The Importance of Goodreads

Goodreads is a social site connecting over 13million book lovers. Create a free account to have access to millions of book reviews, suggestions tailored to your preferences, and access to hundreds of lists organized by subject, genre, or just somebody’s favorite books.  You can keep a running tab of books you have read, want to read, and are currently reading and also join a book discussion group that fits your reading preferences.  Also, keep an eye out for giveaways, polls, and contests.

As an author, this is great place to make connections with your target audience.  It’s very important to keep in mind that as a social site specifically designed for book lovers, people come to Goodreads to find books to add to the To Be Read list and also to make reading suggestions—not to be spammed by authors who, justified or not, are just trying to share their great book. The strategy here is to connect to other readers through posting reviews of books you have read, joining a group, and commenting on other readers’ reviews and book lists. There are so many ways to connect!

In addition to connecting to readers through these various measures, you should create an Author Page where you can list your own book(s) and also where to purchase or download them. Every time your earn another connection, that reader will more than likely view your profile and read about your book. By making sure to have a wonderfully written summary that highlights why your book is a great book, that connection will be likely to add your book to their To Be Read list or – even better – purchase your book to read.  Listing your book on your Author Page has the added benefit of keeping track of who is reviewing your book and what they have to say.

Check out our page on Goodreads!