IngramElliott’s latest author, A.L. Glennon, is more than a writer—she’s a teacher, an occasional ballet student, and most importantly—a mother of three. Her passion for reading started at a young age when she would line up at her local library to check out the next Little House on the Prairie installment. “I still remember where my hometown library used to shelve them,” she says. “I would run straight for that shelf as soon as I entered the building!”

Times haven’t changed much, except these days, she’s the one doing the writing. With a master’s degree in communications from Georgetown and a previous novel already under her belt, the author believes we all have a story to tell.
 
The only thing holding us back, she says, is us. “Too many of us let busy schedules or the fear of rejection or the idea that ‘anything less than perfection is pointless’ stop us from putting words on the page. Carve out the time to write your unique tale, and then worry about next steps later!”

We caught up with the author recently for an exclusive interview about the launch of the novel, Hungry on September 12, 2023.

What fact about yourself would really surprise people?
I have loved ballet all my life. I took formal lessons from age four to age sixteen, and I have taken classes on and off as an adult in DC, NYC, and Charlotte, NC!

What is your favorite scene in your book? Why?
I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just say that there is a scene in which Cam has been working really, really hard and making sacrifices for his career that really strikes a chord with me. I know what it is to be driven, and I have been fortunate enough to know elite athletes whose dedication inspires me tremendously.
 
What motivates you to write?
My motivation for writing is the same as my motivation for breathing—I just have to do it! I’ll hear a story starting to tell itself in my head and, eventually, I need to write it down, so I don’t go completely crazy. (Or, rather, so I don’t go crazier than I already am, hearing stories in my head!)
 
Is there a special place that you prefer when you write?
I sit at an antique wooden desk, in a very uncomfortable antique wooden chair. The furniture has really been through a lot—I bought it secondhand in college and tried sanding and painting it myself. But I love it. The desk tells its own unique story, and, over the years, it has really become a big part of mine.

What makes you the happiest? Where do you find joy in life?
I love going on adventures with my family, whether it’s a local day hike or a vacation to an exotic destination. My three sons have changed the way I see everything…even the biggest misadventures end up being a lot of fun with them.
  
Writing a novel can be personal. Did you ever question whether to include or exclude any of your personal experiences or feelings?
If there is a way to write a story that isn’t shaped by my own personal experiences and feelings, I haven’t found it yet! Everything I have done, seen, heard, and felt has made me the writer that I am, and—though it might not have been a conscious choice—those personal experiences and emotions absolutely impacted this novel.      
 
Who is your first reader – who do you first show your work to?
I have been blessed to have been a part of a longstanding critique group. I have known some of the members for years and years now; one of them is always my first reader.

Hungry is available September 12, 2023, in print and e-Book. Pre-order today at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes or wherever books are sold.

​About the author
A.L. Glennon has a Master of Arts degree from the Communication, Culture, and Technology Program at Georgetown University. She currently lives with her family in North Carolina, where she teaches high school English. She is the author of the YA novel Wait for It.

Special IE author guest blog post
By M.M Cochran

Introducing your novel to the world comes with a handful of tasks that only the author can complete. For example: promoting it on social media, to the press, and word of mouth. I’ve been a published author for only a few months, but I had over a year to prepare for my book launch. Today, let’s discuss the ins and outs of creating a social presence for your novel, written from the fingertips of someone who has very recently done so.

​Build the hype
As soon as you find out you’re publishing your novel, spread the word. There are several steps to take to get the word out and give your book presence among your community, including these tactics: 
​

• Contact the local press to report on a community member signing a book contract
• Release the information on ALL social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, etc.)
• Tell your local church, school, or contact your old college who might share the news on their webpage

By announcing this exciting information, your novel will have a presence of its own among your community.

Social media: a whole different presence
The first thing I did when I signed my first publishing contract was share the news on social media. From there, I created excitement and started to build an audience who followed me along my journey, all the way to the moment I was holding my hardback in my hands. Moreover, my novel had an online presence––perhaps the most important there is. But how does this help a book launch? Let’s dive into this.

​By creating an online social presence, the book becomes familiar with your followers, whether you have an audience or not. Prepping for the book launch on social media will unconsciously build an audience among followers; by seeing content related to your book release every few days, it will become expected and desired.

