Are you on Goodreads? Your answer should be yes. Whether you’re a reader, a writer waiting to published, or an author. Goodreads is an important place to be. As an author, you want to have an author profile and book pages. As a reader, you can post reviews. As a writer, you can join the community and build up your connections through Goodreads before you’re published.
Out of all the social media platforms out there, I love Goodreads the most. More than Facebook. More than Twitter, which I really don’t care for at all. There’s always something to do on Goodreads, whether you’re participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge, adding to your to-read list, or sharing what you’re reading.
But you can do so much more than that.
If you don’t think Goodreads is a great place to promote because you don’t have many friends there or much traffic, then you need to hop on more often and send requests. I built up my number of friends by hunting down everyone I knew on Google + and my blogging network. Then I checked out who my friends had befriended, looking for familiar names. After that, I sent requests to people in groups I joined. No, not everyone, but those who appeared to share my interests in books/authors.
Also, make sure your pages are updated and you link to your Goodreads page everywhere. This is a place were readers hang out and post reviews, so make sure to have a presence here.
Now, I am going to share my three favorite things to do on Goodreads as an author.
3 Things You’re Probably Not Doing on Goodreads that You Should:
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Events
Not many authors take advantage of Goodreads Events, probably because it’s not a place where the event would unfold like a Facebook Event, but rather more of an announcement, an invite.
Whenever you have a book release or put an eBook on sale, create an event to share it with all of your Goodreads friends.
On your profile page, scroll down to “Upcoming Event” and click “add an event.” Pick a date for when the event will start and when it will end. For a book release, pick the day your book will have its World-Wide Release. Then you can set the end date for one or two weeks after the release date. Choose an event name and event type. Usually, for the “event type” I select “other.” Fill in the necessary information. If it’s online, you don’t need to put in an address. For the “description,” write a message to your Goodreads friends. Make it personal, explain what your event is, and what they can do. For example, If it’s for a sale, share the links for where your eBook can be purchased. Keep the check mark in the box to list your event publicly so others may find it. And also let anyone send an invite to your event. More invites could mean more sales! Then, when you’re all done, click “save” and invite ALL of your Goodreads friends.
You can even do this for a blog tour. Set the event for the first day of your tour. And in the description, you can share the blog links and dates for every stop you’ll be making.
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Link to Your Books in Your Profile’s Bio
At the top of your bio, say you are the author of XYZ and link to your book(s). To link to your books, you’ll need the Goodreads code for your book’s page. You can get this a few ways, but an easy way is to go to your inbox, click “compose,” and then click “add book/author.” A box will pop up. In the search bar, type in your book’s title and select your book. A code will appear in the message box looking like this:
[book:Hurricane Crimes|18757793]
Copy and paste that code into your bio. When you do, it’ll look like this:
Author of [book:Hurricane Crimes|18757793]
When you save the changes, your profile’s bio will generate your linked titles. With those linked titles right at the top of profile, readers can click on them right away. Do this for your most important books.
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Join Goodreads Groups
There are many groups for writers, authors, and readers.
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a book club on Goodreads that I run. This book club is for writers to read/learn about the writing craft. Every two months, we swap back and forth between writing books and fiction books that demonstrate how to do certain aspects of storytelling.
There are also groups for authors to promote their books, get reviews, or to find critique partners. Do a search on the Goodreads Group’s page https://www.goodreads.com/group for the type of group you are looking for. You can connect with other readers and writers in these group as well as promote and ask for reviewers. Make sure to follow their rules, though. Each group has a specific set of rules, especially for authors, so follow them or risk being deleted from the group. And don’t just post to promote either. If they have discussions, join them. Share what you know, share your thoughts, be an active group member.
You can even create your own group for fans of your books. Admittedly, this would be better for those of us with a lot of readers, but it’s definitely something you can consider. Everyone and their mother has a Facebook group for readers. Be different and create a group within a platform designed for readers, instead.
Goodreads is a neat place to be, not just to promote but to find like-minded individuals who share your passion for reading and your love of books. And, of course, you can connect to many authors in your field, too.
