How to Use Goodreads to Promote Your Book

If you are a reader, you may already be familiar with Goodreads. The platform allows you to track and review books you’re reading, create curated digital bookshelves, participate in reading challenges, and even join groups based on your reading interests. But can Goodreads help you as an author?

The answer is yes: Goodreads offers many benefits for authors as well! Keep reading to discover how you can use Goodreads as part of your book marketing efforts to grow your readership and connect with more book lovers.

What is Goodreads?

Goodreads is the largest social network in the world for readers and authors. Goodreads lets readers track what they’re currently reading, log what they’ve already read in curated bookshelves, and even leave book reviews. Readers can connect with other readers, get book recommendations, and follow and interact with their favorite authors.

Even better, Goodreads offers many features that help authors build their author brand, promote their books, and grow their readership. The best way to get started is to join the Goodreads Author Program.

In order to join, first ensure that your published book can be found in the Goodreads database. If your book isn't in the Goodreads catalog yet, you'll need to request to add your book through the Goodreads Librarians Group. Once you’ve confirmed that your book is in the Goodreads database, you’re ready to get started! Let’s look at how this program can help you grow your readership as an author. 

How can authors use Goodreads?

Claim your author page

Claiming your author profile page is the first step in growing your readership with Goodreads. To do this, sign in to your Goodreads account and search for your book using the ISBN, title, or your name. Once you’ve found your book, click on your author name. Scroll to the bottom of your author page and click the button that asks, “Is this you? Let us know!” 

From here, you can complete and submit your application. Goodreads will send you an email once you’re approved.

You’re now ready to update your profile picture and write the perfect bio introducing yourself to readers. Be sure to fix any of your book listings that need updating and keep your information up-to-date so readers can learn more about you.

Once you’ve secured your author page, updated your profile picture, and written your bio, it’s time to promote your books on Goodreads! There are a few different ways you can do this.

Use Goodreads to run a giveaway

Goodreads book giveaways are a great way to spread the word about your debut novel, helping build excitement around its release date. Use Goodreads giveaways to keep the momentum going with your latest release, or even run a giveaway for books from your backlist to help new readers find you while rekindling interest in your older titles.

Goodreads designs their giveaways with a few key marketing benefits for authors. First, you can give away up to one hundred copies of your book in both print and Kindle ebook formats, so you can reach readers who use either format. Note that if you choose to do a print book drawing, you'll be responsible for sending books to the winners.

When mailing out print copies to the winners, signing the book with a personalized inscription is another way to connect with readers and grow that foundation of devoted readers. 

Here's the best part: When a reader enters your giveaway, your book automatically gets added to their "want-to-read" list. This update is shared in their newsfeed, showcasing your book to all of their followers. This prompts those readers to click on your book and learn more. Word of mouth is one of the best forms of organic growth, so readers entering your giveaways will help build your readership organically!

Advertise on Goodreads

When you become a Goodreads author, you'll have access to marketing tools that help you build promote your book, build buzz, and grow your readership. If you have the money to invest in an ad campaign, Goodreads offers advertising options that allow you to target readers based on their reading habits and preferences. Running ads on Goodreads helps you find a broader audience for your book based on your genre.

If you have a new release coming up, Goodreads recommends creating an ad campaign one month before publication and scheduling it to start on your publication date. As with other paid ad campaigns, you'll need to decide how much you want to spend, how long the campaign will run, and how many versions of the ad you want to make. To get started on an ad campaign, you'll need to contact the Goodreads advertising team through their intake form.

Direct advertising can be a boost to your book marketing efforts, but don't worry if you don't have the time or money to devote to a paid ad campaign. There are many other ways to reach Goodreads members without paying!

Share updates from your author profile

Use the status update feature on your Goodreads author page to share updates or links to new blog posts on your main website. If you've been interviewed on a podcast, another blog or website, or written guest blog posts, share those links on your Goodreads profile to share your latest insights and activities with readers. This is a great way to connect with readers eager to stay up-to-date on your latest books, as well as give them some behind-the-scenes glimpses into your writing life.

To get some inspiration, head on over to Goodreads and see how authors you like share blog posts on Goodreads and how they use it to connect with readers. Some authors use their blogs to get readers onto their email list, giving you one more way to connect with readers and grow your readership. You can also use the "author's note" feature on your book pages to share insights or links to blog posts, or you can even use your author page to do this.

Engage with readers on Goodreads

Because Goodreads is the largest platform for readers, it’s the perfect place to not only market your books, but to also engage with readers. One great way to do this is to activate the “Ask the Author” feature from your Author Dashboard so readers can interact with you directly on your author page by submitting questions they’d like for you to answer.

By activating this feature, you can choose which reader-generated questions to answer and make public on your author page, giving you control over what you share with your readers when answering questions.

Another way to engage with readers on Goodreads is to add to your “want-to-read” or “reading” bookshelves. 

Readers love to see what their favorite authors are reading themselves, helping you further connect with readers based on your shared book interests. This helps build an organic connection with readers and makes them eager to follow you and see what else you are sharing or reading. 

You can even leave positive reviews for books you enjoyed. This can be a great way to connect with other authors, creating relationships in which you can share each other’s work and help promote each other. A word of caution, though: When you become a published author, it's considered bad form to leave negative reviews of other authors' books on Goodreads. If you didn't enjoy a book, it's better to simply not leave a rating!

Don’t forget to use your other social media platforms to direct readers to your Goodreads account. When sharing updates or content on Instagram, TikTok, or other platforms, include links to your Goodreads author profile or book pages, directing readers to your work on Goodreads.

Authors can also engage with readers in Goodreads groups related to their genre. These groups allow you to interact with readers who share similar interests. The more interaction you have with readers, the more able you are to grow your readership through organic conversation and connection, which also helps grow word-of-mouth buzz around you and your books.

Ready to use Goodreads to promote your book?

You now have some great tools in your toolbox that will help you grow your readership through Goodreads. Start by claiming your Goodreads author account.  Be sure to include links to your Goodreads author page on your other social media platforms, and make time to engage with this community of readers. For other ways you can use Goodreads as an author, as well as marketing strategies that both indie and traditionally published authors can take advantage of, check out Writing Mastery Academy's Secrets to Self-Publishing Success course!