Five Writing Prompts for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers
Posted by Cynthia on July 31, 2017

"I knew there were stories I wanted to tell," Octavia E. Butler writes succinctly. Science Fiction and Fantasy authors take note! You have a special Ask the Author questions waiting for you on your Author Dashboard: "If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?"

Answer this question during Science Fiction and Fantasy Week, July 30 - August 5, and your answer might get amplified by our editorial team.

Looking for more? Here are five writing prompts for writers who are flexing their writing muscles, especially during this week as we celebrate all things fantastical. Share your stories in the Goodreads Creative Writing section, on social media using #SFFWeek, or in the comments below!

Ready, set, write!

Next: Quotes About Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy

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Goodreads Authors can subscribe to the Monthly Author Newsletter by editing their account settings.

Quotes About Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy
Posted by Cynthia on July 30, 2017

"I write for the same reason I breathe - because if I didn't, I would die," said the master of science fiction, Isaac Asimov. To celebrate Science Fiction and Fantasy Week on Goodreads this week, July 30 - August 5, we compiled inspirational quotes about writing from some of the bestselling science fiction and fantasy writers out there. Like a quote? Share it on social media using #SFFWeek

















Next: Level Up Your Goodreads Marketing

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Goodreads Authors can subscribe to the Monthly Author Newsletter by editing their account settings.

Level Up Your Marketing on Goodreads
Posted by Cynthia on July 28, 2017

Thousands of romance authors are currently at the Most Magical Place on Earth to discover and discuss the latest trends in romance publishing at the annual conference of the Romance Writers of America. We learned about the trends of “Hot Hackers” and “Motorcycle Romance” and congratulated the RITA Award finalists and winners. We also shared some lessons about how authors can take their marketing on Goodreads to the next level.

Couldn’t make it to RWA? That’s OK. We’ve got the highlights of our presentation to share with you right here. Our panelists—Cynthia Shannon from Goodreads, Larissa Walker from Harlequin, and Danica Favorite, romance author—will be responding to any questions left in the comment section over the next few days.

1. Level up your marketing approach.

The biggest takeaway from the presentation was for authors to think strategically about how they approach Goodreads, and how they can make their efforts work better together. Every activity should enhance the next, and each action should be part of driving the marketing flywheel.



Raising awareness—whether it’s as straightforward as an advertising campaign or participating in Romance Week (or any other Genre Weeks we plan throughout the year)—helps drive shelvings on Goodreads. One way to super-charge your shelvings is by running giveaways. Shelvings should lead to sales (which you might accelerate by running a Goodreads Deal). Those sales lead to people reading your book, sharing a review or their favorite highlights (via Kindle Notes and Highlights), and discussing it with others on Goodreads. Those reviews and discussions lead to even more awareness, and the whole cycle starts all over again.

All of this activity is amplified on Goodreads via the Newsfeed, which shows every activity you do on the site for all your followers to see. There is so much value in getting followers on Goodreads, as Goodreads automatically notifies those readers when a new book by an author they follow is released. Knowing how to strategically drive the marketing flywheel will take your marketing efforts to new heights.

2. Level up your marketing tools.

We have several exciting products in the works for authors, including ebook Giveaways, Kindle Notes and Highlights, and Goodreads Deals. While we’re still working on opening up these features to all authors, some beta participants have already given us insight into how they can possibly be used for marketing purposes and drive that flywheel.



Danica Favorite shared some Kindle Notes & Highlights on her book, Rocky Mountain Dreams, in advance to our presentation. “I think this is an awesome tool for authors to be able to share their favorite parts of their books with readers and hopefully get some readers hooked!”

We’re excited to see how more authors and readers share their favorite passages and thoughts on their books. While Kindle Notes & Highlights is currently in beta, you can read about how to share your notes here.

3. Level up your marketing research.

Savvy authors know that different messages will reach different readers, so they’re constantly fine-tuning. By using the information that Goodreads readers share about your book, you’re able to massage your marketing materials to reflect what’s resonating with readers.



