Goodreads for Authors

Over a week ago week a bunch of us had an informal chat on AgentQueryConnect about the social reading site, Goodreads, and what it can do for authors.

Earlier in that week I had read a piece claiming that most readers find the books they read on Goodreads and not on Twitter or Facebook. Granted, this information was accumulated over on Goodreads so those results may be a little skewed. Either way, it shows something I’ve wondered about for some time. Twitter and Facebook are great ways to connect with your audience on a different level as well as network with other industry experts. But showing off your book? Not so much. It’s hard to market your book in 140 characters or less without being so obvious that it lacks intrigue and turns people off. Still, it is another place to create a touch point (more on that later).

Source: Goodreads

In the chat we also talked about things such as lists. Lists on Goodreads are big. Lists of YA books coming out in 2013, Best Summer Reads, or what-not. Getting on one of those lists can be huge in terms of getting your book in front of your audience. You, however, should not put yourself on a list as that just looks bad–and people can see who put a book on a list. Asking someone else to add your book to a list–providing they are comfortable with it–is perfectly fine.

Giveaways! There are tons of giveaways going on all over Goodreads. Often there will be literally hundreds of people asking for a handful of copies. Why? Because it is so easy! You just click and you are entered to win. Authors, ask yourself… for the price of a couple of copies, how many people are being exposed to your title? (Rumour is that a person must see/hear/read about your title up to 7 times before they pick it up!! Every touch point counts!)

Connect with your competition’s audience. Find them. Woo them. But don’t be a you-know-what about it. Learn what they like to read. Use that information in your marketing.

The author’s dashboard. When you become a Goodreads “author” instead of average joe, suddenly you get a fancy dashboard in your account. People can become fans, you can see all reviews for your books, see what lists your books are on, and much more. It sounds pretty cool.

Speaking of reviews, it came up in the chat that reviewers on Goodreads can be downright mean. And a few authors have gotten slammed. We’re not just talking 1 star which means “did not like it.” (Get over it, your book isn’t going to be for everyone! And sometimes 1 star reviews can entice people to read your book and see if they are right.) But we’re talking nasty-a$$ed comments that get personal. And a few authors have responded. Not good. If you are a Goodreads author, don’t read your reviews.

As an author, be very, very careful about your own book reviews and what you say about other writers. You can come off looking very, very bad. Ungracious… poor sport. You get the picture. Some authors create a separate, private account for their reviews, or they simply leave the stars rating off, or only review books they feel passionate about–in a good way.

Seeing a book on a friend’s shelf on Goodreads is one of the biggest ways readers find new books to read. Think of it this way, are you more likely to read a book you randomly see in the bookstore or one you see a friend reading? Most likely, you are going to be more intrigued by the book your friend is reading. And so it goes with seeing books on your friend’s Goodreads bookshelf. (When people you have friended add a book on Goodreads you get an email update as well as see it in a ‘stream’ on Goodreads.) As an author, get people to add your book to their ‘to be read’ shelves if you can, and people with friends in the publishing world–add their books to your shelves to support them.

Want to find out more? Check out this must-read Goodreads blog post.

How about you? Do you use Goodreads? How about LibraryThing or others? What are your thoughts on authors and review sites? Good, bad, ugly?

Book Round Up

I’ve been neglecting my Goodreads account lately. That and sharing books I’ve read with my blog readers. So, when a friend asked me if I’d read anything good lately (she just got an ereader), I said, “You betcha.”

And then I had to try and recall something I’d read in the past few months.

Fortunately, that wasn’t a problem. Briefly, here are a few…

Room by Emma Donoghue. Room is about a girl who is kidnapped and has a baby while in captivity (the kidnapper is the father) and when her child turns five, they manage to escape. It wasn’t nearly as disturbing as I thought it would be–which is kind of a relief, actually. I don’t like it when books mess with my mind in a huge way. The first half of the book deals with their imprisonment, the second half with… well, I won’t spoil it by telling you what they deal with.

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The Immortals by J.T. Ellison. This one also had mind messing potential, but thankfully didn’t leave any scars. It is about some teens involved in dark magic and murder. Fast and entertaining while the main character tries to track down the murders. Uses several point of views which works well for the story.

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Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda. I really enjoyed this one–more than I thought I would. It follows two families–an American family that adopts a baby from India who was given up because the family was too poor to raise her. It also follows that Indian family. I was worried it would be slow and work to read, but I couldn’t stop reading it! It also shows you a bit about Indian culture and the way things aren’t as balanced as you may think.

