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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 1,551-1,600 of 2,216 (2216 new)
Having just read the news yet again, it again strikes me what a self serving man this is ...me, I, me....only occasionally does Elizabeth or we or us, get a mention....hope she has covered her partnership basis with a contract. This does not read as an even partnership! Once the full greed sets in who knows....hopefully just badly written / expressed.A second thought today....I have heard from writers that they pay to be on GRs. If this is true, how much money must that already make this couple?
There is nothing about this SELL OUT that is positive.
Thanks for the heads up about that check box, Moira. I've done the same as you and told people about it via my status update. It strikes me that if they're sneakily adding things such as that already then that bodes ill for future "improvements" and that people's fears may well prove to be well founded.
This is bad news. Sure as hell, Goodreads-reatings wonÄt help any more over at Kobo and Sony the very moment they understand Goodreads is an appendix of Amazon.
Moira wrote: "That press release is six years old."Seven years old, actually. Doesn't discount the fact that there's a connection. Have you missed how emphatic people are on this thread about not wanting anything to do with Amazon at all? People are deleting their accounts just because of this news.
I didn't say Amazon owned LibraryThing, I didn't say there was anything wrong with LibraryThing, I actually didn't give an opinion one way or another so I'm not sure why you decided to insult me with a "you people" sort of comment.
The Holy Terror wrote: "Moira wrote: "That press release is six years old."Seven years old, actually. Doesn't discount the fact that there's a connection. Have you missed how emphatic people are on this thread ..."
Idée fixe, anyone ?
At first I was really excited about the deal but after reading some of the concerns I begin to wonder. I am an amzon customer by far but I truly love to go to Goodreads b/c of the wide world of readers I encounter. Its like a facebook for readers. Whether you're a reader, publisher, editor, or author you get to read from all points of views. With all that you have put into creating a masterpiece,Goodreads, I hope you don't allow it to be ripped apart.
Allie wrote: "Thanks for the heads up about that check box, Moira. I've done the same as you and told people about it via my status update. It strikes me that if they're sneakily adding things such as that alr..."Thank you for warning... I unchecked it too.
Well if Amazon wanted GR that badly perhaps it's time to gather up and start a new FREE on line service like GR once was.
Marcus wrote: "Well if Amazon wanted GR that badly perhaps it's time to gather up and start a new FREE on line service like GR once was."I don’t know whether this is now possible.
Paradise lost … Innocence once lost can never be regained.
I don’t know whether I will ever again invest hundreds of hours of painstaking work in a “free” web cloud enterprise, only to realize that somebody can “monetize” my voluntary work and that of a thousand others.
Sharon wrote: "Having just read the news yet again, it again strikes me what a self serving man this is ...me, I, me....only occasionally does Elizabeth or we or us, get a mention....hope she has covered her part..."I noticed that too. >_<
Marcus wrote: "Well if Amazon wanted GR that badly perhaps it's time to gather up and start a new FREE on line service like GR once was."
True. Seriously, after reading these comments (seeing as they should know what the community thinks) they should at least take these comments into consideration. I'm betting 99% of the members want goodreads to stay independent.
Well, I've uploaded my shelves to LT--it'll be a lot of work to get it back to where it was (though it could use some of the fat trimmed anyway), but it's something to work on. I'll keep my GR account open and see how things go...
Sue wrote: "Okay, I have read the press release. It doesn't tell me anything I wanted to know. It's your web site, you put the work into it and I think you've been made an offer you couldn't refuse. However, I..."Good points. There does need to be more explanation of how things will work.
It doesn't really matter how much you want it to stay free, money talks in the end. All $150,000,000 of it. Losing their independence is totally worth it if they got a 5000% return on their investment. Heck, even I'd sell my startup if someone offered that much to me. All I can hope for as a normal user is that Amazon improves the uptime and reliability of the website (the constant downtimes really annoy me) and forms some sort of integration with Kindles (being able to update directly from mine would be nice), and of course maintain at least some semblance of impartiality in moderating the community.
Sumeer wrote: "Opened my LIBRARYTHING account. They are giving free one year accounts till this Sunday. Also check out these websites that other members have suggested:Anobii
BookCrossing
BookGlutton
BookLamp.o..."
Sumeer:
Anything strike your fancy? Thanks for checking for the rest of us.
Cathy
Yes Lord Nouda. The almighty dollar do really talk. And I'm not interested in letting ama$on profit from my voluntary work. So therefore Im looking for a free alternative even if I have to start it up on my own.
Don't like to see that Kindle owners will get special treatment. Nook owners like myself read just as many books and use GR just as much. From what I've heard about Amazon, this is not a comforting development. Simply a money move.
How annoying. I liked that this was a book community with all types of readers, not a connection to one retailer.Not sure what I want to do with my account since I've enjoyed being active here, but really want this independent of Amazon.
Thanks a lot buddy for destroying trust of millions of people in this sham COMMUNITY that you sold. A lot of people are not going to contribute their time and energy to a SOCIAL endeavor that you have turned into a perfectly MARKET one.
