#GoodreadsGiveaway for Eating Bull, a Thriller that Explores #Bodyshaming, #FoodAddiction, and #Obesity–Oh, and Is There Some Mischief Afoot?

If you’re in the U.S. and would like a chance to win one of two paperback copies of Eating Bull, click here or on the image below to enter the Goodreads giveaway. Ends January 23rd.

Good luck!

Click image to enter giveaway.

Click image to enter Goodreads giveaway.

That Time I Made the Book Out to Bob

Many people are familiar with Goodreads. It’s a great place for readers to keep track of their books. A giant virtual bookshelf, so to speak. In addition, there are always hundreds of giveaways going on.

The hope is the winner of a book will eventually review and/or rate it. In my experience, that happens about 30% of the time. Most winners probably never get around to reading the book, or maybe they do and just don’t like it enough to give it another thought. But I sometimes wonder if there’s mischief afoot as well—people who enter numerous giveaways in order to amass books and sell them on Amazon.

Why do I say that?

Funny story, if you’ve got a sec.

After one of my giveaways, I perused the list of winners and collected copies of Eating Bull, my pen at the ready. The first lucky winner was Bob.*

I opened a book, careful not to crease the fresh pages, and with the most elegant of strokes (or not), I wrote: “To Bob, Congratulations and Happy Reading!” Or some such nonsense. Then I lovingly slipped the novel into a bubble mailer, skipped to the post office, and imagined Bob’s exuberance over receiving his package. Would he like the book? Would he ponder its message? Would he scramble to his keyboard to leave a review?

No.

He would sell it on Amazon.

Within the week.

How do I know?

About eight days later, a colleague of my husband’s mentioned he bought a used copy of Eating Bull on Amazon. “It was like new!” the coworker cried, happy tears in his eyes. “And it was signed!” But then he scratched his chin and sniffed, his face falling like a soufflé. “To a guy named Bob.”

Hey, at least someone made money off my book. You’re welcome, Bob.

Lesson to myself? Don’t sign anything more than my own name. You never know where it’ll end up.

*Name changed to protect the guy who sold my book faster than I could.

Bob’s Goodreads Journey:

books-arrive-2

list-on-amazon-2

gymnastics-while-wait-2

hey-somebody-already-bought-it-5

mailed-easiest-ten-bucks-i-made-2

Original images from Pixabay. Click to enlarge.

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standing color cropped tiny for blog posts

Carrie Rubin is a medical thriller author. Her novels include Eating Bull and The Seneca Scourge. For full bio, click here.

 

110 Responses to “#GoodreadsGiveaway for Eating Bull, a Thriller that Explores #Bodyshaming, #FoodAddiction, and #Obesity–Oh, and Is There Some Mischief Afoot?”

    • Carrie Rubin

      Thank you! I was cheap and kept it in the U.S. this time around. I’ve shipped to other countries before, but it often ends up costing more than the book, so I don’t always extend it beyond the U.S.

      Like

  2. Kate Johnston

    That would be frustrating, but you have a really good outlook on it, Carrie! I would have been fit to be tied, considering how hard you have worked to get to where you are. 🙂 Those durn Bobs!!

    I have to admit to being confused by what you said about just signing your name from now on, rather than personalizing your books to winners. Is personalization more valuable than only an author’s signature? I guess I don’t see how your signature alone would have deterred “Bob” from turning around and selling it on Amazon or anywhere else.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Sheila

    That’s funny – I never would have thought of doing that! It’s pretty bad that the Bobs out there are making more per book than the authors. I was thinking of doing a Goodreads giveaway soon too – and will make sure to add extra personalization to any of those Bobs out there. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Carrie Rubin

      Maybe Bob will win your book too. 😉

      I just found the guy on Goodreads again, and he still has no profile info or photo and has left hardly any reviews or ratings. And yet he’s still entering giveaways. Hmm…

      Thank you for the Twitter share!

      Like

    • Carrie Rubin

      Thank you. 🙂 Many of my past giveaways I’ve included other countries, but the shipping and handling adds up, so this time I limited it to the US. Maybe next one. 🙂

      Like

  5. jmmcdowell

    Sigh. So many Bobs in the world. But I’m glad you got a fun blog post from it and someone got the book who enjoyed it. Maybe you could “re-personalize” that one for your husband’s colleague and make a joke about Bob’s loss?! 😉

    Like

    • Carrie Rubin

      Hehe, maybe so. It’s funny, because my husband’s colleague could have bought one straight from my husband–he keeps some in his office. But I suppose the guy got a good price on Amazon for a used copy. As luck would have it, he got a spanking new book–only slightly tainted by ‘Bob.’ 😆

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Diane Henders

    I guess it’s just free enterprise, but it seems slimy nonetheless. Too bad Amazon doesn’t have a monetization scheme like YouTube, where you could at least receive a pittance if your content was resold.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Jill Weatherholt

    Oh my word! This is crazy, Carrie. What are the odds of your husband’s colleague purchasing that book? You need to invest in a few lottery ticket. Boo Bob!

