Monday, April 7, 2014

G is for Goodread

How Goodreads Works

Goodreads is a free website for book lovers. Imagine it as a large library that you can wander through and see everyone's bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings. You can also post your own reviews and catalog what you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read in the future. 













What every author should know about Goodreads?

Patrick Brown advice for authors on Goodreads

'First, they should claim their author profile and join the Goodreads Author Program. It’s free to join and requires only a valid email address. In a broad sense, the best way for an author to build a presence on Goodreads is to be an active Goodreads member. That is, they should write reviews of the books they read, participate in groups, and generally use the site as a reader might. In addition to this, they can do some very simple things to get the word out that are not intrusive. If the author is already writing a blog, they can sync that to their author profile. If they aren’t writing a blog, they can start one. They can post videos, ebook excerpts, polls, etc. All of that will end up in their friends’ and fans’ update feeds.

More specifically, the best promotional tool at a Goodreads Author’s disposal is definitely the First Reads giveaway. Giving away an advance copy (or even a finished copy) of your book is a terrific way of getting your book some attention on the site. After all, if you want people to fall in love with your writing, the best way is to give them a taste of it. On average, about 750 people enter each giveaway, and of those people, we’ve found that about 8% of them will add the book to their to-read shelf, win or lose. About 45% of the winners review the book, meaning that the more copies you offer, the more reviews you are likely to get. And reviews are really the fuel that drives everything on Goodreads. When a member reviews your book, not only do their friends see that review, but it often gets pushed to Facebook, Twitter, and their blog, too. We’ve found that about 1/5 of all Goodreads users write a book blog, and we do our best to make it easy for those users to share their reviews on their blogs.

A great way to get a little bit of bang for not many bucks is to pair a giveaway with a self-serve advertisement. Self-serve ads are easy to create and can be bought for as little as $50. You pay based on the number of people who click on your ad, and you can target it to fans of a specific genre, as well as to residents of a specific country, one gender or the other, or a targeted age range. This way, you get your giveaway in front of the people you most want to reach.

To post a giveaway, just log into Goodreads, and visit this link:

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/new

To see a list of current giveaways, go here:

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway'


A to Z bloggers please leave your link I do follow back. You should not receive emails from this site unless you request them. 


30 comments:

  1. Goodreads is great. I am on there but really have not used it as much as I should. Nice to meet you and good luck with the A-Z challenge :) Your google connect is not working so I am now following you on twitter.

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  2. Useful information to know, thanks for sharing it:)

    Check mine: http://www.malavikka.blogspot.com//

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  3. Hi, Comley! A. Catherine Noon visiting from Noon and Wilder. I'm so sorry my blog wouldn't let you follow. If you don't mind my asking, which one did you try, so I know what to fix?

    In the meantime, happy blogging! I love your post on Goodreads. I confess, Goodreads is a bit of a mystery to me - I have an account there, but don't use it much. Thank you for your informative article on it!

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  4. Very interesting insight. I'm on goodreads but I'm having a hard time participating in groups. I don't know why. I'm not very good at forums in general. Though I like to read and to update my read list. You can add me as a friend if you want.

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    1. Thanks Linda - I'm not the best on forums either

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  5. I have heard so much about Goodreads from my blog buddies. I have checked it out but haven't yet joined any forums or groups there.

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  6. I love Goodreads - I always put my books up there when they're published and I enjoy writing up my reviews of books I've read as well. I've never tried a first reads give away, I will have to look into that.
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles - A to Z Ghosts
    Fantasy Boys XXX - A to Z Drabblerotic

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  7. Good timing on this post. I've got a book coming out and was just about to delve into giveaways. I'd planned on offering it through GR, but hadn't thought of purchasing an ad. I definitely will look into it now. Thanks!

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  8. Interesting stuff about Goodreads. I'm on it, but only ever seem to list books I've read. I'm sure I could get more out of it. I will investigate.
    http://olivegroveview.blogspot.gr/

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  9. Goodreads is such an amazing website, I have it set as my computer's home page :D

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  10. I am a Goodreads author! I love the site!

    Visiting from your visit to my blog - GenWestUK.

    Ros Haywood

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  11. Hi. I am a reader rather than an author, and love the talent I have found here in the blogosphere. Love and am awed by it. I do need to explore Goodreads further - thanks for the nudge.

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  12. Goodreads fills me with dread. I put my books on it, but then I just try to ignore it. I know that's not the best way to go, but I don't. This is great information for me. Thank you for visiting my blog so that I would return the favor and find this very timely post. :)

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  13. Love Goodreads! I've used it for over a year now. I have actually communicated with authors about their books and been given a chance to do reviews for their books. You can find me on Goodreads here -> https://www.goodreads.com/jlaws13

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  14. This is so interesting ... a lot of your tips are useful for songwriters too ... lots to think about ...
    As a reader I'd forgotten about Goodreads ... time for a browse.

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  15. Interesting ! I need to read more about it now!

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  16. I love goodreads! Enjoyed your post. Good luck with the A to Z Challenge. This is my first year.

    http://pluckingofmyheartstrings.com

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  17. Thanks for stopping by our blog earlier. I have heard good things about goodreads but I haven't gone there to take a look yet. I will have to do that when I get a few spare moments and check it out.

    Sean at His and Her Hobbies

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  18. I have never heard of this! How cool!!! It is a great idea! Thanks so much for coming by my blog today, I really appreciate that and am glad to have met you!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

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  19. I tried Goodreads once, but I found it not to be too user friendly, especially when I had an issue with a book of mine that I didn't want to be there.

    A-Z Challenge at Father Nature's Corner

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  20. I love Goodreads web site. I don't go there very much. But I should return.

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  21. Great post. Very informative. I will have to check it out.

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  22. Thanks for sharing such an insightful post . Though I had joined but wasn't that active . But now your post motivates me to do so :)

    I blog at http://drsushreedash.blogspot.in/ .

    Feeling good for having come across your blog . Got to know many new things :)

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  23. I love your G post. I'm also a fan of Goodreads. Glad to have found your blog. See you around the A to Z!
    Deb@ http://debioneille.blogspot.com

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  24. Great post! And I agree Goodreads is a very helpful platform. Thanks for sharing these inputs! Aditi, dropping from A2Z

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  25. Thank you so much for all your comments

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  27. Try again LOL! Thanks for this post! I must admit I joined up but haven't done much with it - after the A-Z I'll take another stroll through it :)
    Suzanne @ Suzannes Tribe
    x

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  28. I'm addicted to goodreads! I love to track my books, enter giveaways (just won my first one) and read my friends reviews. I'll look for you there :)

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  29. Nice to visit your blog. I love GoodReads. I just wish they integrated with my Kindle better! I didn't know about the giveaways, thank you for that :-)

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