The "marked-it-as-to-read" group

[Simon]

This is my first message in this forum -- very simply, I'm wondering if there is any way of harnessing the interest of the group of people who mark your book as "to read" (in my case, much larger than the group of people who have left reviews so far). Is there an effective and legitimate way to reach out to them, and encourage them to read it sooner rather than later?

Thanks!

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Post about it in your status updates. In groups with an interest in similar books or genre that permit promotions (some only on certain threads). Use your review space for the book as sort of an "author's note" to make it sound interesting, note any promotions or specials in the book, etc.

It's spam if you contact the "to read" members in any way. Plus that shelving might mean "to be read" where they already bought it but have not been in mood to read it, if ever on giveaway may have just not noticed the entry form opted them into shelving as to read, may have since sampled/read/dnf'ed and just not changed the to read shelving (or plan on it until reviewed or decided if reviewing) ... just a lot of different ways members use their shelving and not always receptive to anyone poking into.

[Marie Silk]

The good news is, when someone marks your book as "to read", it means that all of their goodreads friends can see your book on their homepages, which means free exposure for your book. The bad news is, only a tiny fraction of the "to read" books are ever bought or read by the people who mark them.

What you can do is find other ways to market your book, or take advantage of goodreads giveaways to get your book seen (and hopefully bought) by more people. Reaching out directly to readers is seen as unwelcome.

A reader adding my book as "to read" has pretty much no bearing on sales, in my experience. I am grateful to have my book seen by more people though. Good luck with your book :).

[Simon]

Thank you, Marie -- much appreciated!

[Simon]

... and thanks to 'D.A." -- I guess I need to join a few of those interest groups....

[Mellie]

Simon wrote: "This is my first message in this forum -- very simply, I'm wondering if there is any way of harnessing the interest of the group of people who mark your book as "to read" (in my case, much larger t..."

If you are unfamiliar with Goodreads then take the time to learn how it works, and what is and isn't allowed. It is spam to contact users and if your account is flagged, you run the risk of being banned.

There is a beta model for alerting readers to books on their TBR that are discounted or on sale, which will be a fabulous addition to the site if it is rolled out. Here's the blog post about it:
https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/6...

[Gerry]

I have also been confused about "want to read" do I have to buy the book (where on Amazon?) in order to read it?
I have copied your comments to my "goodread notes" for further study and followup. Thanks so much.

[Faith]

Gerry wrote: "I have also been confused about "want to read" do I have to buy the book (where on Amazon?) in order to read it?
I have copied your comments to my "goodread notes" for further study and followup. ..."

I am really not following your comment/question, but you cannot read books on Goodreads, so yes if you want to read a book you need to buy it. With respect to the "want to read" shelf on Goodreads, it is one of the exclusive shelves on which members can shelve their books. Shelving a book there is not necessarily an indication that this is a book that someone wants to buy. Many members of Goodreads use that shelf for books that they already own. The members may have created their own wishlist shelves, but it is not possible to link any alerts to these shelves.

[Gerry]

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. Let me see it I understand.
I am to have only my books on my "want to read" shelves?
(which doesn't make much sense to say I want to read my books. Perhaps, I'm just not getting this concept).
Do I only choose someone's book as a "want to read" if I plan to buy it and read it?
Do I then buy it from Amazon? And after I read it, let the author know what I thought about it?
Forgive me for being so dense!

[Faith]

You may use your want to read shelf anyway you like. Some authors do shelve/rate their own books, it's up to you. Each book you shelve, your own or those written by others, must be on one exclusive shelf (read, want to read or currently reading) and can also be on any number of non-exclusive shelves that you want. If you want to read a book you may shelve it on the want to read shelf or you can create a new exclusive shelf for your wish list. You can buy books at Amazon or from any other seller or borrow it from a library, etc. You are not required to review anything that you read. If you want to post a review, or contact an author privately with your thoughts, it is up to you. I hope this helps.

[Gerry]

Thank you for taking the time to address my problem. Yes, that helps a lot.

[Sharron]

Marie wrote: "The good news is, when someone marks your book as "to read", it means that all of their goodreads friends can see your book on their homepages, which means free exposure for your book. The bad news..."

Hello Marie,
Great info, and thank you. I have hundreds that have marked my book as "to read" but did not know that others can view their status.

Sharron

[Faith]

You should be aware that members can adjust their feeds to exclude the mere shelving of a book and many people do, so that their feeds do not get inundated and annoy their friends. Recipients of updates can also decide whether or not they want to see statuses. Many want to see reviews only. So it's not so clear cut that people see the want to read shelving.

[Miss M]

Goodreads also allows you to change your settings so it doesn't show in your feed if you've entered a giveaway.