No one is entering my contest. What do I do?

[Andrea Higgins]

I was so excited to launch my first book blog contest on Friday. No one has entered. I got one pity comment from an overseas friend who barely speaks English and couldn't say much.

 

I've been crying about it all week. Crying because I feel like a failure. Crying because I'm letting a sweet author down. I don't know what to do and am considering deleting my book blog altogether.

 

How do you get the word out (other than Twitter & Facebook)?

 

Have any of you dealt with this kind of total rejection before? How did you get through it?

 

I'm struggling here, so any advice would be appreciated and so very helpful.

 

Thanks,

Andrea

[Christine Amsden]

Hi Andrea!

 

I'm so sorry you feel this way. Please don't give up! This is just a learning experience. :)

 

Would you mind a little critique? I visited your web site, and I have a few ideas.

 

1. When I first went to your website, I instantly had to grab for my speakers to turn the volume down. I am not and have never been a fan of sites that start playing sounds of any kind that I'm not expecting -- be they ads or background music.

 

2. The giveaway was not at the top of your blog. I had to search for it.

 

3. And I really hate to say this...but the book synopsis did not enthrall me. This is the author's fault, not yours, but I'm not sure it did the book justice. It didn't really get to the heart of the conflict, but instead seemed to describe an inordinate amount of back story, telling us more about the main character's ancestor than it told us about the main character herself, and what the main conflict of the book is.

 

4. The actual entry mechanism seems fine, although never having given the thought of treasure hunting much thought, I am at a loss for how to answer. It may be that I'm not the book's target audience. :)

 

5. I don't see any way to follow you or join your blog (like with google friend connect or the like). The ability to do so helps your site feel more like a community, and gives you a sense for how well your efforts to promote your blog are paying off.

 

One other thought:

 

Becomming part of a blog hop helps get you new followers and gets more interest in your contest. Those participating are looking for contests to enter.

 

Oh, and part of the problem may be the author's as well. She should be trying to help you promote this contest from her end. It's a team effort. (Or at least, as an author, that is how I have always seen it.)

 

Good luck. I know how tough promotion can be, but it does pay off in the long run.

[Jennifer Kitchens]

I am by no means an expert on this, but I've done about 8 of them so far and have another 3 set for the end of the month.  Giveaways take a lot of time and effort to advertise.  Here are some of the things that I do:

 

You can go to a lot of giveaway linkys and list your giveaway.  These two are places to find who hosts a linky on which days.  I have found these really helpful.

http://www.thriftyandchicmom.com/giveaway-linkys/

http://savingslifestyle.com/2009/02/list-for-giveaway-hostlinky-sites/

 

Here are a couple that host book-only giveaway linkys.

http://www.frugalityisfree.com/search/label/Thursday%20Book%20Givea...  

http://busymomswholovetoread.blogspot.com/

 

Also, you can list it on here either in general discussion or within the groups.  

 

Another good place is on goodreads.com.  If you join a few groups, many of them have a place to list giveaways.  

 

Last thought - see if the author can do some publicity too - post on their facebook/blog/website, etc. with a link to your giveaway.

 

Good luck!  Oh, and I went to your site and couldn't find the giveaway!  Perhaps you can include a link to it on the sidebar so that people can find it easily.

 

Clean Romance Reviews

[Mary McDonald]

Where is it at? I can blog and tweet it too. Not that I have a huge network, but I have some friends who might also blog/tweet.

 

[Blodeuedd]

I usually post here in different groups, they do have giveaway groups, and on Goodreads.

 

Don't be sad *hugs*

[Melissa M. Marlow]

Andrea,

I can make you feel better.  I ran a contest last month, ending just on May 5th.  I only had one person reply, and then they didn't even leave a comment.  I will follow through and send the book to her.  The more readers i have the better, but i just wanted you to know that i am having the same problem.

I really think I need to take a marketing class, because writing the books and getting them published is not my problem, it is having a following and i thought my giveaway would give me one. 

NOT this time.  Maybe next, i will try it again, hopefully soon.

Let me know how it comes out?