When my book was about to release, I did a few things that my publisher said helped my number of sales, which included:

• Sharing quotes to tease readers
• Sharing fun facts about the book
• Posting aesthetic pictures of the book
• Writing posts about my publishing journey and how I felt about release
• Writing raw and honest posts about the hard parts of publishing and writing

My online presence grew from only hundreds of followers to almost 3,000 between the time I announced my book was under contract to the day of my launch. The experience was encouraging for a little author like myself, plus it impressed my publisher and sold more copies than I thought my homemade advertising could pull off.

What about online presence after the big launch?
Many authors have no problem spilling the hardest part about publishing, and to sum it all up, it’s marketing. Writers are writers, but they’re also content creators, master marketers, and multitaskers. All of this falls under the dreaded umbrella of selling your own book. While publishers have worldwide distribution and connections, in the end, they count on the author of their novel to sell that story better than anyone. I mean, who else is better to do the job?
 
With that being said, I want to share what I did to heighten my success after my book launch.  After my book released, I did a few things on social media such as:

• Expressed the success my book received in the first week
• Shared reviews of my book from online sources
• Had a social media manager design posts about my novel
• Constantly had something book related on my Instagram and Facebook stories
• Focused on keeping my pictures aesthetic and appealing to my teenage audience

​Staying consistent and enthusiastic about your novel brings attention to the story and the author. The more present the book is on social media, the more people will be enticed to read it.

When focusing on a book launch, don’t forget the little details like engaging with followers, responding to their feedback, and being overall active with them. There’s no better way to sell a book than to first build a relationship with the reader. In the end, make your book launch not only about your book but about everyone who is walking alongside you in your journey to publication, and at the end of the day, enjoy your moment in the spotlight!

Special IE author guest blog post
By M.M Cochran
 
Writers and social media don’t always mix very well. But authors and social media? That’s a must. I know, I know. . . writers of all kinds are typically reclusive when it comes to making private life public. All we ask of the world, with puppy dog eyes and hands in prayer position, is this: “Will you buy my book?”

Here’s a fact: the world just might do that––IF you put it out there for them to see. So, the nagging topic that seeps its way into every author’s life . . . “social media as a new author.” Let’s chat about it.

I’m M.M. Cochran, new author of my debut young adult novel Between the Ocean and the Stars, published by our very own IngramElliott. When I first signed my contract with them, they told me to prepare to do some heavy marketing on social media. And if you’re trying to promote your book, personality/brand is what’ll make you or break you. Seems crazy, right? But as a new author myself, I had to find a way to make myself known, and to tell you the truth, branding myself, which means also branding my book, is really quite fun.

New authors, Instagram is your best friend. (Raise your hand if you want to consider spending hours on Instagram “work”!). My tips and tricks for promoting my book is this:

• Stay active.
• Keep your audience engaged in your life.
• Do you go to coffee shops often? Share that on your story.
• Do you write a new chapter every day? Let your followers know that.

After all, your audience follows you for a reason, and that reason is because they’re interested in seeing your life as a writer. With a debut novel coming out, show them what the publishing process looks like, or the writing process, or the editing process.

My social media development started taking off when I announced on Instagram that I’d signed my first publishing contract. It’s been growing ever since. Here’s some quick tips and tricks that helped me get the ball rolling:

•  Posting consistent content that’s book/writing related
• Familiarizing my followers with my novel/book title/cover
• Staying engaged with my followers (comment and like their posts, respond to their DMs)
• Letting them know they can contact me with questions
• This is an important one: Keeping my page pretty
• Building a community of readers/writers/my fans that support me
• Having longer captions vs. one-liners
• Being honest. I.e., Reflecting the hardships of book writing 

 

Fans of Jeffrey F. Meyer may be surprised to know that he was a member of the Franciscan Order and studied to be a priest for seven years. This important time in his life, combined with thirty-five years as a professor of Religious Studies, informs, inspires, and influences his latest novel, Crooked Lines. 

Crooked Lines follows Jeffrey's award-winning debut historical fiction novel, A Call to China, heralded by Kirkus Reviews as "An engrossing fictional exploration of family, culture, and what it means to belong in both China and America."

Set in the late 2020s, Jeffrey's latest visionary work of fiction asks the question: Can our hero and his strange band of friends find the courage to restore democracy to an America teetering dangerously on the precipice of authoritarian rule?

