A number of websites exist where readers go to find more great books by sharing their thoughts about what they’ve just read. For the moment, Goodreads appears to be the most popular of those sites. Because of this, savvy authors have set up their own pages on Goodreads – not just because they’re voracious readers but because doing so is a good way to promote their own books. Makes sense, doesn’t it? If you sell hunting and fishing supplies, wouldn’t you “hang out” at websites that discuss hunting and fishing? So why wouldn’t authors hang out readers’ sites?

Recognizing this, Goodreads allows published writers to create their own authors page. Like Amazon.com’s authors page, it’s a great way to promote your book. You can provide biographical information about and photo of yourself, links to your website and Twitter site, and a list of your favorite genres and influences.

But don’t stop there. You can do a lot more at Goodreads, including:
• Offer a roll call of your published books with their book covers on the photo
• Provide a feed from your blog
• List your upcoming events (such as book readings or keynote addresses)
• Share excerpts from your book
• Post videos
• Include line from your books that others like and have posted in Goodreads quotation lists (which, by the way, get high rankings on Google search engines)
• Pen a quiz about your book
• Set up for book giveaway prior to launching your next title
 
In summer 2019, Goodreads boasted about 90 million members. While not all members actively participate in the site and while not all readers will be interested in your book (After all, if I primarily read science fiction, I’m probably not interested in your latest YA romance.), that’s still quite a reach – more than 40 times the number of people who receive The New York Times’ Sunday Book Review.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.