Goodreads giveaways for authors: what they cost, the rules, and when to run one

How a giveaway works

Goodreads describes itself on its about page as the world's largest site for readers and book recommendations. Its giveaways are sweepstakes: readers enter for free, and winners are drawn at random. The steps, from Goodreads' giveaway setup page and its giveaway terms:

1. Choose a format. Kindle ebook or print book. Goodreads offers a giveaway in either format.
2. Choose a package. Standard or Premium (prices below).
3. Set the details. The dates, the number of copies and a description. The terms say the start and end dates are whatever the giveaway's own page states.
4. Wait for approval. Goodreads reviews each giveaway before it starts and says it tries to approve each one within 2 business days, sometimes longer when traffic is high.
5. Readers enter. Entering adds your book to the reader's Want to Read shelf, and the book has to stay there until the end date or the entry is ineligible.
6. Winners are drawn. Goodreads selects winners at random from all eligible entries and notifies them by email.
7. Copies go out. Kindle copies are delivered for you. For print, Goodreads sends you the winners' addresses and you mail the books within two weeks.

You can change your mind: the package page says you can get a full refund up until the day the giveaway starts, using the Cancel option next to the giveaway's details.

Prices and packages

There are two packages. Prices are from Goodreads' package selection page, checked October 21, 2026.

The package price is not the whole cost. A Kindle giveaway of up to 100 copies has no book or shipping cost on top. A print giveaway adds the books and the postage. If you print through KDP, author copies cost the printing cost plus shipping, and KDP's own royalty example shows a 333-page black-ink paperback with a $5.00 printing cost. Ten such copies would add $50 in books before postage, which depends on where the winners live.

For most nonfiction authors the Standard package is the place to start. The Premium extras are about visibility on Goodreads itself; whether that is worth $480 more depends on how many of your readers use Goodreads, which you can judge from how many ratings comparable books in your field have there.

Kindle or print

If your ebook is published through KDP, the Kindle giveaway is the simpler choice: more copies, no postage, and winners can read straight away. Print makes sense when your ebook is not on KDP, when you want readers in Canada, or when a physical book matters for your reader, as it often does for a business book someone might keep on their desk. Goodreads' own page notes that its members "love Advance Reader Copies."

Who can enter, and the rules

The giveaway terms set the rules for entrants. The ones that affect your plan:

• Where they live. Print: legal residents of the 50 US states, DC and Canada. Kindle: the 50 states and DC only.
• Accounts. A Goodreads account plus an Amazon account (Amazon.com, or Amazon.ca for print).
• Age. The legal age of majority where they live; for Kindle, 18 or that age, whichever is older.
• One entry per person and per household, and entering one giveaway does not enter anyone in another.
• No purchase is needed to enter or win.
• Who cannot enter. Employees of the sponsor (that is you or your publisher), of Goodreads and their affiliates, and their immediate families.
• Disclosure. Entrants who promote their entry on social media should disclose their connection to the giveaway, for example with #GoodreadsGiveaway.

The terms also say the sponsor, with Goodreads, may change or cancel a giveaway, and that prizes may not be awarded if too few qualified entries come in.

Your own rules matter as much. A winner who later reviews the book on Amazon is reviewing a free copy, which Amazon's community guidelines allow only if you did not require a review or try to influence it. So never message winners asking for a positive review, and never make a review a condition of anything. The FTC's Endorsement Guides FAQ says people who got a product free should say so when they review it.

When to run one around launch

Goodreads says you can advertise a book with a giveaway "anytime before or after publication." For a launch, before is usually the better use:

Build in the lead times: up to 2 business days for approval, the length of the giveaway itself, then delivery (immediate for Kindle, up to two weeks for you to mail print copies, plus postal time). The featured giveaways on Goodreads' giveaway page on October 21, 2026 each ran for about four weeks (Oct 1 to Oct 31, for example), which is a useful benchmark rather than a rule.

Remember that Amazon reviews start only once the book is live: the community guidelines do not allow reviewing a product before it has been delivered. A pre-launch giveaway gives winners time to read; the reviews, if any, come after launch. The launch timeline shows where this sits next to your advance readers and other paid reach.

What a giveaway does and does not do

What it does

• Adds your book to Want to Read shelves. Every entrant must add it, which is the main thing you are paying for.
• Notifies people. Your Goodreads followers and readers who already shelved the book get an email, and entries appear in entrants' friends' feeds.
• Puts copies in readers' hands. Up to 100 Kindle copies, or as many print copies as you choose to mail.
• Reminds winners to review. Goodreads sends the reminder; the 2018 announcement said it goes out about eight weeks after the giveaway ends.

Interest can be real. Scribe author Joy Lane had 240 Goodreads giveaway sign-ups before she told her friends about her memoir, F College. That is one author's result, not a typical one.

What it does not do

• It does not guarantee reviews. Winners are reminded, not required, and you may not require it either.
• It does not pick your readers. Winners are drawn at random from everyone eligible who entered, not chosen for fit with your book.
• It does not sell books by itself. A Want to Read shelf is interest, not a purchase. Count it as awareness, not sales.
• It does not reach outside the US and Canada. Kindle giveaways are US only.

What most authors get wrong

• Forgetting the print costs. The $119 is only the listing. Fifty print copies and postage can cost more than the package.
• Choosing print when Kindle would do. If your ebook is on KDP, Kindle copies cost nothing extra and reach winners at once.
• Running it too late. A giveaway that ends after launch gives winners no chance to read in launch week.
• Treating entries as readers. Every entrant shelves the book, but only winners get a copy, and only some winners will read and review it. Plan your reviews around your advance reader team, which is people who chose to read your book.
• Messaging winners for stars. Ask for nothing beyond what Goodreads already sends, and never a positive review.

For other ways to put the book in front of strangers, such as NetGalley, BookSirens and Booksprout, see ARC readers vs beta readers, and the launch budget guide compares a giveaway with the other paid options. Scribe Media, which makes this site, sells book marketing to its authors, including an Expanded Readership package ($3,000) that includes a Premium Goodreads giveaway, according to its book marketing page. You can run a giveaway yourself at the prices above. If you would like a person to look at your launch plan, book a free consult.