Tag: LibraryThing

Sizing Up Book Giveaway Programs

Author Bruce FottlerGuest Post
by Bruce Fottler

Part of an indie author’s quest to obtain reviews (and gain general exposure) will likely include book giveaways. But where do you find them and how do they compare? While I don’t profess to be an expert, I’d like to share my experiences from two (free) sites.

1.  Goodreads is the undisputed king of “social cataloging” sites, with over 40 million members worldwide. They sponsor a giveaway program limited to print books only. There’s no charge for this service, but all expenses associated with it (cost of books, postage, etc.) are your responsibility. I’ve run ten giveaways since 2013 (with one currently running) which offered two or three copies per giveaway. None of my giveaways were promoted and didn’t exceed thirty days in length. My shortest giveaway was ten days.

Results: Continue reading “Sizing Up Book Giveaway Programs”

Tuesday Tutorial: That “Thing” – LibraryThing

What IS LibraryThing? From their website: LibraryThing is an online service to help people catalog their books easily. You can access your catalog from anywhere—even on your mobile phone. Because everyone catalogs together, LibraryThing also connects people with the same books, comes up with suggestions for what to read next, and so forth.

So, yes, it’s like a Goodreads or a Shelfari, and the now-defunct BookArmy. You can do author give-aways, or chats, and more.

Welcome to LibraryThing!
Welcome to LibraryThing! (Figure 1.)

The first thing you need to do is sign up for a free account and then become a LibraryThing author. Currently there are just over 8400 authors on LibraryThing making it a worthwhile investment in your time – consider how many authors are on Amazon.com! Information about becoming a LibraryThing author can be found here. Once you’ve gotten your account established, sign in. From your home page, click on Profile in the bar of tabs across the top (Figure 1.). Continue reading “Tuesday Tutorial: That “Thing” – LibraryThing”

Beating Back the Crowds at My LibraryThing Author Chat

Author Mike Markel

by Mike Markel

A lot of people have been coming up to me on the street, asking me how my Author Chat on LibraryThing went. Well, not actually a lot of people. In fact, nobody. But that’s the good thing about social media tools: instead of just muttering to yourself like a crazy person you can broadcast your mutterings without feeling quite so crazy, although to be honest I think it means you’re crazier or at least more pathetic.

So, I went on LibraryThing.com to do an Author Chat, which would last a week. My first novel, Big Sick Heart, a police procedural, had recently been published. Also doing an Author Chat at the same time was Samantha Bruce-Benjamin, author of The Art of Devotion, which the critics were calling a haunting debut novel that evokes an age of elegance and grace. I didn’t like any of those words, mostly because I never hear them used in connection with me. Continue reading “Beating Back the Crowds at My LibraryThing Author Chat”