This presentation was originally given on April 15, 2013 at the London Book Fair's Author Lounge. It details the challenges facing authors and publishers hoping to get their books discovered. It also highlights how to use the Goodreads Author Program to find new readers.

1. Helping Readers Discover Your Books

3. 350,000
New Titles in 2011 Source: Bowker

4. 150,000
New Titles in 2011 in the UK
Source: The Publishers Association

5. 150,000 - 200,000
Self-Published Source: Bowker

6. 600,000
Self-Published Titles in 2015
Source: Bowker

7. 39% of Books Sold Online

8. photo by john.a.ward

9. Our Mission
To Help Readers Find and Share Books
They Love
Confidential

10. Recommendations are what get people excited about books.
Recommendations from Recommendations from the
Friends Community
Recommendations from our new book
Recommendation Engine
Confidential
10

11. 17 Million members
525 Million books shelved
23 Million reviews

12. photo by o5com
11 million books discovered a month (added to to-read)
Every second... 4 books are discovered
on Goodreads

13. photo by StatueLibertyNPS
Build your platform

14. Metadata.
Goodreads sources book metadata from publisher ONIX feeds, Ingram, Firebrand, and OCLC WorldCat.
We will also soon begin importing data from Amazon, including international book metadata.

15. Goodreads Is A Social Media
Platform For Authors
EL James
70,000 Authors Neil Gaiman
James Patterson Diana Gabaldon Margaret Atwood Janet Evanovich
Confidential
Paulo Coelho Nicholas Sparks John Grisham Jennifer Weiner Kathryn Stockett

16. Make your author profile stand out!
Add your blog

17. Make your author profile stand out!
Shelve some books

18. Make your author profile stand out!
Update your fans

19. Make your author profile stand out!
Add your events
Post your events and invite your
Goodreads friends
Author Lisa See has gotten
excellent results by messaging
friends located in each city she
visits on tour

20. Goodreads groups.
Anyone can create, manage, and maintain a Goodreads Book Club or Group. They are typically created around a single
genre or author.
Authors can use groups to have in-depth conversations with their fans.

21. photo by Jesse Chan-Norris http://jcn.me
Get people talking

22. Your goal is to get reviews,
especially early in the life of your book.
Reviews help new readers discover your book

23. Your goal is to get reviews,
especially early in the life of your book.
Reviews help new readers discover your book
They help readers decide to read your book

24. Your goal is to get reviews,
especially early in the life of your book.
Reviews help new readers discover your book
They help readers decide to read your book
Goodreads reviews work harder for you

25. What Happens on Goodreads ...
Doesn’t Stay on Goodreads
Goodreads Reviews Shared on

26. Giveaways Help Kick Start Book Discovery

27. Some tips to make your giveaway great.
Start early: Three months pre-publication is ideal.
A month is the perfect amount of time to let plenty of
people enter your giveaway.
Giveaways offering 20 books or more will get, on average, 887
entries with 50% of those people adding the book to their to-
read shelves. 45% of winners review the books they win.
The more books you offer, the more reviews you’re likely to get.
Don’t be afraid to run multiple giveaways for a single title.

28. 30
24
Books Added Stats for
Books Added
18 Beautiful Ruins
12
6
0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May

29. Books Added Stats for
Beautiful Ruins
300
240
Books Added
180
120
60
0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July

30. Giveaways encourage people to Add the Book.

31. People who have added the book to their to-read
shelves receive an email on the publication date.

32. Use the giveaway widget on your blog, Facebook page,
or website to encourage your fans to enter.

33. Amplify your reach.
Self-serve ads can be targeted by author and genre.
Add a call to action like “add to my books!” or “enter to win.”
Giveaways with ads attract 56% more entries than giveaways without ads.

34. The Power of a Promoted Giveaway
Promoted Giveaway
Normal Giveaway

35. Bringing it all together

36. Finding an Audience From Scratch
160
Republished by S&S
140 4. Listopia
120
People who added to "to-read"
100
80 3. Recommendations
1. Giveaways
60
40
Published 2. Influencers
20
0
Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep

37. Mini Influencers Spread the Word

38. Finding an Audience From Scratch
160
Republished by S&S
140 4. Listopia
120
People who added to "to-read"
100
80 3. Recommendations
1. Giveaways
60
40
Published 2. Influencers
20
0
Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep

39. A Taste Based Algorithm
If you liked these books, thousands of other readers liked these similar books…

40. Finding an Audience From Scratch
160
Republished by S&S
140 4. Listopia
120
People who added to "to-read"
100
80 3. Recommendations
1. Giveaways
60
40
Published 2. Influencers
20
0
Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep

41. Listopia Allows for Browsing & Discovery

42. Finding an Audience From Scratch
160
Republished by S&S
140 4. Listopia
120
People who added to "to-read"
100
80 3. Recommendations
1. Giveaways
60
40
Published 2. Influencers
20
0
Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep

43. Useful Links
http://www.goodreads.com/author/program
Information about the Author Program, including who is
eligible and how to join. If you’re not yet a
Goodreads Author, this is a very useful page.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/how_to
Useful information on how to do anything and everything
in the Goodreads Author Program, including links to
giveaways, featured author groups, and more.
http://www.slideshare.net/GoodreadsPresentations
Previous presentations we’ve given, as well as
several slideshow tutorials.

44. Patrick Brown
Director, Community
pbrown@goodreads.com
twitter.com/patrickrbrown