Goodreads Giveaways in 2025: The Latest Strategy of Book Marketing
Goodreads Giveaways have become an essential component of modern book marketing strategies. With over 75 million active Goodreads members now participating in the platform’s ecosystem, these giveaways have never been more competitive—or more valuable.
Recently, power users have been entering impressive 50-60 giveaways daily to maximize their chances of winning. One exceptionally dedicated reader, through strategic participation, scored 25 Kindle books and 14 physical copies in a year.
The platform maintained its two-tier pricing structure in 2025: $119 for the Standard package and $599 for the Premium option. Despite rumors of international expansion since 2018, giveaways remain officially limited to residents of the US and Canada—although specialized groups such as “Free Books Giveaway Worldwide” attempt to bridge this geographical gap.
For authors, pre-release giveaways deliver the most substantial return on investment (ROI). Fiction titles typically attract over 2,500 entries compared to non-fiction titles, which usually attract around 1,500 entries. Every entry automatically adds the book to the user’s “Want to Read” shelf, creating a powerful visibility loop that extends far beyond the promotion.
Top Goodreads Giveaways Feed (Updates Hourly)
Goodreads giveaways are hard to find these days unless you search in curated lists.
The live global giveaways list below shows the most popular Goodreads giveaways. Feel free to check this page every hour to see the newest top-rated giveaways to enter in April 2025.
This article will cover all you need to know about Goodreads, including how to master entering and winning their giveaways.
Goodreads Key Facts
- Goodreads was founded in America in 2006 and launched in early 2007 by Otis Chandler and Elizabeth Khuri Chandler.
- The site serves as a book catalog and social tool, allowing users to search its database of books, quotes, and reviews.
- Goodreads users can also sign up and register books to generate reading lists, enter book giveaways, or even run their own giveaways.
- Goodreads has become the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations, with over 125 million members as of 2025.
- Members have collectively added over 2.2 billion books to their shelves.
- Goodreads was acquired by Amazon in 2013 and remains an operating subsidiary.
What are Goodreads Giveaways?
According to Goodreads, its sole mission is to help people find and easily share books they love—the giveaways help Goodreads do just that.
Goodreads giveaways are free giveaways intended to connect book lovers with the opportunity to win free books while allowing authors to connect their books to an audience. Authors can give away copies of their books on Goodreads, and the readers can win a free book.
Interestingly, Authors and readers can sign up for a giveaway on the Goodreads website.
How Do You Win a Book on Goodreads?
We’ve been paying close attention to Goodreads giveaways and have prepared expert tips to help you win a book.
It’s not complicated to win. You need to enter the giveaways. Ensure you follow Goodreads’ guidelines and what we cover in this article. The book giveaway winners are selected randomly so that everyone can win.
6 Ways to Master the Goodreads Giveaway
Just entering the book giveaway is not enough to win a giveaway. There are a handful of critical ways to maximize your chances of winning a free book, and we’ve summarized them here.
1. Be Active on the Site
The Goodreads small print for giveaways mentions ‘site activity.’ If you have not been on the website for a few months, your chances of winning a giveaway are reduced.
The Goodreads algorithm picks recently active users on their site, so we recommend keeping your account active.
You can stay active by liking or commenting, polling, or adding a book to your shelf. All of this activity adds up and changes your algorithm.
2. Write a Few Reviews of Books You Have Read
Writing a book review doesn’t have to be complicated. Understandably, your first one may take time, and you may not know where to start. The best step to take is to start somewhere.
All you need to do is cover why you enjoyed the book or didn’t and if you would recommend it. You don’t have to write a long review, either. A simple one will do. Your chances of winning are not changed if you write long reviews.
3. Have Lots of Books on Your Shelves
Growing your book list is one of the best and easiest ways to increase your chances of winning. We know how easily book lists grow.
You can also shelve books in genre format and all those genres you enjoy. Plus, these books will be the ones you will likely want to win the most.
Goodreads will also inform you if a book giveaway may interest you on the ‘Want to Read’ shelf.
4. Join a Few Groups
There are many groups on Goodreads, so consider joining a few groups.
Remember to participate once you’ve joined a few groups. You can add comments in these groups and join discussions that may interest you.
You can participate in groups discussing the genres and types of books you enjoy reading. You can also learn something new by joining a book group you know nothing about.
5. Rate the Books You Want to Win
Don’t forget to rate the books on your ‘Read’ shelf. Doing this for every genre or category you want to win books would be best.
You can also find your perfect giveaway by browsing past giveaways by the most popular authors, those recently listed, and those ending soon. You can also search for giveaways by genre and your favorite kinds, so don’t miss out on entering a giveaway you’ll love.
6. Leverage GiveawayListing’s Live Lists
Giveawaylisting.com features a 24/7 live feed of the most popular, active Goodreads giveaways. This feed is at the top of this guide, so check it frequently.
The lists are automatically updated every hour with the best-rated Goodreads giveaway deals. Additionally, you can find many more free live giveaway feeds on our homepage.
Also, note that the giveaways are international, but you need to check the specific guidelines of each giveaway.
Are Goodreads Giveaways Worth It?