    Like

    • Carrie Rubin

      I know, right? My husband called me at work to tell me, and I remembered the name ‘Bob’ right away because I’d only mailed the books out a short time ago. (Not really ‘Bob’ but I changed it for this piece.) We had a good laugh over it–both because of the small world this truly is and because ‘Bob’ was quite the entrepreneur. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  8. List of X

    In case Bob hadn’t read this post either, I suggest emailing his something like “Hey Bob, hopefully you enjoyed the book. I just wanted to ask, have you happened to find a small white envelope with an a couple of really old banknotes, French ones from 1700’s? I am afraid that by mistake I had sent you my copy of the book where I kept the envelope, and if you have found it, I’ll gladly give you a $500 reward if you found it and can send it back through the UPS. Hope to hear from you.!”

    Liked by 1 person

    • Carrie Rubin

      Ha, that would be so funny! Very, very tempting.

      I just found the guy on Goodreads again, and he still has no profile info or photo and has left hardly any reviews or ratings. And yet he’s still entering giveaways. Hmm, something ‘spicious going on…

      Like

  9. Clanmother

    I read somewhere (and don’t know it if is true) that Picasso always paid for his groceries with a cheque. No one would cash the cheque because Picasso’s signature was more valuable than the groceries. So my dear friend, keep signing your name….

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Audrey Kalman

    I experienced something similar with a copy of “Dance of Souls” that I gave away at a reading. If you want to keep the resellers happy, signing just your name is the way to go, so they can offer a signed copy that’s not personalized. On the other hand, there are probably lots of people named Bob in the market for books, so that could work.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Carrie Rubin

      Haha, well, I changed his name in this post. His actual name isn’t quite as common.

      Ever since that happened, I’ve only been signing my name unless the person requests personalization. 🙂

      Like

    • Carrie Rubin

      Hubs and I had a good laugh over it. It is a small world, for sure. And it had to be the same ‘Bob’ because his actual name is the only person I’ve signed a book over to with that name.

      Liked by 1 person

  13. annabellefranklinauthor

    Maybe hire ‘bob’ as your agent, if he’s that good at selling books? Only don’t pay him a lot – he doesn’t deserve it.
    I read ‘Eating Bull’ a while back and really enjoyed it – an intelligent thriller and a real page-turner.

    Liked by 2 people

  14. philosophermouseofthehedge

    More proof that people can’t help spoil a good thing.
    Who would have guessed. Can you stamp some phrase like “Not of resale. For review purposes/complimentary sample only” someplace?
    Guess writers are like artist and craftsmen who are expected to work for free – they love writing so much…and starving Ha Ha
    It wouldn’t be so bad if Bob had donated it to a library after reading the book.
    Sorry you encountered a crummy person. – Good for all writers to be aware of
    (Stay warm up there! hilarious post on serious topic! )

    Liked by 1 person

    • Carrie Rubin

      Thank you. My husband and I had a good laugh over it. I figured at least it ultimately ended up in the hands of someone who wanted to read it. It does make you wonder though. I’ve had other winners on Goodreads who have no profile info other than an empty box for their picture and very few books on their lists. Are they really reading these books they’re winning? Still, it’s a great opportunity for readers and authors alike, so no worries. Interesting idea of stamping ‘not for resale’ though. Hadn’t thought about that. Then again, if it gets into the hands of another reader, that’s always a good thing.

      Thanks for checking in!

      Liked by 1 person

    • Carrie Rubin

      I didn’t. He was just a faceless name on Goodreads. But I look at it this way–at least I got a reader who really wanted to read the book out of it. 🙂

      Thanks for sharing on Twitter!

      Liked by 1 person

  18. Nurse Kelly

    Wow. That sucks. (Pardon my word choice but yeah.)
    Somehow I don’t picture him as being as smooth and unblemished as you’ve depicted in this post though… (although it’s hilarious) 😊

    Liked by 2 people

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