So, as aspiring writers (and indeed some of you may already be published authors) we build websites and blogs and twitter and Facebook, and mainly we network with similar folk: Writers. This is great for support, advice, camaraderie, and all that stuff. But how do we expand beyond that to reach our target audience: Readers.
If you already have an established readership I can see how having a place for these people to gather, to have questions answered, their interest stimulated and generally galvanized for the next book is an obvious thing to do. But when you’re setting out to establish your ‘platform’ where do you go to find people who are into the stuff you are into?
I enjoy the company of my fellow writers, but I wonder sometimes if it isn’t a little closed off. I’m thinking there must be non-corporate sites where books are reviewed and recommended in a community that discusses stuff openly and objectively.
Is Goodreads the main place? Perhaps there other similar/better sites, forums, message boards (do these still exist?).
Would love to know your thoughts and suggestions (you don't have to be involved in the blogfest to comment).
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Posts
31 comments:
A couple of good sites that discuss a variety of books include DearAuthor, Manic Readers, and Fresh Fiction. Of course, beyond Goodreads, there is also LibraryThing and Shelfari. There are tons more but those might be some of the bigger ones to get you started.
I also use kindleboards.com and kuforum.co.uk, which are both worth checking out.
I keep hearing about the Kindleboards, but I've never checked it out. Guess I got lucky the first time around - my blog attracted an eclectic group of bloggers, so I ended up with a lot of readers and fans in the bunch.
I've only used Goodreads, but have heard of shelfari and Amazon have forums to join. Doing up some research this week to see what I can find for locating where our markets lurk :)
Wagging Tales - Blog for Writers
Good question. I've been thinking about this lately, too. I'll have to check out a few of these other sites that have been recommended, like Kindleboards. Let us know what you discover :)
GoodReads is sure a good place!!!
Most avid readers also use FanFiction.net And readers are always searching for books worth reading!! So they do search for our blogs right?? They do follow us right??
with warm regards
Another Author
Goodreads is the only place like that I use-- but then, my time is seriously limited.
@Liz - plenty I haven't even heard of there, will check them out. Cheers.
@Robert - will do, thanks.
@Alex - I had though kindleboards were for people who had published on kindle, maybe not.
@Charmaine - looking forward to your findings.
@gaylene - thinking of looking into them and then doing a follow up post.
@allmyposts - I'm sure they do.
@Lynda - I've only recently joined goodreads, like it so far. Anyone want to hook up over there let me know. Same name: mooderino.
I've only been blogging for a few months but I have the same problem. Here are the solutions I'm exploring:
Post fiction on my blog to at least let people know what kind of stuff I write.
Try to get short stories published and include blog in bio - hook readers through outside sources.
Comment on book blogs and follow them, these people are definitely readers.
That's all I've got so far.
Actually I don`t like goodreads. But it helps a lot. I think facebook pages are the best. there are some kindle blogs which are also very helpful :)
Happiness Notes
@JavidSuleymanli
I don't really know, Moody. I haven't expanded my platform to include connecting with readers yet but thank you for making me aware of its necessity!
I think @Libby's suggestion to comment on book blogs and follow them is an excellent idea!
Michelle
http://michellefayard.blogspot.com
I'm with Michelle and Libby.
Also, it's worth remembering that any writer worth his/her salt is a reader too. And they have friends who read and so on.
:-D
AbsoluteWrite is a pretty awesome place-- it's got everything an aspiring writer could ask for. :D
Oh, and as a somewhat noobie blogger, what's the blogfest and how do you get in on it? O.o
@Libby - Thnaks for those suggestions. I wonder if people are eager to read fiction pieces on blogs and if so of what length. I will generally skip stories or poems just because of the time it takes and the amount of blogs I peruse. Anyone have any thoughts?
@Javid - I'm not on Facebook not sure I have the energy to open up another door into anothe world...
@E.Elle - let me know if you come up with any good ideas.
@Michelle - I think it would depend on genre somewhat too.