Go there, participate, and have fun!
QUESTION: What else should writers/authors do on Goodreads?
Be sure to enter my giveaway at the bottom of the post!
For more information like this check out:
Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication by Chrys Fey
BIO: Chrys Fey is the author of Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication. Catch the sparks you need to write, edit, publish, and market your book! From writing your novel to prepping for publication and beyond, you’ll find sparks on every page, including 100 bonus marketing tips. Fey is an editor for Dancing Lemur Press and runs the Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s Goodreads book club. She is also the author of the Disaster Crimes series. Visit her blog, Write with Fey, for more tips. @ChrysFey www.ChrysFey.com
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I didn’t know about events. When and if I have another release, I’ll do that.
That’s great! I just did an event for the release of Write with Fey and my giveaway. I believe we’re connected on Goodreads, Alex. If you check, you might’ve recieved an invite to my event. Or you can stop in on my page, scroll down to the “Events” (it can be hard to see), and click on the one that’s active to see what it’s like once its live. :)
Gah! I use Goodreads all the time, and I’m a GR Librarian, but I don’t use it nearly as effectively as I should. I used to belong to a couple of groups, but I let those fade away when I got too busy to participate. I just use it for the books I’ve read and those I’ve written. Need to get back on the ball there. Thanks for the reminder!
Hi, B.E! Thanks for your comment! Groups are great. Some groups don’t have much activity and others may be dead, but if you can find an active one that does challenges, readings, and discussions, you’ll connect to many like-minded people and no doubt have fun.
These are some good ideas! Thanks for sharing them.
Thank you, Margot!
Follow the rules or get bounced.
Thank you for letting Chrys be a guest here today.
Thank you, Diane!
I’m on Goodreads, but I know I’m not using it properly. Thanks for the tips and the kick in the pants to get me moving forward in that area, Chrys.
Hi Ken! I enjoy Goodreads. It’s different from other social media platforms, so I approach it a bit differently. I participate in discussions, especially for the IWSG Book Club, post my YouTube videos on my profile, participate in the yearly reading challenges, and just try to find way to have fun. :)
Chris, thank you! I’ve been a Goodreads author for a few years and my books are linked. I rarely do anything there. I think I belong to a couple of groups, but I’m not sure. Somehow, I need to carve more time out of my day to see what’s going on. But the big thing is that I had no clue whatsoever about Events – and the timing is perfect, as I have a new release coming up. Maybe I can figure out how to make Goodreads part of my daily social media time. I’ve never found it to be user friendly, but maybe it’s time to give it another chance.
Hi Carol! We’re Goodreads friends. :) I took a little peek at your Goodreads profile. Your books have been added to your profile, which is excellent, but linking to your books in your bio is something different. Having your book titles in your bio and hyperlinking them helps them to standout when someone reads your bio and it provides another way for visitors to navigate to your books’ pages. :)
Like Alex, you might’ve received an invite from me to my current Event. You can check it out to see what it’s like. :)
Goodreads is very different from other social media. It’s probably not something you can do daily, unless you find an active group to join, but you could spend a little time there once a week. :)
Thanks, Chris. I’m planning to get to Goodreads this week or next and see if I can figure something out that will work for me. i really appreciate your sharing this information.
You’re welcome! and good luck! I’m sure you’ll find something you can do there. :)
Hi Elizabeth! Thank you so much for having me on your blog today to share this post and my giveaway!
Thanks so much for the great post, Chrys!
Hi Elizabeth, I was wondering if Goodreads was still relevant. It once was but the last few years I’ve seen little activity there thanks.
I definitely think it’s relevant. It’s also the easiest place for readers to leave reviews of books and to find books and add them to their TBR list, so having a presence there as an author is a must. There’s also a lot you can get out of it other than an author profile if you look.
Hi Elizabeth – great you’re handing the blog over to Chrys for this post – she’s really knowledgeable, as do you – by the way!, of all things writerly … I’m sure this will be really helpful – cheers to you both – Hilary
Thank you, Hilary!