Today’s Question: Were you aware of the Member Giveaways Program? Have you posted any books in the giveaway? If so, what are your thoughts on the program? Have you requested any books, and if so, did you win any?
I’m a big fan of the LT blog and I head over there every time my home page tells me there is a new post, so I’ve been aware of Member Giveaway since it started. I think it’s a neat idea. It’s another way to get books into the hands of readers who really want them and I like that it’s completely random. I think it will be more useful for people with small or odd libraries who struggle to get books from the regular Early Reviewers program. Of course, that hasn’t stopped me from requesting. So far I have won two, the second one just yesterday. I’ll admit that I go there about once a week and request the ones I’m interested in. I don’t mind reviewing, as I review everything anyway, and I can’t resist free books. Of course, given the state of my TBR pile, I probably should learn to resist, but we’ll save that for another day.
I haven’t posted any to the giveaway and I don’t plan to. In fact, I don’t really understand why ordinary people do. I can see the benefits for an author to get a little extra publicity for their book, but for the rest of us, there are many swap websites where you can get a new book in exchange for the one you no longer want. It makes sense if you are simply clearing out your shelves and do not want to acquire new books, but I suppose that mindset is completely foreign to me! I’d also post some to support LibraryThing, but I think I’d rather do that without giving up my precious books. If I wanted to give some away, I’d just hold my own contest here. It’s been a while!
I could see posting a book or two MAYBE I thought they were deserving and they weren’t getting love on BookMooch. What I don’t understand are the people who post 10 or so books – they have to mail them all out! That’s a decent investment of resources. Why not try to sell them back to a bookstore or donate them to a library or thrift shop?
Jen – Devourer of Books’s last blog post..Teaser Tuesday – American Rust
Yeah, I don’t understand that either. Even in the US, sending out 10 books is more than $20 plus packaging. I can understand if you can afford it, but I know I couldn’t.
I’ve listed a couple of books in ARC junkies when I got 2 review copies for some odd reason. I would list them on Member Giveaway, hoping they would get reviewed. I haven’t won a Member Giveaway yet.
Kathy’s last blog post..Tuesday Thingers and a Picture of Milou
I can see doing it for a review, I didn’t think of it that way originally.
The reason I posted a book there was because I had accepted it as a review copy and felt bad that I didn’t finish it, and therefore didn’t write a review. By offering it on the Members Giveaway I was able to stipulate that I wanted whoever received it to write a review of the book. There are no gaurantees that they actually will write a review, but it made me feel better about passing the book on to someone else.
I will still hold giveaways on my site, but if I get an advance copy that is horrid I will probably post it on the Members Giveaway. I guess that doesn’t say a lot for the quality of the books that are being given away there (at least the ones I will post).
Alyce’s last blog post..Kiss by Ted Dekker – Review
That makes sense to me, I didn’t think about it that way.
I don’t think the quality of the books on MG is particularly high. I’ve so far requested only cast-offs that sound like they didn’t jive with the first reviewer/owner. I can also see your point regarding horrible advance copies. I don’t think I’d like to give that away here, but perhaps MG would find it a better home.
Congrats on your win! I tend to agree with you, I use PBS and Bookmooch, plus I like to hold book givewaways on my own blog.
BTW, I gave you an award, stop by and check it out
Yvonne’s last blog post..Awards! I won Awards!
Yet another thing I haven’t heard of. I must check it out. P)
I know about Member Giveaways, but I haven’t requested any (my TBR overflows!), or given any away (like you, I like to swap or post them on my blog for giveaway; I like the personal connection on the blog).
Alyce has a good point about passing along books you weren’t able to finish/review. I guess there’s something for everyone out there, and what doesn’t appeal to me might find a home on someone else’s bookcase.
My full answer is here.
Dawn (sheIsTooFondOfBooks)’s last blog post..Official answer to the “unspoken code” of lending paperbacks
Congrats on your two books so far!
As far as the giveaway portion, I also prefer to giveaway via my blog – it is nice to be able to give them to readers of my blog.
Thanks for stopping by and participating in Thingers last week! I’ve got the post up for this week, we’re taking a look at the new LT Memes. ~ Wendi
Wendi B.’s last blog post..Tuesday Thinger: Memes