My writer friend Rhonda Hopkins recently tuned me into two bits of interesting news about Goodreads.
According to the Goodreads website, every second, six books are added to the site. Whoa! That’s a lot of books. That’s more than the rate of the number of human births per second throughout world (either 3 or 4 births per second, depending on what data you believe).
We’re posting books faster than popping out babies! The Goodreads library currently has more than 360 million books, more than the estimated population of the USA.
Granted, we’re comparing apples to tractors here. But still, these numbers amaze me.
Also, as of earlier this month, Goodreads has more than 10 million members. While this number is huge, what’s interesting to me is the rate of the membership growth. As the company CEO and founder put it in a press release, when Goodreads was founded in 2007, “it took four and a half years to reach 5 million members and only another 15 months to double that number.”
I’m not sure this post has a point other than Goodreads is huge and growing rapidly. It’s something I think every author should be a part of.
What do you think? Do these numbers mean anything to you? Will the Goodreads site’s growth continue exponentially, or do you think one day it will reach a plateau?
The Best of The WG2E Goodreads Guru Wishes — Tamara Ward
Tamara Ward is The WG2E’s Goodreads Guru as well as the Bestselling Author of Storm Surge, the first novel in the Jonie Waters mystery series and Private Deception, the first novel in the Jade O’Reilly Mysteries.
***Note from D. D.: Congrats to Tamara!!! Private Deception has now broken into the Top 1000 Ebooks on Amazon!!! Go, Girl, Go!!!
Congrats Tamara on Private Deception in the the Top 1000 Ebooks on Amazon!
Thanks, Lois! It’s been a fun ride so far with this book!
What Lois said, Tamara. Your success is very well deserved!
Thanks, Dale. Yours is, too!
As a reader, I love Goodreads for a lot of reasons. As a writer, I could not find a more supportive platform. I will be Epubbling my first novel in the next couple days, and was able to easily find several beta readers through Goodreads.
I also was able to post a convo thread to get some input on facets I was considering incorporating for my third novel which was very helpful.
In addition to these great things, Goodreads also has a tremendously supportive endeavor going to encourage members to read and vote on debut books (Epubbed or print) that author-members can plug into the program. It’s really very exciting and wonderful to see.
Hi, Sheri! It’s great to hear about your experience with Goodreads. Where do you go to plug in books to the debut program? And where do you vote? The website is so vast I think I missed this! Thanks for sharing your knowledge, and good luck with your novel!
Tamara, Congrats on the success! “Found” Goodreads a few months ago and I love it! It’s where Indie mixes with tradition. There is something for everyone on that site…lots of great book suggestions, amazing groups, tons of information, resources, etc. If they don’t already have what you’re looking for (discussion topic, great book title), you can add it or request it. You can get” lost” in that site for hours, so I’ve found that setting aside a solid hour devoted to quality use of the site a few times a week works best for me…still have lots to explore.
Hi, Monica! I feel the same way as you… that I still have lots to explore on Goodreads, and I’ve been a member for a while! They keep on adding fun features – or I keep discovering them. It’s a great (and vast) community.
I joined a couple of days ago. Very interested in the reading group at their APOCALYPSE WHENEVER site.
Hi, Phil! You might consider joining our Goodreads We Read Indie Books RG2E reading group, too. You can find us at http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62304. That Apocalypse group sounds interesting, also! Reading groups are a great way to make friends on Goodreads.
I’m on good reads and adding friends, and I belong to several groups. I guess I don’t participate like I should because I find the whole thing pretty clunky. What’s the best way to utilize Goodreads? Just jump in and start connecting? I’ve heard some people talk about a strategy but have never read anything really concrete. Thanks!
I’m on GoodReads as well, but I agree with you, Stacy, about the website. “Clunky” is exactly how I’d describe it, too. I do like seeing the book recommendations and connecting with other readers–just wish it was a little more intuitive.
Yes, Goodreads does take some getting used to, and some of the buttons for links are in unlikely places.
To make connections, use Goodreads the way it’s meant, as a reader. Add books you’ve read to your bookshelf, rate them; find and follow friends; follow authors you enjoy and comment on their blogs. If you’re in a group and you find someone with similar tastes or who is friendly, add them as a friend.
For an easy friend connection method, click the friend image (two people on the top bar). Then, using the link in the right side bar, you can search for friends from Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and Yahoo, and even for friends of friends on Goodreads.
I hope this gives you a good start. Perhaps just dedicating a certain amount of time to spend on the site once or twice a week also will help you find your way around it better.
I like Goodreads not only for keeping track of the books I read, but to see what kind of reviews they get. Granted on Goodreads a book does not always get what a writer thinks is a review. Too many of the readers simply give it a number of stars and say nothing. For a writer this can be frustrating and, at the same time, rewarding.
Lately, I’m wondering if following friends is worth it. I’m looking for reviewers who actually say something about books. I’ve followed a few people who add twenty or thirty books a week to their ‘to read’ list and maybe do two actual reviews. I’m getting rid of those.
Patg
I’m with you on the just-star reviews, Patricia. It is frustrating… unless it’s rewarding, depending on the number of stars!
