Publishing E-Books For Dummies

Setting Up a Goodreads Account

Goodreads, like other social networks, is quick and free to join. Simply go to www.goodreads.com , enter your name and e-mail address, and choose a password. When you click Sign Up, your new account is created.

This process gives you only a reader account, however. You can interact with the site as other readers do — rating and reviewing books and joining groups, for example — but you can’t yet edit the details for your book.

Before you publish your e-book, you may want to set up your Goodreads account so that you can start adding books that you’ve read and ones that you plan to read. As on other social networks, you get much more out of Goodreads if you’re an active, engaged member rather than someone who uses it only for self-promotion.

To join the Goodreads author program, which gives you access to extra tools, you need to have at least one book already published or in the process of being published, and it must be listed on Goodreads.

Adding your own e-books to Goodreads

If your e-book doesn’t yet appear on Goodreads, you have to list it there before you can set up an author account. You have two options:

Apply for librarian status, and add your e-book yourself.

Ask a Goodreads user with librarian status to add your e-book for you.