@Misha - good point.
@Jasmine - Hi! You can find details about the blogfest here
Not sure that Goodreads is exactly right because you have to be "friends" with someone on Goodreads and it leads you to the same place, with other writers.
My sister is a librarian and swears by Library Thing. I also think you can find readers on review sites, but then you need to get the reviewers to read you when you get published. All tricky.
In the end, writers are readers so you aren't going wrong connecting with them. And people like what you have to say and will recommend you to their friends, etc.
This is a great question and one I haven't considered, but certainly should have, oops.
I feel like there's even more for me to be doing now *sigh* haha
The most important facet of online social interaction is getting one's name out there. Blogging and social networking don't sell books to readers, they sell books to other writers, most of whom also read (I hope). A majority of the social networking sites are geared to readers OR writers, and users land where they're most comfortable. The most important reason to have an online social networking presence (apart from the AWESOME support of other writers, which is why I participate) is to assuage publishers, editors, and agents who for some reason are convinced it's important. At present, the number of books sold via these channels is negligible. Few readers will find a writer by chance on any of these sites, including Goodreads. That's not to say this won't change in the future.
I've definitely been wondering this too, and there are a couple things I've come up with. First, I try and comment on a bunch of different blogs in a wide variety of topics, in case they or any of their readers are interested in writing. You might get a wider group of people that way.
Also, I try and use bigger, more general sites like YouTube and Flickr. They take a different kind of work, and sometimes a lot of it, and not everyone on those sites are big readers, but still, I've seen how they can really pay off. So yeah, check out my flickr group for writers and my Dear Muse youtube vlog.
Hope that helps! great questions :)
Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
Reaping the benefits of being late to your blog... I've made a few notes.
Great question! I'm supposed to be participating in this blogorama, but can't seem to think up any questions. I agree that book review blogs are great places to find new readers, especially if you can get them to review your book! :)
I'm building up my Goodreads and LinkedIn networks so when my next book Opening comes out this fall I'll have a couple new avenues to pursue.
Good question, Moody! I think GoodReads is the place!
I'm on Goodreads and LinkedIn. Both seem to be great places to reach readers and other writers.
This is a great question, Moody! Since I write middle grade, I think eventually I'll have a Facebook page and/or website targeted at my audience. I haven't tried out Goodreads yet (other than to read reviews of books I'm considering reading), but maybe I should. The problem is, I need time to work on the actual writing, too.
I try to have a broad array of followers, meaning I seek out people who aren't just writers. I use Goodreads more as a means of keeping track of the books I want to read as anything else. Perhaps I should spend more time there.=D
@Christa - thanks, I'll check out Library Thing.
@Juliana - yes, there's always more to do...
@VR - sure, but i'm thinking by the time i'm published (in the year 2525) things may well have changed and I thinkit's worth sorting stuff out now. I was a boy scout, you know.
@sarah - thnaks for that. i'm a bit wary of more places where I have to provide content, feels like it would be time consuming.
@Munk- timing is everything.
@JC - I'd certainly like my book to be reviewed as widely as possible (once I've got it published).
@Stephen - I'm not sure how Linekdin works. Anyone know?
@PK - lots of recommendations for goodreads (anyone on there feel free to look me up)
@Christa - another for LinkedIn, might be worth investigating. i thought it was more of a jobs based thing.
@Andrea - Hi! Yes, everything steals time from what we actually should be doing.
@Donna - how do you track these non-writers down?
Thanks for all the comments, lots of avenues to explore! Hope everyone's finding the suggestions as useful as I am.
I enjoy GoodReads, Library Thing, Shelfari, and Amazon.
I've been using Goodreads, but these comments now have given me plenty of links to visit. :)
That's a really good point - our main audience is readers, not writers, but how do we attract readers when we don't have a published book yet? I love Goodreads but I haven't tried anythin else yet and I haven't made an effort to connect with other readers on there yet - just writers I know already. Thanks for the push I will start to remedy that!