Goodreads is a social network specifically designed for finding your next great read, and is a vital tool for authors! With over 125 million users, it provides authors with direct access to not only their current readers, but also potential new readers.
By claiming your Goodreads author account, you will be able to unlock a whole new world of Goodreads beyond ratings and reviewing books. Below, we’ve broken down these benefits for you to showcase why Goodreads should be one of the top platforms in your marketing plan!
1. Build Author Credibility
Goodreads is the easiest social media platform to build credibility as an author. As soon as you claim your author account, you will be labeled as a Goodreads author. This means that when you are commenting on posts or reaching out to reviewers, it will say “(Goodreads Author)” with a verification logo showing that the account is credible.
2. Lead Q&A Discussions About Your Book
After you’ve claimed your author account, activate your “Author Q&A.” You’ll find this feature in your Author Dashboard. Readers will be able to submit questions directly to you! Your responses will be posted on your profile. Make sure to respond so that readers can get to know more about you, your writing style, your inspiration, etc. Goodreads will also send you prompts to make sure that you have a constant flow of questions available to answer so that you can post consistently.
In addition to this feature, Goodreads also allows authors to host book discussions using their “Featured Author Groups”. These groups are a way for authors to interact with readers and create buzz about their books. Authors can form a group and agree to answer questions about their books in a discussion format. Goodreads will also help promote the group using their word of mouth tools. It’s a great way to get readers passionate about your book and have readers actively involved in your promotion.
3. Conduct Giveaways
Giveaways are one of the most beneficial tools on Goodreads to promote your book. Giveaways have three basic goals:
- To create buzz and awareness for your book
- To generate new readers
- To gain reviews (although reviews are never a guarantee)
Goodreads offers both an e-book and print giveaways that can run from two weeks to a month long. For both options, Goodreads will help promote your giveaway, and randomly select the winners.
The great thing about giveaways is that everyone who enters will have your book added to their “to-read” list (which is public, so their followers will also see that your book was added to their “to-read” list), but approximately 45% of winners review the book. So, it is a great way to boost awareness while also generating potential reviews.
4. Connect Your Blog
If you’re blogging on your author website, you can take it one step further and connect this blog to your Goodreads page! Goodreads will then email all of your followers once a week with all of your new blog posts. This is a great way to boost readers for your blog, while also spreading the great content you’re already creating. It also opens up your blog to new audiences as any new readers who come across your Goodreads page will be able to click through to your website to see your blog posts or follow along by following you on Goodreads!
5. Control the Narrative
You’ll want to engage with at least three of your book’s reviews. When you comment or like a review on your book’s page, it pulls it to the top of your book’s reviews section. By responding to your positive reviews, you will be putting your best foot forward with the best reviews at the top! We suggest boosting your book 1-2 times a month!
In addition to the benefits above, Goodreads is also a platform where readers are actively involved in the marketing process. This means you can engage your most enthusiastic fans! You should feel confident directing your readers/followers to review on Goodreads, or adding your book to lists, because it’s the word of mouth that will help your Goodreads presence shine.
Now, it’s time to start marketing on Goodreads! After you’ve signed up as a general Goodreads member, you can claim your author profile by following these steps!
