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Exciting News About Goodreads: We're Joining the Amazon Family!
When Elizabeth and I started Goodreads from my living room seven years ago, we set out to create a better way for people to find and share books they love. It's been a wild ride seeing how the company has grown and watching as more than 16 million readers from across the globe have joined Goodreads and connected over a passion for books.
Today I'm really happy to announce a new milestone for Goodreads: We are joining the Amazon family. We truly could not think of a more perfect partner for Goodreads as we both share a love of books and an appreciation for the authors who write them. We also both love to invent products and services that touch millions of people.
I'm excited about this for three reasons:
1. With the reach and resources of Amazon, Goodreads can introduce more readers to our vibrant community of book lovers and create an even better experience for our members.
2. Our members have been asking us to bring the Goodreads experience to an e-reader for a long time. Now we're looking forward to bringing Goodreads to the most popular e-reader in the world, Kindle, and further reinventing what reading can be.
3. Amazon supports us continuing to grow our vision as an independent entity, under the Goodreads brand and with our unique culture.
It's important to be clear that Goodreads and the awesome team behind it are not going away. Goodreads will continue to be the wonderful community that we all cherish. We plan to continue offering you everything that you love about the site—the ability to track what you read, discover great books, discuss and share them with fellow book lovers, and connect directly with your favorite authors—and your reviews and ratings will remain here on Goodreads. And it's incredibly important to us that we remain a home for all types of readers, no matter if you read on paper, audio, digitally, from scrolls, or even stone tablets.
For all of you Kindle readers, there's obviously an extra bonus in this announcement. You've asked us for a long time to be able to integrate your Kindle and Goodreads experiences. Making that option a reality is one of our top priorities.
Our team gets out of bed every day motivated by the belief that the right book in the right hands can change the world. Now Goodreads can help make that happen in an even bigger and more meaningful way thanks to joining the Amazon family. (And if you want to be part of this, please check out our Jobs page for open positions. We've got a lot of hires to make!)
This is an emotional day for me. Goodreads is more than a company to me – it's something that Elizabeth and I created because we wanted it to exist. Since then it has grown a lot and become a place we love working at, full of incredibly smart and passionate people who also believe in our mission. I feel a little like a college graduate – happy to come to this milestone, nostalgic for the past amazing seven years, and incredibly, incredibly, excited for the future.
Otis
P.S. For the more official version of the announcement, here's the press release that went out today.
P.P.S. Please let us know – what integration with Kindle would you love to see the most?
Today I'm really happy to announce a new milestone for Goodreads: We are joining the Amazon family. We truly could not think of a more perfect partner for Goodreads as we both share a love of books and an appreciation for the authors who write them. We also both love to invent products and services that touch millions of people.
I'm excited about this for three reasons:
1. With the reach and resources of Amazon, Goodreads can introduce more readers to our vibrant community of book lovers and create an even better experience for our members.
2. Our members have been asking us to bring the Goodreads experience to an e-reader for a long time. Now we're looking forward to bringing Goodreads to the most popular e-reader in the world, Kindle, and further reinventing what reading can be.
3. Amazon supports us continuing to grow our vision as an independent entity, under the Goodreads brand and with our unique culture.
It's important to be clear that Goodreads and the awesome team behind it are not going away. Goodreads will continue to be the wonderful community that we all cherish. We plan to continue offering you everything that you love about the site—the ability to track what you read, discover great books, discuss and share them with fellow book lovers, and connect directly with your favorite authors—and your reviews and ratings will remain here on Goodreads. And it's incredibly important to us that we remain a home for all types of readers, no matter if you read on paper, audio, digitally, from scrolls, or even stone tablets.
For all of you Kindle readers, there's obviously an extra bonus in this announcement. You've asked us for a long time to be able to integrate your Kindle and Goodreads experiences. Making that option a reality is one of our top priorities.
Our team gets out of bed every day motivated by the belief that the right book in the right hands can change the world. Now Goodreads can help make that happen in an even bigger and more meaningful way thanks to joining the Amazon family. (And if you want to be part of this, please check out our Jobs page for open positions. We've got a lot of hires to make!)
