I’m trying to learn something here, so maybe you guys can help me out. I started on Goodreads back at the beginning of the year. I haven’t really done anything with it, but I made an author page and added my books.
If any of you have some Goodreads tips, I’m interested in hearing them. Today I have a specific question related to my new book.
Would it help drive pre-sales if people added it as to be read on Goodreads? I really have no idea, but I see my site showing books you are interested in. I check them out too, but I’m actually an introvert at heart and don’t do much with the site. I can do more, so teach me something. Let me hear it in the comments.
Therefore, The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack is on Goodreads. If any of you that pre-ordered think it would help, would you consider adding it as TBR?
Here is the link, just in case: The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack
Entertaining Stories 
I do think getting people to list your book on a TBR list will help. Beyond that, I don’t do much else with Goodreads. Never figured it out and ran into too many ‘Wild West’ scenarios that kind of soured the site to me. Just keeping a low profile.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m not completely enamored with it myself. I think it’s good exposure, but my knowledge is lacking here. Still, it’s there if folks want to push the button.
LikeLike
I added all of yours to my enormous TBR list. I think it’s connected to my FB or Twitter, so people see me like it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think it might help. It runs it out there to a degree. I suppose I ought to do the same this weekend for a bunch of people. The whole thing just occurred to me this morning.
LikeLike
I keep forgetting about the site, so I’m probably behind too.
LikeLike
I can see two benefits to getting people to add your book as TBR.
1) Goodreads has a “feed” system when you first log in, so people might become aware of your book as their friends mark it TBR.
2) If you don’t have many reviews yet on a book, the book’s page will show the users who’ve marked it TBR at the bottom of the page, so it will look like a book that people are showing an interest in.
I’ll head over to Goodreads now and mark it as TBR on my account.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think your points are pretty good. Thanks for hitting the button.
LikeLike
I don’t use Goodreads much, but Sassy is all up in that like a dog on a bone. Yes, it will boost sales if you get it on people’s TBR. Especially if you get some influential readers who are in a lot of groups. When a group of people are excited about a book, they talk about it endlessly.
Also, you can use Goodreads to market your work via asking people to read it and review it. Sassy and I both do this on the regular. Authors send messages asking for reviews — generally we get a Kindle version for a dollar or a complimentary book sent to the house.
My only other advice about Goodreads is to never ever argue with your audience 😉 lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve read about some of those arguments on other sites. I’ll stay in my foxhole and keep my head down.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What really helped my book to get on the TBR list on Goodreads was offering a giveaway. If you look over your author dashboard, you may see a section on how to do a giveaway. It was pretty easy, the only catch is that the giveaway has to be a hard copy. If your new release will only be an eBook that may not work as well. Good luck the release.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the tip.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve seen a few authors post about their experiences with Goodreads giveaways. They usually recommend giving away a very small number of paperbacks, 5 I think, since they rarely end up getting reviews from the process even if they give away 20 books, and sometimes see the paperbacks showing up as third-party products on Amazon. I’m guessing these authors just use the process like free advertising to get the book’s name out there and on a few more TBR lists.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting. I haven’t committed to paper just yet. I probably should, but I really like ebooks.
LikeLike
I’ve heard many times that the more people add your book to their To-Read list, the higher you’ll rank, even if they never read it. I’ve added your book.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. I’m just trying new stuff.
LikeLiked by 1 person
As a reader, I really enjoy the site. I like to follow other people’s reviews. As an author, I’ve found the Goodreads giveaways to be a nice way to get eyes on your book. I’ll be running one for my upcoming novel in a couple weeks. I ran a couple for my first book in the past, too with lots of people signing up for a chance to win. That’s several hundred eyes on your book that weren’t there before. Many add it to their to-read lists. Of course, we both know that doesn’t mean they’ll read it, but it’s still some extra visibility. Here’s a link if you’re interested (info about the giveaways is the third section down): https://www.goodreads.com/author/how_to
LikeLiked by 1 person
I appreciate that. Gives me something to toy around with.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t use Goodreads a great deal, but it’s definitely a help to have readers add your book to their TBR (I’ve added yours)!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cool. I’ll never know if I don’t try things.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Goodreads has never really worked for me. I ran a giveaway once and got hundreds of requests. One of the winners was a Goodreads librarian… coincidence? Cost me an arm and a leg to post them to US. Never got a thanks or a review out of it. Im just not that enamoured of the site and rarely visit it. I think its fun for readers but not very useful to writers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I appreciate the info. Sounds like my best bet is to get it into a few timestreams there. Kind of like Twitter. After that, who knows.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. Give it a go. You never know…
LikeLiked by 1 person
The last time I counted, about three dozen people at Goodreads said my book is on their TBR, but that has had absolutely no effect on sales, ratings, or reviews. I am not personally acquainted with any of these people, although two of them are authors with whom I exchanged complementary autographed copies. As always, it’s not what you know, but who you know. Good luck with it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a revealing bit of information. I imagine many of the TBR books never get read, or even purchased. It sounds almost like the value is in having my cover flash by in the stream. Maybe someone takes the bait, maybe not.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It couldn’t hurt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know I’m a bit late to the discussion, but I’m still figuring out Goodreads too. I had a giveaway for five copies of my book, over 900 people requested it and I’m now on lots of TBR lists. However, at the moment only one person is reading it, and I received one review. So we’ll see what happens when the next book comes out. I’ve joined a couple of reading groups, but as I don’t have much time to read I’m not sure they’ll work out for me 🙂 One thing I will say is that their Help department is very good – quick responses and lots of advice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It seems all giveaways are like that. My Amazon promotions moved hundreds of copies, but I have no faith that any of them were ever read. I have to say the Goodreads help it top notch.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I’m doing an Amazon giveaway right now – it will be interesting to see if I get any follow-on from it.
LikeLike