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Okay. Thoughts on giveaways, I guess. What they're for in my opinion, why I don't do them very often, why I don't really do them for new releases, and why I won't ever do competitions for Big Popular RPG Books.
First I want to establish some ground rules for this thread, because I'm low on energy and patience tonight frankly.
I don't want advise. Don't tell me how to run better giveaways. Don't argue with me about why my view on what they're for is wrong.
I don't want advise. Don't tell me how to run better giveaways. Don't argue with me about why my view on what they're for is wrong.
There will be a clear end point to this thread.
If you start jumping in midway, at best you're getting ignored and at worst you'll catch a block depending on how you jump in and if I know you.
If you start jumping in midway, at best you're getting ignored and at worst you'll catch a block depending on how you jump in and if I know you.
Giveaways serve a few purposes. The main thing, ultimately, is to grow your audience. And by that I don't mean "get more followers". I mean gain more customers. People who will spend money on your work in future, who aren't currently spending money on your work.
You'll notice that the giveaway I'm running right now doesn't ask you to follow me on twitter to enter.
I've done that in the past. It's pointless. People follow you for the duration of the giveaway, then drop you when they don't win.
I don't want those kinds of follows.
I've done that in the past. It's pointless. People follow you for the duration of the giveaway, then drop you when they don't win.
I don't want those kinds of follows.
With this giveaway, I'm asking you to do two things: retweet the tweet (which gets it in front of people who don't follow me), and sign up to my mailing list.
The reason for the mailing list should be self-evident, but just in case I'll spell it out: it's so I can sell to you. I want you to buy my things. And with my mailing list, I've got a direct line to your inbox.
Now, I want you to stay on my mailing list. That's why I'm not going to spam you, or inundate you with emails.
You'll only hear from me when I release something that I really want you to buy. And you'll get a discount, so you're more likely to buy it.
You'll only hear from me when I release something that I really want you to buy. And you'll get a discount, so you're more likely to buy it.
And because you got a discount, you're more likely to stay on the mailing list. Especially if you aren't getting spammed all the time.
Make sense? Of course it does.
Make sense? Of course it does.
Why don't I do giveaways regularly? Mainly, because they take a lot of energy. Secondly...I just hate seeing my timeline clogged up with people running giveaways all the time. And I don't want to contribute to that very often.
Thirdly, I just.... can't really afford to? I use community copies to get games in the hands of marginalised people and those who can't afford to pay me for them. The rest of the time? I want to be paid for my work.
And I don't want to create the impression that if you follow me for long enough you'll eventually just get given everything for free. That's like people who wait for the Steam sale every year before they buy games, yknow? It's not good for me as a business.
I used to do giveaways for new releases, but honestly I didn't see any uptick in sales off the back of them. So it's just not worth it, and that's why I don't do it.
A recent trend over the past year(?) or so is people running giveaways for the Big New Popular Game Hardcover. I have it on good authority that that creates more interest and more mailing list signups, and I don't doubt that.
But. BUT.
But. BUT.
Every time you do a giveaway, you inevitably get people who follow you for the free stuff. They aren't customers, as already discussed.
That's compounded if the thing you're giving away isn't something you personally have made.
That's compounded if the thing you're giving away isn't something you personally have made.
If I give away a copy of Curse Of Shroud in the Lofty Crow Castle, I'm not appealing to people who are interested in my work. I'm appealing to people who want a free copy of Curse of Shroud in the Lofty Crow Castle, and other books by the Coastal Sorcerers who wrote it.
People will sign up to the mailing list to try and win it, and then immediately drop it when they realise that I, personally, am not a coastal sorcerer and am not really in the business of writing things for their games (even though I do occasionally dabble).
But if I give away MY games, and MY books? You're trying to win them because you're interested in them. (Unless you're just one of those people who enter every giveaway going, but whatever).
You've shown an interest in the specific work that I do - enough interest to retweet a tweet, click through a link, enter your email address, and click the confirmation email.
What that tells me is that, if I play my cards right, you'll become a customer in future.
What that tells me is that, if I play my cards right, you'll become a customer in future.
That's good for me. And that's what this comes down to, ultimately.
Everyone who does a giveaway is doing it because it's good for them. Some people might mask it as "giving back to the community". And sure, maybe there's an element of that. But not really.
Everyone who does a giveaway is doing it because it's good for them. Some people might mask it as "giving back to the community". And sure, maybe there's an element of that. But not really.
It's marketing. Everyone doing a giveaway has done a Cost/Benefit analysis of some kind. Nobody is giving things away out of the goodness of their hearts. It's capitalism at work.
Why is one of the prizes a 6 month subscription to the print tier of my Patreon? Because that's potentially one more person posting photos of my games in print every month. Print games you can only get by signing up to my Patreon.
By paying me.
By paying me.
My follower count has gone down since starting this thread, and that's fine. People don't often like this kind of honesty about the dirty, calculated underbelly of the industry.
But it exists, and every creator you follow is thinking about this stuff if they want to make a living from their art.
And that's it. That's my take on giveaways, whether you agree with it or not.
And that's it. That's my take on giveaways, whether you agree with it or not.
You can support me monthly on Patreon if you like the work I do: http://www.patreon.com/loottheroom
And the giveaway I'm running is here https://twitter.com/pangalactic/status/1289242333054001154?s=20
Oh shit, addendum.
Depending on where you live there may be laws about how to operate raffles and giveaways. READ THEM AND FOLLOW THEM. Running a bad giveaway is a stupid reason to get yourself landed with fines and shit.
Depending on where you live there may be laws about how to operate raffles and giveaways. READ THEM AND FOLLOW THEM. Running a bad giveaway is a stupid reason to get yourself landed with fines and shit.
