Facebook giveaway ideas for bookstores

1. Book club host giveaway

   Post a photo of your event space and ask Page followers to comment their book club's name. One club wins a year of free meetings. Clubs are recurring visits, and members buy the book from you. Include a 10% discount on the club's monthly book so every meeting starts at your register.

2. Teacher classroom library

   In August, ask followers to comment a teacher who'd love 10 books for their classroom. Draw one comment and deliver. Teachers and parents spread this one on their own. Let the winning teacher choose half the books from your shelves, so the kids get titles their teacher knows they'll read.

3. Author event discussion

   Create an Event for a signing and run the giveaway in its discussion: comment a question for the author. One commenter wins a signed copy and their question gets asked on the night. Print the winning question on a card and hand it to the moderator so the commenter hears it read out.

4. The book that changed your life

   Ask followers to comment the book that changed their mind about something. Facebook readers write paragraphs, and the comments become your next staff pick list. Make a display table from the top ten answers, with the commenters' first names on shelf talkers.

5. Independent Bookstore Day

   Run a Page giveaway the week before Independent Bookstore Day in April. Ask commenters how long they've been shopping with you. It celebrates your regulars on a day the whole industry is talking. Mention any exclusive editions you'll stock that day, since collectors plan their route around them.

Swap in your own name, prize and end time. Entry is simple: comment on the post on your Page.

Calling all book clubs! 📖 Dog-Eared Books is giving one club a year of free meetings in our back room. Comment with your club's name and how long you've been meeting. Drawing June 1 at noon PT. US residents 18+, no purchase necessary. Not sponsored, endorsed or administered by Facebook.

Pick something that brings the winner back through your door, not just a gift card.

• A book a month for six months, picked by your staff (about $90 at cost)
• A signed first edition from a recent author event
• A tote of five staff picks and a store bookmark (about $80)
• Hosting rights: free space for the winner's book club for a year
• A mystery book box with tea and a candle (about $45)
• Two tickets to your next author event, with a signed copy

1. Post from your Page, not your profile

   Use your business Page, a Group you run or an Event. Personal profiles can't administer promotions, and Page posts can be boosted if you want reach.

2. Make the comment the whole entry

   Ask one easy question and count every answer. Never require a share or a friend tag, and never give extra entries for them.

3. Switch to All comments

   Most relevant hides some comments. Switch the filter before you copy, or people get left out.

4. Announce in the same post

   Paste into the Facebook comment picker, draw, then edit the post with the winner and results link.

• Media mail is cheap but slow, so promise a date loosely.
• Signed copies are one of a kind. Have a backup prize.
• Book club prizes need a booking calendar and house rules.

• Meta's Pages terms allow promotions on Pages, Groups and Events, never administered through personal timelines.
• "Share on your timeline" or "tag your friends" can't be an entry or earn extra entries.
• Entrants release Facebook, and you state it isn't sponsoring, endorsing or administering the giveaway.

A collab doubles the audience for the same prize budget. For bookstores, good partners are a coffee shop or tea room, a local author, a candle or stationery maker. Each of you posts, and entries from both posts go into one draw.