LibraryThing vs Goodreads - More on My eBook Giveaway Experience

As an author, especially as an indie author, I've payed special attention to my Goodreads and LibraryThing profiles. But last week, during my eBook giveaway, I learned some interesting things about engaging my audience through these two very different platforms. In this post I share a couple of my key takeaways.

Before I get to that, there's a great post discussing the differences between the two platforms which is based on personal experience. It's by +Charleen Lynette and it's titled: Goodreads vs LibraryThing vs BookLikes. 

Okay, back to comparing Goodreads to LibraryThing in terms of my eBook giveaway experience. 

The first, and most important thing an author should know about the difference between the two platforms is that eBook giveaways can be conducted officially through Librarything, but not through Goodreads. 

This is stated clearly on the respective websites:

Librarything Early Reviewers

What formats of books can I offer through Early Reviewers?

We are happy to list paper copies, ebooks, and audiobooks. If you are offering an ebook, you must specify the file type (epub, mobi, PDF, etc.) in the description.

Your Guide to Giveaways on Goodreads from Goodreads

Goodreads Terms & Conditions(see bottom of the list)

• You agree to supply the indicated number of books on the date the giveaway ends. 
• Goodreads will list (for free) the giveaway book on the giveaways page. Goodreads will collect interest in the book, and select winners at our discretion. Our algorithm uses member data to match interested members with each book. 
• After the giveaway stop date, click the name of your giveaway (listed under "your giveaways" on the main First Reads page) to see the list of winning addresses. You will also be emailed a list of winners. You are responsible for shipment of the books. Failure to do so will result in us not inviting you over for cake ever again. 
• You agree not to store the winners' mailing addresses and not to use the winners' addresses for anything other than sending them the indicated book. 
• Winning members are encouraged but not required to write a review of the book they receive. 
• Ebooks are not allowed. Every winner must receive a physical copy of the book.

This is a big consideration when planning your eBook giveaway. I spent a lot of time looking for places to list my giveaway, filling out submission forms, re-sizing my book's cover, etc. It's good to know up front which platforms can be used officially for eBooks and which cannot.

Since I was new to this, I had no idea how to gauge interest in my giveaway on LibraryThing. I know now that this is fairly easy. The book giveaways are listed here, along with the number of copies being offered, and the number of members that have expressed interest in reading and reviewing the book.

My giveaway started on Monday August 11 and ended on Friday August 15. Five days is not an option on the submission form for LibraryThing giveaways. I mention this because I received an email on Monday August 18, informing me that the winners for my giveaway have been selected. The 18th was a week after the giveaway started, which was the smallest time duration, so receiving the email on that date made sense. But now the KDP select giveaway was actually over. I was willing to expense the copies, at this point I am eagerly seeking reviewers, but in the future I plan to start the giveaway before the KDP Select giveaway begins so that I'm only sending free copies directly to LibraryThing members that were selected. 

My other takeaway from this experience was that, given the way their giveaways are conducted, I can spread the promotion time of the giveaway over a longer period than the KDP Select five days by listing the eBook giveaways on LibraryThing ahead of time.   

In that vain, my next scheduled giveaway, for SWEPT AWAY on September 4th through September 8th, will be listed on LibraryThing's giveaway site tomorrow, Friday August 22. That's a full two weeks ahead of the actual giveaway date. 

Goodreads my not officially list giveaways of eBooks but there are ways to promote your giveaways to your friends on Goodreads. I post my giveaways on my blog, which streams to my Author page on Goodreads. This does not provide the same kind of direct interaction with your audience, but it does serve as a way of letting readers know your book is available for free for a limited time.