Goodreads 101 - Part 1: Seting up your profile

I know a lot of authors would like to make the most out of goodreads...and for good reason. This is the perfect social networking site as it has exactly what you are looking for...readers. But it is also a potential mine field so in today's post I'm going to clue you in on some of the most important aspects of goodreads.

1. Many authors abuse the readers on this forum and so they are 'wary' you need to be very delicate in how you go about your interactions.
   
   
2. The "bigger you are" the more anxious people are to hear from you.
   
   
3. There are many different ways to interact.
   
   
4. You should optimize your goodreads external appearance

I'd actually like to focus on #4 because you have to first get your house in order than worry about inviting people to visit. So let's start here.

ARE ALL YOUR BOOKS LISTED?
First and foremost you should make sure that all your books (and only your books) are associated with your author's profile page. Follow these steps:

• Login (make sure this is the login associated with the author page)
  
• Click on Visit your Dashboard
  
• Just below your "Stats" you'll find a My Books Section
• If one or more of your books is not showing up...then check to see if it is "found" on Goodreads at all - do this by performing a search. If the book is not there - you can addi t by using the "manual add" feature (Click on My Books >> add books >> manually add book) and fill out the form.

REMOVING BOOKS
Sometimes (especially if you have a popular name) you might find books that are not yours. For instance there is more than one Michael J. Sullivan and in many sites this person's book Necessary Heartbreak is attributed to my Michael even though he did not write it. If you find this to be the case then go to GoodReads Librarian group and tell them what the problem is and they can get it fixed up.

COMBINING BOOKS
One of the things I'm always on the lookout for is multiple copies of the same book. Goodreads does a nice job of being able to group related books such that they share stats. It doesn't make sense to have 2 reviews for your hardcover, 5 reviews for your paperback, and 30 reviews for your ebook all spread around - instead you want 37 reviews all in one place - right?

Multiple copies come from different venues adding books to Goodreads. For instance in Michael's case his upcoming Theft of Swords as the following versions:

• US Paperback
• Kindle Edition
• UK Paperback
• ebook

I'm a librarian on goodreads so I have the ability to "combine" books. You can send me an email at robin(dot)sullivan(dot)dc(at)gmail.com with the URL's of both books and I'll combine them for you .... or make a posting to the GoodReads Librarian group and they'll fix you up.

BASIC PROFILE INFORMATION
Make sure that your profile has the URL to your website/blog (you want to make it easy for people to find you yes?). Also mention what genres you write in, and who your work is influenced by. Then make sure you're using your best "long form bio". I did a post awhile back on writing bios - refer to that if you haven't gone through the exercise already. Here is an example of the bio on Michael's Good reads Page:

After finding a manual typewriter in the basement of a friend's house, Michael J. Sullivan inserted a blank piece of paper and typed: It was a dark and stormy night, and a shot rang out. He was just eight. Still, the desire to fill the blank page and see where the keys would take him next wouldn't let go. For ten years Michael developed his writing craft by studying authors such as Stephen King, Ayn Rand, and John Steinbeck, to name a few. He wrote thirteen novels, and after finding no traction in publishing he quit, vowing to never write creatively again.

His hiatus from writing lasted nearly ten years. The itch returned when he decided to write books for his then thirteen-year-old daughter, who was struggling because of dyslexia. Intrigued by the idea of a series with an overarching story line told through individual, self-contained episodes, he created the Riyria Revelations. He wrote the series with no intention of publishing and presented his book in manuscript form to his daughter. An inability to read large amounts of text in that format prompted her to ask for a "real" book, bound and formatted.

So began his second adventure on the road to publication that included drafting his wife to be his business manager, signing with a small independent press, and creating his own publishing company. He sold more than sixty thousand books as a self-published author and leveraged this success to achieve mainstream publication though Orbit (the fantasy imprint of Hachette Book Group) as well as foreign translation rights for France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Michael presently lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with his wife and three children and continues to fill the blank pages with three projects under development: a modern fantasy novel, a literary fiction piece, and a prequel to his best-selling Riyria Revelations.

AWARDS
2010 Fantasy Book Critic's Top 25 (Wintertide & The Emerald Storm)
2010 Iceberg Ink Review's Best Fantasy Novel (The Crown Conspiracy)
2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top Independent Novels (The Emerald Storm & Wintertide)
2010 Bookworm Blues Best Overall Read (Avempartha)
2010 Top 15 Goodreads Choice Nominee for Fantasy (The Emerald Storm)
2009 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Finalist (Avempartha)
2009 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Finalist (Nyphron Rising)
2009 Bookspot Central Tournament of Books Winner (Avempartha)
2009 Dark Wolf Award Top 10 Fantasy Books (Crown, Avempartha, Nyphron)
2009 National Indie Book Award Finalist (Crown Conspiracy)
2008 ReaderViews Annual Literary Award Finalist (Crown Consiracy)
2007 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Finalist (Crown Conspiracy)

BOOKS OF THE RIYRIA REVELATIONS
Orbit Versions
Theft of Swords (Novmeber 2011)
Rise of Empire (December 2011)
Heir of Novron (January 2012)

Ridan Versions (out of print)
The Crown Conspiracy (October 2008)
Avempartha (April 2009)
Nyphron Rising (October 2009)
The Emerald Storm (April 2010)
Wintertide (October 2010)
Percepliquis* (January 2012)

*Will be released simultaneously with Heir of Novron

CONTACTING MICHAEL
Michael's Website | Michael's Blog | Michael's twitter | Michael's publisher
Michael's Email: michael.sullivan.dc@gmail.com

Notice a few things about this.

1. A bio that gives you insight into Michael and his love for writing (little story about when he was a boy)
2. A list of awards (which I notice is out of date - sigh need to update that)
3. A list of his books (also out of date - shame on me)
4. Contact information (I've recently added a newsletter and facebook page - so I need to update that.
   

As you can see, even someone who is very active can let things slip. It's difficult to remember all the places you should be updating information. I think I've given you enough to do for today so I'll pick this up tomorrow.