Transcript Get Your Book Noticed on Goodreads, Pinterest, Twitter and

GET YOUR BOOK NOTICED ON
GOODREADS, PINTEREST,
TWITTER, AND FACEBOOK
How to market your book for
little or no money
Any hypos associated with this presentation are
soulely the respectability of Eddie Jones and in
know way refract the quantity of work offended by
Christian Devotions Ministries,
it’s bored staff.
If you would like a copy of this presentation email
me at: [email protected]
GOODREADS… GOOD NEWS FOR
AUTHORS
It’s likely you’ve heard of, or already belong to,
Goodreads. If not, sign up. Goodreads.com is a
site where members can create reading lists, add
books they’re reading to their “bookshelves,”
participate in discussion groups, and review
books they’ve read.
 If you are a writer, you want YOUR book on
those bookshelves.
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HOW GOODREADS CAN HELP YOU?
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As an author, you need reviews by real readers.
Goodreads offers authors on a budget an (almost)
free way to get your books reviewed and noticed
via their book giveaway program.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS
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You fill out and submit a brief form describing your
book and the timeframe for the giveaway.
You agree to supply the indicated number of books on
the date the giveaway ends.
Goodreads will list (for free) the book on its giveaways
page.
Goodreads’ members enter to win giveaways. Many
will add the book to their “to read” shelf. This is the
real gold in Goodreads’ giveaways. Since readers may
have lots of books on their virtual shelves, this is one
way for yours to be seen by thousands of potential
readers.
Goodreads reviews the list of those who requested the
free book and selects winners.
Author ships free book to winner.
SET UP YOUR GOODREADS
ACCOUNT
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/new
(You can create an account and log in with your
Facebook account)
 Join under your published name so your author
profile name will match up with your book(s).
 Enter your full published name, email address,
and a password.
 Click “create an account.”
 You’ll need to verify your email address with
Goodreads by checking your email and clicking
the link in the email they send you.
 Now join the author’s program!
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GOODREADS AUTHOR PROGRAM
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To join the author program, you must have a book already
published or be in the process of publishing a book. If your
book is already on Amazon.com or BN.com, then a search
will usually pull up all the information you need to create
an author page. Otherwise, you’ll need to manually add
your book here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/new
Assuming your book is already published, or you’ve
manually added it, type your published name in the search
box.
Look for your book in the list of results. When you find it,
click on the author name, the book title.
Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the question: “Is this
you? Let us know.”
Click on “Let us know.”
The next page will ask you to confirm that you’re the
author of the book. Enter a message: “Please add me to
your author’s program” (or something of that nature) in the
provided message field.
UPDATING YOUR PROFILE PAGE
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The application process can take time. Meanwhile, go to your
profile by clicking on your name in the upper-right corner of
Goodreads.
Click “edit profile” to the right of your name. This is your
personal profile. The picture and other information you
enter here will only show up on posts, reviews, and
personal things you do on Goodreads. Post your professional
bio and upload a head shot.
Your author profile will show up to people who click on your
name or look at your books. Your author profile is different
from your general Goodreads profile.
Create a username so you’ll have an easy Goodreads URL link
to point people to: www.goodreads.com/EddieJones, for
example.
Make sure to enter your blog or website address in the “my
website” field. It will show up with your profile and will
generate traffic.
UPDATE YOUR GOODREADS AUTHOR
PROFILE
Click on your name in the upper-right corner.
This will take you to your author profile.
 Click “edit profile” next to your name.
 Make sure all the fields are filled out to
satisfaction, especially the biography.
 On the right,
you’ll upload your head shot.
 Save!
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ADD YOUR NAME
ADD YOUR BIO
ADD GENRE(S) TWITTER LINK
ADD YOUR PICTURE
When you add
your picture you
will be required to
link to its source.
You can use your
website link or
blog, but you will
have to provide the
copyright source
link and check the
box stating you
have permission to
upload the photo.
Then …Upload the
photo.
