4RV Reading, Writing, & Art News: GoodReads

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Marketing Tips - Using GoodReads to your advantage

by: Stephanie Burkhart

Some of you may be asking what is "GoodReads?" Simply put, it's a social cataloging site primarily to read and rate books. It's a great place to connect with other authors and readers. There's over 12 million members and over 20,000 groups – and you can download a GoodReads for your phone.

As an author, how does GoodReads benefit me?

First, it's a marketing tool. It helps you get your name out there in front of readers. Just don't expect it to happen overnight. Social networking takes time to build up a presence. If you determine you want to use GoodReads, be sure to budget at least 5-10 minutes to hang out daily and build your "brand."

What are the benefits?

Exposure to readers. Remember there's over 12 million readers on the site. You get your own personal profile when you sign up. You can arrange to have your blog's RSS feed highlight your blog on the site. You can upload video trailers of your novels as well.

The Book Shelf

In your profile is your book shelf. You can add books to your shelf. I organize mine: books I wrote, books I want to read, book I read, and currently reading. As an author, I read, rate, and review on GoodReads, too.

Creating Buzz

Do you have a new book coming out? GoodReads is a great place to create buzz.

#1 – Create your book's page in advance so people can start putting it in their "want to read" shelf.

#2 – Find a group that fits your book's genre and put out a call for readers with your ARC. Give out your ARC.

#3 – Post a notice in the appropriate groups about your book's upcoming release.

#4 – Post a first chapter so readers can get a feel for the book.

#5 – Post a "general update" with your upcoming release.

Be Interactive

If you're interactive on GoodReads, others will interact with you.

IDEAS:

Join some groups

Use your blog

Make friends

Post positive reviews (and remember a "3" is a good rating)

Post a giveaway on your books. You'll get lots of people to sign up – and that's exposure.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, comments, questions, and feedback on GoodReads. Do you use the site? Why or why not? What do you like about it? Any tips to share?

If you'd like, I have a PDF I can share. Let me know if you're interested.

Author Bio: Stephanie Burkhart is a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. Her book, First Flag of New Hampshire placed 8^th in the 2013 Predators and Editors poll in Print/Ebooks: Children category. She loves Starbucks, coffee and Andes Mints.