This is especially valuable when it comes to advance reviews. Consider how many sub-genres there are in romance, and how they can bleed over. You might think you’re writing a historical vampire romance but your readers are really seeing it more as a cowboy vampire romance (that could be a thing!). Start emphasizing the cowboy aspect instead of the historical part and you might just reach a better core audience of readers who will provide rave reviews.

There are many resources and case studies that authors can find on this blog and in the Goodreads Author Newsletter, so be sure to bookmark this page and review your email preferences under account settings.

Question or feedback about the presentation? Leave them in the comments below!

Next: Marketing Tips and Advice from Danica Favorite

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Goodreads Authors can subscribe to the Monthly Author Newsletter by editing their account settings.

Marketing Tips and Advice from Danica Favorite
Posted by Cynthia on July 10, 2017

This summer, take a step back and focus on what you really need to do on Goodreads and in your writing career. As we’re getting ready to attend this year’s Romance Writers of America conference in Orlando, we asked Danica Favorite, author of Rocky Mountain Dreams and community host of the Harlequin.com, about her tips to interacting on Goodreads, balancing work life, family life, and writing life, and advice about attending the conference for the first time.

Let’s start simple: tell us about what you love most about Goodreads!

I love the chance to interact with readers, especially those I may not see otherwise.

What’s your approach to using the site as an author?

I’m still playing around with it in a lot of ways. I do not seek out reviews of my books, and I try hard not to read them. A good review will make you feel good, but a bad review makes you feel awful. It’s not a good idea to engage with reviewers, so I try to ignore that part completely. I participate in groups relevant to my books, Q&A’s, and interact with people on my page.

What have you learned in your role running the online community for Harlequin.com?

People really enjoy the opportunity to interact with authors. They still have their fan moments; it’s special to them when an author takes the time to say “Hi.” We authors forget how much that means to readers, and what to us is a passing comment is something they treasure for a long time. Sometimes that doesn’t translate to an immediate sale, but I’ve seen the community relationships turn into fandoms for life.

People remember that you took the time to get to know them and interact with them, so down the road, that translates to someone who’s always going to be talking about your books and how great you are, which does lead to more sales. That said, it will be quite clear if all you do is come around to pimp your book. Make sure you’re also working to participate in conversations, not just talk about about your latest release.

With so many ways of connecting now, it’s important to make sure you’re letting people know you have an event (even an online Q&A) in as many ways and places as possible, and asking your friends to do the same. I think we’re afraid of annoying people, with so many others out there posting cute puppy pictures, interesting articles, funny memes, etc., our message to come to our fun event or buy our books gets lost.

What is your favorite area of the site to explore on Goodreads?

I really like the groups and being able to see what people are talking about and participate in conversations.

Check out the Harlequin group on Goodreads!

What advice can you share with busy authors about online marketing? Having a plan is important, especially when you’re feeling overwhelmed. I work full time, have crazy busy kids, and I write! After spending all day promoting everyone else’s books, the last thing I want to do is promote my own (and to be honest, promoting myself is harder than promoting others).

The only way I get anything done promo-wise is to put doing it on my calendar. I don’t always succeed or pull off my marketing perfectly, but doing something, even if it’s not perfect, is better than doing nothing. Sit down once a week, or every other week, and plan out what you’re going to do for that week.

There are a lot of great apps like Hootsuite that can help you schedule all your posts across all platforms, and BAM! You don’t have to think about it for another week or however long you choose. Then, you take 10-15 minutes every day to respond to comments and comment on other people’s tweets or posts or whatnot. If you want to be more active, you can do it in a morning chunk, afternoon chunk, and evening chunk.

Any tips for navigating the RWA conference for the first time?

Pace yourself. Get the recordings and take a nap when you get tired. I schedule promotion, I also schedule naps! Even though you paid a lot of money to be there, resist the temptation to do everything. Identify a few things you really need to attend, and save the rest for the recordings

Danica will be joining Goodreads and Harlequin on panel at RWA on Friday, July 28. Read more about it here and make it your One Thing at the conference if you are attending.

Questions for Danica? Leave them for her in the comments below!


Next: The Five Readers You Meet in Publishing

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Goodreads Authors can subscribe to the Monthly Author Newsletter by editing their account settings.

