Goodreads seems to be such a tremendous tool for authors and readers alike. I'm still trying to figure my way around it. ['m guessing there is far more here than I have as yet uncovered.

Today, I asked someone who is reading one of my books to be my goodreads friend. I don't know if that is weird or not. I don't even know what, exactly, it means to be a goodreads friend.

I only have one "gf" at the moment, a person who read one of my books and asked me to be her friend. The only thing that I know that friendship means right now is that I get to see what she's reading. I find that very interesting and valuable! The more I know about my readers' literary tastes, the better I feel I can write books that truly connect with readers.

I am so very busy writing, that I find it difficult to keep with all the new and different offerings in the social media world (and everywhere else!). But, I try to devote a little time to it each week.

If any of you have insights you'd like to share with me about how you use the friend feature on goodreads, I'm all ears. And if you want to friend me, I'd be so honored to be your friend.

Seeing what people are reading feels a little "stalkery"...that may be too strong a word, but it definitely feels like spying (in an impersonal way). But, as a former advertising copywriter, I am used to collecting and analyzing data on people's habits and turning that into useful insights that improve products and communications. (As an author, I've been doing this by reading reviews on various books and analyzing what readers like and don't like. I suppose I am a total research nerd.)

I've read in the trade press that goodreads will be starting to sell books sometime this year...don't know if that's speculation or a fact, but it will be interesting to see what happens in the book world when/if that comes to be.