Seeking ideas about digital giveaways with no DRM

Falbe Publishing · 10-25-2010, 10:44 AM

Hello Mobilereaders,

Because I have no staff, I'm coming here for some brainstorming ideas because I know many MR members are generous with advice.
As an independent writer/publisher I'm planning on adding ongoing giveaways to my business website.

What I'm looking to do is have a small monthly giveaway drawing to visitors who take the free ebook download and then a nicer quarterly giveaway drawing for paying customers.

I'd like to be able to purchase a prize preferably in a digital format and then email it to the winner. I want to work with digital prizes because a portion of my site visitors and customers are from outside the U.S. where I live. So shipping physical products outside the U.S. gets expensive quick. Also purchasing a gift card from a big company runs into problems because if it is purchased in U.S. then it can be difficult to redeem outside the U.S. Therefore I need to develop a pool of prizes that gives me flexibility in and out of the U.S.

I'm hoping to put together a list of potential giveaways from various producers of non-DRM digital products (ebooks, e-comics, ezines, music, movies, games, etc.)

So, if anyone knows of a nice source of no DRM digital entertainment products and subscriptions, please leave a reply. The list will likely be useful to any readers of this thread and it will help me with my research.

And please tell me what kind of giveaways you think would be cool.

Thank you for your time.

Mike L · 10-25-2010, 11:00 AM

I commend your initiative. You have obviously thought this through carefully, and have come up with a good strategy.

But to answer your question, surely the choice of product to give away must depend on the kind of product that your business is specialising in. It's got to be something that is of particular appeal to your target market.

So, if you plan to publish cookery books, for example, a book of classic recipes might be an attractive choice. If sport is your chosen genre, you might consider giving away the biography of a well-known sportsperson. And so on.

If you would give us some more information about your business, we can perhaps give you some concrete suggestions.

Falbe Publishing · 10-25-2010, 11:31 AM

Hi Mike L,

I should have specified that I am promote fantasy fiction. So items with a focus on sci fi and fantasy would be appropriate. Thanks.

mr ploppy · 10-25-2010, 12:15 PM

Aren't unlicenced lottery type competitions outlawed in a large part of America?

Leep · 10-25-2010, 12:32 PM

I believe that they are legal in the U.S. if you can enter without purchase.

meromana · 10-25-2010, 07:02 PM

I assume it must be legal, because giveaways of all kinds abound on the internet, especially in the blogosphere.

If you want to give away some fantasy/sci fi ebooks, just put out a call on this board and <other popular ereader forum which shall remain nameless>, asking authors to donate ebooks. You should get a ton of responses. By listing their book on your site, you are providing a cheap promotional opportunity for the author, and you get a prize to give away in return. It's a win-win.

Scott Nicholson has a 100-ebook giveaway going on his http://hauntedcomputer.com site right now. Well, maybe it's not 100, but a whole lot. All he did was ask.

--Maria

10-25-2010, 10:44 AM	#1
Falbe Publishing Gadget Slave Posts: 264 Karma: 600001 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Battle Creek, Michigan Device: Sony PRS505SC	Seeking ideas about digital giveaways with no DRM Hello Mobilereaders, Because I have no staff, I'm coming here for some brainstorming ideas because I know many MR members are generous with advice. As an independent writer/publisher I'm planning on adding ongoing giveaways to my business website. What I'm looking to do is have a small monthly giveaway drawing to visitors who take the free ebook download and then a nicer quarterly giveaway drawing for paying customers. I'd like to be able to purchase a prize preferably in a digital format and then email it to the winner. I want to work with digital prizes because a portion of my site visitors and customers are from outside the U.S. where I live. So shipping physical products outside the U.S. gets expensive quick. Also purchasing a gift card from a big company runs into problems because if it is purchased in U.S. then it can be difficult to redeem outside the U.S. Therefore I need to develop a pool of prizes that gives me flexibility in and out of the U.S. I'm hoping to put together a list of potential giveaways from various producers of non-DRM digital products (ebooks, e-comics, ezines, music, movies, games, etc.) So, if anyone knows of a nice source of no DRM digital entertainment products and subscriptions, please leave a reply. The list will likely be useful to any readers of this thread and it will help me with my research. And please tell me what kind of giveaways you think would be cool. Thank you for your time.

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10-25-2010, 11:00 AM	#2
Mike L Wizard Posts: 1,479 Karma: 3846231 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy	I commend your initiative. You have obviously thought this through carefully, and have come up with a good strategy. But to answer your question, surely the choice of product to give away must depend on the kind of product that your business is specialising in. It's got to be something that is of particular appeal to your target market. So, if you plan to publish cookery books, for example, a book of classic recipes might be an attractive choice. If sport is your chosen genre, you might consider giving away the biography of a well-known sportsperson. And so on. If you would give us some more information about your business, we can perhaps give you some concrete suggestions.

10-25-2010, 11:31 AM	#3
Falbe Publishing Gadget Slave Posts: 264 Karma: 600001 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Battle Creek, Michigan Device: Sony PRS505SC	Hi Mike L, I should have specified that I am promote fantasy fiction. So items with a focus on sci fi and fantasy would be appropriate. Thanks.

10-25-2010, 12:15 PM	#4
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	Aren't unlicenced lottery type competitions outlawed in a large part of America?

10-25-2010, 12:32 PM	#5
Leep Guru Posts: 739 Karma: 1018859 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Near Seattle Device: kindle1, K3, K3G (thanks MR), iTouch, Kindle Touch	I believe that they are legal in the U.S. if you can enter without purchase.

10-25-2010, 07:02 PM	#6
meromana Zealot Posts: 129 Karma: 11430 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: NC, USA Device: my laptop	I assume it must be legal, because giveaways of all kinds abound on the internet, especially in the blogosphere. If you want to give away some fantasy/sci fi ebooks, just put out a call on this board and <other popular ereader forum which shall remain nameless>, asking authors to donate ebooks. You should get a ton of responses. By listing their book on your site, you are providing a cheap promotional opportunity for the author, and you get a prize to give away in return. It's a win-win. Scott Nicholson has a 100-ebook giveaway going on his http://hauntedcomputer.com site right now. Well, maybe it's not 100, but a whole lot. All he did was ask. --Maria

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