Why doesn't my book show up on bookshelves?

We have two groups of books within Shepherd.

We have promoted books, and we have recommended books. 

• A promoted book is a book an author promotes alongside their book list (or other formats). It is an advertisement for their book. 
• A recommended book is a book that someone has recommended on their book list (and eventually other formats). 

This difference is key to ensuring reader trust.

Readers do not want to go to a site where an advertisement for a book is portrayed as a recommendation. That is a quick way to lose readers' trust.

That is why we are so careful to ensure that promoted books are visually different when shown on your book list. They are not part of the five recommended books but rather a way to show the reader why you are a great person to make that recommendation and nudge them to check out you and your book. It is a soft sell. 

Bookshelves are only created with recommended books. 

The minute your book is recommended, it also goes into the recommendation side of Shepherd. Right now, our only format is the book recommendation lists, but over time we are looking at other recommendation formats (sign up for the author newsletter so you don't miss those). 

Of course, your book and your profile are featured under the "Click to meet" section of bookshelves. 

And, if a user likes a book recommendation you wrote, they can click to see your book list or click that link to expand and meet you and your book, which looks like this:

How do we get readers in front of promoted books?

Here is a breakdown of how we get readers to your book list so they can meet you and your book. We use your list and the five books you picked as hooks to pull readers toward your book list. That is why your personal recommendations are so important, as they attract readers to you and sell your book. Here is more info on this key concept and why sharing books help you sell your book.