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The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald. This was an intriguing book as Grunwald set her story of a man unable to commit to relationships in a university practice house during the 1940s. These practice houses existed (my grandmother-in-law attended one as part of her home economics education) and were intended to teach students the latest in home economics. Babies (supplied by an orphanage) included. My grandmother-in-law said there was a waiting list for babies who had been in the practice house as they didn’t play strange. Go figure, having how many mothers. Anyway, this story follows one baby who stays in the practice house instead of being adopted out and his own journeys into making lasting bonds with the women who come and go in his life.

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Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. This was pretty good, as I do love Walls’s voice. However, I did like her memoir about her own life better–The Glass Castle. Half Broke Horses was about her grandma (who was a pretty amazing woman and character), which was cool, but at times I wanted to reach in the book and smack the grandma.

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Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin. A chick lit novel that had me waffling back and forth on what I thought the main character was going to do… go back to her husband? Get back together with the ex-boyfriend who still stirs her heart? There were times when I wanted to shove the character one way and other times that I wanted to smack some sense into her and drag her back the other way.

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People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. A novel that moves back in time, following the story of a religious text from it’s daring wartime rescues back to its creation. While it may sound technical and dry, its a great story that is an intriguing mystery and is tied together by a current day protagonist who is not only dealing with her own issues, but also with solving the mystery and history of this book while restoring it.

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How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely. A humourous novel about a guy who decides he’s going to become a famous novelist to ‘get back’ at his ex-girlfriend who is getting married. He decides he can add in all the great elements of the nation’s greatest best-selling novels to make his The Big One. That means road trip, exotic locations, war, love stories, and philosophical moments. The novel (not the one he writes) follows his progress, downfall, success, downfall, and ultimate… share it… or spoil it? Nah… I couldn’t spoil it for you.

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P.S. Full disclosure: If you purchase one of these books using the links I’ve provided, I get a couple of cents. Does that make me an enterprising sell-out? (However, I haven’t ever ‘sold’ anything from my blog, so maybe it doesn’t–or just makes me an ineffective one. Har, har.)

Back to Balance… and Marketing

A few weeks ago I mentioned that one of my current goals is to balance things in my life in order to rejuvenate and celebrate the joy in what I do every day. (That’s not to say I’ve been miserable, simply that it’s incredibly easy to get swept up in the myriad of ‘shoulds’ and forget to have a complete and utter blast.)

As if hearing the cries of aspiring (and published) writers, literary agent Nathan Bransford posted his ideas on marketing and balance. The long and the short of it is that writers should have some sort of Googleable web presence, but that trying to do ‘everything’ in terms of promotion–and there are a zillion ways to do this these days–you are going to dilute yourself and not do anything well.

Here, here.

It all comes back to balance. (I love it when things come full circle.)

Jean Oram

Create Your Badge

Lately, I’ve been reading here and there little somethings that reflect my own thoughts on Twitter and Facebook and all those ‘follow/friend’ social networking opportunities. That is: Don’t follow everyone just to count coup. (There is an actual term for those who do this, but my brain is letting me down.) Their advice (and mine too): Follow those you are genuinely interested in.

In other words: So what if you have 1200 followers? If you are following 1200 people we know exactly how you obtained those 1200 followers. You can’t possibly read all those tweets and create a true relationships with those followers. My warning is: Don’t kid yourself into believing all those followers are a true platform and that they are all going to run out and buy your book if you ask them to (if you are an unknown).

Interesting fact that I can’t back up (it’s in a book around here somewhere–Later note: Here’s an article on Dunbar’s Number): People bottom out around 150 relationships. After they reach that threshold, they are unable to maintain and sustain more relationships. True relationships take time, energy and memory making them genuine and rewarding for all involved.

Now, a little clarification on my rant–there is nothing wrong with using social networks and gaining a following. You don’t have to know someone’s favourite colour or know their lineage to have a relationship that will result in them supporting your endeavours. In fact, I recommend building online platforms and using social networking sites. I guess what I am trying to say is: keep it genuine. As Nathan says, if you don’t ‘feel’ it (blogging, tweeting, etc), your audience is going to know. So, do what you are good at. Do what feels genuine and it will get you a whole heck of a lot farther in your promotion or platform building.

Nobody can do everything. And nobody can do everything well.

Jean’s book montage

Jean Oram’s favorite books »

So, another tough question for you blog readers–where is the balance between writing and promotion? How do you keep it fresh when you are blogging and tweeting and facebooking? Or do you?