“Classic – a book which people praise and don’t read.”
Do you like the quote by Mark Twain? Want to share it with your friends?
All-about-books website Goodreads has a quotes feature that allows members to do just that – share quotes with friends and other members. A lot of these quotes come from books, from classics to new releases.
If you’re reading a book and come across a striking passage, consider sharing it on Goodreads. And if you don’t find the quote or the author you’re looking for, you can add the quote yourself.
Using the quotes on Goodreads feature, I found great quotes by people who aren’t known first for their writing, like Einstein and Marilyn Monroe. I also found (and liked) this treat from Gemma Halliday’s Deadly Cool:
“She shot me a sugar-coated smile. I matched it calorie for calorie.”
Now that I clicked the “like” button next to the quote, Gemma’s words are listed under my quotes page, and anyone who visits my profile can see that I like what she wrote. Plus, it’s a way of giving a shout out to one of my favorite authors.
And when I couldn’t find a quote I liked by an author whose novel I recently read, I added this one, from Christy Hayes’ Heart of Glass:
“She was this girl I once knew. Took my breath away, she was so pretty. Took my heart, if you want to know the truth. I was kind of angry about it at the time.”
How to:
Finding and adding quotes is straightforward. Go to the quotes link under the Explore tab in Goodreads. You’ll see the most popular quotes, and you can choose several ways to search for quotes, including looking at those your friends like and quotesabout a particular subject or by a particular author.
If you can’t find your favorite quote, you can enter it by clicking the “Add a quote” link on the upper right. Once you enter the author’s name, Goodreads automatically provides a listing of that author’s books so you can click on the one from which the quote originates.
As my son’s preschool teacher would say, “Easy-peasy lemon squeezy.”
Your turn, WG2E-ers! Do you have a favorite quote by an author (or anyone) you enjoy? Do share! And add ‘em to your Goodreads profiles!
The Best of WG2E and Goodreads Quoting Wishes — Tamara Ward
Really cool tip, Tamara! I’ll be putting it into practice soon. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, Kiru! Thanks. I found the quotes feature fast, easy, and fun!
This sounds like a really good way to interact with your readers and get more. One of my fave quotes I read this year was by Karen Brady of ‘Apprentice’ fame. In the short part of her biography I read, she said ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’. So I now try to plan my writing schedule better.
Good quote, Julie! Thanks!
I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but I’ll start looking. I haven’t had much time to explore Goodreads, but when I first signed up and saw quotes, I posted one I liked from my own book. You’re allowed to do that, too.
Thanks for the info. I’m still working my way around Goodreads and I need to learn more.
By the way, love the Mark Twain quote. So true.
Thanks, Diane. Mark Twain is just a groovy fellow all around. Good luck with navigating Goodreads, and let me know if I can answer any questions. I’ve found just getting onto the site and doing things – that hands-on experience – has helped me figure out the site. There’s nothing like just jumping in!
those are some pretty darn good quotes you used, made me much more interested in the works from those folks -
plus the info on how to use that on goodreads, thanks much
Thanks, Adan! Glad to know the quotes drew your interest. I think it can be a helpful feature for expanding our audience as writers.
Great post, Tamara!
I type in my own quotes on Goodreads and then use their widget (which you taught me to do) to hook those quotes to my own website too! Check out the bottom left sidebar in D. D. Scott-ville:
http://ddscottville.blogspot.com/
I love it, D.D. – your website, that is. And wow! Look at those Goodreads widgets!
And here’s the fabulous post Tamara did on all the Goodreads widgets:
http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/the-wonder-of-widgets-on-goodreads
Tamara!
What a lovely surprise this morning to find my work quoted in your post–thank you! I always enjoy your informative posts about Goodreads. It’s a wonderful site that has a lot of potential and your willingness to break it down to its basic parts and explain those to us is so valuable. I also appreciate D.D. linking to your post on widgets. Time to do more research!
There are so many times I come across a truly wonderful sentence and I never think to share it with others, so thanks for the reminder and the instructions on how to do this.
Thank you, Christy! I loved Heart of Glass! Fantastic read… and one that I’m saving to read again because I enjoyed it so much. I’m with you in that when I come across a great sentence, I’m not always thinking of sharing it… but perhaps now that I’ve found the quotes feature on Goodreads so easy and fun, I will share more quotes.
I love the quotes feature on Goodreads. I found some great bits of fun wisdom that I’d never heard before by my favorite authors. Stephen King has some gr8 ones, btw
And thanks for the Link to Tamara’s Widgets post, DD!
Cheers all!
Let’s go write together in different places.
Fun wisdom, and fun and wisdom! The quotes on Goodreads run the gambit! I bet King has some great quotes. I enjoy his On Writing book a lot – tons of info from it strike me as being the honest truth about the core of writing. Have a fantastic day, Greg!
Thank you, thank you!
You’re a font of knowledge and thanks to the link to Tamara’s widget posts! Shall send them to the man who can!
You’re welcome, welcome! Thanks. Widgets are fun… and so are quotes!
Great post, Tamara! I love quotes from books, but hadn’t yet figured out how to maneuver that aspect of Goodreads. And it’s a great idea got use a quote from a not-necessarily-famous author. Gives us another way to support and show appreciation to our fellow writers.
I fully agree, Alicia. I’ll be reading indie authors now with more attention to one- or two-liners I can quote on Goodreads.
Tamara- thank you for the great idea:)
Hi, Lois! You’re welcome!
Thanks for the tip, Tamara! Love your Goodread’s posts and your help with figuring it all out. You rock!
Thanks, Rhonda! Thanks for everything you do with the WG2E Street Team! I can’t wait to quote you on Goodreads!
Great info. And great quote from Gemma! Thanks for this, Tamara!
Thanks, Anne! I enjoyed Gemma’s quote a lot too!
Thanks for this. I’m trying to learn how to use Goodreads effectively. This will definitely help!
Hi, Stacy! Glad to help, and good luck. I’m still learning more about the site each time I visit. It’s so vast, and there are so many different features of it.
Very cool, Tamara! I had no idea this Goodreads feature existed. It looks like a great way to give a shoutout to our favorite books and authors.
Hi, Kristine! Thanks. I totally agree.
I once read a quote by one of my favorite authors, Italo Calvino, which went something like “I’m a Saturn who tries to be a Mercury”. Unfortunately, I’ve been looking for the quote and haven’t been able to find it.
Hi, Forrest! At least it’s not Men Live on Mars and Women on… (Joking!) Sounds like the quote you mention comes from an interesting book.