Goodbye to Goodreads

Well… I guess I’ll never be running a Goodreads giveaway again.

For those of you not in the author community or not a Goodreads member at any rate, let me explain the issue of the day.

Goodreads is basically a bibliophile social media site. You can chat about books, share what books you’re reading. It’s a great way to bridge the gap between author and reader. And one of the best parts was the Goodreads giveaways.

Any author with a paperback copy of their book could sign up to hold a giveaway through Goodreads. It was a great way to draw attention to your book. People entering to win your book could add your book to their “to read” shelf, their action would show up on their feed, and they were directed to your author site.

The new program is basically the same. Except readers have to add you to their “to read” shelf, and authors have to pay over $100 to giveaway a book. If you want the premium package where your book might actually be seen, it’s close to $600.

So, yeah…

Not going to happen. I’ll find other ways to run giveaways and connect with readers.

But it’s a low blow to authors and readers alike.