Does anyone see these?
Goodreads really provides no channel for authors to speak to their readers. I have over 50,000 followers here, and yet this blog is lucky to get 10 likes on a post...
Anyway...
I signed these and a bunch more of all my books for Forbidden Planet last week. You can get signed copies of pretty much all my books in their stores.
Plus The Book That Broke the World can be got signed and dirt cheap from their online store:
https://forbiddenplanet.com/419398-th...
Enjoy! :)
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David wrote: "I am not sure entirely what Goodreads offers established or self-publishing authors as there is little interaction. This is a shame as it has the potential to be vibrant. I did read your post, obvi..."thanks David!
We see them if we follow you! Which I do, so YES, please keep updating!!I agree that self publishing is the unsung hero, but thanks for sharing!
I do read your updates and reviews. I do not. Like or usually comment though, it's a "thing" anxiety. I am however veryuch in love with this series and and happy yet sad that I am already finished reading book two and will be excitedly waiting for 2025.y9 FINALLY roll around to read book three. I live in the States and did purchase your signed copy, the extra fees are worth the story. Thank you so writing a captivating story with characters that I love. ❤️📕
Kathleen wrote: "I do read your updates and reviews. I do not. Like or usually comment though, it's a "thing" anxiety. I am however veryuch in love with this series and and happy yet sad that I am already finished ..."Thanks for reading :)
& if you liked it, be sure to throw it some stars. It all helps!
Yep, seen. You're actually one of the very few authors I follow on here who ever posts anything!
Keira wrote: "Yep, seen. You're actually one of the very few authors I follow on here who ever posts anything!"I guess Goodreads is configured to discourage it.
If I "only" had 5,000 followers or 500 then those typical 10 likes would be 1 or 0.1 and it's discouraging to write blog posts that literally nobody sees :)
Indeed, follow you here and on Reddit. Frankly, I wish Storygraph or another app would work on the social aspect of the experience, because Goodreads is clearly neglected by Amazon. I know not everyone wants those other apps to change, but I wish something would swoop in and take its place.
Kathleen wrote: "I do read your updates and reviews. I do not. Like or usually comment though, it's a "thing" anxiety. I am however veryuch in love with this series and and happy yet sad that I am already finished ..."Amazing, stars makes it totally worth it, lol. I hope you have a wonderful day and thank you again!
Another echo: I too read your updates and reviews, and always really look forward to reading your books! Was also thrilled to hear about your next upcoming trilogy, from your recent Reddit AMA.
You're always at the top of my feed when you post. I just think Goodreads users are rarely on here in general. Plus, it feels like this platform is also neglected by authors (posts are by marketing teams) in favor of Twitter, FB, etc.
Yes, I believe people do read these things. But the vast majority will not comment because serious readers tend to be introverts. It also may be cause of time restraints, or a fear of being judged by you or others reading the comments. Those who do reply usually will be fans praising your work. (I totally agree with these highly intelligent good looking people). Undoubtedly there could be a few misguided souls who will declare you to be the spawn of Satan and your writings will bring about the fall of mankind or at least hair loss and weight gain.Now if you want to bigger responses as I see it, you need to post more frequently and you need to start posting beyond your latest book release. Something controversial like why the government is keeping the truth about zombie penguins from getting out. Also hinting that you are having a torrid affair with Taylor Swift or Beyoncé will garner more responses.
Personally, just keep doing what you are doing. Spend your time writing intelligent interesting engaging stories. Stories that make me want to turn the page to see what happens next. I look forward to reading your latest book. I really appreciate all the work you put into your books.
I'm using this site to keep track of books. And while I'm following you and reading your updates, I almost never like anything for the same reason I liked 1 YouTube video in 10 years by accident.And for people who use this site as social platform the feed is so messy. I think they can improve it, but this is Amazon, who am I kidding?
Is someone out there? Hello?Weird. For a moment, I was sure I heard someone speaking.
Huh. Never mind.
I usually see these when I get an email notification about them, so if it sounds interesting I'll take a look. If I hadn't signed up for those particular notifications I would never see any posts as I rarely go on my feed. As other people have said, the functionality isn't the greatest.Having said that, I enjoy getting updates from authors I like. It feels more personal which is nice. Keep up the good work!
I did get an email from Goodreads that you posted an update. I love your books and appreciate the updates!
