Does anyone else mass recommend books on GR?

[Courtney]

I have a quirk that compels me to recommend a book I liked - 3-5 stars - to my 1,200+ friends. I do this because I appreciate how hard it is to get word of mouth for a book and a lot of what I read are authors who don't have much help marketing. That said, my friends DO consider my recommendations and about 30-75 add the book to their to-read and a few inquire further on what I thought of the book.

If no one else has this practice, I encourage you to give it a try. Especially for other authors who would appreciate such a gesture towards their own books. It's never a guarantee people will read but being on their radar is better than total obscurity.

[Michael]

I think I will get into that. I've been attempting to get into discussing and stuff like that, but I've mostly been trying hard to finish the books/series to begin with lol
but since I adore this group so much, I just might take you up on the challenge (I say challenge only to motivate myself lol) to recommend books to others haha

[G.G.]

I do recommend to a few people, but I'm afraid that it may be seen as spamming, so I try to be careful to whom I send it. If they tend to recommend, I am more inclined to recommend too.

[Shari-amor]

I only recommend a particular book to those who I know who will be into it. Not all of my GR friends read the same thing. It would be pointless to send an erotica rec to my horror reading friends.

[Courtney]

For what it's worth I have never had anyone complain about random recs and view it as I would rather recommend a book someone has no interest in than not recommend one they might have liked. It's not like I expect it to be a hit every time and people know what they like so they can read the synopsis and make a decision from that :)

[Courtney]

@ Michael - totally worthwhile challenge if you want to help authors here. I recommended on behalf of Lily and C.G. and got the following results from friends adding their book to their to-read:

Lily -36
C.G. -34

So that's three dozen potential readers and I hope fans for two of our own members :)

[Michael]

definitely something to consider :) not even for my own stuff but for others, hell yeah, soon as I finish the four/five book I started reading in the first place lol

[Yzabel]

Hm, actually I seldom recommend anything. When I do, it's only to a handful of people, when I know they're likely to appreciate the book.

[Dizzybea]

Courtney wrote: "For what it's worth I have never had anyone complain about random recs and view it as I would rather recommend a book someone has no interest in than not recommend one they might have liked. It's ..."

I enjoy getting recommendations from my friends. An author friending me just to spam me with recommendations for their books would probably annoy me though.

[Rachel Annie]

I don't mind the odd recommendation, but I'd rather not have so many books recommended by the same person.

Just my thoughts as a reader and GR member. : )

[Rachel Annie]

I'm talking unsolicited recs here; if you put out a request then you should expect people to send you suggestions.

Don't know if I'd be interested in something the recommender only rated 3 stars though...

[Courtney]

I include three stars because that - for me - is a book that I personally did not enjoy but not because of poor quality, more irreconcilable differences. 1-2 is stuff where the quality is lazy/confusing and I probably wouldn't even bother reviewing since I have nothing nice to say.

[Shari-amor]

Lol I'd take a 3 star rec if it's in a series. It could be one of those it gets potentially better every book.

[Courtney]

I just assume that what irks or seems lackluster to me might be fine by someone else. I'm not about insisting people dislike books just because I thought they were predictable or obnoxious somehow. It feels like a weird form of censorship to me...

[Rachel Annie]

Courtney wrote: "I just assume that what irks or seems lackluster to me might be fine by someone else. I'm not about insisting people dislike books just because I thought they were predictable or obnoxious somehow..."

That's why I don't send recs with that pop up feature--people's tastes differ so greatly.

I may send an unsolicited rec to someone I chat with frequently and have seen we have a good bit of books in common and have rated them similarly.

But then again I just may be oversensitive to what another member may consider spam.

[Shari-amor]

Ah yes, I see what you're saying Court. I've actually sent out a rec for a book about a month ago to buddies I knew would love it even though I rated it 1 star. It's also a matter of knowing your GR buddies. I always chat with mine and discuss books at some point so I know what they like, could like or just won't touch. I pay attention when people like and comment on my book statuses and reviews.

[Michael]

It all depends on the people. If anything, I'll mass recommend books if I really really loved it. But for others I'll just do simple recommends to different friends

[Shari-amor]

You don't recommend anything to me....selfish >.>

[Courtney]

Maybe I'm comfortable with it because I have chatted with about a third of my friends through messages. I used to have days where I'd end up with forty messages so I needed to scale back my socializing here lol

[Shari-amor]

Haha goodness I didn't realize you were so social then yes that could definitely be why you don't think much of it. I know some have a lot of people on their friend list but don't necessarily converse with them. And the Top Friend feature allows you to separate the ones you generally keep in your circle.

[Laura]

I only send recommendations to the people who like the same genre that the book is in or if I thought the book was a must read for everyone who loves books. As for myself, I love it when people send me recommendations - anything that isn't non-fiction is good with me! I have a mile-long TBR list because of this policy but I'll get to them all - don't worry! I especially love it when people recommend to me more obscure books because a lot of those might be better than the popular ones!

[Sara]

While Courtney's recommendations don't really bother me, I'm not one who likes getting book recommendations. As a reviewer - you wouldn't believe the kind of spam I get. It's tapered back a lot over the years as I become more particular about how I receive recommendations. When I started reviewing books "professionally", I would take anything and that was a quick way to burnout. I switched to working with publishing companies over authors which changed the way I access recommendations and review requests. I still get the occasional author who spams me. I got to tell you guys - authors who spam their readers are more apt to turn away their readers. I think the reason Courtney's recommendations are okay is because they are not her books nor does she do it that often. It's one thing to share that you wrote a book and another to beat your readers over the head with it.