There are two participant groups in Goodreads Giveaways: the authors and the entrants. The short answer is that the giveaways are worth it for both authors and entrants.
Goodreads Giveaways for Authors
For all budding authors, a book giveaway helps your book reach the right audience.
It’s well known that Goodreads giveaways are a powerful platform for authors and publishers to promote their newly written books.
Contrary to popular opinion, book giveaways aren’t about increasing sales. They are fantastic opportunities to raise awareness of you as an author and your book, which can help you reach your audience.
Goodreads Giveaways for Entrants
For all of you book lovers, the giveaways are worth it. If you love reading and want free books, the Goodreads giveaways are a match made in heaven for you.
Many Goodreads users share their winning experiences online. They boast of having won not only one or two books but multiple books. So, how did they win that many?
How to Enter Goodreads Giveaways
It’s easy to enter a Goodreads giveaway, and here’s a short step-by-step process.
- First, browse the giveaways page on the Goodreads Giveaways official website, find a giveaway you want to enter, and click the enter giveaway button in the listing’s block.
- Next, enter and confirm your shipping information, accept the giveaway terms and conditions, and hit enter giveaway.
That’s it. You’ve now entered a Goodreads giveaway! The good news is that there are usually more than one hundred giveaways running every month on Goodreads, as you can see from the screenshot below.
How Much are Goodreads Giveaways for Entrants?
It’s entirely free to enter a giveaway for the readers out there, but for the authors, there’s more to understand about how much the giveaways will cost you.
As Goodreads states, authors and publishers can choose between the Standard and Premium packages. These two packages are intended to help promote books to readers, build an audience, and generate early reviews for new books.
How Much Does it Cost to Run a Goodreads Giveaway?
To run any of the two options in the Goodreads giveaway, here are things you should know:
1. The Standard Giveaway costs $119 per giveaway.
Everyone who enters this giveaway automatically adds the book to their Want-to-Read list, which will promote your book via their updates.
Also, the author’s followers and anyone who has added the book to their Want-to-Read list get a notification. This will let them know a giveaway is starting and help generate even more entries.
2. The Premium Giveaway (Print or Kindle) will cost you $599 per giveaway.
The Premium Giveaways are designed to give you more opportunities to connect with readers.
In addition to all the benefits of the Standard package, the Premium package also includes personalized touches and premium placements on Goodreads’ Giveaways page. Winners also receive an email from Goodreads reminding them to rate and review their book.
5 ways to Master Running a Giveaway
1. Set up your Author Profile on Goodreads
If you’re not on Goodreads yet, your first step is to set up your Author profile after creating a Goodreads account and add the books you’ve written to your profile.
2. Choose the Format of Your Giveaway Book
You can choose what format to give away your books from the Goodreads Author dashboard. You have 2 options. You can select either the print book or the Kindle version of your book.
Consider what you’d like your reader to experience. Many readers prefer traditional, “old-fashioned” books, whereas some prefer modern ebooks.
3. Choose a Standard or Premium Package
A Goodreads membership is free, but as mentioned above, there is a fee for running a book giveaway: the standard package ($119) and the Premium Package ($599). The standard package is just as good as the premium one and is good enough to bring you exposure.
4. Consider How Many Books You Will Give Away
You can choose as many print copies as you like, but the Kindle option allows a maximum of 100 copies. Ten print copies is a good starting point.
The more books you offer, the more chances you’ll gain good exposure. The publicity you’ll receive will cover the printing and shipping costs.
5. Decide Your Giveaway Timeframe
Next, you must choose the start and end dates for your giveaway.
You may not start the giveaway less than 3 days after submitting the form and may not set it up to 6 months in advance.
How Long Should I Run a Giveaway on Goodreads?
As per the Goodreads rules, your giveaway can last anywhere between 1 week and 30 days. Goodreads suggests that somewhere between 1 to 3 weeks is a good starting point to make your giveaway memorable.
If you want people to look forward to winning, you don’t want them to forget they entered in the first place with a drawn-out giveaway.
Find what works for you. Running your giveaway for a month gives the readers more time to discover you and to enter.
Goodreads Giveaways FAQs
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about Goodreads giveaways.
How Many Giveaways Can You Enter on Goodreads?
There is a limit of only one entry per person and household using only one Goodreads account.
You can enter multiple giveaways, but you must enter each giveaway separately. The full rules can be found on Goodreads’ terms and conditions.
Can You Enter Giveaways on the Goodreads App?
Yes, you can enter the giveaways on the app. The official Google Play Goodreads app can be found here.
To enter a giveaway, visit the app’s Giveaways page.
What Happens if You Win Goodreads Giveaways?
If you win a giveaway, you’ll get an email. This message will also contain information regarding when your book will arrive, usually within eight weeks.
You can also view your giveaway history in the app or on your account. This will tell you if winners have been chosen and if you’ve won.
How Can I Stay Updated About Future Goodreads Giveaways?
Check back with us to stay updated about the latest information regarding their book giveaways.
You can find the list of current Goodreads website giveaways through the app or their site and see the updated rules and information there.
For future prizes, don’t forget to stay active on Goodreads and enter to win the books that excite you the most.