How to win our giveaways

Everyone loves a free book, right?

We’ve been running Toppsta for ten years now (eek!) and since day one we’ve offered giveaways where anyone in the UK can enter to win a book in exchange for a review. It’s always been about more than just the free copy. We want readers to discover new authors and illustrators, try something different, and help get books into homes and schools that might need them most.

As new users join every day, one question comes up again and again: how can you improve your chances of winning? Here are three simple tips:

1. Add reviews of the books you’re already reading, not just the ones you’ve won. We’re looking for people who enjoy sharing recommendations and being part of the community.

2. Make sure your profile is complete. If you’re reading with or for children, adding their ages helps us match books more thoughtfully. We don’t follow publisher age ranges too strictly, but they do help guide us.

3. If you’re lucky enough to win, please do add a review. It doesn’t matter whether you loved the book or not. Honest reviews are what help other readers decide what to pick up next.

Other tips:

- Make your reviews as helpful as possible without telling the story of the book. what did you like or not like? How did it make you feel? Was it exciting or funny or sad? You can see top tips for writing a book review here. 

- Don't worry if you didn't like the book. As long as your review is constructive (ie you tell us why you didn't like it) it will be helpful to the author/illustrator/publisher and other readers. We're looking for honest reviews not just positive reviews. If you win a book and don't review it at all, it will impact how likely you are to win other books. A couple of lines on why it wasn't for you (and perhaps who might enjoy it?) is all we need.

-  Like many adults I LOVE reading children's books and I really enjoy reading reviews of children's books written by adults, however, the giveaways are meant for children. If you win a giveaway we ask that you pass it on to a child to get their opinion. We do make some exceptions (if you're writing lots of reviews of other books, if you're a teacher/librarian/book blogger, or if you write particularly good reviews) but our priority is to get the books into the hands of children. 

-  Though we're looking for a child's opinion on the book, it doesn't matter if you read the book to a child or if the child reads the book themselves. I love reading to my children and I encourage everyone to read to children as often as you can, whether the children can read independently or not. 

- It doesn't matter who actually writes the review. If a child is reluctant to write a review, feel free to ask their opinion and you can add it to the website. Just make sure you choose the correct options in the review page, ie did the child read the book themselves or did someone read it to them? If you write a review as if an adult read and reviewed the book, it may impact your chances of winning a giveaway.

- If you win a giveaway and the book hasn't arrived, please don't add a holding review just so that you can win another giveaway. This is not in the spirit of Toppsta and it may impact your chances of winning another giveaway. 

- Please be patient. Publishers give these books away for free, so we ask that you always allow THREE weeks for them to send you the book (that's three weeks after you've received your email notification to say that you've won). If, after three weeks, the book still hasn't arrived, please email with i) the title of the book, ii) the date when you were notified of your win and iii) the address you submitted for the giveaway. Or if you've reviewed a book but it's still showing as "Review Missing" or the book never turned up, email us [email protected] and we'll help if we can. 

- This is your opportunity to share the books you love (or hate!). There is no judgement here and no rush. There is no "Like" button because I want everyone to feel that their opinion is valid. And there is no rush to finish a book, just enjoy it in your own time. Our Reviewers Favourite Chart shows that picture books are enjoyed well into teenage years (and beyond!) so whichever books you enjoy reading we want to hear about them. Thank you for helping other readers discover new authors, new series and hidden gems. 

Now you know how to win, you'll just need to register and browse our giveaways! 

Georgina