Writer Sanctum
Writer's Haven => Marketing Loft [Public] => Topic started by: Joe Vasicek on January 22, 2020, 03:02:26 AM
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I don't usually do big book launches, but I have an idea for a launch strategy that could work for the last book in a series. Trouble is, I don't know if it will get me into trouble, so I thought I'd run it by the hive-mind and see if it's kosher.
While the last book is on preorder, you run a limited giveaway to your mailing list—say, 100 ebook copies or so. If those people post a review before the book goes live, you put them into a pool to win a set of signed print copies of the rest of the books in the series. It doesn't have to be a five-star review, and of course they should include "I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review," but they do have to post the review before the book goes live.
Is this a legitimate launch strategy, or is this the sort of thing that Amazon cracks down on or that makes Facebook author groups get out their torches and pitchforks?
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It's exactly the sort of thing that many big authors with big street teams do.
It's also against TOS.
But putting direct links to your newsletter in your ebooks is against TOS.
Being 100% trouble-free is difficult.
On Joanna Penn's recent podcast, a guest was raving over how people put descriptions in the subtitle fields for thrillers. JP was saying that's against TOS. The other lady either didn't know or didn't care. I could hear knickers twisting.
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How do they post a review before it is live? Just to be clear I'm not endorsing the plan.
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How do they post a review before it is live? Just to be clear I'm not endorsing the plan.
When a book is on preorder, the page is live.
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Last I heard, the only thing of value you can offer in exchange for a review is a free copy of the book being reviewed.
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How do they post a review before it is live? Just to be clear I'm not endorsing the plan.
When a book is on preorder, the page is live.
If someone tries to post a review on a pre-order they get this message: This item has not been released yet and is not eligible to be reviewed.
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How do they post a review before it is live? Just to be clear I'm not endorsing the plan.
When a book is on preorder, the page is live.
If someone tries to post a review on a pre-order they get this message: This item has not been released yet and is not eligible to be reviewed.
On Amazon. There's still Goodreads and the other retailers.
Or change it the strategy so that the readers have to post the reviews within a week of the book's release date.
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It's bordering on lottery territory.
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It's bordering on lottery territory.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
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It's bordering on lottery territory.
Not just bordering, it's exactly that.
Amazon allows a free copy of the book to be reviewed to potential reviewers. Period.
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Reviews can't be required. The moment you require an ARC recipient to post a review, you're breaking Amazon TOS.
That said, Amazon can only police where it has access. So if you're going to play games with ARC reviewers, don't tell them to post to Goodreads, which Amazon owns, and don't reward them with $5 Amazon gift cards. :hehe
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Remember Chance Carter and TiffanyGate by chance? He did this type of thing only instead of signed books, he was offering a chance to win a prize from Tiffany. Same concept, just a lesser prize.
Just for the record, Chance Carter no longer has an KDP account to publish under. At least under that name. (Scammers gonna scam)
You don't want to risk your account for this, and in my opinion that's exactly what you would be risking.
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I did a lot of research some time back, before I started doing giveaways on my website. This kind of thing is not a gray area. Legally, it could get you into trouble. I'm sure people get away with it, but why take the risk?
In every US state, the ability to hold lotteries is limited to the state (or completely nonexistent). The UK has similar rules, except that select charities are allowed to do lotteries.
What constitutes a lottery (as opposed to sweepstakes, or legal giveaway)?
There are three factors: a consideration to enter, random selection of winners, prize(s) of value. On the first point, the consideration need not be monetary. Anything that takes up enough time could be regarded as a consideration. Asking someone to follow you on Twitter, for example, doesn't take enough time to be so regarded, but asking people to read a book and write a review could easily be seen as a consideration. On the third point, it's true that the prize isn't huge, but it certainly has value. The selection of winners is random. All the ingredients for an illegal lottery are present. That doesn't mean you'd be noticed and prosecuted, but why take the chance?
Then, as others have pointed out, there's the TOS. The only thing you can offer reviewers is a free copy of the book being reviewed. Yes, you could have the reviewers post only on non-Amazon venues, but here's another fun fact. The Amazon TOS on this point is based on Federal Trade Commission regulations. (So yes, incentivizing reviews also carries legal risks.) As with illegal lotteries, how stringently the requirement is enforced could well be questioned, but every so often the FTC does crack down on something. You don't want to be the one that gets cracked.
Though I occasionally see people do things that make me wince, and they don't seem to get into trouble for it, I'm sure we can all agree that it's better to stay on the right side of the law.
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Adding to the last, Amazon has a looooooong memory.