How do you like to use Goodreads?

[Shipple]

So, I just started my Official Online Personality in Goodreads. I've actually been using Goodreads for a while to get a few good recommendations, but then I decided to put my profile out there and actually use it as a social media tool, aka, I decided I'd like to meet people on it.

So I just spent forever sifting through quotes because the J.K. quotes helped me re-remember so many of the best parts of her books and because there are a lot of very fun/entertaining/insightful people out there.

I also spent a while stalking some people and reading all of their reviews because, well, some people are funny, and I like them.

I know I recently saw a post on here about giveaways (because everybody loves free stuff!) What do you like to do on Goodreads?

[MHPHILLIPS]

Have you seen any activity at your blog? Though many successful recent indie authors have blogs, I wonder if it is worth the effort. Many review bloggers have closed their blogs to new reviews or closed the blog all together.

[Shipple]

I really just started my Goodreads last week, and I did it more to interact with readers than to push my blog. And my blog is also pretty new, so I can't say I've had terribly many hits to either.

I'd say if you have a self-pubbed novel it definitely wouldn't hurt to have a Goodreads account because if someone is considering your book, they might look to see what else they can find out about you and/or your book. I've also heard a lot about give-aways on Goodreads, but the thing about social media is that it all takes a while to take off (if it's even going to), and I just haven't had my stuff out there long enough to see big jumps in numbers.

Sorry to disappoint.

[Ryan]

In the limited time I've been on Goodreads, I have to say I really like it. There are some lasting things you can do to interact with readers and potential readers. Busy is an understatement around here so I haven't done much other than a few reviews and a Giveaway but you can interact in groups, forums, topics, etc and all those things create a presence that's much longer lasting than a Tweet or FB posting.

I walk sometimes thinking about what I want to say about books I've read and it is fun to read reviews about books you want to read. I found some cool books to read once the lil man starts sleeping through the night! I'm going to do another Giveaway soon. A few more reviews trickled in and e-books sales bumped (a little!) during and after the Giveaway. Have fun with it.

Friend up if you choose...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1243 ... -rainbowse

Cheers
Ryan

[Collectonian]

I've tried Goodreads twice and both times I gave up on it after a day. It just didn't work for me for how I like to work with my books/reading and I absolutely hated trying to deal with how they handle serial works like manga and light novel series. Trying to import my entire collection of over 1000 books was also just not worth the hassle

Beyond being able to show off your collection (have my own site for that) and share reviews (blogs/Amazon), I didn't see much that was useful to me anyway, so I had little interest in making the effort to learn it.

[edmjill]

I have done several giveaways on GoodReads and find them helpful. My books get put on a lot more "To Read" shelves every time.

[Cameron D James]

I've tried to use Goodreads -- but I just can't seem to intuitively grasp how the site works. I have the app on my phone, too, but that's just as confusing to me. And I'm quite techno-capable, so it's unusual for me to be confuddled by a site. (The other site I find confuddling is WordPress... but I'm starting to pick up that one.)

So I've ended up basically using it like a bookshelf. I keep track of the books that I read and then it shows up in the sidebar on my WordPress site. I review books on my Tumblr, but can't seem to bother with copying and pasting them into Goodreads...

If/when I'm published I'll probably sit down with Goodreads for an hour or two and figure out how the darn thing works.