The Five Readers You Meet in Publishing
Posted by Cynthia on June 19, 2017

As an author, you will encounter many different types of readers over the course of your career. Some will turn into adoring fans; others might remain a mystery. Here are five types of readers you’ll probably come across:

1. The Early Buzzer

This kind of reader takes pride in reading books many months before they are published, reading books by authors you’ve never heard of, and leaving thoughtful book reviews most likely including quotes from the book.

On their bookshelf: Titles without final covers; debut authors.

Where you’ll find the Early Buzzer: Browsing giveaways. Read our tips for giveaways here.

2. The Casual Reader

Considering that the typical American reads about 5 books a year (source), you’ll most likely encounter the Casual Reader. This person leans towards popular bestsellers or classics.

On their bookshelf: The Girl on the Train, Catcher in the Rye, and something by Stephen King.

Where you’ll find the Casual Reader: Looking through listopia lists.

3. The Want-to-Reader

This person has every intention of reading your book, has heard so many great things about it and definitely will eventually read your book. There are just 300 books on the WTR shelf before it... (So many books, so little time!)

On their bookshelf: A lot of books in all kinds of genres.

Where find the Want-to-Reader: Hanging out in large, general book groups.

4. The Dedicated Reader

This reader will be meticulous in writing down every last detail of their reading experience, including where they purchased the book, how long it took them to read the book, where they read the book and what they were wearing that day. Most likely to point out any factual errors or inconsistencies your editor might have missed.

On their bookshelf: You’ll likely find multiple bookshelves organized by date, season, or challenge.

Where to find the Dedicated Reader: In the Goodreads Librarian Group, answering your questions about metadata.

5. The Follower

This is the best kind of reader. Once they read your book, they fall in love with your writing and want to hear about everything you do. They’ll likely follow you on Goodreads and ask when you’ll be coming to their town on book tour. Expect lots of notifications of ‘likes’ on your content.

On their bookshelf: Other books in your genre. Books you’ve read and loved yourself.

Where to find the Follower: Asking thoughtful questions via Ask the Author (and in your list of followers!). You’ll want to engage with this reader since they’re the best advocates for spreading the word about your book! Find out here how to best engage on Goodreads using Ask the Author.

Have you encountered any of these types of readers in your publishing career? Tell us your experience in the comments below!

Next: Best of the Blog: Mid-Year Round Up

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Goodreads Authors can subscribe to the Monthly Author Newsletter by editing their account settings.

Best Author Marketing Blog Posts: Mid-Year Round Up
Posted by Cynthia on June 09, 2017

We share many great resources, tips, and inspiration on this blog throughout the year, but admittedly it can get a little hard to find some of the posts after a while! That’s why we’ve rounded up the most popular posts from 2017 so far for easy navigation. Click on the links below for the complete article!

Marketing Advice from Bestselling Authors

What types of articles do you find most useful? Share it with us in the comments below!


Next: Case Study: How St. Martin's Aligned the Stars for All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

You might also like: Planning a Marketing Timeline: Infographic

Goodreads Authors can subscribe to the Monthly Author Newsletter by editing their account settings.

Case Study: How St. Martin's Aligned the Stars for All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Posted by Suzanne on June 01, 2017

"The Goodreads Choice Awards Deal for All the Ugly and Wonderful Things launched the book onto the bestseller list for the first time, four months after publication. It was a true Goodreads community success story!"
Laura Clark, Associate Publisher, St. Martin's Press
When looking at the success of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood, it's easy to forget the challenges it first faced. Turned down by 122 literary agents, the story tackles unconventional characters and discomfiting situations. But when St. Martin's Press executive editor Laurie Chittenden read it, she knew she had to publish it. "We're willing to take risks at St. Martin's," says Chittenden. "A book doesn't have to fit within a box for us. I knew we had something special when people from across the house I'd sent the manuscript started emailing saying they had fallen in love with it."

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is about a young girl, Wavy, with a violent meth dealer for a father and an addict for a mother. One night everything changes when Wavy witnesses one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold, wreck his motorcycle. Greenwood says that one motivation to write this book "was the feeling that stories like this need to be told, and not for shock value. We don't all have neat, well-lit childhoods, and sometimes the things that nurture us seem wrong to people looking in from the outside."

