Goodreads is without question a great space for readers to share what they’ve read. But do you know how easy they make it for authors to better promote themselves and their books?

The Goodreads Author Program is free, and it’s designed to help authors reach their target audience of passionate readers. Bottom line: It’s a perfect (and easy) place for new and established authors to promote their books.

Here’s some info we gleaned from the Goodreads Author Program page to get you started:

1. Your Profile

• Add a picture and bio.
• Share your list of favorite books and recent reads with your fans!
• Write a blog and generate a band of followers.
• Publicize upcoming events, such as book signings and speaking engagements.
• Share book excerpts and other writing.
• Write a quiz about your book or a related topic.
• Post videos.
• Add the Goodreads Author widget to to your personal website or blog to show off reviews of your books.

2. Your Books

• Advertise your book to the Goodreads Community of nearly 10 million readers
• List a book giveaway to generate pre-launch buzz.
• Lead a Q&A discussion group for readers.
• Participate in discussions on your profile, in groups and in discussion forums for your books.

The Author Program is for those of you with published books, or who are in the process of publishing a book. This includes self-published authors. (If your book is self-published and is not yet in the Goodreads database, you can manually add it.) And, if you are a writer but have not yet published your book, you may want to check out the writing section of your profile where you can post your writing for others to read and review.

Learn more about how to use the author program HERE and view the slide show from Goodreads below. If you’re already using Goodreads’ author program, tell us what’s worked best for you!