*Coronavirus Update*
Due to the current situation, books may be delayed. We appreciate your patience during this time. Please note that this will not affect your chances of winning other giveaways, HOWEVER, we would encourage you to continue reviewing books ANY you're reading as this WILL affect your chances of winning other giveaways.
I’d like to sign up!
Great! If you’re aged 13 or over you can register and set up yourself and any children you read with/to here https://toppsta.com/auth/register. If you are aged under 13, an adult will need to register first and then they can add you to their ‘Group’. Once a child is set up in an adult’s ‘Group’ they can be given their own login so they can submit reviews. Please note if you are under 13 you will not be able to enter a giveaway using your own account, an adult will need to enter the giveaway on your behalf.
What is a Group?
Your group is all the children you read with/or to ie children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. This way you can keep track with what they're reading and reviewing! If you would like to add a child to your group, all you have to do is click on https://toppsta.com/account/add-child and either create a new child profile or add a child who already has a profile (ie if you’re a grandparent and want to add a child who is already set up by a parent)
I'm a grandparent - help!
Welcome! We have a lot of grandparents on our Facebook page so we hope you'll also enjoy using this website too. If you'd like to set up profiles for your grandchildren, ask their parents whether they've already set up a profile for them. If they have, then you can just add the children to your profile and 'share' the profile so you can both add reviews when you read with your grandson or granddaughter. How do you do that? You set up an account, set up your adult profile, then when it comes to setting up 'children' here you click 'Add a Child', then go to 'Add a Child already registered' on the right hand side and enter the child's username (ask the parent what they've chosen). The parent will then receive a request to add their child to your Group. Please only use this option for children you know. Alternatively, if the parent hasn't set up an account on Toppsta, you can set up profiles for your grandchildren and the parents can add the children to their accounts later. It doesn't matter which way you do it.
I’m a librarian, teacher or teacher’s assistant, can I sign up?
Yes please! You have years of experience of working with lots of different children and we’d love to hear what you and your children think of the books. You can set up a ‘Group of Children’ in your profile. This could be a specific class (e.g. girls and boys aged 6-7) or even a book club.
I want to enter a giveaway to win a book
Great! To enter a giveaway you will need to be aged 13 or older and have registered for an account. You will also need to provide a few details including a delivery address for the book. You can enter as many giveaways as you like. Children aged 12 and under will need to ask the adult who set up their group to enter a giveaway for them. Just go to the Giveaways page https://toppsta.com/giveaways click on a book cover and you'll be taken through to the book page to read more about the book. On that page, on a computer you'll see the box to the right of the title, on a Phone or Table you'll see the button at the bottom of the page. Voila!
Why don't I win any giveaways?
We receive a large number of entries for each giveaway. If you're not up to date with reviewing other giveaways you have won, you may not win again. Or maybe you don't have children in the right age bracket for the giveaway? We have some flexibility on age as all children have a different ability but it can be a factor. Or are you an adult reading and reviewing books for your own interest? Really we're looking to know how a child has engaged with the story or pictures, though it doesn't matter if an adult writes the review. For really popular giveaways we also look at how many reviews you have submitted of titles outside of the giveaways. There are no hard and fast rules but all these factors are considered when choosing winners. See this article for how you can improve your chances of winning a giveaway.
How can I improve my chances of winning a giveaway competition?
We’re looking for genuine bookworms so if you’d like to increase your chances of winning a giveaway just review other books on Toppsta.com. Perhaps you have a favourite book you haven’t reviewed yet? Or just want to share your opinion on something you’ve read recently at school? Also, make sure you have reviewed any giveaways you have won previously. Check "Your Giveaways" in your account to see which books you've won but haven't reviewed yet.
Oh no, I didn’t like the book I won in a giveaway :-(
That is absolutely fine, just tell us why. We’re looking for honest opinions as every review helps someone else work out if that book is for them. Every time you win a giveaway and write a (positive or negative) review, you increase your chances of winning another giveaway. But if you don’t review your giveaway book at all, you decrease your chances of winning another giveaway.
I’m an adult and I want to win and review your giveaways for my own interest
We all love reading children’s books and it’s absolutely fine if you’re reading the book to a child (no matter what their age) but we’re really looking to understand which books children enjoy reading, or which books children enjoy having read to them. If you’re an adult who enjoys reading children’s books for your own interest, feel free to review books on Toppsta but please save the giveaways for adults who will share the books with children.
