Blog Giveaways on Facebook and Learning to Step Away from Them
For several months I entered book giveaways sponsored by book blogs like an addict seeking her next fix. The lure of free e-books, paperbacks, bookmarks, magnets and countless other swag was mesmerizing. It appealed to my basest, “if it’s free, it’s for me” desires.
I clicked away like a mad woman. I “liked” authors I had not heard of, genres I did not particularly care for, books I would likely never read, and unknown blog, after unknown blog. I was fanatical in my glee! I reasoned that the more giveaways I entered, the greater my odds of “winning.”
And, I did win. I won a few well-written e-books, a few not-so-well-written e-books, a couple of signed paperbacks and postcards, magnets and bookmarks. For some of the books I enjoyed, I wrote reviews and downloaded the authors’ backlists. For the books I did not like, well…at least I attempted to read them, before relegating them to the “did not finish,” or “do not buy” piles.
A few bloggers posted their dismay on Facebook. They were unhappy that hundreds of people would run over to their Rafflecopter sites and enter the free contests they advertised and sponsored. Once the contests ended and the winners were announced, many of their new “followers” simply “unliked” their sites. My initial thought was, “You should never expect anything, when you offer something for nothing?” The only requirements for the giveaways were to “like” a bunch of sites, share the giveaways on other Social Media outlets, and sometimes leave comments on the blog. No real commitments were necessary.
One blogger, however, posted her true feelings on her Facebook status. She was upset, and hurt, that folks only entered the contests to “win.” It sparked a discussion on how the giveaways were structured. In that moment, I realized why I did not like the giveaways – they were one-sided with no reciprocation. The raffles had a finite timeline. None of the bloggers who sponsored them committed to following the people who entered the contests. There was no give-and-take. In more than one case this frustrated me, as wondered if they even read the comments posted. Wasn’t the point to help one another grow each other’s blogs? No, but it should have been.
At the writing of this post, only two of the blogs I “liked” and “followed” have “followed” me, in return. This let me know they actually read the comments posted. Those blogs have my support as they continue to grow their readership.
As for continuing to participate in giveaways…well, “if it’s free, it’s for me,” right? Perhaps. In a much more selective manner.
Reading, Drinking and Dancing with a Chaser of Snark 
June 17, 2013 at 3:03 am
I am fairly new to blogging. I have a Facebook page where we just reached 500. We don’t pay facebook for advertisements so we depend on our readers to spread the word if they like us. The whole point of having more followers is to reach a higher audience and therefore have higher stats to appeal to publishers and authors when we want to receive ARCs. We offer giveaways when we have received a book for free, read it, reviewed it and loved it. If we received it and would have bought it why not share with our readers is the thought process. Other larger giveaways we do like a collection of paperbacks or giftcards are usually to celebrate a milestone or something. We haven’t ever done one where we get a bunch of bloggers and authors to join in the giveaway. Occasionally an author will sponsor an ebook giveaway, but usually it’s my review partner or myself that pay for the giveaway. I guess I’m saying I don’t see anything wrong with entering them. I haven’t had an issue with people swamping in just for the giveaway yet, but it gives me something to think about as we grow. I would hope the followers of the FB page were there because they are fellow book lovers who enjoy the page for the recommendations, book discussions, quotes, etc. I guess because we are still fairly small we have more interactions with the people that contribute and comment on our page.
Good post. Definitely gave me something to think about:) -Cori
June 17, 2013 at 3:31 am
Cori,
I am so HAPPY you responded!! Your blog was one of the only ones where I felt there was an interaction between the people who entered the contest and the owners of the blog. I am also happy that you explained how you obtain the gifts for your giveaways. YOU purchase the gifts. People NEED to know this. Not all giveaways are alike. Good people have spent their personal money to put them on.
