Rumpled Giveaway and Easy Book Promotion
Starting in less than an hour — which will probably be “right now” by the time most people read this — a copy of my novella retelling the story of Rumpelstiltskin — Rumpled — will be offered as a giveaway on PrizeMojo, a new giveaway site that, full disclosure, is coded by my husband.
The site is a platform for organizations and individuals who want to foster goodwill and positive impressions by giving others positive experiences with their products. When a giveaway is offered, you get exposure, a link back to your website, and the chance to get your product into the hands of someone who wants it. Users decide whether they want to enter for a chance to win or pass to allow someone who wants the item more to get it. Passing earns the user “karma,” which she can later spend to increase her odds of winning something else she wants.
When literally hundreds of thousands of books are published each year, both by traditional presses and self-publishers, the biggest challenge is often just letting the world know your book exists. Running a giveaway is the best way to generate interest — I was literally astounded by how many “to read” lists my book ended up on when I ran a giveaway on Goodreads. And the more people who have your book in their hands, the more reviews and/or word-of-mount you’re likely to get … which means more people who know your book exists.
As advertising goes, Prizemojo is cheap (the price of your product) and easy. It’s not just for books — anyone who wants to build their brand can use it, as well as individuals who want to give something away so that they can stockpile karma to use on later giveaways (giveaway sponsors get to keep all the karma that was “spent” on their giveaway if they successfully deliver the prize.)
The site is still in its beta stage, which is essentially software speak for “trial period.” This means the audience is not as large now as it probably will be in the future — but it also means your chances of winning if you join now are higher. All around, it’s pretty much a win.