Today, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is New York Times bestseller, and has more than 28,000 ratings on Goodreads, with an impressive average rating of 4.14. (The greater the number of people who have read a book, the harder it is to maintain such a high average rating.)

Looking at the road the book traveled to bestseller status, Patrick Brown, Director of Author Marketing on Goodreads, said, "All the Ugly and Wonderful Things really demonstrates the importance of the Want to Read shelf on Goodreads. The St. Martin's team deftly combined different marketing tools on Goodreads to build up a sizeable audience of readers that helped them get the attention of our Editorial team, and later a nomination for the Goodreads Choice Awards. This then gave them a launch pad for a major sales opportunity. Of course, all of this would never have worked without Bryn Greenwood writing a riveting story that readers can't stop talking about."





November 2015 - June 2016: Building Early Word of Mouth with Influencers on Goodreads

Right from the start, the St. Martin's team knew All the Ugly and Wonderful Things would need to rely heavily on word of mouth, so they focused on getting copies into the hands of Goodreads members as early as possible. They kicked off the campaign in November 2015, nine months ahead of publication with their first Goodreads Giveaway to drive awareness and start building the number of readers with the book on their Want to Read shelves. They also gave out ARCs through NetGalley and sent copies to the top 450 independent bookstores in the country. Over the course of the pre-publication campaign, 1,000 advance copies were sent out to booksellers, early reviewers, librarians, and readers.

Early reviews started appearing on Goodreads in Fall 2015, with readers praising the book for its complex characters and heartbreaking story.

St. Martin's ran additional giveaways in January, February, March, and April to keep driving discovery of the book. A key benefit of running a giveaway on Goodreads is the social amplification effect: as people enter the giveaway, their friends and followers see a post about the book and the giveaway in their Goodreads newsfeed, driving more discovery of the book. Another way that Goodreads helps boost entries is by automatically sending a free email to people who already have the book on their Want to Read shelf letting them know about the new giveaway. Readers love the opportunity to win a free book they are already interested in, and each time they enter, this further increases the social amplification effect.

Word-of-mouth started to spread as readers started receiving and reviewing their giveaway copies. Emily May, a top Goodreads reviewer, gave it five stars in May, which gave the book it's biggest spike (569) in Want to Read shelvings so far. St. Martin's kept building the buzz by running another two giveaways before publication, and by including All the Ugly and Wonderful Things in presentations at BEA to librarians, booksellers and media.

By the end of June 2016, all of this early promotion had led 7,146 WTR shelvings and 361 reviews for All the Ugly and Wonderful Things.



July 2016: Catching the Goodreads Editorial Team's Attention

The level of interest in the book and the growing number of positive reviews caught the attention of the Goodreads Editorial team. Deciding which titles to feature in our Editorial newsletters and blog is based on data about books trending on Goodreads. "When we looked at books coming out in August 2016, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things really stood out for the amount of love it was getting from our members," says Danny Feekes, Managing Editor, Goodreads.

The Editorial team selected All the Ugly and Wonderful Things as one of the Fiction books to feature in the New Releases email sent to 40 million readers on July 26, 2016. This drove another major wave of Want to Read shelvings in the two weeks leading up to publication.

The Editorial team also chose Bryn Greenwood for the August Debut Author Snapshot Interview in the general newsletter sent to 35 million readers on August 2, 2016, helping more readers discover the book and add it to their Want to Read shelves in the week before publication.

August 2016: Ready for Publication Day! Book Already Has 14,600 Want To Read Shelvings and 628 Reviews

As a result of their marketing efforts, by the time publication day came on August 9, 2016, the St. Martin's team had successfully gained the interest of more than 14,600 Goodreads members who had added it to their Want to Read shelves, which put it in the top 100 most-shelved books prelaunch on Goodreads in 2016. Even more impressive, thanks to distributing ARCs through Goodreads giveaways and other initiatives, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things already had 628 reader reviews on Goodreads before publication.

