book marketing

Marketing on Goodreads

Hershman Rights1 Comment

I am sure most writers, readers, and authors alike are aware of the Goodreads universe. An endless summer reading list is just waiting to be created. But, do you know how to properly use your account as an author, especially to market yourself? 

Goodreads is a perfect platform for authors to engage with readers and fans, and here is how you can make the most of it!

Make sure you are on the Goodreads Author Program.

This will allow you to gain access to special marketing tools to promote your books and interact with readers. Read more about this program here. 

Customize your bio.

Your bio is the first thing a reader sees when going to your page. It is your job to make sure you put the best information out there. Make sure your profile picture is clear, give a good description of yourself, and attach your other socials so they can follow you! Goodreads gives some of their own very helpful tips here.

Share your love of reading.

Don’t forget this website was created so people could share their love for reading, so make sure you do the same! Write your own reviews and add books to your “Want to Read” list. You can also shelve books that have inspired your own writing, or you can customize your own shelves.

Create Kindle notes and Highlights.

Goodreads has a special opportunity to allow annotators to provide thoughts and insights on books. This is a great way for authors to engage deeper with their readers and let them in on why you chose a specific word, or go deeper into what a character is thinking. The opportunities are endless, and everyone loves an exact background story. https://f.gr-assets.com/misc/1564523884-1564523884_goodreads_misc.pdf

Turn on the “Ask the Author” feature.

 Allowing readers to ask questions specifically to the author is great for engagement. The questions will not be visible until the author answers. However, by posting a few standard questions allows readers to see them when they reach your page. Learn more about this feature here. 

Goodreads is a great platform for authors to connect to a specific community of readers. Don’t forget the power of communication!

Can’t Stress It Enough!

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We love sharing the milestones of our authors.

Yesterday, we saw one of our authors (Maggie Kirton) have an all-day Facebook interview discussing her nonfiction novel: My Firefly! You read that correct: all-day interview.

Today, we want to share the book trailer released for Joseph Malik‘s upcoming release in his series: The New Magic will be coming to you September 18, 2018! Get excited!

Pirate’s Life For Me…?

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Ahoy mateys! It is I, Captain of the HRM ship, here to tell you: PIRACY. IS. NOT. OKAY.

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I love a good Captain Jack Sparrow gif…but hey, he’s a pirate too.

We’ve been seeing complaints online and receiving alerts from our own authors about “piraters” uploading whole e-books and audiobooks onto various platforms across the web, which is both frustrating and saddening. No one wants to see their work uploaded onto book platforms like iBooks or Google Play Books without their approval, especially if it is being sold for even the smallest amount of money. But most pirated material is put out for consumption for free,  that’s even more of a reason to freak out as an author. People downloading their books for free when they depend on this money to support themselves and their families (not to mention all the hard work and long hours they put into it)?! This is blasphemy!

Yeah, okay, a lot of people try to reason out the pros and cons of   piracy across all platforms…but at the end of the day…someone is making dirty money. Take a bath, why don’t you?

The theory goes that if it is free, shouldn’t you be happy that the book is at least getting some exposure? And if someone reads your book, becomes a fan, and wants to support your writing career, they’ll start to contribute to your newer titles…I suppose that is a good thing? At the end of the day though, it’s just not the life for me.

Is it worth putting up a fight to save your titles? In my opinion: Yes. It. Is. There is this incredibly detailed article talking about the steps to taking down a pirated book. Read it if the pirate market is bothering you to the Nth degree, it certainly has been here at HRM recently.

Since most of our agency’s authors have audiobooks through a publisher, it’s important to know that audiobook piracy happens as well. We have been finding full books up on YouTube and iBooks (make sure to check the podcast section as well, many free audiobooks end up there). Each publisher has their own process for getting these audiobooks taken down. They use sites such as DMCA, Digimarc, and MarkMonitor.  It also doesn’t hurt for you to send a Takedown Notice to the website you found your pirated audiobooks on either. We could use all the resistance we can get.

Protect the booty!

Coming To A Bookshelf Near You!

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Let’s talk about movie trailers. They are utilized to get viewers to come and see a movie which has yet to be released. There is usually a tease of action or a jump scare here or there, a little bit of the plot is explained, and sometimes the main character(s) is introduced. It makes people want to watch the movie and anticipate its release.

That same idea can be put towards book trailers.

If you’re a self-published author, you should consider making your way into book trailers for anticipated books in your series, or maybe a new series for your readers. Just like the movies, book trailers entice potential readers to go out and buy your book. The art of creating a book trailer is a newer platform to use to market your book and there are many reasons you might want to consider giving it a try.

First, we are in a time where visuals have become much more appealing to people and video has a strong influence too. 92.6% reported that visuals are the most influential factor in their decision-making. If the trailer does its job, the viewer is more likely to buy your book.

Another great part about creating a book trailer for your novel is how shareable it becomes. This makes mass exposure more feasible. Even better: it’s easy to share on multiple platforms, so if you’re not tech-saavy – you only have to press a single button and write a quick blurb to share with hundreds of people.

Just like those 92.6% of people had reported earlier, the decision to buy the book or not is made in a matter of seconds if the trailer is captivating enough. A good trailer does the decision-making for you.

Here are some key ingredients to keep in mind when creating your book trailers:

  • Keep it short and sweet (60-75 seconds).
  • “Professional” quality is better than low quality.
  • Include the information about release and where to buy.
  • You don’t have to break the bank.

Go ahead now, be the next Stephen Spielberg of book trailers and get on it!

Enjoy this audiobook trailer from Audible UK for the thriller of the year: SILENT CHILD by Sarah A. Denzil!