I’ve not used the site to try and find reviewers yet, though I’ve heard of authors being frustrated after running a giveaway on a paper book and ending up with few reviews to show of it.
Thank you for the shout out, Tamara! I’m learning more and more about Goodreads each week and I always love your posts about GR. I enjoy the site and being able to connect with other readers and writers. And aren’t all those books, great?!?
Hi, Rhonda! Thanks for the news flash! I’ve been enjoying our book club discussions a lot… though this month it’s a little quiet! Maybe a few of us writers are busy… Ha!
Hi, Tamara! Luuuved Private Deception! So great to know there are this many readers around wanting to talk about books!
Thanks, Alicia! It is reassuring, knowing the world contains so many people who are into books!
I use Goodreads for two reasons. 1, for adding the books I read, so others can see what I like. And 2. adding each of my ebooks to it when I self-publish them. So my readers can see what I am writing at each and hopefully gather more readers. I don’t join in with groups like I should, perhaps I should.
Hi, Julie! Finding a group can be a good thing, but sometimes the group is so big you can get lost inside it. Goodreads is a wonderful way for sharing books, no doubt about it.
Julie, be careful as an author. A post on FB today by an author said she got thrown off GR because she talked about her books. Apparently, selling/marketing/comment blasts are not allowed by authors. I remember reading that rule, but don’t know all the details.
I have found a group on there that connects Goodreads authors with readers. I’ve joined that and introduced myself. The key is to find the right group to do the right things with, like that.
Did the author say what exactly she was doing that got her thrown off? And was she out of a group within Goodreads or out of the Goodreads site completely? Sometimes we do need to be careful not to self promote too much.
Congratulations, Tamara!
I got an email yesterday from someone wondering where they could find my book. I assumed they meant on Amazon or Smashwords. She emailed me back and said she meant Goodreads because she wanted to recommend it to friends. I was up until midnight last night giving myself a crash course on Goodreads. I applied for author status. Does anybody know how long that takes to kick in?
Thanks, Janice. I can’t remember how long it took me to gain author status – I thought it was fairly instantly. At the most within a day.
And I see you have your book on there already: great job! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15843162-st-anne-s-day
I see your author page, too, just waiting for you to add stuff to it at http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6475435.Janice_Lane_Palko.
You should be able to access it from the drop down menu under your photo. Email me if you need help!
Hi, Tamara!
I think Goodreads is great. When I first found it, I just assumed that it was a LibraryThing knock off, but it’s sooo much more. I love how they’ve integrated a social media model into the site.
Goodreads is neat, and the social media connection is wonderful, but Goodreads doesn’t have the merch like LibraryThing… yet! I’m waiting for the Goodreads mug, T-shirt, etc.
Tamara, congrats on breaking the top 1000 ebooks on Amazon! I’m on Goodreads and at this point, mostly use it for recording the books I read. I want to get involved in some groups, but haven’t taken the time to figure them out yet so I can select the ones I’ll most enjoy as a reader. I should probably move that up on my priority list, huh?
Hi, Sheila, and thanks! Groups can be fun and a good way to meet people with common interests. I thought it’d be fun to join a book club in my genre, so I joined one that read mysteries. It was/is a massive group, so while I don’t feel I’ve made a lot of personal connections, I have been introduced to books I wouldn’t have read on my own. I enjoy it.
I love goodreads and am quite active there, whether through a few great reading/discussion groups, or through my own reviews. The beauty of it is that you can cut and past the html of your reviews into your blog and you can link twitter so that a tweet goes out when you publish your reviews. I’ve had several readers discover me on goodreads, not because of shameless self-promotion (which is considered, at the very least, gauche), but because they enjoy my reviews and then go either to my blog or to my smashwords site, which I’ve linked in my author profile. There are some groups that allow and even encourage self-promotion, as long as it is kept within the proper bounds, but those who insist on “spamming” non-promotional threads can be quickly ostracized. Play by the rules, and goodreads can be a powerful, if subtle, tool.
I couldn’t have said it better, Forrest. Thanks!
First, a huge congrats to your new sales achievement, Tamara! U Go, Girl!
And yes, I’m luuuvvvin’ the Goodreads growth! I do think it’s a wonderful place to share what you’re reading. That’s what I primarily use the site for, and I really enjoy connecting with the readers there. I use their widgets on my own D. D. Scott-ville sites (since you taught me how) and have picked up several new readers because I have my blog feed into Goodreads too! My Bitchy Signs are very popular with Goodreads Peeps too!!! LOL!
It’s a really fun way to “find” readers and get to know readers based on the books you each are reading and luving!
Thanks, D.D.! I’m enjoying Goodreads, also. And I’m constantly discovering new features on the site!
I love Goodreads! I’ve met some awesome readers there. I don’t get to participate in as many groups and discussions as I’d like (I could spend all day on there), but I love seeing what everyone is reading. I’ve found lots of great books that way.
Unless I’m in a place where promotion is allowed, I interact as a reader, not a writer. Through the Authors Requesting Reviews (ARR) program in Making Connections, I got a number of reviews of my first book that were invaluable, so it’s well worth any writer’s time to investigate. But do be respectful and don’t bombard people with promo. Just have fun!
Wow! I’ve got to check out that ARR program! Thanks for the tip, Dana!