ADD YOUR BLOG TO YOUR AUTHOR
PROFILE
If you have a blog, you’ll want to add its RSS feed
so it’ll show up on your Goodreads page. This way
you’ll generate some extra traffic to your blog.
This will give your blog an identity and brand
that readers can count on finding in your books.
In other words, if they like your blog, they’ll
probably like your books.
 You can also host your blog entirely on
Goodreads.
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HOW TO ADD YOUR BLOG
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To syndicate your blog on Goodreads, you’ll
first need to find the RSS or Atom URL for
your blog. Go to your blog,
http://www.eddiejones.org/category/guest-blog/feed/.
Click your name in the upper-right corner to go to
your author profile. Click “edit profile” under your
picture, and click ‘add/edit blog.’
On the right side look for “External blog feed URL.”
Click “change” if the URL field isn’t showing.
Right-click in the space.
Left-click “paste.”
Check “Show full post” box.
Click the “add feed” button.
GOODREADS BOOK GIVEAWAY
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You only need to offer one copy. If you have many copies to offer,
I suggest running additional giveaways rather than offering all of
them at once.
Let readers know you’ll be providing an autographed
copy. Include the words “AUTOGRAPHED COPY” in all caps at the
top of the giveaway description box. Similarly, if your giveaway is for
an ARC (Advance Readers Copy), say so. Readers love to have the
first look at new titles.
Make your giveaway description compelling. It’s all too easy to
simply copy-paste your back-cover-synopsis into the giveaway
description box. Don’t! If readers want a synopsis, they can easily
click over to your book listing on Goodreads to learn more.
Mention that it’s an AUTOGRAPHED COPY (yes, all caps)
Add a catchy tagline (Just when you thought it was safe to go back
into the water)
List awards for this book.
Note any awards you may have won (Christy-winner, for example).
List praise from famous authors who endorsed the book.
List links for more info: “Visit www.(add your URL).
GOODREADS BOOK GIVEAWAY
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Reach out to winners. When your giveaway ends,
Goodreads will send you a notification and a link to
click to view the winner’s name and address. You can
also click on the winner’s name to visit his/her
Goodreads profile. Send a message congratulating
the winner and telling him or her when the copy will
be mailed out.
Send book(s) promptly. Deliver on your
commitment, and send the book as quickly as you can.
Pulse your giveaway lengths. Run a giveaway for
only 2-3 days. In this way your book will be listed
(probably) on both the newly listed and ending soon
pages for the duration of your giveaway. Readers can
search by genre, but many just browse. By
alternating longer and shorter giveaways, you can
balance cost with impact. Many short giveaways in a
row may lose their potency.
GOODREADS BOOK GIVEAWAY
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Schedule your giveaways to start in the
future. Don’t set up the giveaway and click for it
to start immediately. Goodreads goes through an
approval process that can take a couple days. If
they approve your giveaway midday, you will be
lumped with the authors who scheduled theirs to
start at the beginning of the day, and you will
spend less time in the recently listed section. I
usually schedule mine to start three business
days later so that I know it will be ready. NOTE:
Goodreads does not work on weekends, so listing
a giveaway on Thursday or Friday could be a bad
idea!
GOODREADS BOOK GIVEAWAY
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Give away as many copies as possible. If your
goal is to get reviews, it makes sense to give
away a lot of books. Nearly 60 percent of
giveaway winners review the books they win, so
the more books you offer, the more reviews you
are likely to get. Contact those who DID NOT
WIN and ask if they would like a complimentary
copy. Check their profile first to make sure they
fit your target market.
GOODREADS BOOK GIVEAWAY
Post our Giveaway Widget on your blog, website,
and Facebook page. This might spur interest in
your other titles. The Giveaway Widget works by
helping you reach the people most likely to enjoy
your book − your fans!
 The cost of a giveaway is low compared to paid
advertising but don’t expect results overnight.
Getting attention on Goodreads takes time, but
the exposure may lead to “long-tail” sales.
