That’s right, ladies and gentlemen — it’s Goodreads Giveaway time! Wooooooo! I’m giving away four softcover copies of Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It, and I can sign them to whoever you want if you win (you know, so you can give it away as a Christmas present or whatever).
A quick disclaimer before I share the link to the giveaway: it’s only open to Canada, USA, and UK, because shipping a book to the other side of the world is really freakin’ expensive. Sorry in advance!
I have decided to take a few minutes this evening to reflect on Goodreads Giveaways.
Brace yourselves.
My first giveaway for Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It from waaaaay back in April was a pretty rousing success. I gave away two books to two lovely ladies, and I got stellar reviews back in response. Huzzah!
My second giveaway in July was … not quite as successful. I only gave away one book that time, and perhaps the Stingy Gods have decided to punish me, because the lady who won my book has yet to post a review. Of course, it’s only been three months, so I remain hopeful, but the second giveaway definitely wasn’t on par with the first.
Going on the concept of bigger is better, I’ve decided to launch another giveaway! The giveaway starts tomorrow, and ends on my birthday (December 19). I’m giving away four books this time, and since my success percentages thus far on receiving reviews from the winners have been 100% and 0%, I’m aiming to reach a nice, even 50% with this new giveaway. Wish me luck!
I’ll write up another post tomorrow with the link so you can actually enter the giveaway — if you want! I figure that even if you don’t necessarily want a copy, you could hypothetically gift the book to a friend or your favorite niece as a Christmas present. Win win win!
Anyway, fingers crossed that this giveaway works out a bit better than the last one. Happy NaNo-ing to everyone, and see you again tomorrow for that link I promised!
Happy Friday, everyone! May your day be filled with lots of sunny goodness, preferably the non-sunburn-inducing sort.
Moving right along to my first topic: Goodreads Giveaways. There are mixed feelings about Goodreads Giveaways amongst the self-publishing community, because apparently a lot of authors who send out free copies of their books via the giveaway never hear from the winners again, or get the reviews they’re hoping for.
That wasn’t my experience at all, I’m pleased to say. I held the giveaway back in April, and the two ladies who won the contest were very sweet. They responded promptly to my messages querying them about their addresses, and how they wanted the books signed to them, and they’ve both now posted reviews up on Goodreads and Amazon. Maybe I just hit the jackpot with these winners, but I’d definitely say it was a good experience overall.
The giveaway also resulted in approximately 463 people adding Imminent Danger to their to-read list. Now, this might not translate into sales (I still haven’t received my first sales report from iUniverse, lol), but it at least puts my book on the radar, which is pretty decent. I can only hope that one day, in the distant fog of the future, someone will look at the their to-read list, see Imminent Danger, think “Heck with it”, and download that puppy so fast it grows up into an adult dog and starts barking at everyone with wild abandon.
Oh yes, and I’m going to be holding another Goodreads Giveaway starting tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that! Only one book up for grabs this time, but I did open up the competition to include Australia, so … yeah. Woo!
Once more unto the vlog …
One of the aforementioned ladies who won the Goodreads Giveaway mentioned that I should post some sort of pronunciation guide on my website for my book. The problem, of course, is that Imminent Danger is sci-fi, so there are assorted silly-named aliens and planets and technology and whatnot parading around. I’ve decided to one-up her request and create a vlog about pronunciation, partially because it’s a lot easier to figure out pronunciation if you hear it, rather than trying to sound it out phonetically, and partially because it was recently brought to my attention that I haven’t done a vlog in ages.
On with the show! (Note: If the lighting fluctuates wildly, blame Youtube — they decided to “fix” my video.)
… “last chance” being because the Giveaway is ending today, not because a giant asteroid is going to come crashing down on our heads, obliterate Mongolia, and engulf us all in a dust cloud that will blanket the world for three years, stop all crop growth, and starve us into extinction. Stop panicking! Good grief. You people are kind of paranoid, you know that?
Anyhoo, my Goodreads Giveaway ends tonight (around 2 a.m., for some bizarre reason), so if you haven’t entered for a chance to win my awesome-tastic book, Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It, click the link below and get hopping!
Excellent form, my hoppers. You’re regular spring bunnies. And no, you don’t look at all ridiculous bouncing around your living room in your PJs — and don’t let anyone tell you differently!
Unrelated link of the day:
Cracked wrote an amusing article about punching writer’s block in the face — check it out:
I’ve started off small — just 2 books to be won — but if I get enough entrants, I’ll upgrade them from softcover to hardcover. Woo! And in case you don’t know about Goodreads Giveaways, they’re awesome. They’re totally free to enter, requiring no commitment other than providing your mailing address. The address is only sent to the author (me) if you win the contest, and we have to click a little “I agree” button to promise that we won’t use your mailing address for cruel or nefarious purposes.
What else is relevant? Um … oh yes, the giveaway is open for an entire month — so, until April 11th. I’m sure I’ll bring it up at least once or twice before then, so don’t panic. And, as always, I will love you forever and a day (but not a minute more) if you’d be so kind as to spread word of the giveaway to your assorted social media associates.
Fin.
Unrelated media of the day:
This one’s for all you Game of Thrones fans out there.
Michelle Proulx - Author 