When asked about his motivation to write, Jeffrey notes, "Since I retired from UNC Charlotte in 2008, I have spent most of my time writing fiction, a first novel that I could never get right, then A Call to China, now Crooked Lines, and I’m working on another novel, now about half way through the first draft. I consider myself lucky to have this inner urge to write fiction¸ which I suppose was inborn, something in my heart and mind that can’t be fully explained."

And Crooked Lines is no ordinary literary journey. The reader will encounter action, humanity, humor, and serious issues, all wrapped into a framework based upon an abridged translation of the Chinese classic Journey to the West.  This pilgrimage story follows a famous Buddhist monk traveling from China to India in order to bring back to his native country all the sacred scriptures that were lacking in China. The monk seems unlikely to succeed.  

In Crooked Lines, Bishop Donovan is an ordinary man, neither brilliant nor possessed of heroic virtue. Set in a future where authoritarian governments have taken hold around the world and the planet heads toward a climate disaster, Bishop Donovan and two unlikely companions—an Asian monk and a former pro-football player—risk everything to share a way forward with the world. 

​Accepting the complexity of all human beings, Crooked Lines also deals with a number of important issues: authoritarian government, the threat of climate change, the intersection of religion and politics, the place of faith in a cynical world, women’s role in traditional religious institutions, and the meaning of success and failure as individuals and institutions strive to realize their ideals.

We chatted with the author about his new novel in advance of it's upcoming release. Crooked Lines is available September 18, 2020 in print and e-Book. 

What fact about yourself would surprise your fans?
Readers might be surprised to know that I was a member of the Franciscan Order, studying to be a priest, for seven years. I left the order about a year and a half before ordination, but my time in the Order was very important in my life.  I became aware that a number of my colleagues who also left the Order resented the time wasted and years lost. I did not.  I felt that I gained a lot by the experience, maybe the most important thing was learning how to live in a community. Another thing was learning of the importance of religion or spirituality in human life, a conviction I have never lost.  That conviction is obvious in Crooked Lines, as it is in all my writings, fictional and academic. 

Where do you find joy in life?
Exploration and travel.  Learning about nature, in the manner of Mary Oliver (for its spiritual meaning), and exploring and foreign lands and peoples.  I’ve spent, for example, about three years of my life in Asia, mostly China and Taiwan, amazed and intrigued at times at how different these cultures are from my own, and at other times marveling at how much alike all of us are, from the east or west,  as human beings.

Tell us something about Crooked Lines that's not in the summary.
The inspiration for Crooked Lines comes from an Asian source.  About three years ago I was reading an abridged translation of the Chinese classic Journey to the West, a sort of pilgrimage story in which a famous Buddhist monk goes from China to India in order to bring back to his native country all the sacred scriptures that were lacking in China. The monk seems unlikely to succeed.  He is often diffident, somewhat fussy about his own comfort. How will he be able to make the arduous and dangerous journey across the Silk Road to India?  He does it by finding three companions who will accompany and help him, the chief one being Monkey, probably the most popular character in all of Chinese fiction. The three are mischievous, sometimes badly behaved characters as well as “superheroes” so there is a strong element of fantasy in the novel.  My aim was to retell this story in a western setting, preserving the serious religious purpose while using elements of fantasy and humor. 

What books did you love growing up?
As a kid I remember riding my bicycle to the local library in Cincinnati, where I grew up, and checking out books regularly.  I read all the Wizard of Oz series, the Hardy Boys (young detectives) stories, and I recall going through an African period, reading stories about its fascinating animals and terrain. I can remember only one title, Treks Across the Veldt, though I read many. These were books written from the imperialist’s point of view, glorifying the big game hunters and explorers, with the actual people of Africa playing secondary roles as scouts and bearers. But early in my teen age years I began to read adult books that left a permanent mark on my mind, like Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth, about a Chinese farmer and his family. Another was J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye.  I was also deeply moved by the Anne Frank story. 

Why did you pick this particular subject matter to write about?
Besides my love for the original story of Journey to the West, I took up this novel as a way to touch on three issues that I consider crucial at this time in American history, and really, world history.  The first is the growth of authoritarian governments around the world and the corresponding weakening of democracy, which can be seen right now in the U.S., China, India, the UK, Poland, Hungary, Brazil and the Philippines. The second is climate change, and the third is the role of women in world religions—name me a single world religion where the patriarchal model does not dominate.

