Tag: Goodreads

What to Like about Like-Fests

young buck by KSBrooks
Like-fests are fun and leave your breath minty fresh.

Each Wednesday morning at 5 a.m. Pacific time, we here at Indies Unlimited host a “like-fest.” Sometimes it will be for Amazon.com author or book pages, Facebook pages, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, Goodreads or other social networking platforms. One thing is certain – every Wednesday a large community of authors, readers and reviewers stop by and a good time is had by all.

This past Wednesday, we ran an Amazon.com like-fest. The turn-out was great and we had lots of new participants and books. An interesting question was posed to me by an author: Maybe you can explain something to me about this amazon.com Building Your Empire-Fest. Why should I care about other writers following me or liking me on Amazon? I’m trying to get readers to read my work, not other writers.

Valid question. It’s debatable what technical purpose “likes” serve. There have been rumors that Amazon.com “pushes” books up in the search results if they have over a certain number of likes. I have not been able to corroborate this from an actual source, so as far as I know, it’s still a rumor. Continue reading “What to Like about Like-Fests”

Keys, Tags and Penguins (Part 1)

What’s a penguin got to do with anything?

When I mentioned yet another post about SEO to the fellow minions they suggested, relatively politely, that I might explain why anyone should care. We have already had splendid examples of great SEO advice, here for example, but it bugs me that most writers still aren’t playing the SEO game to its full advantage. And I care, so there.

I know that most of us are on Amazon, Goodreads etc and people who like books find us that way. We have lively blogs, they gain loyal fans and your fame spreads by word of mouth…but people Google for books too. If they already know your name or your book title they can usually find your website but suppose they just want ‘fantasy fiction’? I just Googled it, not a single author on page 1. And yet 165,000 people Google for fantasy books per month. Book Reviews? 1,500,000 searches per month, and not a single reviewer’s blog on page 1. People are looking for you and they can’t find you. How do I know? I’ll show you later.

Why say it again though? And why now? Everyone’s read loads of articles on SEO and they all disagree with each other. Here are a few secrets: Continue reading “Keys, Tags and Penguins (Part 1)”

Goodreads: Good, Great, or Necessary Evil?

goodreads logoIf your book is on Amazon.com, there’s a good chance it’s already on Goodreads. Here at Indies Unlimited, we have lots of great articles explaining how to best use what Goodreads has to offer. These include advertising, give-aways, Listopia, a Goodreads for Beginners article (running October 13, 2014) and more. Have a question about Goodreads? Drop us a line through the contact form and we’ll have one of our experienced staff authors check it out. Thanks for visiting Indies Unlimited.