With the book coming out, St. Martin's doubled down on their marketing. They booked one of our most popular book marketing products, the Personal Selection Email. This gives publishers the opportunity to send a warm, friendly, and unique email from an author to their fans and includes links to retailers to convert these interested readers into buyers just as the book comes out. St. Martin's was able to target the audience they had created for this book on Goodreads—the people who had already added the book to their Want to Read shelves.

In addition to strong early trade reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, it earned rave reviews by Bustle, USA Today's Happily Ever After column, The Associated Press (which saw pick-up by the Houston Chronicle, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Washington Post, to name just a few), and many Midwestern newspapers (including The Kansas City Star, Lawrence Journal-World, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Wichita Eagle) at publication. It was later included in many best of the year round-ups (e.g. the East Bay Express, New York Daily News, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things was also selected by the Book of the Month Club as the debut selection for the month of August. A follow-up email from Book of the Month Club to their subscribers in late August, as well as discussion by popular Goodreads reviewers in comments on their reviews and more Goodreads members posting their reviews, led to a surge in Want to Read shelvings, which were then amplified by Goodreads newsfeed posts, driving even more readers to add it to their Want to Read shelf.

September - October 2016: Maintaining the Momentum

The author is always central to the success of book marketing, and Bryn Greenwood certainly played her part both on and off Goodreads. She had already answered several questions on Ask the Author on Goodreads before publication, and continued to do so in the weeks and months post publication as a way to engage with fans.



Greenwood also did some fun and creative marketing of her own, including offering a signed bookplate and handmade keychains and necklaces for people who shared sightings of the book "in the wild" (in bookstores, at the library, people reading it on the bus) on social media. She also offered to share deleted scenes with her fans via her newsletter to celebrate each time the book reached a milestone in Goodreads reviews.



And she continued to share new information about the characters and the timeline of the book in her blog to give additional context for reader discussions.



November 2016: The Break Out Moment with the Goodreads Choice Awards

By all accounts, the book was a success. The story could be over now, as for most books, three months post publication is when interest and sales may start to slow down. But for All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, this is when things really took off. Why? On November 1, 2016, Goodreads announced the nominees for the Goodreads Choice Awards, and All the Ugly and Wonderful Things was a contender for Best Fiction. Nominees for the awards are selected based on the data from the hundreds of millions of books added, rated, and reviewed on Goodreads in the previous 12 months--it's a high bar and recognizes the standout books of the year. The nomination drove the most dramatic spike in adds to Want to Read that All the Ugly and Wonderful Things had ever seen (2,565), and the interest stayed high during the three voting rounds in November.

St. Martin's also added another giveaway to the mix to extend the discovery through the Goodreads Choice Awards and further promote the book.

Ultimately, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things came in second in the Best Fiction category. "We were all blown away by this," says Laura Clark. "The book was competing against some amazing books by big-name authors like Liane Moriarty and Jodi Picoult, and it had won the hearts of enough readers to earn second place. I think it's a testament to the power of the unconventional and compelling story that Bryn wrote. What was doubly satisfying is how influential the Goodreads Choice Awards are, introducing the book to an even wider audience of readers."

As we've seen with other winners and runners-up in the Goodreads Choice Awards, the announcement of the winners in early December drove significant numbers of adds to Want to Read shelves across all the categories. For All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, this generated the biggest one-day spike in discovery to date, with 3,869 readers adding the book to Want to Read and creating a step-change in the number of adds to Want to Read in the following days--just in time for the crucial holiday season.



December 2016: Converting Want to Reads to Sales with Goodreads Deals

It was at this point that the Goodreads Deals team called St. Martin's with a special offer. Goodreads Deals had launched earlier in 2016 and the team came up with the idea to run the first-ever special event focused on deals for winners and nominees of the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards. To maximize the opportunity, Goodreads invited the Kindle team to offer the deals to their customers on the same day, and St. Martin's extended the ebook downprice to all of their ebook retailers.


The deals went out by email on December 27, 2016--just in time to help all the people who had received new ebook devices over the holidays find great books to read on them.

