A Weekly Goodreads Checklist to Attract New Readers
Goodreads is a treasure trove for authors - a place where millions of readers congregate to find new books. It’s a reader's paradise - being surrounded by other book lovers who are equally excited to talk about books and share what they are reading. And (BONUS) readers can connect with their favorite authors. What could be better?!?
While Goodreads is pretty straightforward in how it works for readers, it’s a tad bit cloudy on how to best use it as an author without feeling like an overly promotional slime ball. But rest assured, there is a genuine and authentic way to connect with new readers using Goodreads that will benefit you and your readers.
A few weeks ago we shared a helpful article on how to use Goodreads to dramatically grow your audience. There is a lot you can do on Goodreads, but when you’re limited on time or if you aren’t sure what you should invest your time in, it can feel a bit overwhelming. So today we are going to break it down into actions that you can do every week. We’ve taken the guesswork out for you to make it easy to apply so you can see results.
✔︎ UPDATE YOUR BOOKSHELF WITH WHAT YOU’RE CURRENTLY READING
One of the easiest ways to take part in conversations on Goodreads is to keep your bookshelf updated with what you’re reading. Readers feel a connection with you and you can create conversations around your similar taste in books. And wouldn’t you want to know what your favorite writer is reading? Always put yourself in the shoes of your reader - that will always give you the right perspective when interacting with them.
✔︎ POST A REVIEW
The key to success on Goodreads is participation. Posting a review (or two…or more, it’s up to you) is an excellent way to enter into conversations already taking place on Goodreads and take part in the process. Offering your thoughts and opinions is a great way to share your interests, get in front of new readers, and be a part of the conversation. And remember, the review doesn’t need to be a magnum opus - just a few thoughts and insight will do if you are tight on time.
✔︎ COMMENT ON A REVIEW
This is a great way to connect with new readers in a non-slimy way. Take a few minutes each week to look at other authors that are in your genre and read reviews of titles that you have enjoyed or that are on your list to read. Leave comments and thank readers for their thoughts - maybe even ask them a question or their thoughts on certain things that happened in the book. This is a great way to create a genuine connection with readers.
✔︎ PARTICIPATE IN GOODREADS GROUPs
“THE MORE YOU PARTICIPATE THE MORE YOUR PROFILE WILL BE IN FRONT OF NEW PEOPLE”
Groups are a fantastic way to connect with people who share the same literary interests as you. It’s also an added bonus because the more you participate the more your profile will be in front of new people. When they see your insightful comments and that you are active within Goodreads, they will check out your profile. Groups allow you to participate in conversations and connect with new readers in a genuine and authentic way.
✔︎ CONNECT YOUR TWITTER FOLLOWERS TO GOODREADS
In our previous post about Goodreads we shared how to connect your social media accounts to Goodreads. What this does is it allows you to connect with people who already follow you on Twitter that are also on Goodreads. But it's not something that updates automatically. By opening the "Friends" setting, you can connect with Twitter to upload any new connections you might have made during the week to connect with them on Goodreads. Doing this once a week will help keep the conversations flowing and steadily grow your connections on Goodreads as well - as long as you are also working on growing your Twitter following.
We have an ebook out called THE TWITTER ACTION GUIDE FOR AUTHORS that shows you exactly how to find your ideal readers using Twitter. What this will help you do is to take the connections you’ve already made on Twitter and continue the conversation over at Goodreads. It’s a great way to deepen your connection and interaction with readers. To grab your copy you can click here!
In all of these suggestions, please take note - this is a way to connect, not to push the sale of your book. The worst thing an author can do is come right out of the gate and try to push their book. Promoting your work comes later!
A little effort goes a long way on Goodreads. If you do these five simple tasks every week, you will be surprised at how quickly you will connect with new readers in a genuine and authentic way.
To make this even easier for you, we’ve created a printable Weekly Goodreads Checklist so you can stay on top of your interactions with new readers.
TAKE ACTION NOW: Download your free PDF checklist and let us know how you are using Goodreads to connect with new readers - we’d love to hear from you!