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Goodreads for Authors: The Author Program and Giveaways, Explained

The Goodreads Author Program is free; Giveaways are paid, with Standard listed at $119 and Premium at $599. Who qualifies, how to apply, Kindle vs print giveaways and what Goodreads does not promise.

The Publishing Times Staff · October 8, 2026 · 6 min read

Goodreads for Authors: The Author Program and Giveaways, Explained

How do authors use Goodreads? In two main ways: by claiming a free author profile through the Goodreads Author Program, and by paying for a Goodreads Giveaway that puts free copies in front of readers. The program costs nothing. The package page listed a Standard giveaway at $119 and a Premium giveaway at $599 when The Publishing Times checked on October 8, 2026.

Here is what each one does, who qualifies and what Goodreads says it does not promise.

The Author Program: free, but you have to be verified

Goodreads says that "any author, anywhere in the world, can join the Goodreads Author Program for free." You need a published book, or one about to be published, that "can be found in our database."

Joining turns your reader account into an official author profile with the Goodreads Author badge. According to the program page, verified authors can edit their bio and photo, "fix your book listings," connect a blog, run giveaways, buy ads and answer reader questions through Ask the Author.

How to apply

The steps on the program page all happen on desktop:

  1. Sign in, or create an account, and search for your most popular book by ISBN, ASIN or title.
  2. On the book page, click your author name and scroll to the bottom of your author page.
  3. Click "Is this you? Let us know!" and submit the application.

The program page says Goodreads will email you "when you're approved within 2 business days," and that your login stays the same.

Why applications get bounced

The Goodreads help article "How do I join the Author Program?" says "only authors themselves are able to apply." It lists the checks Goodreads uses to confirm who you are:

  • Your Goodreads account uses your official author email address.
  • Your author website confirms that address, for example by showing it or through a contact form.
  • Goodreads can confirm the book through your KDP email address or your publisher's or agent's email address. Self-publishers who don't use KDP choose "Self-published Author" on the form.

If the email on your Goodreads account doesn't match anything Goodreads can check, change it before you apply. That is the simplest fix.

Giveaways: what you pay for

A giveaway is a paid listing. Readers enter, Goodreads picks winners at random, and the book is added to every entrant's Want to Read shelf. Both packages on the package page include:

  • a post in entrants' friends' news feeds when someone enters
  • an email to the author's followers and to readers who have shelved the book as Want to Read
  • a reminder to winners to review the book
  • a requirement that entrants add the book to their Want to Read list

Premium adds a "premium listing on the Giveaways section of Goodreads" and a "personalized email sent to everyone who doesn't win."

Standard Premium
List price (checked Oct 8, 2026) $119 $599
Feed post, follower email, review reminder Yes Yes
Featured listing in Giveaways section No Yes
Custom email to non-winners No Yes

Goodreads has cut prices in past promotions. A KDP Community post from August 2024 offered Standard at $99 and Premium at $399 for giveaways ending in September.

Kindle or print

The giveaway setup page offers two formats:

  • Kindle giveaways. Goodreads delivers the ebooks. You can "give away up to 100 copies with no book cost or shipping hassle." This option is only for publishers and self-published authors "who use Kindle Direct Publishing," and you have to connect your KDP account. You can run one before publication if the book (an ARC or the final file) is already in the Kindle Store and listed on Goodreads.
  • Print giveaways. These are open to all publishers and authors, with targeting for the U.S. and Canada. Goodreads picks the winners and sends you their addresses. You are then "responsible for sending copies to winners within two weeks," so printing and postage come on top of the package price.

Goodreads' Kindle giveaway setup guide says a giveaway has to run for at least 7 days and at most 30. It recommends 30 and notes that the price doesn't change with the number of copies.

Approval and refunds

According to the package page, Goodreads reviews each giveaway before it starts and tries to approve it "within 2 business days," though it can take longer when traffic is high. You can get a full refund if you cancel before the giveaway's start date.

What Goodreads says giveaways deliver, and what it doesn't

In a September 2025 post on its authors blog, Goodreads said that "on average between 3,250 - 5,223 users enter to win a Standard Giveaway." It also said giveaways generate "over 300,000 books marked Want to Read annually." Those figures come from Goodreads itself, which sells the product. The Publishing Times found no independent audit of them.

Goodreads describes reviews as something giveaways "potentially" produce. Winners get a reminder, but there is no requirement to review. A Want to Read is a shelf mark, not a sale. Goodreads' own glossary calls it "a signal used to measure a customers intent to purchase."

A sensible order of operations

  1. Claim your profile first. It's free, and you need it to list a giveaway.
  2. Fix your listings. Check your editions, series order and cover before you send readers to the book page.
  3. Choose the format that fits your budget. Kindle giveaways have no per-copy cost but need KDP. Print giveaways add printing and postage, so they suit small runs.
  4. Time it to a date. Pre-order and launch windows give Want to Read shelving somewhere to go.
  5. Watch reviews closely. Goodreads changed how it shows ratings in October. See our report on half- and quarter-star ratings. For more on getting early reviews, see our guides on running an ARC campaign and why ARC readers don't leave reviews.

More Goodreads coverage is on our Goodreads page, and marketing news is under Marketing.

Sources