I was prompted to write my post because I entered one too many “1000 things available in this giveaway” contests. There were already about 9,000 entries! It was a little nuts, in my opinion. As I was getting tired of clicking, I thought, “I don’t know anything about ANY of these authors OR bloggers. How is this helping, promote books and/or the authors?” It seemed entirely too big to control.
Thanks you, and big ‘ol hug, for stopping by,
Michelle
June 17, 2013 at 3:39 am
Thanks Michelle:) Glad you feel that way about our blog! I liked your post. It gave me something to think about as we grow.
June 17, 2013 at 8:54 am
A voice of reason about this nutty raffle C business.
June 17, 2013 at 11:24 am
I don’t know if it was so much reason, as it was frustration, at first. LOL It felt like too many good people’s time and money were being taken advantage of.
I appreciate your comment!
~Michelle
June 17, 2013 at 9:18 am
Interesting post. I offer giveaways sometimes… not as often as most blogs but only if an author suggests a giveaway or if I’m celebrating something. Either way I have two or three names that I see entering EVERY contest on EVERY blog and for some reason that kinda bugs me. I mean it’s free so good for them right? But I am more of a review site and I only offer books that I’ve loved in the hope of finding more like minded people to discuss the books with. That’s my ultimate goal… to discuss the books. I’ve held enough giveaways to know the names that only show up just for the giveaways… and again that bugs me… I have a few who’ve stuck around, who I discuss with…. I have not had people liking my page then disappearing after the giveaway… luckily! But Michelle, if the goal is to get them to stick around after the giveaway and inspire some dialogue… what would you suggest?
June 17, 2013 at 11:49 am
Jessy,
YES! I was happy to see you commenting because you’re another blogger whose contests I’ve entered, and I was curious to hear your thoughts.
I see the same people entering giveways all the time, too. Heck, I was one of those people. Conversely, I like the incentives being offered, so I doubt any of us will stop entering the contests. After all, we are “book people,” so autographed books, e-books, Amazon or B&N gift cards and book swag, is right up our alley.
I would change the points given to each type of entry, to differentiate those things that actually help promote the author, blogger or book. Keep a “like” to one point, but tweeting about the book’s release, author’s page, or blog, is free “advertising,” so I think those entries should be worth more (maybe 2 points). Then, skew the number of points available for writing a book reviews even more – 10 to 15 points, per review, because this requires an actual commitment from the readers.
I would like to see an “optional” category, to follow each other’s blogs. This category would not be associated with points, but maybe a “secret,” to be determined later gift? This would be the reciprocal component I mentioned in my original post. “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours,” blogger-style. Those folks who are only interested in clicking on the “easy” entries would have that option, but the contest would skew towards those readers who had a larger stake in growing the author’s/reviewer’s fan base.
As for commenting on the blogs themselves, I prefer those giveaways that ask a specific question. “Leave a blog comment,” does not require any thought, but “tell me what your favorite vacation spot is,” or “Choose your favorite: vampires, werewolves, shifters, angels or aliens,” can spark some interesting discussions. (Those were “stolen” from giveaways, by the way.) 🙂
Thanks for stopping by,
Michelle
June 17, 2013 at 1:10 pm
I used to LOVE the leave a comment on this and that thing… gave me some fun laughs along the way but now I’m leaning towatds rafflecopter… I’m meant to create my first one for a wednesday giveaway and to be honest I’m not even sure where to start.
I love this author’s books and all I want is to get more people to read them… so I’m thinking of adding the like her page part, and of course like my page… I like the idea about tweeting about the book… very good idea… I’ll add that. But I’m not sure I get the book review part… they would have to read the book first… or I’m I just not getting it?
I usually follow all blogs that follow me, or those that comment, or book bloggers I love…
I love your suggestions… and the author will love them since I discussed it with her earlier and we’re both rafflecopter newbies 🙂
June 17, 2013 at 1:18 pm
No, you understood my comment. In order to receive points for a book review, the person should have already read the book. This prompts them to leave a book review, if they haven’t already done so. This creates more “hits” on Amazon/B&N to help with the book’s “buzz.”