[Courtney]

Sara, ugh, I'm sorry you're dealing with obnoxious spam just because you review books. Truly, I have no stake or agenda besides "I read this book and liked it. Maybe others will too". That's why I don't mind if people pass on any of the books I toss out.

I'm planning to be nothing but courteous and personable when drawing attention to my book once finished - like mention it to GR friends I've discussed other books with, submit properly through blogs and other low pressure/hassle queries.

I honestly think long run that will bring in more readers than badgering random people - or I hope anyway...

[Rachel Annie]

Courtney wrote: "Sara, ugh, I'm sorry you're dealing with obnoxious spam just because you review books. Truly, I have no stake or agenda besides "I read this book and liked it. Maybe others will too". That's why..."

Sounds like a good plan!

I'm a co-mod of a romance group and if I have any advice it's to avoid being a drive-by promoter. If you only post to the group's author folder for promotions, you're less likely to get views than if you take the time to be a regular contributor to the group.

I think members like to see up and coming authors who stop by to discuss their love for whichever genre rather than the ones that just toss a promo and run every couple months. : )

[Courtney]

Agreed. I don't expect people to do me a favor out of the blue. I know I'm far more jazzed to read a book by a GR friend than a random member.

Like I'll probably offer ARCs to those I've regularly corresponded with and hope others might just support me if the book sounds interesting.

But yeah I see how author promoting boards can be a wasteland because they're talking at people without contributing elsewhere. That's why I set up our group reads of members books to be based on activity rather than first come, first serve. That seems fair.

[Michael]

this is exactly what i'm planning to do. While I won't dare recommend my own book, I will recommend others and to those that I feel would like that certain genre and the like

[Courtney]

I just don't see the point in spending so much energy taking shots in the dark. I'm more concerned about finding a few blogs to review as well as those so inclined.

[Shaun]

I've been lurking around these discussions since friending Michael, and now I just have to join the group. This is a pretty cool discussion.

The indie discussion is pretty unique I find, in that a lot of indie readers are indie authors as well.

Shameless self promotion really annoys me. It's so bad on twitter that some authors "social" media feeds are nothing but looped advertisements.

There are so many indie authors on the internet right now, that sorting through them is pretty tough. I often give a shot to those who seem like pretty cool people themselves.

I think the best way to promote yourself, is sometimes not to promote yourself at all.

[Sara]

"I think the best way to promote yourself, is sometimes not to promote yourself at all."

I think just not being a jerk about it is a big step in the right direction. I hate authors who practically shove their books down your throat. But the worst are those with nonfiction books that have an agenda. My son has Autism and I was part of a group on facebook - this guy joined just to promote his anti-vaccine book. That's irritating to start with but the focus of his book was how vaccines cause diabetes - it had nothing to do with Autism. When I asked him about it, he would just delete his posts. Honestly, if you are going to promote your agenda, be willing to defend it. Sorry - this is just one topic that grates on my nerves. Yes, you have to get your book out there but be human about it.

[Courtney]

Welcome and thanks for joining in.

That's why I'm happy to promote authors of my own volition. I get promoting your own book immediately makes people cagey or disinclined. I'm one person, so I can only give so much word of mouth but hopefully I'm not alone in shooting out recs.

[Shaun]

As an author/reader I can say, given the book is of interest to me, that I would be more likely to download an indie work if it was recommended by someone aside from the author.

Like a grassroots version of the machine that is traditional publishing. Sure, traditionally published authors promote their own work, but they are backed up by marketing by the publisher.

While lacking resources such as that, I think a lot of people see no option aside from self promoting. Other authors make great friends and motivators, and help spread the word about writing that they've enjoyed themselves.

[Michael]

I think that was one of the lessons I learned here on Goodreads. don't spam people. I barely joined a group and they gave me a lot of pointers and I thank them to this day because it has helped a lot (Erotic Horror was the group). they made good points. a lot of authors like to just pop up when their books are out and then disappear, they'll spam nonstop etc.

I think it's one thing to advertise yourself and another to advertise those books of other people that you genuinely love. that's why, so far I've only asked once (maybe twice?) ACR thingy, and asked a couple friends to read it. that's it. other than that I've only been asked about it. and that's how I'll keep it. I got a facebook like page but that's just more for getting to know more people and the like.
anyone got a good book i'll love recommend it, i'll read it and i'll try to do the same for you all haha

[Mark]

Well marketing is the key, isn't it? I mean, that's why publishing companies can take such large percentages of book sales, because they know how to market books. They have the networks, they have the contacts, they have the people to handle those things. Indie authors? Fewer contacts, fewer opportunities.
I was never a marketing major; I have no idea how to sell my book. I try not to spam people because that's not a way to make friends or influence people. But, honestly, I don't know what I'm doing. I tell my friends and they support me and then I just hope for word of mouth.
As far as recommendations, I do make them with books that I really like and I try to take into account individual tastes. But I don't know if people take my recommendations or not.

[Sara]

Mark - there is a lot of information on how to promote your book as an Indie author without spamming people. I always recommend Kristen Lamb's blog. I, also, have a friend who does Indie artist promotion/marketing. Her website is going through an overhaul but as soon as it's up, I'll post it here. In the meantime, if you are interested in hiring her, I can connect the two of you.