Getting Publishers to Give You Free Books - A Follow-Up

Not too long ago, I wrote a hub on ways to get publishing companies to give you free books, and I thought people might be interested in seeing how that's working out for me. After all, people write Hubs all the time that give what sounds like great advice, but never actually follow through on any of it. It can leave people wondering whether the advice is actually worth taking, because there's no follow-up, no indication given on whether or not the advice actually works.

I can safely say that for me, it did.

My book blog is entering its fourth month, and is a baby as far as book review blogs go. I've reviewed less than 20 books this year. I've read blogs that review that many books in less than half the time it's taken me.

And yet, it's working. I've received four books in the mail from publishers and advertisers, completely free of charge to me, and I've had to turn down two other pitches because they didn't seem like books I'd enjoy reading or reviewing. Just based on the books I accepted, this has so far worked out to be a free book for each month of the year.

Of course, I've done more than just reading the books and writing a couple of reviews. I've signed up for some networking sites, like Twitter, BookBlogs, and GoodReads, and I post reviews of links to my reviews there, so that more people can find their way to my blog and increase the readership. I've joined a few reading challenges so my name gets out there a little more too. I'm not just sitting back an expecting books to start coming through my mail slot. I'm actively doing work to advertise.

There are a few perks to such networking sites other than backlinks. Lots of advertisers, publishers, and authors hang out on BookBlogs, and it's been there that I found people willing to send copies of their books to me, and from there companies got my info and started pitching books to me without me having to request a thing. GoodReads has their FirstReads program, where you can sign up to win advanced copies of books that ship right to your door, again at no cost to you. FirstReads has already helped me to discover a book series that I want to read more of, and if I can't request copies from the publisher, then I'm most certainly going to buy them.

You may think it's strange that publishers are willing to give away free books like this. For them, it's a gamble. They have to give out a free product, pay the shipping, and hope that the person they send it to likes it enough to write a good review. And then they have to hope that the good review is enough to make people buy a book they might not otherwise have considered reading. They're taking a big chance, and there's no guarantee that anything will come of it.

But it's enough of a chance that they're willing to take a small loss now on the chance of a big gain later. I myself am a good example of how it all works. I kept seeing reviews on other book blogs for a fantasy novel that looked interesting, N K Jemisin's "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms", and I knew pretty quickly that I was going to buy myself a copy as soon as I saw it in a bookstore. I've discovered quite a few books that I plan to buy when I get the money, thanks to good reviews I've seen on other blogs. These are books that I might not have bought, had I not seen a favourable opinion from somebody whose tastes and thoughts I trust.

If you are an avid reader, and you can't seem to get enough to read, I do recommend making a book review blog and approaching publishers after a month or two. You may get rejected, and that's just part of the process, but you also may make enough connections that you end up with a few new books every week from companies who want you to read and write.

And even if that doesn't happen, then consider that your review might help your favourite author get another sale. You're doing them a favour, you're giving them advertising, even when you're receiving no compensation for it. It's a win-win situation, the way I see it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have another book to finish. The list is never-ending!