I hope these issues become more tangible as the reader encounters them in real social settings in the novel. 

A professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for thirty-five years, Jeffrey F. Meyer taught Asian religions in the Religious Studies department, with a focus on Buddhism and Daoism. He is married with three grown children and currently living in Davidson, North Carolina.
​
His first novel, A Call to China, is a Silver winner in the 30th Annual Benjamin Franklin Awards and a finalist in the 13th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards and the 2019 NextGen Indie Book Awards.

Follow the author on Goodreads.

​As we’ve discussed before, your author brand is crucial to your success as an author. A huge part of this brand is marketing. Your content, social media, and overall marketing strategy are all critical components of you and your book's presence to readers and potential fans. But sometimes it can seem like a lot to manage, right? What if we told you that you didn’t actually have to do it all on your own?

What is a virtual assistant and how can one help me as an author?
Having a virtual marketing assistant is useful on all fronts of the marketing side of your brand. A virtual marketing assistant can do things like reach out to book bloggers and influencers for reviews, create newsletters to go out to your readers, and create content and manage your social media. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t have a hand in the marketing side of things, but it will significantly alleviate the pressure on you to perform all marketing tasks on your own. 

Make a list of tasks you want help with
Ideally, once you hire a virtual assistant, you will create a list of tasks for him or her to perform. This list will, of course, vary from author to author. It’s important to know what tasks you want your virtual assistant to accomplish before you even search for one to ensure that you hire exactly who you’re looking for.

Some things to consider putting on the list could be:

1. Social media upkeep and social media content creation
2. Newsletters for your email list
3. Setting up virtual author events (or eventually, real life author events)
4. Reaching out to book bloggers for reviews; writing blog content
   
5. Keeping your Goodreads and Amazon author profiles fresh and up to date

A good way to determine what to have your virtual assistant work on is to make a list of things you either dislike or avoid and things that don’t really need your direct input. By doing this, it frees you up to work on the things that do need your direct input – like edits to your manuscripts, important meetings, and speaking engagements. A clear idea of what you want your virtual assistant to do makes it easier on both of you moving forward.

How to find a virtual assistant
So now that you have a general idea of what a virtual assistant is and how they can help you with the marketing side of your job, you might be wondering how to find one! There are several different ways to find a virtual assistant, but we’ll give you tips on some of the easiest ways.
 
Start with a simple Google search. Searching “Virtual Marketing Assistant United States” will yield different companies through which you can hire a virtual assistant. Of course, not every company will be a perfect fit, so you’ll need to set aside some time to look through the list of companies and search by the set of skills you’re looking for to find the perfect virtual assistant for you.

​A popular site to hire freelancers through is Upwork. If you visit their website, there is an option on the homepage to find a freelancer in the “Admin Support” field. You can then select the “Virtual/Administrative Assistance” option.

• Upwork gives you options to filter for “complex project,” “longer-term contract,” or “short term” – select whichever option feels like the best fit for what you’re looking for. For example, if you want someone to create a weekly newsletter, you’d likely want to select longer-term contract. If you just need someone to create a press kit for your most recent book release, short term might be a better selection.
• You’ll then need to select your estimated project duration and level of experience needed. Before getting results, Upwork will ask you to sign up to get free quotes.
• It’s free to sign up, and, once you do that, you’ll have access to Upwork’s candidates that match your requirements!
• Upwork will create a “job post” based on what you entered, and candidates can apply for your job, as well.

 
Another great way to find a virtual assistant or social media manager is through LinkedIn. You can search for local people in your network with expertise specifically in social media and marketing, content creation, or managing your schedule, if that's what you need. 

Belay services offers website and social media specific support as well. Learn more on their website about how to work with their assistants. 

Take the time up front for future success with your VA
Although it may take some extra time up front to sit down and come up with a game plan for hiring a virtual assistant, it will save you time in the long run. Hiring a virtual assistant is a great way to prevent yourself from burning out on the tasks you don’t enjoy as much about your job. If, after reading this, you’re interested but still unsure if a virtual assistant is the best option, remember that you can start small! Try hiring a virtual assistant for just one or two small tasks at first to ease yourself into it, and then go from there. There’s no exact formula for what your virtual assistant needs to do, so you have the freedom and liberty to craft it to what you need specifically. ​With a little research, patience, and open-mindedness, you may find exactly what you're looking for to help boost and maintain your author platform. 

