Authors actively engaged on Goodreads

[Julia]

Hello everyone! I hope this is OK that I post this. I wanted to reach out to as many as possible, because I need a bit of help. I am finishing my bachelor's degree and for my final exam, I am doing a research project on how the emergence of "reader spaces" has affected the publishing industry with regards to marketing and audience cultures, where I specifically want to look at Goodreads. Therefore I come to you to ask if you know any author's on Goodreads who are very active on this platform, who engages a lot with their readers and who actively promote their books through interaction, promotion, paid reviews, giveaways etc. and who might be willing to give an interview. Thank you very much in advance, and please delete this post if it is not appropriate for this group.

[Cass (all too tired)]

I’m not sure if this is what you want, but I follow Jessica Day George and she posts reviews for books on this platform. I’ve never seen her encourage people to buy or review her books, but she’s more active than most authors on this site.

[Shawna]

The authors that I see engaging with their readers and promoting their books online really well are Eva Pohler and Ben Alderson. They don't use Goodreads too much, but they are both very active on Facebook and Instagram and Ben is really good at get book sales on TikTok. I feel like not too many authors promote their books on Goodreads because there's not really a for you page feature or hashtags that you can look at but that's just what I've noticed. Sorry if this wasn't exactly what you were looking for. I hope your research project turns out well.

[Julia]

Thank you to you both! I greatly appreciate the help, but I think I need to clarify a bit, since I might have miscommunicated what I want to do.

I would argue that authors on Goodreads engaging with readers, but not overtly promoting their books, are in some way still promoting their content here on Goodreads. I think it creates an emotional and trustful bond between authors and readers if used correctly. On a platform such as TikTok, I think it might be a bit out of the scope, since TikTok is a very weird place when it comes to the consumer and producer specter, where the audience is both at the same time in a much wider sense than on Goodreads. On Goodreads, I feel it is still more divided when authors have the author tag on them and readers do not. I also feel that Goodreads is more a space for the readers/consumers than for authors/producers.

Also, authors can be part of Goodreads author program, where they can submit books for giveaways, contests, reviews etc., which also must promote their creative product. I have started this project because I was interested in what Lauren Hough has done, where they attacked their audience on Goodreads on Twitter, making a lot of people who have not read their work to give bad reviews as a sanction method for bad behaviour, which must also affect sales and this is clearly a not very productive marketing strategy. I think it has backfired. I don't think that Lauren Hough would be up for an interview, but I would be interested in interviewing authors on their marketing and promotion tactics on Goodreads as a platform, because it is not overtly, but subtly. I also do believe that authors can be at Goodreads for multiple reasons at the same time, where they both interact with their audience for the pleasure of it, and also in some way use it as a strategy. Even though authors are reviewing books, they are reviewing books as authors, not as the average reader as you and me. I hope this in some sense clarify what I want to do?

I have seen Leigh Bardugo posting highlights and notes on her work, which I think is quite interesting, but I think she might be too popular an author to be willing to give a bachelor student, such as me, an interview. I will definitely look into Jessica Day George!

[Willow Anne]

Wow, this is really interesting! I can't think of any authors like that at the moment, but I'll definitely keep it in mind and let you know if I come up with anything :)

[Julia]

Thanks Willow Anne! If you do come up with anyone, please let me know ☺️

[Lorelei, Games & Buddy Reads]

Hi Julia!

I often find that debut authors will pm a few readers asking them to read and review their work. I have had two or three authors ask me to do this before and both times they have been people whose work never really took off. They are looking for people with a wider outreach in the Goodreads community.

Not sure if this helped or not.

[Julia]

Lorelei wrote: "Hi Julia!

I often find that debut authors will pm a few readers asking them to read and review their work. I have had two or three authors ask me to do this before and both times they have been pe..."

Hi Lorelei this helps a lot. Thank you for the answer. If you want to and feel comfortable, I would love to know the authors name, so I can check them out and look closer into these instances. You can write me a private message. But it is totally okay if you are not comfortable sharing this information with me

[Lorelei, Games & Buddy Reads]

Julia wrote: "Lorelei wrote: "Hi Julia!

I often find that debut authors will pm a few readers asking them to read and review their work. I have had two or three authors ask me to do this before and both times t..."

I don't mind at all! The three are Emma Eggleston, Lori Banov Kaufmann, and Blake Miller

[Julia]

Lorelei wrote: "Julia wrote: "Lorelei wrote: "Hi Julia!

I often find that debut authors will pm a few readers asking them to read and review their work. I have had two or three authors ask me to do this before an..."

Thank you so much!!