THE Group for Authors! discussion

My Goodreads Giveaway for this book has ended. Is there any way I can send a message to those who entered that the KIndle version is on sale for $.99 for the next few weeks? Or a message to those who have marked the book, "Want to read"? Thank you.
Elizabeth Weiss Vollstadt

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Sending a message would be considered spam, you should check the GR author guidelines

https://www.goodreads.com/author/guid...

You could post a status update message with the information which would reach any one who is friends or following you

As Paula says, against Goodreads terms of service.

Thanks to both of you. Since people entering a Giveaway or marking a book "Want to Read" have already expressed some interest, I thought it might be okay. I'll do the status update message.

P.S. How do I do that?

You should be able to do one from your author dashboard or author profile. As a reader, I do one from my homepage underneath the Currently Reading section is a link called General Update.

Found the official line in the help file for not contacting people
https://www.goodreads.com/help/show/2...

I was wondering whether it would be a breach of protocol to send a message to readers who gave your novel five stars and offer your undying gratitude should they ever find the time to write a short review, either on Goodreads or Amazon.

Any thoughts?

Nick wrote: "I was wondering whether it would be a breach of protocol to send a message to readers who gave your novel five stars and offer your undying gratitude should they ever find the time to write a short..."

Nick,

Consumer ratings and reviews are posted by avid readers to share their personal, subjective opinion with other readers, not the author.

Many readers neither desire nor appreciate unsolicited contact from an author or anyone else for that matter. Focus more upon continuously improving you writing skills and producing the best work you can and less upon reviews - good, bad or indifferent.

I wish you success in your writing career.

Hi Nick— I understand where you are coming from. I know that as a reader, if I entered a Giveaway and didn't win, I'd be happy to hear from the author about a reduced price. I'd also feel good if an author thanked me for a five-star rating—it's nice to be appreciated.
But Goodreads is so large, I guess I also understand that many people would prefer to be left alone, especially if they comment, rate, and enter Giveaways often.
Good luck with your book!

Nick,

I think the difference here, and what makes it really problematic from a GR rules standpoint is that you aren't contacting a rater to say "Hi. Thanks for that rating. It's greatly appreciated."

You're contacting them to ask them to do a favor for you by now writing a review. To be honest, I suspect if someone rates but doesn't review that's not an accident. That's their choice of how to use the system. So you might be perceived as spamming or annoy them: "Hey, I gave you a great rating, and WTF! you now want me to do more?"

I've occasionally said thanks for a good review from another writer, but don't think I've ever done so for a reader's review. I figure writers aren't going to be upset by the thanks, whereas with readers there's the risk of them feeling intruded upon.

Ah, well, just my USD .02.

Eric

I wouldn't recommend contacting a rater/reviewer (even if just to thank them) unless you had previous contact with them to arrange the review in the first place or you already "know" them from goodreads.

Definitely don't message a reader to ask them to post reviews for you, though.

Thanks for the responses. As I suspected. That's why I've held back.