I am an author or publisher and I would like to run a giveaway or advertise on Toppsta.com
*Coronavirus Update* due to the volume of enquiries we are currently experiencing, I'm afraid we are not accepting submissions from indie authors. We work with most UK publishers and would encourage you to contact us via your marketing and publicity teams but we currently have very limited availability.
If you have any questions please email us [email protected]
I want to delete my account
We’re sorry to hear that. Please contact us directly [email protected] and we’d love to know why so we can continue to improve our services.
I live outside the UK. Can I win a book in your giveaway?
We are very sorry but for now we can only send titles to UK & IE addresses.
Can I buy books from Toppsta?
Most books have a “Compare Prices” button on the page, which will allow you to see prices at various retailers including Wordery, Waterstones and more.
I can’t find the book I’m looking for
We only carry children's books in print in the UK. If you cannot find a book or edition you are looking for and you think that it is in print in the UK, try typing in the search bar the book’s ISBN number (you will find it right above the book’s bar code, usually on the back cover). If that doesn’t work please contact us at [email protected].
How do I know if I have won a book?
We notify our winners via email, so be sure to check the email address you have registered on Toppsta with. Keep in mind that you will not be receiving emails before the competition's end date. You can also keep an eye on all the competitions you've entered and books you've won by clicking on the "your giveaways" tab, also found here: https://toppsta.com/account/giveaways
How do you choose the winners?
Our desire is to build a community of true bookworms, so we try to pick winners who have submitted reviews of books they’ve read or are reliable reviewers when they’ve won a giveaway. Show us you’re a bookworm by sending us a book review here https://toppsta.com/books/review and see this article for some of the factors we consider when choosing winners.
I won a book and can’t wait to read it. When will it arrive?
We are very glad to hear that! You should receive your book in the two weeks after you've been notified that you won. If over two weeks have passed and the book is not at your doorstep, please get in touch at [email protected]!
It's been 3 weeks since I received my email but the book hasn't arrived, what can I do?
Due to the current situation, books may be delayed. We appreciate your patience during this time. Please email me [email protected] and let me know a) the date you received the email from the website notifying you of your win and b) which book it is. I will then follow up with the publisher and put a note against your account so it doesn't impact your ability to win other giveaways. Unfortunately I can't contact a publisher until it's been more than 2 weeks since your email.
Please do not review a book if you haven't received it. This is not in the spirit of the community and if spotted will impact your likelihood of winning other giveaways. To ensure you keep winning giveaways whilst you're waiting, you can review other books (not won from giveaways), make sure that any giveaways won are read to/by a child and that your reviews are of a length and substance to be helpful to other reviewers.
How can I keep up-to-date with all giveaways?
Thank you so much for being so enthusiastic! You can sign up to our newsletter here: Newsletter sign up
How do I write a book review?
Thank you for contributing to Toppsta! We appreciate your help spreading the word about good books. If you have a specific book in mind, just enter the book title in the search bar at https://toppsta.com/books/review. You will find this link by clicking the "review a book" tab on the home page. If you want to review a book you won from a Toppsta giveaway,go on to your ‘profile’ page, click on the ‘Your Giveaways’ section, and click on the book to start reviewing!
Help! Every time I click "Write a Review" button it jumps back to the homepage
It sounds as if you haven't finished setting up your account. You need to go to "Your Group" and set up a child in your profile. The website won't currently let you review books until you have a child set up in your Group. Once you have a child set up, you'll be able to review books.
I'd like to publish my review on other websites/blogs
That's absolutely fine! Feel free to publish the review on your own blog or on other websites such as goodreads.com or Amazon. We just ask that each time you post it elsewhere you a) put in on https://toppsta.com first b) you mention that you won it via a Toppsta giveaway and c) you link back to https://toppsta.com
I've reviewed a book but it's still showing as 'Review Missing'
There are usually two reasons for this! Either a) you've reviewed a different edition i.e. perhaps you received the paperback edition but you left a review on the hardback edition. If this is the case, login to your account and then "Your Giveaways" and click on the book cover and "Add a Review". We always recommend that you click through from the email or your account to make sure you're reviewing the right book Or b) for some reason you've submitted a review for the right edition and it's just not registering against your account. To check this, find the book in "Your Giveaways" and click on the link and if your review is there, please email us [email protected]
I’m having some ‘technical’ issues with my profile and groups.
If you’re having any issues with your profile, please contact us at [email protected]. Please bear in mind that we are a small team so please be patient if you’re waiting for a response!