This is an emotional day for me. Goodreads is more than a company to me – it's something that Elizabeth and I created because we wanted it to exist. Since then it has grown a lot and become a place we love working at, full of incredibly smart and passionate people who also believe in our mission. I feel a little like a college graduate – happy to come to this milestone, nostalgic for the past amazing seven years, and incredibly, incredibly, excited for the future.
Otis
P.S. For the more official version of the announcement, here's the press release that went out today.
P.P.S. Please let us know – what integration with Kindle would you love to see the most?
Comments Showing 1,101-1,150 of 2,216 (2216 new)
message 1101:
by
Jay Dee
(new)
Mar 29, 2013 05:42AM
I would not like to see integration of reviews from both sites. Amazon reviews tend to be skewed higher to help push visibility. It seems very dishonest. I personally do not trust reviews on Amazon.
flag
I am an avid user of Amazon and am a heavy Kindle user. I have no beefs with Amazon and I would love to be able to add everything I ever bought from Amazon directly to GR. I don't see this as necessarily a bad thing. There are some of us who, for example, have vision problems, and rely on internet content so be able to read anything. Thank the book gods for letting Amazon invent the Kindle, sell it internationally, and enable people like me in Australia a wider variety of books than I can get in my few book stores in Canberra.
I already changed my profile settings. I had choosed that my reviews could only be seen by GR members, so imagine my surprise when the site had already taken the assumption that i would be okay with having it made "public" for other sites.Also my email had been made public without my consent! :(
Needless to say that i have already changed that!!
There is a reason I post reviews on Goodreads and NOT on Amazon. Please consider keeping Goodreads reviews separate from Amazon -- I don't have skin thick enough to keep out the venom.
That is wonderful news - so happy for all of you but I have to add my two cents. I would love to have reviews bounced over to the Amazon site. I am already copying and pasting my life away.
You're telling us this is a good thing? You have sold out, you idiots. Goodreads is about people who love books... Amazon do not - They pay paltry tax, undermine authors and publishers by driving down prices and ramp fees at will...If you go on the amazon forums you will see they are a lot closer to Youtube than Goodreads in their nature. I have always found Goodreads forums friendly places, because the people here come because they love reading and books. Those on amazon are full of bile.
So, do NOT join up with this purely commercial company that only want to use you to sell more books, and who have already corrupted your reputation.
You now suckle the devil's teat. I'll find a better book forum... or even better, start one myself. Thanks for the years you have been great, but you've given me the finger by surrendering to everything you hate. Good riddance.
Thanks for that info Susana *checking profile*
Re Kindle integration features ... I would like to be able to easily 'flag' that I've read a book as it's very easy to lose track on Kindle. I would also like to be able to add other books that I've read in the past - not necessarily bought via Kindle or Amazon - again so that I don't buy a book only to discover I've already read it. Finally, to add to my list books by a favourite author that I intend to read but haven't yet purchased. And obviously a simple facility to rate a book I've just read without having to be connected to the internet at the time. Good luck!
Can you post a easy way to cancel my account with goodreads? Amazon great partner! Give me a Break...
Wendi wrote: "Too bad. Another good independent thing bites the dust. Happy for you and the money you'll make off the cool thing you started; sad for me, and sad for the internet, which will soon be owned by Ama..."I feel the same way. I had a major sinking feeling in my stomach when I went on the HuffPost this morning and the "Goodmerger" makes the front headline. If I have to give up my Goodreads, I will be so sad, you have no idea.
I'll add my voice of hesitant concern. I understand the financial appeal/need but:I would like to know how Goodreads plans to handle privacy concerns. Further, does this mean that the reviews I've written will be available for Amazon's use? As an employee of an independent bookseller, I worry that Amazon will ruin this little gem of a site. They are seriously hurting small/independent publishers, and at this point I lump them in with Walmart in terms of their lack of corporate ethics. I look forward to more clarification from y'all....
