I signed up with Goodreads forever ago, which in the social media/tech world means about a year ago. As part of my recent blitz to get my work out into the world, even if I had to do it myself, I looked into what Goodreads provides for authors. Sure enough, you can post anything you want, as long as it’s not violating any copyrights or anything.
And of course, you have to promise to be an adult and not cyberstalk people who read your stuff, or slam people who slam your work. I’m a writer. I know how it goes – even a bad review will get more people to read your stuff, and I’ve been rejected so many times in passive form letters, which is a far worse form of rejection than actual criticism.
So, I decided to give it a whirl. I started by posting The Other Dentenia Zickafoose, just to see where the experiment would lead. I did that tonight, at about 10:00. It’s now 11:30, and I already had someone read my story and leave a review. And it’s a positive one at that! (Thanks Shymoon; I promise I won’t shower you with affection for being my first public positive reviewer.)I posted more stuff on Goodreads, and will do more tomorrow. For now, I am going to curl up with the book on my currently-reading shelf on Goodreads. Follow me there, too, if you dare.
Kelly, Thanks for the report on your GoodReads experience. I joined a few months ago and felt a bit overwhelmed. I’ve read a bunch of books, but holy crap, some of these folks are reading two books or more each week! I mean, God love’em for doing it, but honestly, where do they find the time? Maybe I’m just a slow poke. Maybe as a writer I analyze too much and disect every chapter instead of merely gobbling up the story for the shear joy of it.
But, back to your experiment on posting stories. I also have a hard shell regarding rejection. I was in sales. I’ve been turned down more often than a blanket at the Hilton. So, I’m going to take your lead and post something. I’ve been working up some short pieces, (my way to put off starting revisions on my second novel) and GoodReads would be a perfect place to try them out.
Ginger B.
http://coppertopcollins.blogspot.com
http://www.gingerbcollins.com
Thanks for posting this. I think I’ll share it with the writers who read my flash fiction blog. (Also: Hi! Ginger!)
Thanks for sharing it! I checked out your flash fiction blog as well – good stuff! I may have to try my hand at the flash fiction thing; it seems to be where the industry is going.