I've been on Goodreads for a while, since Rachel Lange (colleague at UAEU at that time), introduced me and Kimi Klassen to it. Initially I went wild, adding books and writing reviews. Then, inevitably for me, I started to slow down and did less and less. For quite a while I hadn't added any reviews to it at all. Then, very recently, as a result of the Dubai Lit Fest workshop I attended, I looked back at it and found that I could both add Chronicles to the list of books and myself to the list of authors.
Then I started exploring what you could do as a Goodreads author. It's quite impressive. Inviting friends to read your book and review it was never going to be a big deal for me, as I don't know that many people on Goodreads and don't really feel like adding people I don't know just to build up the circle of readers.
However, you can offer your book as a giveaway - you choose how many copies and for how long the offer will last, they pick the winners from the people who request to be in on it, then you send a paperback copy to those who are chosen. I've actually won one copy of a book through this, which should be on its way to me now. I'll read and certainly review it and try to be nice (though I insist on being honest). There is no real obligation on the part of the winners to write reviews, but it tends to happen.
Meanwhile, over 200 people had requested the chance to win my book and over 30 have put it on their to-read lists. Granted that only three copies are going out, that means a lot of people aren't going to get a free copy and, unless the 30 really stir themselves, there probably aren't going to be that many buying the book and actually reading it. However, I'm approaching people from the list who seem as if they might really be interested and offering them free digital copies. It doesn't cost me anything and might generate more reviews and therefore more interest.
Another neat thing about Goodreads are the forums. There are people who will offer to review a book for you just because that's what they like to do. I haven't approached any with Chronicles yet, as they all seem to instantly deluged with requests as sooon as they make the offer, but I'm going to follow up as soon as I can find time to sort through and see what kind of reviews each writes and what kind of thing they like to review.
Another nifty little trick they offer is the preview app. If you look at the top of this blog, you'll see a new small window. Scroll down it and you find that it shows the cover of Chronicles. Use the Next Chapter button and you can read through an epub edition of the book. It's not the greatest way of reading, I'll grant, but it can give someone who is just skimming a blog an easy way of getting a taste of the writing.
All good stuff, all free. The more I look, the more I find for publicising work. Good, good.
Then I started exploring what you could do as a Goodreads author. It's quite impressive. Inviting friends to read your book and review it was never going to be a big deal for me, as I don't know that many people on Goodreads and don't really feel like adding people I don't know just to build up the circle of readers.
However, you can offer your book as a giveaway - you choose how many copies and for how long the offer will last, they pick the winners from the people who request to be in on it, then you send a paperback copy to those who are chosen. I've actually won one copy of a book through this, which should be on its way to me now. I'll read and certainly review it and try to be nice (though I insist on being honest). There is no real obligation on the part of the winners to write reviews, but it tends to happen.
Meanwhile, over 200 people had requested the chance to win my book and over 30 have put it on their to-read lists. Granted that only three copies are going out, that means a lot of people aren't going to get a free copy and, unless the 30 really stir themselves, there probably aren't going to be that many buying the book and actually reading it. However, I'm approaching people from the list who seem as if they might really be interested and offering them free digital copies. It doesn't cost me anything and might generate more reviews and therefore more interest.
Another neat thing about Goodreads are the forums. There are people who will offer to review a book for you just because that's what they like to do. I haven't approached any with Chronicles yet, as they all seem to instantly deluged with requests as sooon as they make the offer, but I'm going to follow up as soon as I can find time to sort through and see what kind of reviews each writes and what kind of thing they like to review.
Another nifty little trick they offer is the preview app. If you look at the top of this blog, you'll see a new small window. Scroll down it and you find that it shows the cover of Chronicles. Use the Next Chapter button and you can read through an epub edition of the book. It's not the greatest way of reading, I'll grant, but it can give someone who is just skimming a blog an easy way of getting a taste of the writing.
All good stuff, all free. The more I look, the more I find for publicising work. Good, good.
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