THE Group for Authors! discussion

Recently I did a Goodreads giveaway, and I'm wondering what the etiquette is as far as interacting with those who've read the book. If someone becomes a fan, should I friend request back? Or is that intrusive?

I'm very new here and don't know how "personal" a friend on Goodreads is.

I made the same enquiry several times, not for a giveaway but because on one of the drop down menus is a 'request a friend' link. So I did. I then sent personal messages that did not include any self-promotion although I have stuck an 'Author' flag on my picture so that non-authors are forewarned. I just said hello etc etc.

David Callinan

I think it's a little weird to friend someone you don't truly know. I don't friend a person until I feel like I know them, and they are safe. This is mostly because I am younger, but I might be different for adults.

R.H. wrote: "Recently I did a Goodreads giveaway, and I'm wondering what the etiquette is as far as interacting with those who've read the book. If someone becomes a fan, should I friend request back? Or is tha..."

You're not supposed to contact people just because they entered the giveaway; some people do think that is intrusive.

I wouldn't send a friend request to someone with a private profile. Either they don't want to share or they're under 18. You could just send a message saying, "Thanks for being my fan", and see if they respond.

In general, I would suggest looking at their profile, some people mention their friending policy. You can also see how many friends they have and if any of their current friends are authors. I'm much more likely to send a friend request to someone with 300 friends than to someone with 3 friends.

You do need some friends though, try friending authors you read and people you meet in groups. Did you try using the friend finder feature? Most people find some people from facebook, twitter or email.

Think interacting, as an author, uninvited is basically spam and not the thing to do. Although I did it once . . . oops! It was a genuine query and there wasn't a prob. But unless someone contacts me first, don't go there.

Thank you so much for all the helpful advice! I wasn't sure what friending meant in this context. I didn't want to be rude if it was more like a follow-back on Twitter, or it was expected that I reciprocate.

I really appreciate my fans and would love to interact, but definitely don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.

Deborah, you make a good point. The number of friends a member has can be an indicator of how they view friending. I'll keep that in mind.

The safest ways to interact with fans are probably through blog posts and comments in groups, but you can also use the site as a reader, not just as an author.

Thanks for the insight. I am a new author on here too and am just starting to get readers and fans and this is helpful insight. I LOVE this forum but still haven't figured it all out yet, so this is really helpful!

Great insights here, gang. Tks to all!

As a new member to the author page, I'm uncertain how to build "friends." Should I be inviting my contacts to become Goodread members? Or is there a way to add friends from a mutually shared data base? Right now I enjoy reading books and writing a review.

Nancy wrote: "As a new member to the author page, I'm uncertain how to build "friends." Should I be inviting my contacts to become Goodread members? Or is there a way to add friends from a mutually shared data ..."

Yes, you can add friends and invite friends from Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo. Click on the friends icon in the header beside your profile picture or choose friends from the explore menu. The find friends feature is on the right side of the screen.

Deborah wrote: "R.H. wrote: "Recently I did a Goodreads giveaway, and I'm wondering what the etiquette is as far as interacting with those who've read the book. If someone becomes a fan, should I friend request ba..."

This may sound dumb, but why do we need friends? Not in life, I mean, but on Goodreads. Is it to get and give book recommendations, or is there some other benefit?

I'm not brand-new to Goodreads, but still feeling my way.

My friends are my real life friends and relatives but also people I have befriended on gr. I do not send friend requests but I accept all the ones that are sent to me. It is good to build a fan base and the more friends I have the more likely those friends will become my fans.

Hannah, Okay, that makes sense---thank you!

It also leads to book sales, just to let you know.