If you’re not on Goodreads, you need to be. Goodreads is a social network specifically for authors and readers. It is one of the most visited websites in the world. Goodreads helps people find the next book they want to read. Think of it like Pandora Radio or Spotify, but for books instead of music. It is considered to be a “Facebook” for authors and readers.

Since Goodreads has more than 20 million members, it is a great place to market your book.

For writers who are published, I encourage you to set up an Author’s Page. It is the first step to connecting you with your readers on this site. You should also list your book on LISTOPIA, a section of Goodreads that has a list for every kind of book imaginable.

Goodreads also has a great book-advertising program that allows you to target people who have highly rated specific authors. Are your books similar to those of a popular author? You can target their fans with an ad for your book.

And very importantly, you can interact with your readers by enabling the helpful Ask the Author section on your author profile. This allows readers to ask questions can answer and then feature on your profile.

You can even have book give-aways, create quizzes about your book, hold discussion groups, ask fans for reviews and connect your blog to Goodreads. Goodreads will email your fans once a week about all your new blog posts.

Important to note: Amazon acquired Goodreads in 2013, and has incorporated it into its Kindle software as a way for readers to share books they are reading. At the end of a book on Kindle, readers are now prompted to leave a rating or a review on Goodreads, which Amazon then cross-posts to its own store.

If you’re a writer, and if you are reading this … what are you waiting for? This is a fun site for anyone who likes to read and an important marketing tool for my authors.  You can sign up here at www.goodreads.com. The website will walk you through it. There is no cost to be a member.