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!
