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Goodreads Hack: The Power of the Want to Read Shelf
Every month, more than 18 million books are added to “Want to Read” shelves on Goodreads.
What's a Want to Read shelf, you ask? You'll notice the green "Want to Read" buttons near each book cover on the site. When you click on that button, not only do you make it easier to plan your future reading, you also unleash the power of the Want to Read shelf.
Let us explain: Adding books to your shelf isn't just an easy way to track books you're interested in; it also helps build a book's buzz and gives you inside access to when that book is on sale, or free as part of our Giveaways program!
We'll break it all down for you! But first things first…
Never forget the books you want to read
Remember that book your friend was telling you about? Or that bestseller you've been meaning to read but keep blanking on the name? If your Want to Read shelf is up to date, you're always ready for your next trip to the bookstore or library. You can also view your Want to Read shelf on Kindle when you connect your Goodreads and Kindle accounts.
Pro Tip: Scan book covers straight to your Want to Read shelf
You can use the Goodreads smartphone app to easily scan book covers to your Want to Read shelf, which is really helpful when you're snooping through a friend's bookshelf. You can learn more about the scan function here.
You determine which upcoming and new books have the most buzz
If you shelve a prepublished book, you'll be notified when that book hits the stores. In addition, those shelvings on a book page let our editorial team measure the excitement for an upcoming book. We use that data to alert readers to the hottest books of the month, season, and year.
Share your future reading plans with your Goodreads friends
Adding books to your WTR shelf also creates a newsfeed story on your Goodreads homepage, depending on your newsfeed privacy settings. This lets your Goodreads friends know what you're looking forward to reading. If you're nice, they may even loan you their copy.
Get a great deal on a book you've got your eye on (and maybe get it for free)
United States-based Goodreads members will be notified if there's a Goodreads Deal for a book on their shelf. Your WTR shelf is also used to personalize your Goodreads Deals landing page. In addition, when you add a book to your shelf, you'll get an email alerting you to a chance to win that book if it becomes part of the Goodreads Giveaways program. The best part? Because publishers often run a giveaway to build early buzz on a book, you can sometimes get your book for free before it's in stores!
What's a Want to Read shelf, you ask? You'll notice the green "Want to Read" buttons near each book cover on the site. When you click on that button, not only do you make it easier to plan your future reading, you also unleash the power of the Want to Read shelf.
Let us explain: Adding books to your shelf isn't just an easy way to track books you're interested in; it also helps build a book's buzz and gives you inside access to when that book is on sale, or free as part of our Giveaways program!
We'll break it all down for you! But first things first…
Never forget the books you want to read
Remember that book your friend was telling you about? Or that bestseller you've been meaning to read but keep blanking on the name? If your Want to Read shelf is up to date, you're always ready for your next trip to the bookstore or library. You can also view your Want to Read shelf on Kindle when you connect your Goodreads and Kindle accounts.
Pro Tip: Scan book covers straight to your Want to Read shelf
You can use the Goodreads smartphone app to easily scan book covers to your Want to Read shelf, which is really helpful when you're snooping through a friend's bookshelf. You can learn more about the scan function here.
You determine which upcoming and new books have the most buzz
If you shelve a prepublished book, you'll be notified when that book hits the stores. In addition, those shelvings on a book page let our editorial team measure the excitement for an upcoming book. We use that data to alert readers to the hottest books of the month, season, and year.
Share your future reading plans with your Goodreads friends
Adding books to your WTR shelf also creates a newsfeed story on your Goodreads homepage, depending on your newsfeed privacy settings. This lets your Goodreads friends know what you're looking forward to reading. If you're nice, they may even loan you their copy.
Get a great deal on a book you've got your eye on (and maybe get it for free)
United States-based Goodreads members will be notified if there's a Goodreads Deal for a book on their shelf. Your WTR shelf is also used to personalize your Goodreads Deals landing page. In addition, when you add a book to your shelf, you'll get an email alerting you to a chance to win that book if it becomes part of the Goodreads Giveaways program. The best part? Because publishers often run a giveaway to build early buzz on a book, you can sometimes get your book for free before it's in stores!
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message 251:
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Mary
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Feb 18, 2020 03:42PM
I read Goodreads in hope of finding some information on the new Nancy Haviland.
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Cannot find now to reorder my Want to Read shelf. Where is the Edit option?
Nancy wrote: "Cannot find now to reorder my Want to Read shelf. Where is the Edit option?"Getting this set up is a two step process. First, you want to make sure the shelf is sortable. In the left-hand column on the "My Books" page, you should see a bold Bookshelves label, with an (Edit) link next to it. Click on that link and you will be brought to a list of all your shelves, with a bunch of options for each shelf.
On the "to-read" shelf (should be the third one on the list), make sure that the check box in the "sortable" column is selected. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the "I'm Done" button, which will save your changes.
For the second step you will need to modify the settings on your "Want to Read" shelf. First, go to your "Want to Read" shelf. At the top of the page on the right (below the brown site bar) you should see a series of links. Click on the one that says "Settings" to open up the shelf settings menu.
In this menu you will see a bunch of check boxes that are used to control which columns are visible for the shelf. Make sure "position" is one of the ones you have selected. This turns on the position column (indicated by a #).
Below the column selection boxes is a section labeled "other". In the drop-down box next to "Sort" you want to select the "Position" option, and you also want to tick the radio button next to "ascending".
Finally, click the button that says "Save Current Settings to Your 'to-read' shelf". After you do this, you can close that menu. At this point, you should see the position column where you can adjust the book positions to your liking.
Edited to rearrange the steps I initially outlined.
I use goodreads to discover, organize and track my reading appetites. I’d love my “want to read” books to sync to my Amazon wishlist or cart.
Right now, I see it’s possible to add/sync books FROM Amazon to your good reads “want to read” shelf.
Does anyone know if it is possible to sync the books in my goodreads “want to read” shelf TO my Amazon wish list or cart?
Malik wrote: "I use goodreads to discover, organize and track my reading appetites. I’d love my “want to read” books to sync to my Amazon wishlist or cart.
Right now, I see it’s possible to add/sync books FR..."
No, at this time you can't go the other way and add Goodreads books to an Amazon list. Maybe someday!