Melissa

[Shawna Hill]

Dont feel bad, I have had the same luck as you with my first contest.

 

Shawna

www.shawnarhill.blogspot.com

[KJ Kron]

Good lord, my publisher is suggesting a contest - and now I'm worried

[parchmentgirl]

There are a number of reasons you may not be getting the response you want. For one, you may simply have too small an audience to reach people. Especially if you're not getting any response from Facebook or Twitter. It takes time to build up an audience and get a good response to giveaways.

Secondly, it may just be a book that is less popular in the blogging community. I typically get around 60-80 entrants for popular books, but simultaneously get as low as 15-20 entrants for a book that hasn't gotten as much attention and publicity. Big difference!

Third, you may not be advertising your giveaway in places where it will be seen. Book Blogs Ning is a great place to do that, and if the monetary value of your book is at least $25, then posting it at the Tip Junkie giveaway directory would also be a good idea. http://freestuff.tipjunkie.com/

Cheer up! Networking takes time and if you keep at it, people will eventually flock to your blog for giveaways. But even when you have a good network, sometimes it can be hit or miss!

Kate Scott
http://parchmentgirl.com
Twitter: @parchmentgirl37

[Evangeline Han]

Hi Andrea, I'm so sorry that you're in this predicament.

After posting a contest, promote it. There are sites where you can send them the link to your contest and they'll help promote it. I can send you a few links if you'd like. Ping me for them.

One of the reason why I don't enter some contests is that there are way too many rules! For example, I've been to contest pages where so many things are required of an entrant...: Become a follower/subscriber, like the blog Facebook page, like the author Facebook page, befriend the book blogger in Facebook, tweet about the giveaway, answer certain questions. Yeah, you get the idea. It's way too consuming. I don't mind following the blog and answering the questions, but the others are totally unnecessary and time-consuming.

Keep your guidelines simple and concise!

 

--Evangeline

http://sugarpeach.wordpress.com/

[ManOfLaBook.com]

Andrea, what's the URL for you contest.

I'd like to take a look and maybe be able to give you some suggestions (not from an expert's point of view, just as a user).

[Susan Milby]

I struggled like that for the first few months, and first few giveaways.  Then followed the advice of another blogger and started joining "blog hops" instead of just doing my own giveaway.  I also make it "required" to be a follower on my blog to enter the giveaways.

The most recent giveaway (I Love My Mommy) hop, I gained almost 100 NEW followers and had over 80 different people sign up for the giveaway.

Another way is to giveaway something along with the book (amazon gift cards are quite popular)

 

In addition make sure to add your link to "promote your blog" sites - you can also ask blogs that you follow, to help you promote your giveaway/blog

 

Hope this helps

 

blogs: http://lovez2read.blogspot.com

and http://faeroticprose.blogspot.com

 

[Tina "The Book Lady"]

Hi - you can look on my blog at: http://givingnsharing.blogspot.com/p/blog-hops-by-day.html and I have all kinds of giveaway linkies listed. Look for the ones that have a G or actually say "Giveaway Linky" and enter your giveaways on those. Do keep in mind that it takes a while to enter all the linkies and also you need to enter a few every week so people get used to seeing your name and blog out there. I have a word page that I've put together and I keep a running list of my giveaways on it so all I have to do is cut/paste. It really helps with the time you spend adding your giveaways to the linkies. This is what's on my list right now:

Seeds For Pups, Organic Biodegradable Pots, Family Activity
http://givingnsharing.blogspot.com/2011/05/seeds-for-pups-organic-g...
WIN A Purse Sized Sunny Days sunscreen, 5/20, US
http://givingnsharing.blogspot.com/2011/05/ma-mi-skincare-sunscreen...
Win a 3D Deep Sea Coloring Book, 5/15, US
http://familyliteracyandyou.blogspot.com/2011/04/i-color-3d-colorin...

Also enter blog hops 1-2 a day if possible and make friends that way. (You'll find ones you like) Those on the page I've given you should have either "blog hop" or BH behind the name to indicate a blog hop. Be sure to leave a comment and you'll want to get your blog numbers up on Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, etc

I hope that helps! Tina