This list was inspired by a few author friends. So I hope you all enjoy it and find it useful!
First, I'll start off by listing the places that you need to catalog your books.
1. Shelfari, http://www.shelfari.com
Shelfari is great because not only can you catalog your book, but you can build up the value of sharing your book there by adding fun quotes from your book and facts about your characters. There is also a place to add related tags. Readers can edit your book's listing on Shelfari and add reviews as well as quotes or tags that they think are relevant.
This is probably one of the most important sites you will catalog your book on.
There is also a nice little forum where you can exchange writing advice, swap reviews, and hang out with authors.
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| Shelfari is fun because it's interactive in a sense, allowing the reader to add things they feel are important. |
Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com
Goodreads is the other "most important site" to list your book on. You can list your book, add information about it, write a good description (just like the others), but you can also add your book to relevant lists. If there isn't a list that your book fits into, you can always create one.
Like Shelfari, Goodreads also has a forum where you can hang out with authors, exchange writing advice, and swap reviews. Goodreads' forums seem to be a little more active than Shelfari.
Jacketflap, http://www.jacketflap.com
Jacketflap is a great little place to list you book, because alongside your description, it also lists places your book is sold as well as the reviews you have received there. You can also add links to any site that has reviewed your books.
You can also share book trailers, readings, and interviews in the video section.
Bookdaily, http://www.bookdaily.com
Like the others, you can share the title and description of your book. But on bookdaily, you can also share a first chapter excerpt of your book. This is great, because it gives readers the chance to get hooked.
Bookdaily has a paid option (you don't have to us it), to promote your book to 50,000 readers for about $47 USD. This could be a deal, but I have never tried it so cannot vouch for it. If anyone has tried it and found it useful, please let me know in the comments!
Librarything, http://www.librarything.com
I can't say a whole lot about this one, because I need to investigate it some more. But it is a place to add your book, title, description, and some tags. It appears that you can add your books to lists on the site as well. It's worth at least listing your book on the site!
Wise Gray Owl, http://www.wisegrayowl.co.uk
You've heard the old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Get ready to ignore that advice, because the whole point of Wise Gray Owl. You are shown a selection of books and pick the ones you are interested in based on the cover. It's that simple! So go add your book.
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| One of the first books I saw when I entered the site was Our Poems For Kids by my friend, Melinda Kinsman |
Second, places where you can lend your book out.
Book Lending, http://www.booklending.com
Book Lending is a virtual library, which I discovered the way I discover most great things, completely on accident. Booklending is essentially a virtual library where you can "check out" Kindle books. The way this works is pretty simple.
1. List books you own on Amazon so that others can borrow them.
2. Search for a book you want. If somebody owns it they can then "Loan" it to you.
3. You can keep the book for 14 days. Then is returned to its owner automatically.
The other virtual library,
Lendle, http://www.lendle.me
This "virtual library" has the same concept as Booklending, although there is a limit to how many books you can check out before you have to upgrade to a pro account.
Why add your book to a virtual library? A few reasons.
1. It's an easy way to share with someone who might be interested in reviewing it.
2. Just like a real library, it's a great way for new potential readers to check out your work. If they love it, they may just want to keep it for more than 14 days!
3. Having your book in any kind of library increases your exposure and the possibility of new readers!
Last, but not least, book trailers!
Youtube, www.youtube.com
This might be obvious to some of you, but probably not to all of you. Raise your hand if you didn't even think of creating a book trailer before I mentioned it. You should definitely consider creating (or hiring someone to create) a book trailer for your book.
It gives you exposure to a new audience (the video viewing audience which makes up a large part of the internet) and gives your fans an easy way to share your work with their friends without having to pitch it themselves, though fans are often better at that than the author!
Youtube is a good first place to upload your book trailer because of it's versatility. You can then easily share the trailer on many other sites (Facebook, Google +, Pinterest, etc)
Book Trailer Central, http://www.booktrailercentral.co
This is a site that is dedicated to book trailers. So far it's pretty simple and mainly about book trailers, sharing and watching them. I believe in the future they may have book trailers compete against each other. (Feel free to correct me if I'm thinking of the wrong site.)
And that's all I have to share for now. Those are some great links to get you started! Even if you're not a new author, you're sure to find at least one or two of them handy. So go check them out. And let me know if there are any useful, important, or in your opinion, completely necessary sites for authors to be on!
Till next time,
Teddy
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