Author Robin Elno's latest installment in the award-winning Clown William series enjoyed a successful virtual blog tour throughout February. IngramElliott Publishing partnered with Premier Virtual Author Book Tours for several stops at prominent book bloggers around the globe, including reviews, excerpts, and exclusive interviews with author Robin Elno. Thanks to our reviewers and fans everywhere for their tremendous support for Clown William and the Wind of Vengeance!

Enjoy the reviews below as well as two special author interviews hosted by International Book Promotion and Teddy Rose Book Reviews. 

The story is highly spectacular, with the author taking his time in matters of character development with his writing being so vivid and well researched. Elno paints a vivid landscape that transports the reader. For western fiction literature lovers, Clown Williams is an outstanding masterpiece which is not only worth your time but also deserves a place on your shelf. 
​​-Gud Readers review, Goodreads

We've talked much in our blog about the importance of social media and building an author platform through an online presence. As the leaves change color, consider changing your approach as well. It can be a challenge to make time to keep up online presences but as the leaves go on falling, the world of social media goes on spinning. We get feedback from partners all the time on how important it is that an author have a strong presence online when searched for. An author's social media platforms are used in marketing programs, book awards programs, blog tours and reviews, and even purchasers can find you if you put yourself out there where you can be found.

This fall, we encourage all authors to take a fresh look at their platforms by following three simple steps. 

Even if you are not a pro at this, what matters is that you stay active. It really is about connecting to other people which may include other authors, readers and fans, or groups that you are interested in.

A few pro tips

• Set aside a half hour each week to search for authors and books you enjoy. Follow them. 
• Scroll through your Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook feed and "like" or "heart" content in your feed from those you've followed.
• Review books on Goodreads and follow other members' and authors' reviews. 
• Follow your favorite authors on Goodreads and check your Goodreads feed once a week. 
• Join a Goodreads group that interests you. 
• ​Make sure your author photo is up to date across all sites.

Lastly, if you don't have the desire, interest, or time in doing all of this, search for and hire a virtual marketing assistant to help you do all these things . . . and it won't break the bank! You can specify marketing assistants or social media assistants and hire someone to help build your brand, keep your sites fresh, and work with you on connecting to followers. Search on LinkedIn or Google for people in your area (if you want someone local) or work with people around the globe offering their services. You can also find students at local colleges that may be interested in the job or just through people you know and already work with. Ask around! 

As any author knows, your job is not finished when you finish writing your book. Marketing is key for sales of your book, and, as social media continues to evolve, there are continually more possibilities for how to do this.

Enter the Influencer.
​In recent years, influencers have become quite popular, especially in the world of social media. An influencer is someone who has built a following of people that trust and respect their opinions in an area of expertise. Some influencers specialize in fashion, others in food, others in family life, and still others in blogging – just to name a few areas.
 
Influencers exist, as you may have guessed by now, in the book world, too. And these influencers can be huge assets to you in marketing your book! But, understandably, it can be a daunting task when considering how to go about reaching out to them.
 
First and foremost, it’s important to look at this like you would any relationship. It should never be entirely one sided. Yes, you want them to do you a favor and promote your book. But don’t forget that, as with anything, these things work best with a symbiotic relationship.

When it comes to Goodreads, the possibilities as an author are endless. We've talked much in the past about Goodreads as an essential tool for your author platform. (Read a couple of our past blog posts on Goodreads and other social media strategies here).

Goodreads is owned by Amazon and it's a true community of readers and librarians that take their reviews seriously! They are avid readers and writers and make it very easy to connect with others. As an author they offer amazing tools such as a Goodreads Author Profile where you can connect or create a blog, create a giveaway, and participate in a plethora of community groups tailored to various genres and interests. 

One major way to use Goodreads well? Book giveaways.

But wait! First things first. It's critical that you spend some time creating a compelling Goodreads presence first. Goodreads makes it very easy to give and get reviews, update your author profile, create or link to an author blog, and connect with other readers and writers. 

The more positive reviews you have, the more likely someone is to buy your book if they click on your ad. Spend the time necessary to establish this presence before spending the money necessary on advertising your book and you will be more likely see favorable results.

