How to Create a Giveaway Campaign for Your Book Launch

Author: Book Marketing Tools / Source: bookmarketingtools.com If you’ve seen any giveaways or contests online, you’ll notice that some ar

Author: Book Marketing Tools / Source: bookmarketingtools.com

If you’ve seen any giveaways or contests online, you’ll notice that some are more complex than others. The reality is that the setup process doesn’t have to be difficult no matter how complex your campaign is.

In fact, we have an easy 7-step process to prove it.

Step 1: Secure Your Giveaway Software

While you can go through the painstaking process of setting everything up manually with landing pages, email integrations, and a whole lot of hassle, we’ll refer you to the famous words of Kimberly “Sweet Brown” Wilkins: “ain’t nobody got time for that.”

Fortunately, there are multiple technology options that make the process of setting up and hosting contests or giveaways a piece of cake for small businesses and authors just like you. What you will find is that you can generally split them into two categories.

Category 1: These include solutions like LibraryThing Member Giveaways, Goodreads Giveaways, and Amazon Giveaways. LibraryThing and Goodreads will only allow you to give away copies of your book. While the former lets you distribute book copies in multiple formats, the latter only permits print copies (which you’ll need to purchase through a print-on-demand service like CreateSpace). Amazon, on the other hand, lets you give away any product on its site, but you must pay for it—even if it’s your own book.

There is another catch: these solutions do not disclose the email addresses of entrants. To this point, they don’t sound so great, but they can be powerful tools if your objectives are to grow your reader following on these sites, drive reviews, and generate awareness for your book. If your objective is to grow your book launch email list, then you’ll want to try one of the software solutions in category 2.

Category 2: These include solutions like Rafflecopter, KingSumo, and Gleam. Features and pricing options vary, but the great thing about all of these tools is that they allow you to create well-designed giveaways in minutes. You have a lot more control over your campaign, and you can capture precious email addresses for your email campaigning efforts.

Choosing software will depend on your objective and budget. If you have the means to play around, give them all a spin to see what works best for you.

Step 2: Pick a Prize

Mediocre, irrelevant prizes won’t create excitement or attract qualified leads. You need to think outside of the box on this one—be imaginative and original. Everyone wants an Amazon gift card, but all that will accomplish is an email list full of entrants who aren’t particularly interested in your book or genre. Therefore, your prize needs to be a highly desirable, related to your book, and aimed at attracting members of your target readership.

Here are some ideas to get the cogs turning:

Signed book copies (this is especially awesome if you manage to find rare or first-edition copies)
Digital book copies
Book bundles
Gift cards or tickets
Electronic devices like Kindles and iPads loaded with ebooks (this idea might be as overdone and bland as Amazon gift cards, but there are certain circumstances where it could be highly relevant to your book and audience)
Skype calls with you
In-person meet-and-greets
A chance to name a character
Themed gift baskets
Book-related trinkets (e.g. themed ornaments, one-of-a-kind finds, etc.)
Book-related printable items (e.g. paper crafts, recipe cards, etc.)
Relevant subscriptions
Branded merchandise
Bookends
A two-night stay at a hotel in one of your book’s locations