I do see your updates but I rarely have the time to do much on Goodreads these days since my Mother got diagnosed with dementia. Keep up the good work, Mark.
Michael wrote: "I do see your updates but I rarely have the time to do much on Goodreads these days since my Mother got diagnosed with dementia. Keep up the good work, Mark."Thanks, appreciated. Sorry about your mother - that's a tough road to walk.
Goodreads sends me emails when followed authors post... I'm just usually so busy that Goodreads is towards the bottom of my reading list (although I have started reviewing almost everything here).
I have always found Goodreads strange in my short years being here. You have a seemingly straightforward 'Discussions' tab under 'Community', yet, even though you can blitz around you, it's so empty? No, Goodreads, I don't want to start a new topic...can't I easily just find out and navigate topics and exchange fun banter between fans and critics for a favorite author of mine on any random forum? And why can't I search up their names? And why, oh why, does 'all topics' lead me back to the my very empty and cobwebbed 'Discussions' tab? Ugh. So empty...
Anyway, really great to see you smiling like that and having a bashing time with your new releases, Mark. I haven't gotten round to them yet, but I promise I will eventually. All the best!
Also, King of Thorns was the best thing I read last year! Cheers to Emperor of Thorns and beyond!
Levi wrote: "I have always found Goodreads strange in my short years being here. You have a seemingly straightforward 'Discussions' tab under 'Community', yet, even though you can blitz around you, it's so empt..."Thanks Levi!
And, yes, Goodreads is a massive missed opportunity. It's like when newspapers do catch and kill - i.e they pay for a story then don't publish it, all with the intention of stopping people knowing about it.
Amazon bought Goodreads to stop competitors building it into a form of competition. And then, since they have an effective monopoly, did nothing with it.
I do read your updates, as I try to glean a sense of the person who wrote something I’ve enjoyed or found stimulating. Connecting readers to an author is a fraught business, as what the readers relate to is the book, not the writer. I’ve heard the questions “Where do you get your ideas, how did you get published, when will the next book be released, etc.” too many times. It can’t be a particularly effective way for either party to reach a different stage of affinity. The question then is what does the author or the audience hope to gain from the limited interaction possible.
Jane wrote: "I do read your updates, as I try to glean a sense of the person who wrote something I’ve enjoyed or found stimulating. Connecting readers to an author is a fraught business, as what the readers rel..."I think authors have many and varied interests in the matter of interacting with readers, but the overlap between all of them is probably simply to remind the readers that they exist, and to implant the notion that if you enjoyed one of their books, you might like some of their other books too :)
There are a vast number of authors and books out there, and to maintain a readership a degree of flag waving is often necessary.
But there are many other things to gain from the author side of such interactions. Book writing is a very solitary endeavor and pre-internet it must have been a rather odd thing to set your manuscript free to sail the publishing seas and never hear a thing back from the (hopefully) thousands who read it, unless by a paper letter via your publisher (I've had one of those in 13 years!).
Mark wrote: "Jane wrote: "I do read your updates, as I try to glean a sense of the person who wrote something I’ve enjoyed or found stimulating. Connecting readers to an author is a fraught business, as what th..."I do keep track of your new books, and also enjoy finding a number of authors new to me through your book reviews. Thanks for that.
Hey Mark. I love your work and I always find your book reviews very helpful (something about me having excellent taste like you or vice versa!) You are one of the few authors that I follow on multiple channels. Your engagement with "your public" is second to none - I enjoy that it is not the cringy self-serving stuff that seems to be prevalent nowadays. I get the feeling you genuinely just want to promote the love of books and want to champion the brave self publishing souls out there. Please keep it up!
Today is the 22nd and Goodreads just pushed this notification to me! Seems silly when you're one of the only authors I follow here. I've moved over to Storygraph to track my books so I'm not here as often. It would be great to have more interaction with the authors on these platforms. In any case, I'm just diving in to the second Library and the novellas!
Stacey wrote: "Today is the 22nd and Goodreads just pushed this notification to me! Seems silly when you're one of the only authors I follow here. I've moved over to Storygraph to track my books so I'm not here a..."Given that it's email that's not swift notification :)
Great to hear you're checking out the short stories as well as the main books of the Library trilogy. Thanks!
Keep up the great work
David