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LISTING YOUR FIRST GIVEAWAY
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/new
LISTING YOUR FIRST GIVEAWAY
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/new
Please explain who you are and who you work for. Please also
provide a valid mailing address that confirms who you work for so
we can be sure you will fulfill the books.
This will not be shown to giveaway contestants.
WHAT IF YOUR BOOK IS NOT
LISTED?
If your book is not listed with Goodreads and you
are an approved Author of Goodreads (remember
that application process?), you can try to list your
book. If your book is distributed by Ingram or one
of the other large book distributors, it should be
in their system. If you are self-published you may
need to may your book. Click the link below to
add your book.
 http://www.goodreads.com/book/new
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ADD A NEW
BOOK
GETTING READERS INTEREST IN
YOUR BOOK WITH PINTEREST
A pin is a virtual thumbtack of a photo with a
brief description.
 A board is virtual wall of theme-related pins. You
can have as many boards as you need — and
label them by category.
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CREATING YOUR PINTEREST
ACCOUNT
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Pick an easy-to-remember username. Add a headshot of
yourself. People want to follow someone that they can
meet virtually
Use keywords to describe who you are and what types of
images you’ll be pinning.
Connect your profile your Twitter and Facebook account.
DO NOT auto pin to your social media accounts. Use
discretion. You can chose to feed a pin with each upload.
Turn off all email
notifications —
they can clog up
your inbox.
CREATE A BOARD
Start at your Pinterest home page:
http://pinterest.com
 On the top right, click the link, “Add +”
 Select the choice, “Create a Board.”
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NAME YOUR BOARD
Name the board. Use keywords that others might
use in a search — but make them unique enough
to stand out.
 Choose a board category from the drop-down list.
This is important if you want to be found by
others.
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ADD PINNERS TO YOUR BOARD
You’re the Pinner for this board, but you can
allow others to add their pins to your board.
 Click on “Create Board” and you’re done!
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FIND AND FOLLOW PINNERS
Click the red “Follow” button — this action will
follow all of that Pinner’s boards. You can also
follow individual boards.
 Look for friends. Under your profile picture, click
the drop-down menu. Select “Find Friends.” This
will show your connections from Email,
Facebook, Yahoo, and Gmail. You can choose to
follow all your connections or follow individual
profiles.
 You can see your own followers by going to your
profile page and clicking on the number of
followers you have.
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PIN A PIC
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Go to your Pinterest home page. Click “Add +” in
the upper right corner. You’ll have a choice to
enter a URL or upload an image. The
disadvantage of uploading an image is that it
won’t automatically link to anything. You can
add a URL later by going to the pin and editing
it.
UPLOAD A PIC
Pinterest uses hashtags the same way as Twitter. (# is a hashtag.)
Use hashtags in your descriptions before a category word like
#books or #novel. If you are unsure, check the Pinterest categories
for ideas for hashtag words.
ORGANIZE YOUR BOARDS
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Make it easy for people to sort your boards. Click
on your profile photo to go to your profile page.
Mine is http://pinterest.com/eddiejones. Find
where it says “Edit Profile.” Next to it is a
rectangular icon with little arrows. When you
hover your mouse over it you’ll see, “Rearrange
Boards.” Click it.
COLLABORATIVE BOARDS
Boards that have multiple pinners are a great
way to get more followers quickly.
 Collaborative boards will increase your followers.
Anyone can make one — all you have to do is
invite people to pin to one of your boards.
 Click the plus sign to add users. You’ll need their
Pinterest profile name to do this.
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PIN YOUR BOOK FROM AMAZON
Click on the Pinterest link on the left side of the
page.
 Pick the board to which you want to pin your
book.
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CREATE POSTER PINS WITH
QUOTES FROM YOUR BOOK
Go to:
http://diy.despair.com/
 Upload a picture.
 Add your book’s title.
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Update your text.
 Download the poster and add your quote using an
imaging program. (Sorry, despair.com does not
allow you to change the font size of the subtitle)
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POSTER SAMPLE