Goodreads Help

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Mon April 16th, 2012, 7:05 pm

I received an e-mail from Goodreads letting me know I will be getting a book for "first reads." Not sure what that means exactly and they expect me to review this book. Yikes. Do they know I don't write reviews? How did I get this book exactly?

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Mon April 16th, 2012, 7:14 pm

[quote=""Brenna""]I received an e-mail from Goodreads letting me know I will be getting a book for "first reads." Not sure what that means exactly and they expect me to review this book. Yikes. Do they know I don't write reviews? How did I get this book exactly?[/quote]

Did you enter some sort of drawing for the book?

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Mon April 16th, 2012, 7:54 pm

You must have entered a give away at some point. Don't worry, the world won't cave in and they won't kick you out if you don't review it. The most harm that could come is if you don't review your "first reads" wins it counts against your chances of winning more.

Doesn't really matter in the long run, most of my friends (and myself) were winning a lot for about a year or so. Then it dried up. There's been some speculation that a lot of sock accounts seem to win a lot and that folks are setting up those accounts to help their winning chances. I flat out don't enter any more.

lauragill · Post by **lauragill** » Mon April 16th, 2012, 8:04 pm

[quote=""Brenna""]I received an e-mail from Goodreads letting me know I will be getting a book for "first reads." Not sure what that means exactly and they expect me to review this book. Yikes. Do they know I don't write reviews? How did I get this book exactly?[/quote]

You may have been entered in a drawing without your even knowing it, simply because you posted a comment somewhere.

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Mon April 16th, 2012, 8:26 pm

Hmmm there is a possibility that I did enter a Goodreads giveaway-but I didn't know there were strings attached. I didn't realize there were people that actually check up on those kind of things-is that someone's job-check if someone wrote a review?

Well I'll give it a whirl, but does a paragraph count as an adequate review?

At least it looks a bit interesting-Commedia Della Morte-it's number 25 in a series so it should be good right?

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Mon April 16th, 2012, 8:59 pm

[quote=""lauragill""]You may have been entered in a drawing without your even knowing it, simply because you posted a comment somewhere.[/quote]

I don't think it works that way on Goodreads - as far as I know, first reads giveaways can only be entered by specifically signing up and providing your address first. Every time I enter a giveaway, I have to select an address to enter with.

Brenna wrote:Hmmm there is a possibility that I did enter a Goodreads giveaway-but I didn't know there were strings attached. I didn't realize there were people that actually check up on those kind of things-is that someone's job-check if someone wrote a review?

No, I'm sure it's automated with some kind of bot.

Well I'll give it a whirl, but does a paragraph count as an adequate review?

Yes, there are no rules on how long it has to be. My first giveaway review was pretty short (all of six sentences in total) and I won a second time after that so I was not excluded due to a short review. These are the term and conditions:

Terms & Conditions
If more people are interested in a book than there are copies available, we will pick the winners at our discretion. The factors that go into our algorithm are: randomness, site activity, genre of books on your shelves, current phase of the moon, and more.
No purchase necessary. Only one entry is allowed per household. You must be 13 or older and a legal resident of one of the countries this giveaway is listed for.
The publisher or author, not Goodreads, is responsible for shipment of books to winners. To list a book, the publisher or author has already agreed never to send you anything except the book in question.
You are not required to review the book if you win a copy. However, we encourage you do to so, as it's the reason the publishers are giving us free books in the first place. People who review the books are also more likely to win more advance copies in the future.
By accepting an advance copy and posting a review, you grant Goodreads and the publisher an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute your review.
In compliance with FTC guidelines, please disclose in your review that you received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

And btw, you are also not required to write a positive review. It can be as negative as you like. These are the two I've won and reviewed so far if you interested:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/178150519
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/277380590

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Wed April 18th, 2012, 1:21 pm

So THE book arrived today-way quicker than I was expecting. I read the cover-certainly not my cup of tea so it may sit there until I finish with Daughter of York.