OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
I've been on Goodreads for years now and have used it to track my reading habits as well as rate and review books from a reader's perspective. I have also used it as an author for giveaways and for linking reviews to Kobo as well as ensuring readers can rate my own books.
Last month, Amazon bought Goodreads and reactions have been varied even though Amazon have indicated they will let the social network run independently. Personally, as a reader, I think it is a great thing for discoverability since Goodreads is a tremendous recommendation engine for books. As an author, I'm thrilled because more data on more good books and easier purchase should mean it's easier for people to buy.
But whatever you think, if you want your books to be found, I think you need to make sure your books are on Goodreads and discoverable. After all, readers will add them for you if you don't take control yourself. But there are also lots more opportunities on Goodreads and today, Mayor A. Lan, the Savvy Indie explains what else you can find on the site.
Goodreads is a social media network site for book readers, as well as authors, to connect and network.
It’s the Facebook for authors and book readers!
It might seem confusing to Goodreads newbies but if carefully explored, Goodreads is a wonderful and useful book marketing tool for self-publishing and indie authors because it's custom built to cater for the need of authors and book readers, unlike Twitter and Facebook which are all generic Social Media Networks.
So, what are the best features offered by Goodreads that you can take advantage of?
(1) Author Profile With Blog And Video Posting
Once you register as a Goodreads user, you can join the Goodreads Author program and add all your contact details. You can add a photo of you, add your bio, your books and upload your eBooks and add more friends.
Note that there is little you can do with a basic Goodreads account, the one everyone who first register on Goodreads get by default, you need to apply for a Goodreads Author upgrade after having some basic experience on the site. You might have to wait for few days for your account upgrade to take effect.
If you have a blog, you can also link your blog posts to your Goodreads page via RSS feeds. With this, your blog post can be read by everyone from your Goodreads page without even visiting your blog and this can earn your blog posts some comments and some fans.
If you have a video about your books, something in the way of a video trailer or any other video for book readers, you can add it to your Goodreads page.
(2) Book Listing
As a Goodreads Author, you can add your books to your Goodreads Bookshelf, either by manually adding it by supplying all the information about your books or by using the add feature that searches for your book from several book stores online like Amazon, Kindle Store and anywhere you have your books for sale.
After you have got your books listed on your bookshelf, readers can rate your books and leave a review for your books right there on your Goodreads page.
Another variant of this feature is the Add Ebook feature which you can use to add and upload your books in PDF and ePub format. You can also sell your eBook with this feature on Goodreads.
With this, you can instruct Goodreads to only show part or all of your eBook as you might like to. Note here that if you decide to sell your eBook, you can only upload the ePub version of your eBook which can be viewed online using the Goodreads eBook previewer.
(3) Giveaways
Goodreads Giveaways is a great program where you can give free copies of your print books to readers and hope to receive reviews on both Goodreads and Amazon if the reader likes the book (although a review is certainly not guaranteed).
This giveaway is open for a number of days that you specify and at the end, Goodreads will randomly choose winners for your book and will send you the names and mailing address of the winners of your books. It's your responsibility to actually send the books.
The only drawback for this program is that you can only give away a print book, not an eBook.
But what if you have your book on Kindle Store and not as a print book? Well, there is a way to give away ebooks and that takes us to Events.
(4) Events
Goodreads Events can be used to promote events like book launches, book tours and author appearances and the best part is that it can be used to give away free copies of eBooks.
It works simply as having a book launch, blog tour or eBook giveaway page on your blog and you organize a Goodreads Event with all the details of your events with a link to your promotion page on your blog to direct your event invitees to your blog for your book launch, blog tour, author appearance or eBook giveaway.
(5) Featured Groups
Featured Groups are a way that authors can interact with readers and create buzz for their books. Author form a special Question and Answer group and agree to answer questions about their books for a period and Goodreads will help in promoting such groups using its word of mouth tools.
All authors need is a few people to join such groups and Goodreads takes it from there to make the group go viral and spread across the Goodreads community. Goodreads will also help feature these groups in the author and group section of the site.
(6) Groups
Goodreads Groups shouldn't be confused with the Featured Groups, as they are two different Goodreads programs.
Goodreads groups are communities of readers who share similar interests and they are purely meant for interacting, networking and connecting with readers. They are NOT about active marketing – only being part of a community who love a particular genre.
There are Q&As and discussions and people get to know each other as the groups grow and expand with new members.
The wise use of this program by indie authors is to find some groups which are of interest to you as a reader and join a few of them. Get to know how it works and first be a listening reader who ask questions and as time goes on some readers may notice you as a member of a group, then people will naturally be interested in what you write.
The key here, as with every social network, is to give more than you expect to receive and be both helpful and useful to others.
Now that you are a Goodreads Author, you can play with all these features and programs mentioned in this post. You can add an event, organize a book giveaway for your print book, create a Q&A Featured Group to discuss about your books, or join a Goodreads Group of your interest. The possibilities are just enormous as to what you can do and achieve within this social network.
