Blogger Lift discussion

I just recently hit my 100 follower mark which is awesome, and I'd love to host a giveaway, but alas, I don't really have a lot of money to purchase books for one. So my question is how do people get books for giveaways other than purchasing them? Could I maybe email an author or publisher, asking them if they'd like to donate a book for my giveaway? Or what? I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a comment below with suggestions on what I could do! Click the picture below if you'd like to visit my blog :)

My recommendation is joining a group like Making Connections-

it specifically connects readers, bloggers, and authors together. They have threads specially for giveaways (like authors offering their book as a giveaway and such)

I've been lucky enough to become friends with several authors, so I have a few that have offered a giveaway for my blog. Haven't done it yet, though.

Hi, not sure if I can assist, but I'm happy to donate my books for giveaways. I only have ebooks at the moment but I have a paperback due to be published in June. Give me a shout if I can help anyone :)

Sharon wrote: "Hi, not sure if I can assist, but I'm happy to donate my books for giveaways. I only have ebooks at the moment but I have a paperback due to be published in June. Give me a shout if I can help any..."

I can verify that Sharon actually is a good suggestion (: I'm not saying the best (but I'd like to as I hosted a giveaway she sponsored). Her books are really good quality- people shouldn't be put of by the fact the trilogy is self-published (she's traditionally published too).
That's just my two cents worth if anybody is looking! :D

I'm thinking of hosting a giveaway for the next book I get from the Firstreads program. (I've been very lucky with those.)

I, too, wondered how to go about this. As a relatively new blogger, it would be great to reward those that stop by and at the same time, hopefully introduce them to some great new authors.

I was wondering the same. Does anyone have tips or can suggest a group that has some advice on this matter? I haven't done one yet and I'd like to find some ways to offer some exciting things to keep people wanting to revisit my blog. Anyone that can provide some advice I'd really appreciate it XD

Ahh, I've been suffering with this too! I really want to host a good giveaway, but have no clue how to get the book.

Authors guys, authors. If you really can't fund it yourself, or don't wish to do that yet, get it sponsored ... Even publishers might!
The opportunities they provide you aren't always advertised as too many would ask & it's not effective if freebies are flying about too much! So be patient & respect it if they say no (it costs them as well to have a giveaway). It's like getting a book published was- a test of patience often.

My question is more basic - what is the best way to do a giveaway? I see links for rafflecopter, etc. and also "begging" - i.e. follow me on twitter and receive 5 entries, etc. I just want to offer a book without that or having to set up yet another account (and maybe pay for it as well)- maybe leave a comment with an email address? What do you suggest for a relative newcomer? This would be my first giveaway.

@Lance - I'm about to post a giveaway myself, today actually, if I feel like it... I always like Rafflecopter just because it does all the hard work for you in the end (it chooses the winners)! It will be my first giveaway on Kitties, but Kitties is relatively knew, and I've been blogging for years. I've done the "leave your email in the comments" and I feel like its a hassle.

If you don't want to do rafflecopter most do google docs not just the "begging" (which more of than not involves commenting details as well).

Can you purchase a book (like from Amazon) and give that away? Since you paid for the book, I don't see why you would have to have permission from the author or publisher to give it away. Isn't it really from your own collection? I mean, isn't that like buying a book and then giving it away as a gift? (How silly it seems to give people books as gifts and have to contact an author every time you wanted to do it - I give my sister books all the time). And who would you contact if the author was deceased? (As in Edgar Allan Poe, etc.). It seems like a lot of red tape to go through, and what if the author turns you down? Then you have to contact another author and hope, etc. Why couldn't you just specify that it is a new, unread book from your own collection?

I want to do a giveaway (since my blog is fairly new and have never done this before), but I'm not sure how and want to do it right.

@JoAnne if you purchase a hard copy of any book you can give it away without asking the authors permission! The only time you need to worry about anyone getting upset is when we are talking ebooks, NEVER share those, though gifting is smiled at :) !! If you are worried about anyone causing waves, just state that the prize is being provided by you not the author/publisher and you are in the clear!

I can donate my ebook "The Rusmolovo Diaries"/ Let me know if you are intersted

Hi! I have a similar problem. I finally decided to get "serious" and got a domain name, so now my website is www.readitnoworelse.com but I'm a student and I don't have the money to purchase book to give away. What do I do?

Such a great topic! New blog as well, so I was wondering! :D

If you are willing to pile up books until you have enough to make a giveaway viable, consider entering the Firstreads giveaways (you can find them under the "explore" tab at the top of this page.)

You'll need to enter a bunch of giveaways to win even one, but use some discretion. Only enter giveaways for books that you would be willing to read and review yourself. And if you are serious about using them for your own giveaways avoid entering for ARCs (because they're not a finished product and thus not that good of a prize) and "autographed by the author" because many authors will inscribe it to your name.

Melissa wrote: "@JoAnne if you purchase a hard copy of any book you can give it away without asking the authors permission! The only time you need to worry about anyone getting upset is when we are talking ebooks,..."
Is it okay to give an ebook through Kindle Gift? Or should I still contact the author/publisher?

Lance wrote: "My question is more basic - what is the best way to do a giveaway? I see links for rafflecopter, etc. and also "begging" - i.e. follow me on twitter and receive 5 entries, etc. I just want to of..."

Personally, I've used Rafflecopter. It's great. It chooses the winner for you. No work! Ha!
And the Twitter stuff is not only to share the word, but also help the blogger. We ARE giving away free things. I personally would like something in return. Even if it's just a comment.

I run a cat blog, and I go looking for interesting cat books to read/review/giveaway. When I find one, I go and find the author's website and contact them directly. I've never had an author not at least send me a free copy of the book for review. Not all of them are open to giveaways, but many are.

As far as running the giveaway itself, I usually use Rafflecopter's free version. I don't include a ton of entry options as that can get quite irritating for readers.

If you don't want to use a widget like Rafflecopter, you could just have people comment with their email address if they want to be entered. Then use Random.org to select a number and match that number to the corresponding comment.

I hope this helps!