I just don't want any book I buy on Amazon to be in my public goodreads list. It might be a gift for someone else. It might not be one you want to share.
I hope I do not see pop up advertising and advertising all over the place for "stuff". That would be a major turnoff. I wish goodreads offered us a chance to pay a fee instead of going to amazon for support.
I guess I am not the only one who finds this incredibly sad news. Nice spin, "we're joining the Amazon family." I guess money does talk. I will be evaluating whether I still want to be a part of this "family."
Peter wrote: "Vivl wrote: "Very interesting analysis of changes that seem to have already have been made to our beloved site: http://ebookfriendly.com/2013/03/29/a..."I noticed that too - Ama..."
I don't see that, but I will welcome a closer link between GR reviews and amazon - for reviews and for purchases. What is wrong with that?
What happens to the people who own other e-readers? Will we be left out? I won't buy a Kindle just to stay on Goodreads.
I'm starting to wonder if the "positive" feedback is written by amazon/goodreads employees and shills. They sound about as authentic as the "authentic" reviews on amazon.com.
Very sorry to hear this news. As a Nook user this doesn't sound too welcoming. Amazon is a money focused corporation. Goodreads was a community of readers. One of them is going to take a hit and I don't think it will be the corporation.
Ed wrote: "I hope the reviews on the two sites don't mix. I would rather not see those over prolific "amateur" reviewers from Amazon take over Goodreads."Agreed. I think there is a difference in intellectual levels on the different sites. Like Oprah's site too much fluff and debate from their posters and posters rarely comment on each other just post their comments to be heard.
Angela wrote: "Not sure how I feel about this and I am an Amazon Customer. What I lOVE about GR is that it's truly crowd-sourced. Amazon is not a family- it's a profit making machine. Quoting Anne (message 33) "..."Janosch wrote: ""I'm so very sorry you've made this decision. I understand the motivation, but I cannot but dread the inevitable changes that will come. Goodreads has long been one of the best places for books and..."
Completely agree.
Amy wrote: "What about us Nookies?"Yes - not a word about Nook users here. Not happy about this change.
I am not excited to use a site that supports the onslaught on local booksellers, amongst other atrocious business practices. I may abandon Goodreads as a result.
Susana wrote: "I already changed my profile settings. I had choosed that my reviews could only be seen by GR members, so imagine my surprise when the site had already taken the assumption that i would be okay wit..."Ugh!!! Thanks for the heads up. Not cool that this is happening. :(
This is horrible news. Haven't you been paying attention to the fact that Amazon has completely sketchy ethics and a tendency to ruin whatever companies they buy? I suspect they heard that Goodreads was thinking of selling books from the site and decided to buy you so they could eliminate the competition. Make no mistake, they didn't make this decision because they believe in what Goodreads is doing and genuinely want to help you.Please, for god's sake, DO NOT force us to integrate anything about Goodreads with Amazon. Let that be a choice for those Goodreads users who want it, but don't force it on the rest of us. It's not mandatory that everyone in the world shop on Amazon, you know.
Oh, and how do you know the Kindle is the most popular e-reader? Amazon never shares any meaningful sales data! I got a Kindle when the price came down; I hate it and almost never use it. Having Goodreads somehow be integrated with my Kindle never once crossed my mind. There are much better e-readers out there for the people who are so inclined. No thanks.
Would love the reviews posted on Goodreads to be automatically shared/uploaded with Amazon with a single click of a button.
Amazon, if you're reading this, you can see you have quite a lot of public relations work to do here at Goodreads. I am an Amazon customer; however, I do not own a Kindle (I own a Nook due to the ePub format) and would never purchase one. I appreciate Amazon for what they do for me, which is to offer me an opportunity to buy new and used books online at a good price and save me a half hour trip to the bookstore. I was a customer of Amazon for many years prior to joining Goodreads in 2008.
