THE Group for Authors! discussion

We just put up an article on our web site about the etiquette of self-promoting on Goodreads. It immediately blew up and within a few hours even Goodreads it's self was tweeting about it. This made me realize that we need to have more frank discussions about how to properly promote on Goodreads. There is so much spamming going on and ever time I see it, all I can think is, “no no you’re getting the opposite effect". Our article was one writer’s thoughts on how to do it the right way, but I would love to hear what you have to say on this subject.

Rick
Self-Publishing

Hi, I just read the article and as a reader and writer I commend the author on a good job well done. Thanks for bringing the site to my attention there are a few other articles I notice on there that look interesting and I'll be going back to read them.
Best wishes, Stephen Livingston.

Stephen wrote: "Hi, I just read the article and as a reader and writer I commend the author on a good job well done. Thanks for bringing the site to my attention there are a few other articles I notice on there t..."
Stephen, thank you so much for your kind words. I will let her know what you said. I am happy that you have found our web site helpful. Please let me know if there are any articles you, as a writer, would like to see us do.

I read the article on promoting with Goodreads and found it very helpful. I printed it out and have referred to it several times. As a Newbie author on Goodreads, I certainly don't want to cross the line between being social and being "obvious."
Just bookmarked your site as well.
Cynthia Thomason

Cynthia wrote: "I read the article on promoting with Goodreads and found it very helpful. I printed it out and have referred to it several times. As a Newbie author on Goodreads, I certainly don't want to cross th..."

Cynthia, so glad we could help. I will let the author know how much you appreciated her blog. Best of luck to you in your self-promotion!

Thanks for doing this. Very useful. I have sent the link to other writers.

Jan wrote: "Thanks for doing this. Very useful. I have sent the link to other writers."

Great Jan, we love to hear that your finding our articles useful!

Good blog post! I kind of picked up on some of things you mentioned as etiquettes, but stupidly have only been talking to other writers on the forums. I didn't want to jump into a readers group because I was unsure of the ethics of doing so. Thank you for clarifying some of these things.

Hi

I've just read Elle LaPraim's article. Very helpful. Interesting that the most successful approach is also the most courteous!

Best wishes

Seb

Seb wrote: "Hi

I've just read Elle LaPraim's article. Very helpful. Interesting that the most successful approach is also the most courteous!

Best wishes

Seb"
We are glad you liked it Seb. You might also like the one we just put up by her, Called How to make a successful blog.

I'm a recently published author (August) and I adore Goodreads for helping me find readers. I'll admit it. I troll for readers, but I do it one reader at a time. I target fans and readers of authors who write in my specific niche then compare books. If they like the books I like, I send a friend request. I figure that puts me on their radar. Then I watch their reviews and comment when they review a book or author I like. Yes, it takes time, but I like that I can measure (sort of) the results because I see when they add my book to their "to-read" list. And I have the added bonus of finding a friend.

Editio

Thanks, I just checked it out. Really informative!

Well I can't find the article in question, you have no archive link on your site, so anything that has' fallen off the bottom of the current page' has gone as far as i can see. . . There does look to be useful stuff on there though, it's just that I did want to read that actual piece. .
Jon

Jonathan wrote: "Well I can't find the article in question, you have no archive link on your site, so anything that has' fallen off the bottom of the current page' has gone as far as i can see. . . There does look ..."

Sorry about that Jonathan. We are doing some updating to our web site. A few things have been moved around. Here is the link to the article. Enjoy!
http://editioselfpublishing.com/how-t...

Maybe this should be a separate discussion...

A friend who doesn't have a Goodreads account took me to task over the weekend for giving a book only 3 stars. (She had seen my review either on Twitter or LinkedIn -- I've got everything linked.) The gist of her advice was that publishers and other authors would blackball me for giving only a 3-star review -- they wouldn't ask me to guest blog for them, etc. My friend is not a writer but her sister writes romance novels. I'm writing fantasy, but my next book may be more of an urban fantasy, and the 3-star review was for an urban fantasy novel. Anyway, my question is whether anyone has heard anything like this. If I only "liked" the book, should I avoid posting a review?

Thanks!

@ Lynne A three star review isn't a bad review, in my honest opinion. I've given a few books that I've read in the past three stars. I don't think publishers/other author would blackball a person just because they've given a book three stars.

I'm an author, myself, and I've received three stars on some of works. I don't see this as a bad thing and others shouldn't either. I see it as being said that while someone liked my book, they feel there are areas that they felt it could be improved. It's honestly not a bad review.

A bad review are those considered to have 1 or 2 stars. You shouldn't avoid posting a review just because it has three stars. We authors love the input, whether it's good or bad. Hope this helps.

I never heard about a backlash against 3-star reviews. I just checked some recent reviews for books on my list and Life of Pi, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Frankenstein and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn all recently received 3-star reviews. This puts the book you reviewed in good company.

Thanks, Lissette and John. Lissette, I'd be grateful to get a 3-star review for any of my books, too. :)

Editio wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Well I can't find the article in question, you have no archive link on your site, so anything that has' fallen off the bottom of the current page' has gone as far as i can see. . ...."

Thanks for that. Just read it. Lots of sensible stuff. The stuff that seems self evident and obvious after someone has pointed it out to you, but that you hadn't considered properly before that point.
cheers,
Jonathan

A three star review is still "liked it," I believe. Honestly, I've heard folks say that for books that have all five stars, they find that very suspicious and assume the results are rigged. So it even does more harm than good.

Better to just let things happen naturally.

Lynne wrote: "Maybe this should be a separate discussion...

A friend who doesn't have a Goodreads account took me to task over the weekend for giving a book only 3 stars. (She had seen my review either on Twi..."

I think the problem is that she isn't on Goodreads. Three stars on Goodreads is liked, but is only OK on some other sites. I don't think it was a bad review, you just said it was a little dark for you.

Good post and a nice subtle reminder about etiquette instead of the more common aggressive, bash-the-author-over-the-head type.

I would be happy to share with any one struggling with how to publish my recent experiences. This morning I uploaded "Heaven is High and the Emperor Far Away, A Play" to Smashwords and Kindle (and so am feeling somewhat smug). Print version already available through Createspace/Amazon.