Day 28: The 30-Day Book Launch Challenge

By Nina HarringtonMarketing and Publicity, The Writing Life

DAY 28. Week Eight. What is left to be done by the end of this week?

 Publishing. Check on Amazon that the Pre-Order page for the book is okay. Manually add the two pre-order books to Goodreads. Linked to Pre-Order pages.

Publishing. Add the links to the Pre-Order page on Amazon and on Goodreads to the back of the book.

 

Why Bother with Goodreads?

Quite simply Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations.

There has been some debate about the amount of backbiting and negativity that some readers feel is appropriate to get into on this platform but it is still valuable. Golden rule? Never reply to trolls. They like it and you just sink to their level in the dirt.

As a reader – I use Goodreads to find new books from curated lists and check review comments on books I am interested in. Especially when that review comes from a pal.

Sometimes I leave a review, especially if I have sourced a review copy from Netgalley. I am not someone who will leave a one star vitriolic review if the book did not work for me. It might be the perfect book for another reader and I will not diss another writer’s hard work.

Goodreads can be a time suck so I tend not to spend a lot of time there as a reader.

 

As an author – I see Goodreads as another way of extending my reach and interacting with my audience. Although I don’t engage in groups very often, I currently use Goodreads to:

  • Automatically link to blog posts on my website so that members are up to date on the latest author news.
  • Add all of my self-published releases onto Goodreads.
  • Create a shelf of what I am reading and books I have enjoyed.
  • Occasionally offer giveaway contests – but I prefer KingSumo from my website, and Goodreads have started to charge for this service in 2018.

You can manually add a book to ‘My Books’ on Goodreads through the search function.

Pre-publication reviews are allowed. Each book is eligible to be reviewed as soon as it appears on the site. Because a reader can leave a review of a pre-publication ARC they have received, this can be a very useful way to build up review comments before the book is released on Amazon.

Commercial reviews are not allowed and will be deleted. So if a reader has received a free copy of the book, they are required to disclose that in their review.

This article has some great tips for using Goodreads effectively.

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/658-preparing-your-goodreads-marketing-timeline

 

Using Amazon book codes as links to the Pre-Order Page.

Before I can join The Goodreads Author Program as Sophie Brent I need the ASIN code from my pre-order book. This will populate the Goodreads Database with all of the book details and start the process going.

You will find the ASIN code listed in the Product Details section on the book page for your book. This is the unique identifier for the work and will be in the header of the URL for the book in every Kindle Store.

For example: ASIN. B0792FLYSD and www.amazon.com/dp/B0792FLYSD.

MAKE IT EASY FOR YOUR READERS TO REVIEW YOUR BOOK

ASK FOR REVIEWS at the back of the book.

Add the links to the Pre-Order book sales page  on Amazon and to the Goodreads profile to your books at the back of the book.

Give Your ARC readers the opportunity to leave their review before the Amazon book is launched.

For Example:

*******************************************************************************************

THANK YOU!

Thank you for reading Murder and Mozzarella!

I hope that you enjoyed this first book in a new series set in the Hampshire village of Kingsmede. I love sharing this special world and the people who live there with cozy mystery readers.

If you enjoyed this story, I would really appreciate it if you would consider leaving a review of this book, no matter how short, at the retailer site where you bought your copy or on sites like Goodreads.

YOU are the key to this book’s success.

I read every review and they really do make a huge difference.

Reviews help other readers to discover the kind of stories they want to read and is great way to support authors.

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A REVIEW ON AMAZON.COM

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A REVIEW ON GOODREADS

*******************************************************************************************

The link should be to the Amazon book page on the store where your readers are most likely to browse.

The key thing is to ask for reviews and then make it easy for the reader to leave a few lines when they have just read the book.

Now back to more writing! Only a few more posts and we will be there!

Have a good one. Nina