Goodreads is the only social networking site I use. The reasons for this are many. The main one is that I have met people here who have become like family to me, people who are as nuts about books as I am. This site is my only way to contact many of the people on my friends list. We belong to mutual groups and discuss books together. We may be oceans apart in some cases, but we have come to love each other, all because of Goodreads. I have always loved Goodreads for this reason and have thanked God for this site hundreds of times.
I'm writing this to let the powers that be at Amazon know that if this site were to be shutdown or radically changed so that the social aspect of it were diminished, you would likely lose at least this customer, if not many others.
Many of us don't own Kindles, and have reasons for this. We don't want to be taken over as a Kindle community. When you pulled the data for our books some time ago, many people here worked hard to 'save' those books on our database. I say 'our' database because we users feel this site belongs to us. I have been a Goodreads librarian for over a year because I don't mind maintaining a site I've grown to love, and think of as my own. I'd happily pay a subscription fee for everything to remain the same here.
Please, please, for both our sakes, don't mess with Goodreads. You've already got a bunch of hornets here, as you can see from the comments. If you handle this well, you might have a bunch of happy honeybees. I own a business too. Honeybees win every time.
Thanks for listening.
Did I miss something but I didn't see when this is supposed to happen.
Very happy for you as business owners. I know the thrill of selling a business. But very sad to see the Amazon connection. You've been such a great positive force.
For those of us who don't give a monkey's about Kindle, I would love to see some sort of FAQ about what this is going to mean as far as privacy, ads, who now owns the reviews we write and whether you will now HAVE to link both accounts. More information please!
Books exported, before my reflections on those books I've not enjoyed becomes verboten. What alternatives are there? Anobii and bookwormr are 2 I've seen, any others?
Wow so much panic all around!First, I don't own a Kindle, I own Sony Reader, but I have amazon registration and I posted reviews there several times with no problems at all. They don't require any proof of purchasing a book from them, your review just won't have 'Amazon Verified Purchase' mark, but it'll still be published.
Second, I'm a goodreads librarian and I try to add books and correct wrong data as much as possible and I don't care if Amazon would be using it or not. I'm doing it for other readers and if it's helpful to Amazon - so be it, I'll continue doing so in the future.
Third, I don't care much who owns this site and so what if the links to purchasing books will mostly lead to Amazon? 'Official URL' line is rarely helpful anyway, since it's often left empty or leads to broken link, so I use goodreads for finding interesting for me books, judging by reviews and friends' choices and then I'm either googling the title or buying from some of my favorite retailers.
I also don't get the privacy concerns. I mean if Amazon will know what books I'm shelving here so what? It's not a secret.
I only hope Goodreads will stay the same concerning groups and friends features, because it's really helpful.
All in all best luck to Goodreads :)
Wendi wrote: "Too bad. Another good independent thing bites the dust. Happy for you and the money you'll make off the cool thing you started; sad for me, and sad for the internet, which will soon be owned by Ama..."This is exactly how I am feeling as well. I don't know if I can in good conscience support a site that is now owned by a massive corporation that doesn't pay it's taxes.
I buy stuff from Amazon but I absolutely hate this. Like many others I loved that Goodreads wasn't owned by some big company that is about shareholders and profit first. I remember how good it felt, when the community worked together after Amazon had disallowed usage of their cover images. I certainly would have paid something like $10 a year to keep the site out of the clutches of some big company. This kills what Goodreads was for me, just as I was starting to really get into it. What a sad day.
Congratulations on selling out! I was really holding on to this being a joke but it doesn't look like it. Also, thanks for throwing Nook, Kobo, paper book lovers and everyone else who refuses to bend over for Amazon under the bus! booklikes.com is looking pretty good right now!
Christa wrote: "This sounds like exactly what I've been needing. I agree with Catherine. When I buy a book on Kindle/Amazon I'd like it to automatically get added to my to read or reading shelf (unless I click a ..."
I'd like to see my Amazon book history added to GR our current library of books as "read".