As with all social media networks, you need Friends to build your audience base and there are lot of way to add friends on Goodreads. You can link your account with Twitter and Facebook to search for your friends who are also on Goodreads and you can add all of them at once. This is my favorite way of adding friends on Goodreads as it's easy and also for the fact that I can also connect with my Twitter followers also on Goodreads as well.
How do you use Goodreads? What other ways have you use Goodreads for connection with readers? Please leave your comments and questions below.
You might want to get a free copy of My book – Book Marketing: The Complete Goodreads Guide For Self Publishing Authors.
Mayor A Lan is a Motivational Writer, Self Publishing Authors of Motivational and Self Publishing Books. He blogs for Self Publishing Authors and Writers at TheSavvyIndie.com where he gives away a free book – The Smart Self Publishing Blueprint and also shares free resources and information about book marketing, publishing, writing and blogging for Self Publishing Authors.
Lover of motivational and self help books can check his motivational blog at http://www.MayorALan.com where he blogs about life success and motivations for life’s success.
Elliott Garber says
Thank you Mayor and Joanna for this great little tutorial! I’ve been on Goodreads for a few years as a reader, but I’m excited to upgrade to an author profile as soon as I actually have something available for people to read.
I’ve recently finished my first short story about a military working dog in Afghanistan and the veterinarian who takes care of him, and I’m about a fifth of the way into a novel featuring the same vet. Thanks again.
The Savvy Indie says
Hi Elliot,
You are welcome,Goodreads could be a springboard for you soon to be published book and it all starts from upgrading to a Goodreads Author status where all Authors enjoy the best of social networking as well as book marketing and promotion.
Soon love to hear the success story of your book.
Cheers!
Mayor
Amanda says
I love goodreads, I am using it to create a summer reading list. I want to start reading books in the genre in which I am writing so I can get a feel for the style. However the I-phone app which is what I use most often is a little buggy. when looking books up in the explore menu, if I click on more books the list goes back to the start and I have to look through books I just looked at to get to the new ones. Other then that I have had a great time playing on goodreads.
The Savvy Indie says
Surely Amanda,you can’t help but love Goodreads,although a little bit clumsy for me when I was just a “Goodreads Baby” (if anything like that…lols) but I think I now I will never look back on Goodreads.
I’ve never use an app to access GR – just on browsers with my PC and Blackberry but I think you can enjoy GR using your iPhone’s browser,with this,you can rock GR real cool and you have lots of choices here – chrome,opera mini and safari are all cool iPhone browser app that can help..
Cheers!
Mayor
Susan Elizabeth says
This is so insightful! I’ve been using Goodreads mainly to keep track of books I want to read. Glad to hear there is so much more to do on there.
The Savvy Indie says
Hi Susan,
There are more to Goodreads than many people especially authors think. Using Goodreads to track books to read is seeing GR mainly from a point of a book reader rather than an Author.
For Authors,GR offers lots more than we can bargain for and I can gladly say that GR is just the perfect social networking solution for authors as well as for book readers.
I only pray that GR stays like it’s now with Amazon taking over the ownership of GR.,although that might be good too like having more reviews for books than we do have now on Amazon with the possibility of GR’s reviews been “pushed” live into Amazon.
We just got to keep our fingers crossed and keep enjoying GR.
Cheers!
Mayor
Susan Elizabeth says
I considered Amazon reviews showing up on Good Reads, but not vice versa – it should be interesting! I guess we can only wait and see.
Tracy Craft says
I am a part of a group for willing reviewer of Christian books. We can add our book(s) to the group bookshelf and offer to other readers the change chance to read and review our book for a free PDF, kindle copy or whatever that we agree upon.
The Savvy Indie says
Tracy,if I’m to tell any Indie Author how to get reviews,then it’s will be to join groups like yours on GR that offers reviews for books.
Goodreads is a lovely avenue for Authors to get the much needed reviews to give social proof for books. I got my book’s first reviews joining a GR group that encourage non reciprocal reviews among members and that’s one of the best uses of Goodreads for Authors.
There are lots of groups like this on GR and the only “job” on any author’s path to getting reviews is searching for relevant groups for each specific genre of book.,joining and participate in the flow of interaction and conversion first before hitting for reviews..
Cheers!
Mayor
Daniel Escurel Occeno says
I am not on FACEBOOK or Twitter and GOODREADS is new to me, but it all seem like something, which I need to do in the long run, as I get more serious about a writing career on the Internet. TY for telling us about it and I will ponder on it some more. But the main priority is to write something well-worth selling to the mass population of Internet readers.
Susan Blackmon says
Daniel,
Some very good advice from my brother was to have the social networking started before launching my book. As I was deep into learning how to indie publish my book I was not able to do this and now working on it afterwards I can see the value in is advice. Like you, before publishing I wasn’t involved in social media. The benefit to getting out there and building your circles now is that when you do get your book written and published you will have a starting audience to help get the word out. Plus, you will find plenty of people out there willing to help you every step along the way.
Daniel Escurel Occeno says
If you had to narrow it down to one, which one? Which Social Media would be the only one for a struggling novelist of Fiction?
Tasha Turner says
Great post. Really breaks things down. I wish more authors would understand groups and marketing better as too many do drive by promotions and it is a major turn-off.
Debby Gies says
Awesome insight as always, thanks!
