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Werner
(last edited Feb 14, 2020 06:52AM)
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Feb 12, 2019 09:58AM
Goodreads can be a bit of a challenging site to navigate, especially for newbies, since it doesn't provide much in the way of tutorials (and a lot of the links are either ultra-faint or hidden by pull-down menus. If you have a question about how to do or access something, this is the thread to post it on. With as many members as we have in this group, chances are that someone will know how to help!
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Werner,I'm a new author and new to this site. Is it appropriate to solicit for my book and ask for reviews on this site? I don't want to do anything inappropriate so I just want to ask first. Thank you and god bless!
Manh
Manh, good question! Because Goodreads is a social network based on a shared interest in books and reading, a lot of authors are members; we (I'm an author of sorts myself) naturally want to promote our books, and some readers are interested in hearing about them. At the same time, nobody likes being bombarded with constant advertisements everywhere they turn (that's kind of like the junk mail that fills our mailboxes and in-boxes), so Goodreads discourages that. (And many authors --mistakenly, IMO-- join the site only to promote their work, with no intention of being real members who ever discuss anything else.)As the best compromise that accommodates everybody's needs, our group (and quite a few other groups) have a folder dedicated to the authors among us, here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group... , where you can create a discussion thread(s) to promote your work and announce events, giveaways, etc., and where readers can discuss it. Group members who are interested in checking out the work of other members who write know that this is where they can go to find out about it. Our bookshelf also has a dedicated shelf for books "written by group members," and I put your book there (it also shows up on the general, main list of all the books). That's a way of advertising the book, to any readers who browse the shelves.
You mentioned your book on the introductions thread, which is fine --many authors introduce themselves in terms of their work, and that's natural. It's also legitimate to mention your book in discussions where it's actually germane to what's being talked about, if you feel it makes an honest contribution to the conversation. Some authors send personal messages to other members to invite them to review a book; but before doing that, it's best to actually check out what kinds of things they read and want to read, and whether or not they welcome invitations.
Hope this is helpful! Wishing you God's blessings as well.
Manh, when I checked out your profile just now, I noticed that you haven't joined the Goodreads Author program. That's free to join, and is worth checking out, here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/program . It allows you to turn your profile into a special Author profile, which highlights the book(s) you've written, lets you link directly to your blog (if you have one), and gives you a place to announce events, etc. Goodreads authors also have the exclusive power to add their own books to the Goodreads database and to edit the descriptions (meaning that other members, including Goodreads "librarians," can't do that).
Werner wrote: "Manh, good question! Because Goodreads is a social network based on a shared interest in books and reading, a lot of authors are members; we (I'm an author of sorts myself) naturally want to promot..."Wonderful advice! Thank you so much!
Good information, Werner...thanks. Barton
I figured out how to add books, but how do I delete them? One book is not in publication any longer, as it was a dated planner.
The other book I added, but forgot the photo. Then I tried to add it a second time and included the photo (which still isn't showing) and now there are two of the same book, and still no cover image.
Joy, good questions! Even as a Goodreads author, you can only delete a record for one of your own books if nobody else has shelved it; but if what you want to delete is The UnRipe Gardener's Journal, Planner & Log Book, you should be able to. Click on the book record and scroll down to the bottom of the record itself (just above "My Activity"). On your right-hand side, you'll see a faint "Edit" link. Click on that, and scroll all the way to the bottom of the template that will come up. There, you'll find a faint "Delete This Book" link. (You should be able to do the same thing with the duplicate record you created accidentally.)From what you wrote, I gather that you already found the part of the template where you add a cover photo, and I'm guessing you used the "Browse" function. The most likely explanation for why it didn't take is that the format in which the image is saved isn't compatible with this program. A jpeg (or .jpg) file seems to work the best. I don't know whether or not that answer is helpful, but I'm hoping it will be!