This announcement comes off as a little odd to me since we had all the mess with not being able to grab book data from Amazon for the Goodreads database last year. I can understand and appreciate a willingness to partner with another company with hopes of making the site a better place for current and future members, but I'm weary about this partnership with Amazon. Like so many others have already mentioned in previous comments, I'm afraid that this partnership will allow Amazon to "a) unrelentingly mine my data and b) sell me stuff." If I wanted that, I would just go hang out at Amazon's web site.One of the best things about Goodreads is that it's an independent community built by readers for readers. Though, it is sad that it's been sold out.
I find this disturbing news. I want to be part of an independent community, not part of a giant market research site. I now expect to be bombarded with ads. The independence of GR is the primary reason I use it. I really doubt that Amazon will do anything good for GR except what is in its own best interests.
If by family you mean Family. :PI don't begrudge you selling Goodreads. But I, like many others, really would've preferred you to sell it to ANYONE but AMAZON. :P
I agree with Laura & some others who have mentioned that they would rather pay a subscription fee than deal with the cons of this becoming an Amazon/Kindle enterprise & we all know (including you the creators of this site--who btw are not responding to any posts) that it's all about the dollar$. We realize the love & time & efforts you have put into this site, but you might want to see just how many of us you will lose with a major change like this.
Otis Chandler used to be a rockstar. Now he's just a sell out. I am sure you made enough money to sit at home your entire life, but alas you can only watch TV from now. The books are not gonna reveal their secrets to you anymore. Thanks a lot for defrauding all your customers with this Amazon bullshit. And 'Amazon Family' really??!! You suck man. You suck.
Ramona wrote: "I agree with Laura & some others who have mentioned that they would rather pay a subscription fee than deal with the cons of this becoming an Amazon/Kindle enterprise & we all know (including you t..."Agreed. I would do what I could to pay a subscription, myself.
I want the books I read on my kindle to be automatically added to my "reading" when started and "read" shelf when finished, and an easy way at the end of a kindle book to rate it that goes to both amazon and goodreads.
Alina wrote: "Wow so much panic all around!First, I don't own a Kindle, I own Sony Reader, but I have amazon registration and I posted reviews there several times with no problems at all. They don't require an..."
Very nicely put, Alina!
I've no intentions of leaving Goodreads. I've met some great people and authors here, and hopefully Goodreads will remain the awesome site it currently is.
My concern is that amazon already limits and removes reviews for many reasons - will they be able to do this with goodreads?
I must admit I was disappointed to hear about this. I have worries of tainted recommendations and worried this will stop being about the books and be about the money instead. Plus I have NOOK. What would be awesome is allowing kindle and nook readers to buy from whatever site they want so it's not one VS. the other.
Congrats!Would like to access my "To-Read" list on my Kindle so I can find the books on Amazon.
My only concern is that new authors still have the non-monetized opportunity for discovery on Goodreads as they have in the past. Would hate to see commercialism ruin this amazing aspect of Goodreads.
Please provide readers with a drop dead date for when changes will begin so we have a time frame on how long we have to make any necessary saving of material we've spent years collecting here. I have the majority of my important stuff documented elsewhere, but I ask this for those who may not have. Our book club moved here from Oprah's site because we lost so much when she made her major change and that involved her with continued ownership so different ownership means lots of change.
Centrehalf wrote: "I'd like to see my Amazon book history added to GR our current library of books as "read". I wouldn't because half the books I buy on Amazon are for other people and I don't read them.
Cheers
MTM
While I understand this decision from a business perspective, I am incredibly disappointed by it. I've been a member of this thriving, independent book community for nearly four years now, and it has offered a non-commercial space (minus the few ads) for book lovers of all types to talk, share, and engage with one another. With the coming intrusion of a for-profit entity into that, I can't imagine that it will remain the same. Despite what others have said about reviews, I would prefer that the reviews between GR and Amazon remain separate, as I often review more items on GR than Amazon because I can do so without fear of the negative backlash and downvoting that is so common on Amazon if one does not share the majority opinion. Please do take that freedom away from us.
Having said all of that, I do wish you all the best in this new venture and I hope it brings good things to both the creators and the users of this site. I will just be watching with a cautious and worried eye.