Gary A. Swaby says
Thanks for the valuable information Mayor.
Jenny Braithwaite says
Great breakdown of the basics of using Goodreads for authors. I’m very happy to see you emphasizing that groups are for interaction with readers not out and out promotion. Setting up a good author page on Goodreads can make a real difference to as many users come to these to help make their decision to read your books.
It might be useful to authors to know that there are a number of groups in specific genres who have specific programs in place to help authors connect with readers for example “Read2Review” programs and many have a special area where authors whoa re active group users can announce book tours, free Kindle days or new publications!
The Savvy Indie says
Daniel,you will love hanging around on Goodreads for sure and it’s one thing to write something worthwhile,it’s another thing to get it across to who need them – your book readers I mean.
The place of book marketing is irreplaceable in the world of self publishing and social networking – facebook,twitter and Goodreads comes handy to help out.
Tasha,the rule of give before you take will always hold in social media networking and Goodreads won’t be an exception.I believe the promotion comes naturally as a return gift from interacting and connecting with the right people and not just blatant promotion as many will want.
Debby and Gary,
You are welcome,it’s a pleasure having you here as well.
Jenny,thanks for that useful input.
Cheers!
Mayor
Tasha Turner says
I totally agree about giving before taking. I’m frequently reminding people that social networking is about being social and caring and helping others goes a long way.
The Savvy Indie says
Surely Tasha,
That’s just exactly what every author need to be told..For example,I joined one GR group some times ago and I joined in the talk of the group and from there,I had lots of connections with fellow authors that later got interviewed on my blog and the result – a relationship emerge from that and many lot of lovely stories like that just by “doing as the romans when in rome” rather than just kicking all around with “here is me,I’m an author and you gotta buy my book(s)!
Social networking works just not like that as evident in my Twitter experience when I get more followers when I scan the web for useful and insightful post and I tweets them than when I just keep mute and probably send a tweet out about a blog post of mine.
Thanks for reminding “us” of that.
Cheers!
Mayor
Daniel Escurel Occeno says
If you had to choose one Social Media account for a struggling writer of fictional novels, which one would you suggest? And why?
Joanna Penn says
I think it depends on what you already enjoy as a participant.
e.g. if you take photos and love photography, then Pinterest
if you already spend ages on Facebook, engage in groups etc, then Facebook
if you want to meet new people globally and have a real niche interest that will attract people, then twitter
if you already review books, then GR
if you love video, then YouTube
Authors can be successful through any channel – but you have to find something that works for your life and then stick with it.
Daniel Escurel Occeno says
TY!
The Savvy Indie says
Daniel,
Every social networking site out there do have their own place in the scheme of things for authors and it’s always advisable to find the best one that works for you – mark it bold “The Best That Works For You”.
Here is why:
I love Twitter more than anything else but Twitter for me is mainly meant for me sharing useful posts and sometimes mixing my own blog post inside it which drives traffic to my blog and many got to know what I’m doing as an author and blogger.
For Facebook,it’s just to meet other authors and join groups of likely minded authors and from here I got lots of authors I interview on my blog.
For Goodreads,I joined groups,join discussions and interesting conversion ,got reviews for my books,promote my books through GR events and giveaways thereby leading to many readers downloading my books,although many pass the idea of giving back a review but it worth it all as they all know that I and my books existed and that’s what I think every struggling and new authors need.
So I can say start with Goodreads,upgrade to a GR author by join the GR author program – it’s free. Add your book(s),complete your author bio,add your blog,videos and probably organize a GR giveaway (for print book) or event (if ebook) to give away free copies of your book out and don’t forget to ask if they will like to give their honest review after reading.
You can search for GR groups that deals with your genre of books,ask questions,join in the flow of interaction,invite group members to your GR giveaway or events etc
I think you might love to start from here and see how it goes after which you can add Facebook or Twitter to your plan.
Hope this is helpful,I believe Joanna can also give you more tips on this.There are lots of post around her blog here that deals with this.
Cheers
Mayor
Daniel Escurel Occeno says
TY!
Cindy Smith -Jordan says
Thank You for sharing this great info on how to use Goodreads.
R.V. Doon says
Thank you. I had no idea the other services existed.
J Gordon Smith says
.
Joanna, I have a pair of groups I moderate at goodreads that might be helpful for your readers:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/84278-free-romance-books
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/93438-arc-of-authors
The first link is for free book promotion (targeted at the Romance and Romance sub-categories), the second is for Advance Review Copy and Beta Reader connections in all Genres. Between these two groups there are now over a thousand authors, readers, and reviewers/bloggers participating.
.
Other points: Remember to be polite at goodreads, there have been some clashes way back that still keep authors tip-toeing. There are 12-14 million goodreads members that are active readers, in fact they dream up competitions with each other on how to consume more books meanwhile Twitter/Facebook members spend a lot of time discussing non-book things. You can pre-launch books at goodreads, as an example I have this book that will launch soon (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17404957 – hey, add it to your “TBR” while you’re looking!). Your friends/fans and TBR’s will get updates when you publish so they can hit Amazon the first day/week it’s out and drive your Amazon sales momentum.
.
.