Riffle offers features that let you connect your books to readers efficiently!

Riffle is (yes, another) new platform promising to connect publishers, authors, books and readers, and bring book discussions into the Facebook Newsfeed. But by using the best features of many of the best social media sites, they may have stumbled upon a winning combination. Let’s take a look inside and see how you can make Riffle useful in your own author marketing!

At first glance, we like the ease of use (get on quickly using Facebook) and the platform (looks a bit like Pinterest, but for books – click the image at right to view larger). You can follow folks easily a la Twitter, and Riffle will give you plenty of suggestions of folks to follow. You can add books and check them off once read, like Goodreads, but rather than a rating it’s a heart icon for a like (again, like Pinterest). And, like Klout, increased engagement increases your influence score…

Then there are their book lists (a la Amazon, but frankly cooler and easier to find/engage with). We think this may be their strongest feature and definitely something authors should do (both create a list of your own, and encourage others to add your books to relevant lists).

The other feature we love is the Riffle: Twenty Questions! A great idea, super conversation starter and chance to immediately jump into the “conversation” with your own book recommendations. How it works is, you answer each question by adding a book. So instead of long-winded answers from folks you may or may not know – Riffle cuts right to the heart of the matter – Books ARE the answers. This section feels a bit Tumblr-esque – fun and frothy but still relevant.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of their twenty questions. There are also Q’s included about several specific genres:

• What were your favorite books growing up?
• What have you read recently?
• Which books would you hope your soulmate has read?
• What are your favorite books by your favorite author?
• Which books would you automatically recommend to a friend?
• Which books kept you awake at night?
• If you could only save a few books from a fire, which would they be?
• What books have changed the course of your life?

As you can begin to see, these provide an opening to share your favorite books as well as your OWN books in at least a couple of answers, one more way to keep your name and your book out there and drawing attention from a new audience.

It remains to be seen how much of an author marketing impact Riffle will have, but it’s worth the time to set it up, check out the lists and answer the twenty questions.

The best part of the site is that it’s definitely structured to be user-friendly (click on the left image to see an enlarged help menu), so it won’t take you — or your readers — much time at all to stop by and engage And as a reader, it’s a fast and user-friendly way to find your next read, too!

Are you using Riffle yet? If so, tell us how and let us find and follow you there, too!