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Status: Drafting the fourth book in the PERILOUS series!

Monday, October 18, 2010

What Can Goodreads do for you?


There's this wonderful community that I'm only just beginning to participate in-- it's the Goodreads community. I've often seen people talk about how they are addicted to Facebook and Goodreads. Which I just couldn't understand. What is so great about Goodreads?

A lot, apparently. Goodreads promotes their authors. Besides the fact that a quick skim of updates lets me know who added what book and who liked what, there are FREE services for Goodreads authors.

Are you aware of what Goodreads can do for you? Here are a few things.

1) A blog. What's great about this blog is I don't actually have to write a new blog every time. I just linked my Goodreads account to my Blogger account, and everytime I post a blog, presto! It goes live on Goodreads. Do I actually have any followers? No. And I never have comments. But hey! Maybe someday!

2) Giveaways. I just discovered this recently. Many of us offer free books during our blog tours, with the intention of garnering interest in our books. Well, Goodreads also has this service. They 'request' that if you enter a giveaway, you also put the book into your 'to-read' list. (Not everyone does this. I know because right now I have 352 people in my giveaway contest, but my book is on only 87 'to-read' lists.) But, that is 352 people who have heard of my book now that probably hadn't heard of it before. How neat is that??

3) Author Q&A. Few things can make a person feel like a celebrity than having a bunch of stranger discuss you. Goodreads provides the place for that discussion. The author simply chooses a time period--like for two weeks--starts the discussion with a question or two, and then let's it roll. I haven't done this yet. I want to get my name out there a little more. But again, what a neat way to garner interest.

So, if you haven't checked out Goodreads, you need to. There's a link on my sidebar.

On another note, today is day #2 of my blog tour!!! The post is up on Nichole's Star-crossed book review blog. I got that anxious pit in my stomach clicking on the post, but luckily she didn't flame me! Check out her blog to see the review. And for Tuesday, we have the famous Talli Roland. For information on the contest and the other blogs on the tour, click the tab at the top of my blog!



23 comments:

Joanna St. James said...

I have just recently joined goodreads and I have not reached the addiction stage yet. i will find you on goodreads

Melissa Cunningham said...

I have emails sent to me from goodreads, but I got so many that I deleted a few authors who could send them. It's just what they've read recently that they like. I should check into it more, I guess.

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

oh yes, Melissa, if you don't change your settings, they send tons of email! I changed mine so I get none now. But at first that's all I thought they did too. I was like, what's so cool about knowing what everyone else is reading? LOL.

Now I'll admit to checking it ALL THE TIME to see if there are any new readers/reviews.

Belle Wong said...

I've been thinking about joining Goodreads - a lot of my friends on Facebook do auto status updates from Goodreads and it does sound like fun! Just clicked over to read the review - great review, too!

Jennifer Shirk said...

I love GoodReads too. I like it so much better than Shelfari. :)

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

Shelfari??? I don't even know what that is!going to have to check it out now.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Yes really don't worry about Shelfari, it doesn't hold a candle to goodreads.

TerryLynnJohnson said...

wow, you've been busy! I'm heading over to see your book review now! (aren't those nerve wracking! I hear ya!)

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

LOL, yes, Terry! Like, heart in my throat...but it was a good one! So nervous for when the bad ones come in!

Ann Best said...

Excellent book review from Nichole!

I'm on a brief break from my daughter, but am anxious to finish the book when I get home. I'm finding it very suspenseful, which means you've paced it well!!

Ann Best said...

p.s. Thanks for this info on Goodreads. I joined awhile back but haven't really gotten into it. Now based on your comments here, I'm going to go see how it really works!

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

yeah, Ann, it took me quite awhile to get into it. But it's got a lot of free support for authors, which I think is great!

Shallee said...

Ooh, thanks for this info! I've been wondering about how Goodreads helps authors, so this is great!

Also, I gave you an award on my blog. :) Good luck with your blog tour!

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

Thank you, Shallee! On my way to check it out!

Michelle Merrill said...

I absolutely love goodreads, but it's mostly just to track my book reading at this point. I love to search the different top lists to find new things to read. I only have a few friends, but when they add anything, I get to see what they are reading and decide if I want to read it too! I'm glad you found it :)

Cinette said...

I just signed up on Goodreads about a month ago, and I'm still feeling it out. Thanks for pointing out it's bells and whistles for me;-)

mary.anne.gruen@gmail.com said...

Thank you so much for the info on Goodreads! I'll have to check it out.

I'm off to follow your blog tour now!

Terri Tiffany said...

I joined awhile ago and have never done anything with it. Thank you for the tips!

Jennifer Hillier said...

Great info on Goodreads! I joined a while back but definitely haven't taken advantage of all the features. Thanks for posting this.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

I keep meaning to check out Goodreads.

kbrebes said...

So good to know we can link our blog posts to GRs! I didn't know that. Thanks, Tamara!

Goddess of Blah Book Reviews said...

i love good reads. But i can give ruthless reviews on there to ;-)

Talli Roland said...

I love Goodreads! I think it's a great forum to authors to interact with readers!

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