"The biggest strength of Goodreads Deals is that we send the email to both our subscribers and to any of our members who have one of the books on their Want to Read shelves so they don't miss out on a deal for a book they're already interested in," says Roshni Patel, Head of Digital Merchandising at Goodreads. "St. Martin's had done such a great job of helping people discover the book, that when the deal arrived, people immediately wanted to take advantage of it. And thanks to the book getting the kudos of a nomination in the Goodreads Choice Awards, any readers unfamiliar with the title knew it was a book readers loved, making it an easier decision to give it a chance."

The accolades for All the Ugly and Wonderful Things continued in December when the Book of the Month Club sent out a press release on December 14, 2017 including Bryn's book as 1 of the 5 finalists for their inaugural Book of the Year. Following voting from their members, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things was declared the first ever Book of the Year on December 28, 2017.

January 2017 - All the Ugly and Wonderful Things Hits the New York Times Ebook Bestseller List

As a result of the huge number of sales driven by the Goodreads Choice Awards Deal, All the Ugly and Wonderful Things catapulted onto the New York Times Ebook Bestseller List published on January 4, 2017 at #9. All the more remarkable was that this happened four months post publication.



When Laurie Chittenden called to give Bryn Greenwood the good news, there was a pause, some excitement, and then suddenly, Bryn said "Oh shit, I promised I'd get a tattoo that said 'Lucky motherfucker' if I made the bestseller list!"

Learning from All the Ugly and Wonderful Things' Success

The St. Martin's team understood their marketing strategy from the start: this was a book where it was essential to get as many people reading, reviewing, and talking about it as possible. To accomplish this, they successfully used several key tactics on Goodreads:

• Foster early buzz for the book: Multiple Goodreads Giveaways built early awareness and got the book into the hands of early reviewers so they could write those crucial early reviews
• Keep building on the momentum: St. Martin's didn't rely on one or two tactics to promote the book. Reader feedback on Goodreads was one of the earliest signals that they had a strong book on their hands so they kept building on this with more giveaways—offering more copies as they got closer to publication. In total, they offered 165 print copies through the pre-publication giveaways (in addition to digital copies via Netgalley.) But they didn't stop there. St. Martin's kept up the giveaways post publication and saw dramatic jumps in entries--thanks to having built up a large audience of readers who would automatically receive the free Goodreads email about the giveaways.
• Leverage Goodreads' book marketing services in publication month: Thanks to the effort the St. Martin's team put into getting the book on Want to Read shelves, they were able to take advantage of direct mail advertising that targeted the exact audience they created and drive sales.
• Convert the interest on Goodreads into more sales: Working with Goodreads Deals, St. Martin's was able to target all of the readers who had the book on their Want to Read shelves with an incredible deal that created a "must-buy" moment. Combined with promotion from the ebook retailers, the sales put the book on the New York Times Ebook Bestseller List for the first time.

Summing it up, Lauren Friedlander, Associate Marketing Manager, St. Martin's Press, says, "The outpouring of love from the Goodreads community has been overwhelming and heartwarming—this book is near and dear to my heart, and I wanted everything in the world for it! Goodreads really played a tremendous role in the sensational attention this book has received."

Summer Reading for Authors: 8 Books About Book Marketing
Posted by Cynthia on May 22, 2017

Summer is just around the corner (it was about time!), which means you'll hopefully get some quality reading done. You can tell readers via Ask the Author what you’re reading for fun this summer by answering the question on your Author Dashboard, but you might also consider adding these eight titles to your Want-to-Read shelf to brush up on your marketing skills:

Marketing Advice from Best-Selling Author S. Jae-Jones
Posted by Cynthia on May 10, 2017

Building anticipation for an unknown debut Young Adult author is not easy, unless you have an author as engaged with her audience as S. Jae-Jones. Readers started shelving her book, Wintersong, as early as April 2016, almost a year before its publication in February 2017. The author regularly shared creative content that showed she knew her audience (a make-up tutorial, anyone?), built her newsletter list, and leveraged her connections with other authors. Of course, all this built-up anticipation resulted in the book making the New York Times bestseller list.

We asked JJ to share some of her secrets of her marketing success.

