A book giveaway works when it's built around a specific goal, reviews, newsletter signups, or launch-week buzz, and targeted at readers who are actually likely to enjoy your book. Run without a clear purpose, a giveaway can attract prize-hunters who never read the book, doing little beyond giving away free copies.
This is part of the Complete Guide to Book Marketing.
Different goals call for different giveaway structures. If the goal is honest reviews, structure the giveaway around readers genuinely interested in reading and reviewing your book, not just winning a prize; be clear a review isn't required, but attract entrants who are the kind of reader likely to want to leave one anyway. If the goal is building your own reader list, require entry through a newsletter signup and be upfront that signing up is part of entering. If the goal is visibility around your publication date, timing and platform choice, somewhere with an active, book-focused audience, matter more than prize value. And if the goal is discovery among new readers in your genre, entry through genre-specific communities or platforms reaches people more likely to actually read and enjoy the book.
Goodreads Giveaways put your book in front of an audience specifically interested in books, and can be a good fit for review-focused goals, though there's a cost to run one, and not every entrant follows through with a review.
Your own newsletter or social channels reach an audience that already knows you, which can mean higher-quality engagement (genuine fans rather than prize-hunters) but a smaller pool than a public platform.
Genre-specific communities and Facebook groups can reach readers matched to your genre, provided you follow each community's own rules about promotional posts.
General giveaway or prize sites tend to attract the least-targeted entrants, largely interested in the prize rather than your specific book, and are usually the least effective option for book-specific goals.
Be specific about what's being given away, how many copies, which format, and by when, and state the rules clearly: entry method, eligibility, and end date. Never require a review as a condition of entering or winning; this violates most retailers' and platforms' rules around incentivized reviews, so ask for honest reviews afterward instead. Time the giveaway deliberately, whether that's building pre-launch anticipation, generating launch-week visibility, or supporting an ongoing push well after release, and follow up with winners and entrants afterward: a thank-you, a gentle nudge for an honest review from winners, or an invitation to your newsletter for entrants who aren't already on it.
Giveaways are good at generating short-term visibility, building a list of interested readers, and creating some early reviews. They're not a reliable way to generate significant direct sales (you're giving books away, not selling them), and a giveaway with a broad, untargeted audience often produces a lot of entries but few readers who actually finish or review the book.
Run a Giveaway That's Built for Your Goals
Entrada Publishing can help design and run a giveaway targeted at the readers most likely to enjoy your book.
No. Requiring a review as a condition of entering or winning violates most retailers' and platforms' rules around incentivized reviews. You can ask for an honest review afterward, but it can't be mandatory.
It depends on your goal. Goodreads works well for review-focused giveaways; your own newsletter or social channels work well for rewarding existing fans; genre communities work well for reaching new readers matched to your book.
Not directly, since you're giving copies away rather than selling them. Their value is in building visibility, reviews, and your reader list, which can support sales indirectly over time.
There's no fixed number. It depends on your budget, the platform, and your goal, whether that's a handful of copies to targeted reviewers or a broader giveaway aimed at visibility.