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Reviews are critical to book sales and it doesn’t matter if you get 5 stars or lower.  In fact, some publishing experts say reviews look more real if they are a mix of ratings.  If you have reviews on Amazon and GoodReads comment on them.  Make your comments positive even if the review is not and you will go a long way to building reader loyalty.  You even have the opportunity of learning how to improve your next book from the readers themselves.  Always take the opportunity to interact with readers and they will remember you the next time they visit the bookstore.

Have you heard about BookCrossing?  If you have, be sure to tell us about your experience in the comment section.  If you don’t know about BookCrossing you can learn more here.  The idea is that you register some of your books with BookCrossing, then you leave them in public places where they can be picked up and read by BookCrossing members.  The website offers a large and active social media section where people can review and discuss books.

Communicating with readers and potential readers is your main goal with promoting your book.  Consider creating a Twitter account for your main character(s) and using it to communicate with readers.  Some authors are having luck with this but be sure to read Twitter rules first.  If you decide to do this create a robust profile for your character but make sure that you disclose that your character is fictional.  If you already do this successfully let us know in the comment section and we’ll feature your account on our blog!

Book Hitch offers a free option to add your books to the site.  This includes a 60-word description, 5 search keywords and a link to the site where readers can purchase your book.  If you don’t mind paying a yearly fee you have the option of a more detailed listing.  To see what other authors are doing visit Book Hitch and then open your free account!

Here’s a nifty website:  Nothing Binding.  Authors can register for a free account and upload information about their books.  Another important feature is that you can meet and network with other writers.  That’s always a good thing.  Already using the site?  Let us know how it’s going for you!

John Kremer has created a collection of Twitter tips that can help both newcomers and old timer authors who want to leverage the power of Twitter to market their book.  You can download the e-book version or read the online version here!

Vincent van Leeuwen shares the lessons he learned at Startup Weekend in September 2010.    Our favorite lesson?  “Treat The Media As Your Friend.”  Apply these lessons to writing a book or marketing your company.  Read the entire article here.

If you have an excerpt of your book you can offer it on sites that publish free offers to readers.  Make sure that you include more than just your introduction.  Most freebie sites require the excerpt to include one chapter from within the book.  You can find these types of sites by searching Google.

Another marketing idea for your book is to find blogs on the topic of your book and offer to write a guest post.  You might be asked to provide an original piece that won’t be published anywhere else.  Only offer that kind of exclusivity to a blog with a large readership that may be interested in your book and include a  link back to the book in your biography.  Many authors have done well using this method.

We love GoodReads.  It is a great resource for both authors and for readers.  We regularly run giveaways for our new books and we always get a good response so we are happy to see that Goodreads doubled in size in 2012.  To learn all the good news from Goodreads click here and let us know how you use the site to promote your books.