Navigating Goodreads

I’ve been on the book fan website/app Goodreads for a while, but I have no real idea how to use it, and certainly not as an author. And it seems like bit could be a very useful tool.
I recently read a post about Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere. The book has been a huge success, and the post says Goodreads may have played a part in the success of the boy’s marketing campaign. The post is a Goodreads post, by the way, so consider the source!

Ng is an excellent example of an author who really understands what works well on Goodreads, continuing to share reviews of what’s she reading (check out her 2017 Year in Books), as well as answering questions from readers about her own books.

So, over the next few weeks, I’m going to be reading a lot about Goodreads, and posting my findings on this blog as I work out my own strategy. Some questions that I hope to answer: is Goodreads social media in the same way Twitter Fb and Insta are? As someone who suspects that when it comes to social, I should pick one platform and use it comprehensively (rather than frittering my time away doing a little bit on each one, to little effect) can Goodreads supplant all the other platforms? Is it possible to measure returns on time and money investment in Goodreads? Its it a useful promotional tool for my books? What makes it tick?

etc etc. Stay with me!