Reading as a Writer: Shifting from Private to Public

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

For a long time, I avoided Goodreads altogether.  It’s the kind of place that makes me uncomfortable as a writer and so I figured I shouldn’t be on the site at all.

But I’ve found that I can completely avoid my own books on Goodreads as long as I don’t deliberately look them up.  And Goodreads has a lot to offer for readers.

I decided at first that I didn’t particularly want to share what I wrote as my author profile on the site.  That’s mostly because I didn’t want to say if I didn’t enjoy a book…as Elizabeth S. Craig, Writer.  And I didn’t necessarily want to share what I liked, either and have it  be a public endorsement.  Mainly what I wanted was a place to track my books, authors I enjoyed, and my reading life and find recommendations.  So I set up an anonymous account there.

As time went on, I began to feel a little more comfortable about sharing what I was reading.  And I’m not sure why: I’m a horrid reviewer (better at book blurbs).  It started with my inclusion of what I was reading in my reader newsletter that goes out when I have a release.  I found that when I wrote a few short sentences about several recently-read books, I had a very positive reader response. Readers were actually emailing me back about what they were reading, too.

Then BookBub started a recommendation program where they  emailed readers your book picks…a nice way to keep in readers’ minds in the interim between books.  As long as the reviews I wrote were short, they were fine. :)

Finally, I’ve just started posting some of what I’m reading on my author profile on Goodreads (either books that I’ve just finished and enjoyed, or books that I’m pretty sure I can give a positive review).

I only mention books that I’ve enjoyed.  That’s just my own rule of thumb.  I want to help my readers discover books that I think they’ll like.

Because so many readers have asked me in the past to recommend other cozy series to them, I also feel the need in my newsletter and on BookBub to explain that the titles I’m recommending are not cozies.  I usually can’t read books in my genre while I’m writing them and considering the fact that I’m always in the process of writing a cozy, I rarely read them.

In a lot of ways, and in case you couldn’t tell from this post, reading as an author is a little awkward.  But it’s becoming more comfortable for me.

For ideas on what to read, check out the Reading as Writers category on the free Writerskb.com.

For further reading on being a reader and a writer, see:

5 Tips for Reading as a Writer by Andi Cumbo-Floyd

Is it Fair for Authors to Review Other Authors? By Kristen Lamb

3 Reading Tips for Writers from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers

As a writer, do you publicly share what you’re reading and how you like it?  Do you ever give books negative reviews?

Thoughts on the Public Nature of Reading as a Writer:
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