveaway automatically adds the book to their Want-to-Read list. About eight weeks after the giveaway ends, winners receive an email from Goodreads to remind them to rate and review the book. The standard giveaway plan isn’t free anymore. It costs $119. The premium plan costs more.
Conclusions. I don’t think I’d pay over $100 to do another giveaway. However, I should admit I’m not into social media as much as many authors and do not have long friends lists. I’m also not lucky. I’ve played ten cards of Bingo on ten occasions in the last year and have not won once.
Do you feel lucky and want to see if you can increase your books sales with a giveaway? Maybe you’d rather read my new mystery.
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Blurb: In She Didn’t Know Her Place, Dana Richardson faces that dilemma in her new job at a state university in New England. A research center, which reports to her, is falsifying data to help industrial clients meet federal pollution standards, and the last woman who tried to investigate the problem died under suspicious circumstances.
Available in paperback and Kindle: http://www.amzn.com/1979733112
Author: J. L. Greger is a biology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison turned novelist. She likes to include tidbits of science in her thrillers and mysteries.
Her newest mystery is She Didn’t Know Her Place. Her other books include: Riddled with Clues (Finalist for a 2017 NM/Arizona book awards) and Murder: A New Way to Lose (winner of 2016 Public Safety Writers Association [PSWA] contest and finalist for a 2016 NM/Arizona book award).
She focuses on families in her short stories. She has published two collections of stories: The Good Old Days? and Other People’s Mothers (finalist for a 2017 NM/Arizona Book Awards).
Learn more at her website: http://www.jlgreger.com
Blurb: SHOT TO PIECES is the story of NYPD 1st Grade Detective Padraig Joseph Durr. Durr is tasked with solving a particularly grisly gang related homicide in Brooklyn. When Paddy catches the squeal, he is also on the verge of an emotional and psychological breakdown. Because of his penchant for self-destruction, fueled by a childhood of abuse and sexual exploitation, coupled with an ingrained sense of worthlessness and abandonment, Durr has brought his entire life to the brink of ruin. Can he hold it together long enough to solve this murder? Can he fix himself enough to be re-united with the one true love of his life and his family? Or will he implode, irrevocably destroying his career, his family and himself?
By Ed Meckle, retired LAPD
About Donna:
At the time that I worked Northeast Vice, we owned Griffith Park and part of the Hollywood hills. Complaints about lewd conduct occurring in several areas of the park required the unit to enforce these laws so that the public could better enjoy the park, it’s many hiking trails and spectacular views of the city.
Rick, my partner, and I were assigned to work that trail. I drew the short straw and would be the ‘trick.’ Rick hid in the bushes where he could cover me and be a witness to the violation while I stood on the trail, the bait. Soon enough came this rather large individual—about 265 pounds and about 6 feet. I was playing with a twig and my arms were chest level. The individual stood about 10 feet to my right and slowly worked his way toward me. Now, the deal was when the violation occurred, I was to step to the side, Rick would emerge from the bushes, we would identify ourselves, advise the guy why he was being arrested, hook him up and off to jail.
I was laying on my back holding onto the guy when I hear Rick sliding on his butt down the hill, shouting for me to hold on. Then, I heard a “snap,” and I found myself looking at the ground, my left leg out to the side. I let go of the guy as the pain started to get serious. Rick sails past me toward the soon-to-be-arrested violator as I am attempting to dislodge my leg. The boot slipped out of the rut and down I went, landing on my left shoulder.
Entering contests are a no-brainer for me. I can directly attribute my entry into the realm of traditional publishing (albeit a small press) to winning a contest. I’ll bet many authors could say the same.
As events progressed, both novels with Oak Tree Press went to press with the third, With Malice Aforethought, in contract. Sadly, Oak Tree’s production has fallen into limbo with the ongoing health issues of its publisher, Billie Johnson. Johnson offered many OTP authors their rights, so I took mine. The short version of this story is I now have another publisher, Aakenbaaken & Kent, with whom I’m very pleased. I’m currently working on another Nick and Meredith Mystery, working title, Felon with a Firearm. I’m hustling to get it finished for the next PSWA writing contest that opens in May.
I’m also looking into other places to submit my work for competition. In 2015, the East Texas Writers Guild awarded Malice third place in “Best First Chapter” category. There are many more contests in which to submit your work. Start with a Google search: I use “mystery contests.” It helps to search within your genre.
Ok, so we’re talking about antiquated work buildings. CIM (Ca Institution for Men where I worked)) was opened in 1941. It was the only prison ever built by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) during WW-II. Originally it was a honor farm work camp: It had no walls. It has four facilities: Reception Center West, Reception Center East, Reception Center Central (RCC), and CIM-Main (minimum custody level 1 inmates.) The entire facility (with additions) held 6,500 inmates. We ALWAYS had more. It was the ONLY Reception Center in southern Calif. until Otay-Mesa (Donovan) was activated in 1987. We used to receive jail buses from the counties of LA, Riverside, San Diego, Orange, and San Bernardino. It made for a busy day every day.
I should mention that CIM had a dairy herd of about 200 milking cows on grounds. The flies and smell of manure was in the summer horrific. The ammonia was enough to clear your nostrils! Not only did WE have dairy cows, but the entire end of southern Chino was at one time the largest dairy reserve in the world. So, there was an unending supply of manure aroma to satisfy the most sensitive noses. At night we would get thick fog that would pick up the manure scent and carry it into the dorms.
By Catharine Bramkamp
Building and safety department was quick to handle the problem, though—with a sign telling you to use the outer edge of the stairs. The sign was there the entire two and a half years that I was.
Pardon me while I try to keep that statement down. It was all cement, not a window to look out of. If you wanted to see what kind of a day it was you had to step outside. Once a month the city would come out and test the backup generator. The computers all had to be shut off during the power interruption. They’d run the generator for five minutes then shut it off. 
One day—it was bound to happen—the power went out and the station went into darkness. The generator switched on and worked fine for five minutes then shut down. This modern, state-of-the-art police station was pitch dark inside. The only lights were the phone lights and they just told you that citizens were calling for assistance. The Watch Commander sent a rookie officer to Sav-on to buy all the candles they had. It seems that every month they tested the generator but forgot to refill the gasoline tank. Yep, it ran out of gas during a real emergency.