THE Group for Authors! discussion

I'm just not getting what the purpose Goodreads is. I add a book, Goodreads widget cannot find it. Links are provided to KOBO under my book, but KOBO cannot find it because it has the print ISBN number on it even though the book is on KOBO. The information is that I cannot ad ebooks for sale on Goodreads ... I am just confused.

Can someone set out, in point form, the best way for me to use Goodreads to make my books available to readers and promote them please?

Goodreads is not a bookstore, its more like a library where all things book are listed as well as discussed.

Not sure about the widgets and how to manipulate them, but from I have read by other writers, just add a link to your non-goodreads blog and from there the readers can go to any venue you have listed to purchase your books.

But really, I am not sure as I have no dog in this hunt...

Just either add all editions of your books (print, audio, ebook) or provide the data to the librarians in the librarians group and we'll add the ebook editions for you.

Bookseller sites, including kobo, don't add the books to goodreads.

Against isbn rules for a print edition isbn to be used on an ebook (tiny loophole of not needing an isbn at all if direct selling exclusively on a publisher or author site only and never distributed to kobo, amazon or other sites to sell).

Norm wrote: "I'm just not getting what the purpose Goodreads is. I add a book, Goodreads widget cannot find it. Links are provided to KOBO under my book, but KOBO cannot find it because it has the print ISBN nu..."

Which widget are you trying to use? I'd like to figure out why it isn't recognizing your book. Can you post a link to it?

Patrick wrote: "Norm wrote: "I'm just not getting what the purpose Goodreads is. I add a book, Goodreads widget cannot find it. Links are provided to KOBO under my book, but KOBO cannot find it because it has the ..."

Thanks Patrick. I just received this message from Emily at Goodreads about that widget.

"Thanks for your message. Unfortunately, that link is currently broken, and you won't be able to access your author widgets that way. Our development team is looking into it, but we haven't yet been able to fix it. I'm really sorry for any confusion this has caused!"

It is the widget that is included in the Author tools like "Book Stats, Upload an ebook, List a giveaway" on the book's page.

Norm wrote: "Patrick wrote: "Norm wrote: "I'm just not getting what the purpose Goodreads is. I add a book, Goodreads widget cannot find it. Links are provided to KOBO under my book, but KOBO cannot find it bec..."

Ah yes. Okay. You should still be able to access that widget through your author dashboard, though. Let me know if you have trouble doing that.

@Debbie. Thanks. I have separate ISBNs for the ebooks and for the paperback so that isn't a problem. I'm still confused about uploading an ebook to Goodreads because I see notices that it cannot be sold on Goodreads so I'm not sure what the purpose of uploading one would be ... other than to provide an excerpt?

Norm wrote: "@Debbie. Thanks. I have separate ISBNs for the ebooks and for the paperback so that isn't a problem. I'm still confused about uploading an ebook to Goodreads because I see notices that it cannot be..."

It's mostly to add an excerpt. There was a program to add DRM-free ebooks for sale, but it has been put on hiatus. I wouldn't focus on adding your ebook, but rather on making sure the record and metadata for it are correct on Goodreads. That's what really enables people to discover your book.

Thanks Patrick. But how do I ensure the record and metadata for the ebook are correct on Goodreads without uploading it?

Or are you talking about making sure the record and metadata for the paperback are correct?

By the way, I appreciate you taking this time with me.

Norm wrote: "I have separate ISBNs for the ebooks and for the paperback so that isn't a problem."

Only the paperback edition (ISBN 9780991831517) has been added to Goodreads, though. Adding another edition for the ebook, with its ISBN, and combining it with the paperback one might help with some of the searching other sites issues.

Note: A Kindle edition will need its own identifier, called an ASIN.

Norm wrote: "Thanks Patrick. But how do I ensure the record and metadata for the ebook are correct on Goodreads without uploading it?

Or are you talking about making sure the record and metadata for the paperb..."

You should add a record for each format of your book -- ebook, paperback, etc. That doesn't mean you have to upload the actual ebook, but rather that just go here and fill in all the info for the ebook edition:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/new

Thanks Rivka and Patrick.

I have both an epub edition and an Kindle edition. I'll add a record for each of them.