Again, it gives “props” (or credit) to folks who have been proactive. Maybe they can be eligible for a gift card and swag, since they already have the book?
June 17, 2013 at 9:30 pm
I saw this is my Tumblr feed and had to check out your post! And what a great post it is. When I first started my review blog over a year ago, I was in the same boat as you. Clicking on every “Follow the author on Facebook”, “Subscribe to the blog via email”, “Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, GFC, …..”. I used to click on them even if I had no idea if I would like the author because I’d never read their books before. And how embarrassing would it be to follow the author somewhere and then not like their book? Now with more time under my belt and more practice, I don’t bother with those rafflecopters unless I’m really interested in the author. And I don’t bother following a blog that reviews stuff that isn’t my genre or appears to just give positive reviews to become more popular. I also ignore the “Like my page for a XZY followers giveaway”. I don’t cooerce people to like my anything in exchange for a follow or a giveaway. I want people to follow my review blog because they’re interested in similar books and like my somewhat extensive reviews. I usually try to reciprocate a follow for a follow but on a case by case basis. I follow people I have met even if they don’t post reviews on their blogs. I don’t want to have 50+ emails waiting for me in my inbox every morning with some random post about one’s cat. Sometimes I’m interested, but mostly it’s a time issue. I can’t believe the above mentioned blogger cried about it on Facebook. That isn’t “professional” and word spreads quickly on social media. Just keep doing what feels right for you 🙂
And just in case you happen to be one of my blog followers and have entered my giveaways, the majority of them are all organized by a book promoter, so they come up with the Rafflecopters and the requirements to win, not me.
June 17, 2013 at 10:19 pm
Michelle,
The blogger in question was just irritated because a bunch of people “unliked” her page, and the author’s page, right after the giveaway. I felt, as you did, that it was unprofessional to post it on Facebook, but several people made comments like “it’s part of the business,” or “expect some attrition” or some version of “suck it up, people are in it for themselves.” I could certainly feel her frustration, given the amount of time she spent organizing the raffle.
Like you, I noticed my email inbox being inundated by stuff I did not care for, and ended up marking most of it as spam. Once I got to that point, I knew I had to pull it back. The nice part of that was being able to really concentrate on the genres, authors and bloggers that spoke to me, as both a reader and occasional reviewer. I feel like my time and money are better spent. More focused.
I think this has to be an ongoing conversation, on how to best maximize exposure for authors, whether they are self-publishing or working through traditional publishing companies. I’m such a Type-A, path-of-least-resistance woman, that I’m always looking for ways to eliminate barriers, without sacrificing the product. In this case, getting the word out about the authors we want to support.
And, given that we like some of the same authors/genres, I’m pretty sure I’ve entered at least one of your giveaways. LOL
It’s all good! 😉
Thanks for commenting,
Michelle
June 17, 2013 at 10:49 pm
I agree that there is always room for discussion on how to maximize exposure for authors, as long as it doesn’t reach the point where people feel they are getting spammed. I have had to cut back on a few post, shares, what have you because the author was trying a little too hard. That would have just backfired for both of us.
I hope that if there is ever anything you would rather see more or less of, you feel secure in letting me know about it. I’m not unreasonable 🙂 As for sparking discussions of any kind, there is a new tab on my blog called “discussions”. If there’s anything you feel would make a good topic, feel free to leave a comment there.
xoxo
June 17, 2013 at 11:38 pm
Definitely! We’re all in this together, so I’m all for helping each other, and authors we like, become more successful!
June 18, 2013 at 4:59 pm
Great discussion!
June 18, 2013 at 5:07 pm
Hayson! Love ya!
If you have not already read Hayson Manning’s debut novel, “Wife in Name Only,” please do so. Here is the link to my review on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3OI16STTR4T6I/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm