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Every author knows that social media is important in the hunt to find readers. But how much time have you been spending on Goodreads? If you are like me, you pop in occasionally when you remember or need to do something. Frances Caballo at Live, Write, Thrive presents her case on why you should spend more of your social media time on Goodreads and the benefits thereof.
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How Goodreads Can Help Writers Grow Their Readership
July 1, 2016
Today’s post is by social media expert Frances Caballo:
Goodreads has become the most important networking site on the Internet.
—Forbes
Goodreads has a storied beginning. This is how founder and CEO Otis Chandler describes his epiphany to start what has become a powerful online reader resource and social media network:
One afternoon while I was scanning a friend’s bookshelf for ideas, it struck me: when I want to know what books to read, I’d rather turn to a friend than any random person or bestseller list.
So I decided to build a website—a place where I could see my friends’ bookshelves and learn about what they thought of all their books.
And thus in January of 2007, Goodreads began.
The Goodreads of Today
As of January 2016, Goodreads had 40 million members and featured 1.3 billion books and 47 million reviews.
What I find interesting is that many Goodreads users attended college, and even more of them attended graduate school. Goodreads members are educated, love to read, and love to talk about books. Women read more and review more books than men and dominate this online venue. While men aren’t as active on this site as women, they still participate and are a growing force here.
Authors and Goodreads
Many authors join Goodreads and quickly set up their author dashboards. Then perhaps they want to set up a giveaway. What do they do next? Well, a lot of authors I know then start to neglect Goodreads when the giveaway ends.
Too many writers don’t understand the benefits of maintaining a presence, reviewing books, adding favorite quotes, or joining groups.
Some writers neglect Goodreads to their detriment.
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