By ┬áPenny Sansevieri writing on www.bookworks.com ÔÇô the Self Publishers Association

Now more than ever, Goodreads is a fantastic tool to promote your book and interact with other readers. ┬áMany authors have jumped on the Goodreads bandwagon, so IÔÇÖve put together some tips to ensure that you are put your best foot forward by creating a profile that makes a great impression and forges connections!

Start with a Strong Profile

When we talk about a profile, we actually mean two profiles: one is a ÔÇ£userÔÇØ profile, and the other is an ÔÇ£authorÔÇØ profile. ┬áWhen you first start with Goodreads, youÔÇÖll be a ÔÇ£user.ÔÇØ ┬áOnce you have a user profile, you can upgrade to an author profile. ┬áWhen you upgrade to an author profile, you still have a user profileÔÇöyou may choose to ignore one or the other, but be aware that both exist.

First and foremost, I suggest using a professional headshot as your profile picture.┬á Next, you need to fill in your profile with some information about yourself. ┬áMake sure that you fill this in as completely as possible, and donÔÇÖt leave any sections blank, because the information in this section helps your reader get to know who you are. ┬áYou can also leave the ÔÇÿAsk the authorÔÇÖ option on to allow fans to engage with you.

HereÔÇÖs a quick link to the author profile info on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/program.┬á This will provide you with even more information that you can reference as you are creating or updating your profile, as well as an area to search frequently asked questions by other Goodreads users.

Adding your blog to your profile is a fantastic way to promote yourself on the page. ┬áYour readers will get to know you as you consistently post good content. ┬áAlso, itÔÇÖs a good bit of ÔÇ£SEO juiceÔÇØ with your followers, because a blog post on Goodreads generates a link (and hopefully traffic) back to your website. ┬áSimply add your blog feed by clicking on your author photo at the top right corner of the page. ┬áThat will allow you to view your profile. ┬áOnce there you can then select ÔÇ£edit author profileÔÇØ next to your picture (at the top right-hand side of the page).

And if you have a book video,trailer or an author video, be sure to also promote it on Goodreads.

Participate and Engage

Now that you have a solid profile, you can begin interacting with other Goodreads users. ┬áIn order to make connections, itÔÇÖs important that you remain active, so here is a list of suggestions to get you started:

• Add a new book to your shelves: This could be one youÔÇÖre reading, one you want to read, or a book that has inspired your writing.
• Rate books: You can assign each book a certain number of stars.
• Write a review for someone elseÔÇÖs book: If you do a lot of Amazon reviews, you can simply repost that content to Goodreads.
• Blog post: You should update your blog once a week to keep in touch with your followers.
• Post to a group, make comments, or respond to someoneÔÇÖs question.
• Add friends: YouÔÇÖll find people in groups that you want to friend, or reviewers you want to follow. Building a healthy friend list is key to expanding your network (and getting more reviews) on Goodreads.

The key to being successful on Goodreads is to remain active and grow your network.  Now you have the tools to create a solid profile on Goodreads and begin making those connections!

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Penny Sansevieri

Penny C. Sansevieri, Founder and CEO Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. She is an Adjunct Professor teaching Self-Publishing for NYU.

Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most innovative Social Media/Internet book marketing campaigns. She is the author of five books, including Red Hot Internet Publicity, which has been called the ÔÇ£leading guide to everything Internet.ÔÇØ

AME is the first book marketing and publicity firm to use Internet promotion to its full impact through The Virtual Author TourÔäó, which strategically harnesses social networking sites, Twitter, blogs, book videos, and relevant sites in order to push an authorÔÇÖs message into the online community at sites related to the bookÔÇÖs topic and thereby position the author in his or her market. AME has had eleven recent books top bestseller lists, including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal.

To learn more about PennyÔÇÖs books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at http://www.amarketingexpert.com.

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