Shawn P. B. Robinson

Alright! We’re covering how to use Social Media as a Self-Publisher. Here are our topics:

1. Twitter and the Self-Publisher
2. Facebook and the Self-Publisher
3. Goodreads and the Self-Publisher
4. Other Social Media and the Self-Publisher

Today, we want to talk about using Goodreads!

Goodreads

It might seem odd that I’m posting about Goodreads when I’m talking about Social Media. Goodreads may look more like an online list of books (like a book catalog) than social media, but it’s actually a mix between a catalog and social media.
Goodreads is a massive site that is just focused on books and authors. Books are rated by people from around the world and people can list if they are reading the book, what they thought of it, what books they hope to read one day and more!

As an author, you can set up an account and claim an author profile on Goodreads. Doing this allows people to follow you as an author and you can see how your book is trending with readers.

Some of the things you can do from your Author Page are:

Find out how many people are reading your books (and who they are)–assuming they declare they are reading your book on Goodreads
You can see how many people have added your books to their “to-read” list
You can post comments to your readers and answer questions

Goodreads is a great place for you to connect with those reading your books!

You are wise to focus in on getting reviews in two places: Amazon and Goodreads. Reviews on other sites are good as well, but those two are the biggies!

If you don’t have any reviews on Goodreads, it might mean that you are having trouble getting your book out there to people.

If you are getting terrible reviews… um… I’m sorry. It either means you aren’t getting the right people to review your books (some people are grumpy) or your book… is… um… well… I’m moving on.

Here’s what you do.

1. Set up a Goodreads author page. To find out how to do this, check out How to Set up a Goodreads Author Page.

2. Review a ton of books. It doesn’t take long to review books and I’m assuming you’ve read a few. Review them! Don’t be cruel with your reviews, but be honest. You rate your reads out of five stars.

While I have read many books over the years, at this point I am focusing my Goodreads reviews on books that are somewhat connected with the genre of book I am publishing (kids/young teen novels). Since I’ve read a lot in this genre and continue to do so (what can I say, I like a simple read), I can review a ton of them.

3. Answer the Author Questions

On your author page, there are a number of questions Goodreads gives to you such as, “Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?” and “How do you get inspired to write?” Answer the questions and have some fun with it. There is also the chance for people to ask you specific questions. When someone asks a question, answer it and again, have some fun with it.

4. Connect Goodreads with your blog

If you have a blog, connect your blog to your Goodreads author page and your blog posts will show up on Goodreads. You do this in your settings. Just add your blog in and after a few days, the posts start showing up.

5. Post updates

If you’ve finished writing a book in your series or if you’re in the middle of writing something new, give some updates! Your readers will enjoy hearing from you!

6. Offer free giveaways or advertise your book

If you scroll down on your Goodreads Author Page, you’ll find you can set up a Giveaway or advertise your book. The downside to this is a Giveaway with Goodreads if VERY pricey. The advertising is not all that expensive, but you pay per click.

Feel free to check out my Goodreads page and you are more than welcome to read and review my books. I prefer 5 stars, but if you feel that my book only deserves 4 stars, I encourage you to allow some room for error (on your part) and give me an extra star just in case you are wrong. 🙂 I’m kidding, by the way. You can’t require five stars from people. 🙂

www.goodreads.com/shawnpbrobinson

To give you an example of how Goodreads can be used well, I’m following the author, Jennifer Nielsen. She’s written a bunch of books aimed at young teens and I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve read from her so far (I loved both the Underworld Chronicles and the Ascendance Trilogy). When I logged on to Goodreads a while back, this popped up from Nielsen:

“Oh my goodness, yes! Here’s the rundown: On Sept 12, I will release DEADZONE, the 2nd book of Scott Westerfeld’s HORIZON series”

There was an option there to read a bit more (this was actually her answer to a question asked by one of her fans). What Ms. Nielsen was doing there was connecting up with a reader and helping to build that relationship!

Goodreads is an important site for you as an author. Check it out!

NOTE: in the coming weeks, I hope to post an early copy of the official SPoaB Guide (Self-Publishing on a Budget Guide). It’ll be a bit of a free walkthrough on how to Self-Publish from start to finish. Keep your eye out. My hope is that it’ll go up in its unfinished form by mid-August!

Shawn