Wintersong received an incredible amount of pre-publication buzz, and now more 50k people have it shelved at to-read. How did you manage that as a debut author?

To be completely honest, I'm not entirely sure how the pre-publication buzz happened or rather, how much I personally had a hand in it. I think buzz is a combination of luck, timing, and a commercial pitch. The luck portion is entirely out of your hands, but I do think you can affect the other two.

Having a commercial pitch is not necessarily about having a commercial IDEA; rather, it's finding a way to be able to succinctly relate the premise of your book in an engaging way that hints at a story to come. Easier said than done, I know, but there is a bit of a trick to it. For example, the basic pitch for Wintersong was about a young woman who journeys underground to rescue her sister from the clutches of the Goblin King. In one sentence, I have the protagonist, the setting, the stakes, and the antagonist.

I used to work in publishing, and my old boss used to ask me what the "handle" of a book was. The "handle" is a simple, straightforward, easy way to wrap your mind around a project, what you can pick up and carry with you. If you find it difficult to write a commercial pitch for your own book, maybe practice it for other books or movies that you love before settling on your own.

As for timing, some of that will be up to chance, but I don't think it hurts to start talking about your book as early as you can. I do think there can be instances of too fast, too soon, but getting the word out about your book via your social media channels (if you have them) is not a bad idea. Announce when your book goes up on Goodreads. Announce when it becomes available for preorder. Announce when you get a review. Talk about the writing or editing process.

There is a five-touchpoint theory of marketing in that a customer comes into contact with a product five times before making a decision about whether or not to buy. The earlier you start, the more time you have for readers to come in contact with your work.

You have many authors, including Roshani Chokshi and Marie Lu, review the book ahead of publication. How did you get those other authors to review your books? Any advice for authors if they don’t have connections through a publisher?

Make friends. Friends will do you favors. They will also reach to other friends to ask for favors, and so and so forth until you realize you are at the center of an enormous web of connections, muahahahaha. ;-) I'm being facetious, but also in deadly earnest. How do you make friends? Well, that's a little harder to answer, but the best relationship are formed over shared misery, in my opinion. This means seek out other writer friends, either online or in person. There are Facebook groups of other writers or message boards where you can find critique partners if you're more comfortable building relationship via the internet, or you can attend conferences and author events if you have the time and funds.

The one caveat to this technique is that it takes time to build these relationships. In the cases of Marie Lu and Roshani Chokshi, I became friends with them either before their books sold, or before their books became published. Most of my writer friends who blurbed my book are actually my critique partners; they read everything I write before it's even the apple of my publisher's eye. As with the first answer, there is no simple, quick solution to success.

What’s your favorite thing to explore on Goodreads?

I love tracking my reading. On a personal level, it illuminates trends in what I seek out and why, plus it also sheds light on gaps. If I'm too heavy on one genre, then I will try and branch out. I use Goodreads much more as a personal tool than as a marketing one.

How do you engage with readers on Goodreads? How has that changed since you joined the Author Program?

I joined the Author Program straightaway. I found the "to-read" stats the most illuminating, because I could track spikes in interest. For example, there was a large spike in "to-read" adds after I revealed my cover via my newsletter. Another when Marie Lu reviewed it on Goodreads. Another when I did a blog interview. Those stats helped shape what I was doing promotion-wise before publication. I interact with readers by answering questions submitted to me via Goodreads, although I will admit that the closer I got to publication, the less time I had to interact.

How do you plan to keep the momentum going for Wintersong?

The old saying in publishing goes that nothing sells backlist like frontlist, so I am working on the sequel.


Next: Building a Marketing Timeline on Goodreads: Infographic

You might also like: Marketing Advice from Author Fred Van Lente

Goodreads Authors can subscribe to the Monthly Author Newsletter by editing their account settings.

Building a Marketing Timeline: Infographic
Posted by Cynthia on May 08, 2017

Though it might seem like bestsellers happen overnight, it takes months of planning to get a marketing plan in place before the book is out. What does that kind of plan look like? Here's a handy infographic that outlines the broad strokes of a pre-publication marketing campaign on Goodreads. You can read the details on this previous post.



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