I went to a seminar on Goodreads last week 
put on by Michael Sullivan, actually his wife.
I’m already getting some traction on Facebook and Twitter, but I figured I’d give it a try. So, if you click on the image here, it’ll take you to my new Goodreads page for “Buried Ladies”.
Here’s the best of the advice I received:
**** Wait until you’re approved as an author as much of your work will be lost if you do it on a regular user page ****
Why Goodreads?
Well, it’s a site for books. I think after some work, I might see some traction, but there are so many authors on Goodreads and too few readers, that it feels like you’re marketing to other authors. We’ll see how that plays out over time.
My second concern with Goodreads, and frankly book marketing in general, is the large number of groups promoting books. It seems everyone is an aspiring writer now, so these folks promoting books are exploding. Some are probably good, most, I feel, are blood-suckers who bleed authors dry without delivering results. Goodreads is full of them.
Using Goodreads
Well, it’s like any other social network — you have to put in a lot of work to get results.
And, you have to pay it forward. Nobody is going to do anything to help you out unless you help them out as well.
The first step is creating an author page and, as I mentioned above, don’t put a lot of effort in until you have your author page and much of your reader page gets lost. You can see mine by using the link.
Be positive
Be human
Give readers a reason to pick up your book
Next, build a community
Friend to get more friends
Join groups
Network — find friends of other authors who write in your genre and connect with them
Be a good author by reviewing others’ books, liking them, following them. …
Link your blog – you need a blog!
Ask for reviews although, surprisingly, few folks want your book for free, which really surprised me. I’m sure this is a different experience for more established writers, but, as a new writer, I was shocked that folks wouldn’t read a book for FREE. BTW, if you’re interested in reading my draft, you can get it here. Please give me feedback.
Monitor the performance in your Goodreads author dashboard.
Build an email list for drip campaigns and to introduce new books.
Final thoughts
I hope this advice helps. Let me know your thoughts and, as always, I’d love to help you with your writing in any way I can.
Some folks seek out readers with specific characteristics, some pay for expert readers, some join writing groups where they exchange reading for getting critiques. I use Beta readers who get a free review copy.
Join my Beta reader list and get your FREE copy of ‘Buried Ladies‘ here:
[…] still recommend a website as a first step in marketing your book. Alternatively, a good profile on Goodreads can work, but there are severe limitations to using someone else’s […]