Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Hi All just getting the hang of goodreads author page. Any tips would be helpful. Lightning Fire: The Blue Moon's Calling

Hey. You can add your blog (if you have one) or any videos you have to spruce your author page and keep fans interested. Also, book trailers help a lot. They do magic to arouse interest.
Let me know how it goes!
And don't forget: make friends

Murder in the Rockies, my first novel. Historical Mystery with some humor and romance. Going on line in 2 weeks and printed edition Dec. 1. Any marketing advice would be appreciated. G. Eldon Smith

Hello G! Congrats for the achievement!
I suggest we work on three things: Visibility, readership and sales. Sales will come in automatically.
Visibility: make your book visible by placing it in hands of as many people as possible on goodreads. You can do this through freebies and having collaborative readers. The best way a book succeeds is via word of mouth. That you should know. The trick is to get enough people talking about your books so the word spreads. Free versions of your work help this
Another good trick is befriending group moderators beforehand and getting to know them. later on you can ask them to feature your book. It's more easier for them to accept if you've already built a relationship. Moderators are also quite influential as far as I've seen so that's another win for you!
Basically it's all about visibility we're looking for. Anything that gets your book in people's hands. Plus, in a way that let's them share. The free ebook section of goodreads has only 2,500 excerpts or ebooks! And there are over 20 million users here. Think of that! If you use that golden chance effectively to get your book into more people's hands where they can also easily recommend and rate your book, that could take you places!
Now all are ideas. You'd want to delve in all this and give them all a bit of thought. They can all work. Be smart. Be a genius. Set your mind to make it work. Focus on visibility. And Don't be satisfied with promoting on one platform alone (goodreads), keep looking for readers out there as well. See how you can attract more people from different places. But don't exhaust yourself too much. It's word of mouth that really sells a book. An awesome cover and an awesome synopsis help as well. Here's an example from my upcoming book 3:41 PM:

3:41 PM:
At 3:41 PM GMT four planes crashed on different parts of the world.

I was on all four planes.

At the same time.

I caused the crash.
And I don't know how to make it stop.

I can't even remember who I am.
There's barely anyone I can trust.

Read the prologue here:
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s187/s...

Make your book description mind blowing and irresistible as possible! Take the time. That's what's gonna attract people or repel them. Don't give them a chance to doubt. Leave them with no choice but to download your story!

With that said I think you pretty much understand. Earn visibility for your book, if people like it then you have a readership or platform for yourself. (Which is your loyal audience). Once that's achieved your sales will skyrocket automatically. You may have to sacrifice a lot of free copies but in return you earn exposure and visibility and readership. Which are the most important things a writer can have! It's a business strategy as well. Platform first. Sales second. Keep the readers happy. Build lifelong fans by being kind and responsive and insanely generous with your art.
I hope this helps. If you have more questions send me a message or email me here: [email protected]