According to Goodreads, almost 117,000 authors have joined the Goodreads Author programs. So how do you stand out among so many? Combine your social media forces to work in your favor.
In our previous posts, you’ve learned:
Now it’s time to expand your social networking and reach out to the rest of the world. Okay, realistically, how about we just start with Facebook?
Facebook
You may have noticed that you can sign up for Goodreads with your Facebook account. When you sign up with Facebook, or when you connect your Goodreads to Facebook afterwards, Goodreads gives you the option to auto-post your Goodreads activity directly to Facebook.
Like any app that uses Facebook, Goodreads can get a bit “over enthusiastic” about posting on your wall—and you may never even realize it. So I would suggest disabling the “auto-post” feature and just share your reviews, giveaways, etc. manually.
As a side note, having a Facebook fan page the readers can “like” gives you a platform to promote yourself. Remember our discussion about Fans vs Friends in our last post? The same applies to a Facebook fan page. You can’t keep up a personal relationship with all of your fans (you are only human after all), so a fan page gives your readers a way to keep updated on your books and author news. But, alas, I digress. This post is about Goodreads, so let’s get back to it.
Blogs
The Goodreads Author program gives you a blog when you sign up, but you may already have a blog. So Goodreads allows you to stream your blog posts from your website through your Goodreads blog; you only have to write your posts once to reach two websites. Pretty neat? I would say so.
Write reviews on your blog? Well, you can also have the book reviews that you write on Goodreads appear auto-post onto your blog. If you regularly post other book reviews on your blog, this is definitely a feature worth looking into.
Widgets
A widget is a little device that you can place on the side of your blog—follow buttons, mini Twitter feeds, a book shelf from Goodreads—widgets come in all shapes and sizes. Widgets can get really complicated really fast. Fortunately, Goodreads foresaw your need and gives you several different shapes and sizes to fit the style of your blog.
By placing a Goodreads widget, or badge, on your blog, you give your readers another chance to connect with you, to go look at your profile, and, most importantly, see the books that you’ve written. Everything always points back towards your work.
Twitter
You can also connect your Goodreads updates to Twitter. Goodreads will auto-post (auto-tweet?) your Goodreads activities—reviews, books read, etc.—straight to Twitter. Again, this gives your readers another chance to connect with you and be exposed to your work.
All of these social avenues may seem overwhelming, but don’t worry! You don’t have to do them all. Just start with the social media accounts that you have. Don’t have a blog but love Twitter? Then start with Twitter. Every little step towards marketing yourself well is a step in the right direction.
Hopefully these past few weeks have helped you get your feet wet in the world of Goodreads self-promotion. If you have any other questions, please leave a comment below or contact us Twitter @AmbassadorIntl
Synopsis: At its core this book is about everything seminary and academics never taught us about preaching. Professors don’t produce preachers. Preachers are hewn out of the rough granite of experience and time. Byron Yawn had the privilege of sitting down with some of the most notable preachers of our day and pilfering their hard-earned wisdom and insights. Well-Driven Nails is an accounting of what he learned from these true “professors” of the craft. But, it is also more than a book on preaching. It’s about a journey every preacher must take if he is to be a fearless proclaimer of Christ in a room full of critics. It is about finding one’s own voice and therefore applies to all who struggle to overcome the fear of man in their devotion to Christ. BUY NOW
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