Let's talk about Giveaways!
​
Goodreads giveaways have been shown to dramatically increase book sales, and they’re so simple! They come in two options – standard or premium. Read all the detail here and get the quick notes below!

A standard giveaway will cost you $119, no matter how many books you give away within it. Everyone who enters will add your book to their Want-to-Read list, all of your followers and anyone who already has your book on their Want-to-Read list receive a notification of a new giveaway, Goodreads emails the winner of your giveaway reminding them to rate and review your book, and your giveaway is featured in the Giveaways section of the website.

A premium giveaway will cost you $599. You get everything from the standard giveaway, as well as premium placement on the Giveaways page. Additionally, Goodreads will send a message (that you create) to the entrants who don’t win, which could increase your book sales and build relationships with readers. 

For the giveaway, you select the span the giveaway runs and how many copies you want to give away. As the author, it’s your responsibility to get your book to the winner in a timely manner and to cover the cost of shipping. While it will cost you less to give away one book, you will get more reviews from readers if you give away more. 

You’ll want to make your giveaway description as attention grabbing as possible. Is it an autographed copy? Have you won any awards for it? Why should readers want to sign up to receive a free copy of this? Remember that they can simply check your book listing on the Goodreads site to read the synopsis of your book, so don’t make the only description!

Pro tip: If you schedule the giveaways for a few days in the future, you won’t lose any run time to Goodreads’s approval process. Also, if you select a short span for the giveaway (think 2-3 days), your giveaway will appear on both the newly listed and the ending soon pages, meaning you will get double the exposure at the same time!
​

A note about self-serve ads on Goodreads


​Unfortunately, Goodreads is retiring their self-serve ad feature as of next month. They will focus on giveaways and other advertising opportunities. If you already have a self-serve ad funded and created you can still edit and run it through next February. These ads run (used to anyway) on a cost-per-click model. You set the budget, and your account gets charged for each click until the budget runs out.

Many authors who have used this service say not to plan on immediate results from your ads. However, after time, the momentum usually builds, and the more exposure the book gets, the more interest there is in it.

Check out your author dashboard for whatever new advertising opportunities Goodreads will roll out next or to manage anything current you have going on until February of next year. 

Creating an author blog can be an effective extra 'step' in creating your author platform and reaching your audience. Since blogs can be on any topic you like - including those related to or in support of your book - you may pick up additional readers or reviewers interested in taking a look at your book. 

If readers haven't used the particular keywords in their search for you (read more about keywords and meta in our blog post here), they may not immediately see your book pop up in results. Using meta data in your blog post, including keywords and categories, will help search engines find your blog, and in turn, find you as an author. Also include social media share buttons on your blog post (most platforms do this automatically), so that followers can easily post your content to their networks. 

Blog posts can be topics of interest for your readers or related to your area of expertise or knowledge. For fiction writers, a little less straightforward than non-fiction writers, which typically have a specific area of expertise, it may mean relying on your personal experience and tying it into your fiction work.

Building an audience takes time. 
Building an audience takes time. 
Building an audience takes time.

The above is not a typo . . . but it's worth repeating. Whether it's an author blog, author social media sites, author events, and other ways to build your brand, it takes commitment, time, and consistency. 

Blogs aren't for everyone and that's okay. You can get the straight-talk from one of our favorite bloggers of business advice for writers, Jane Friedman, in her post Blogging for Writers. She says, "The most successful blogs have a very focused angle and appeal to a very specific audience."

Creating a blog takes time, but may be worth it if you have an author website to which you can add the content (read our blog post on building an author website). It's best to use the platform you are already using for your author website - this keeps everything in one place and helps keep your marketing (social media links, blog links, author bio and info, events, book info) all in one place. There are many good and easy to use author website platforms. You can also work with a virtual marketing assistant to help set one up.

Another easy-to-use blog opportunity is your Goodreads Author Page. Once your author profile is setup on Goodreads, they make it pretty easy. From your Author Dashboard, scroll down until you see Your Blog. From here you'll have options to write a new post or sync with a pre-existing blog. Goodreads Authors are the only members who can have a blog on the site, so take advantage!

So give your potential readers useful and interesting information, and hopefully those beginnings will bloom into followers and purchasers.