RE: Kindle Integration. My hope has always been that reading status/progress could be synced into Goodreads as updates automatically! :) Look forward to seeing what other ideas the teams come up with. Congrats!
Marcus Speh I blogged about this Ménage à trois in "Bezos loves books...enjoy! — The post documents my ambivalence as a user of both Amazon (also a reviewer) and Goodreads (also a reviewer and librarian). The very diverse responses from many users are perhaps the most interesting part of this entire transaction which, due to the large number of responsible readers involved, has the power to change the publishing landscape at least to an extent.
Sumeer wrote: "I hope you die of cancer in your expensive home. I will pray for it."Wow, just wow...
Sumeer wrote: "I hope you die of cancer in your expensive home. I will pray for it."Do you know what you're saying?
That's something one should never wish to another person.
Lets stay focused.
I am sorry about that. I guess I should just leave this place. Sorry everyone, I lost my mind.
Furious about this. Why does every good independent web site need to sell out to BIG BUSINESS? I loved Goodreads but will now need to go searching for a new INDEPENDENT web site not connected to selling me out. Understand why you might want to get out of the business but AMAZON? Thught we were paranoid in the 60's about the corporate take-over of America but it is happening. How do I move all my reviews elsewhere? Ideas people? Thanks, A very disappointed soon to be former Goodreads user.
Jacquie wrote: "for me, I would like to be able to post one review and have it go to both sites"me too!
Kimberley wrote: "Jay F wrote: "Kimberley wrote: "I'm really surprised at the amount of bellyaching here. It hasn't even happened yet. We don't know for sure how it will affect GR.We have been enjoying GR as a f..."
What Amazon bought was the millions members and the relationships we have that lets us trust each others reviews enough to buy a book. Amazon would not have purchased the site if they had 10 users and 400 reviews no matter how good the concept or software.
One of the things I hate about Goodreads is seeing a book I want to read, adding it to my "to read" shelf, and realizing it is not available. Anywhere. So frustrating. It doesn't make sense to me for e-books to go out of print, so if this makes more obscure titles more widely available on Amazon, I'm all for it.
Cathy wrote: "Sumeer wrote: "Opened my LIBRARYTHING account. They are giving free one year accounts till this Sunday. Also check out these websites that other members have suggested:Anobii
BookCrossing
BookGlu..."
I can't find Sumeer's original post and list. Could it perhaps have been deleted? Just a suggestion, I think that it would be a good idea to have a place NOT controlled by Amazon/Goodreads to discuss alternatives to GRamazon.
What the heck. I've just created a Google Plus community called "Escaping Amazon". It's public, and anyone can join. Please feel free!
https://plus.google.com/communities/1...
Does anyone have any experience with libib.com? Does it not carry reviews at all?
Peter wrote: I can't find Sumeer's original post and list. Could it perhaps have been deleted?
I made a copy. The only difference with the original list is that I removed one that is wholly-owned by Amazon (can't remember the name, sorry) and added one that was recommended by another user. I suggest you copy the list to somewhere on your computer in case this post is deleted!
Anobii
BookCrossing
BookGlutton
BookLamp.org
BookLikes
BookRabbit
Bookwormr
GreenMetropolis
Reader2
Readernaut
thereadingroom.com
Whichbook
I made a copy. The only difference with the original list is that I removed one that is wholly-owned by Amazon (can't remember the name, sorry) and added one that was recommended by another user. I suggest you copy the list to somewhere on your computer in case this post is deleted!
Anobii
BookCrossing
BookGlutton
BookLamp.org
BookLikes
BookRabbit
Bookwormr
GreenMetropolis
Reader2
Readernaut
thereadingroom.com
Whichbook
Vivl wrote: "Peter wrote: I can't find Sumeer's original post and list. Could it perhaps have been deleted?I made a copy. The only difference with the original list is that I removed one that is wholly-owned ..."
Thanks so much, Vivl! I've copied and posted that list to the new Escaping Amazon community on Google Plus.
Am I missing something, or have all of Sumeer's posts in this thread disappeared? If so, talk about your iron fist! But of course that's quite typical in this day and age. Dissent must be silenced.
Queue someone talking about the rights of a private corporation to control speech in their forums in 3, 2, 1...
Of course they never acknowledge that privately-owned forums have effectively displaced public ones. And that's in large part because the private sector has done everything it could to acquire any place where people can talk about them that aren't under their control. We can have all the "free" speech we want - as long as nobody can hear it!
Vivl wrote: "I can't find Sumeer's original post and list. Could it perhaps have been deleted?I made a copy. The only difference with the original list is that I removed one that is wholly-owned by Amazon (ca..."
I can actually vouch for Anobii, BookLikes, and The Reading Room, since I'm a member to all three of those sites. Anobii is decent with respect to reviews and socialization, but I'll admit I haven't got my bearings with it yet, BookLikes is the love child of Tumblr and Goodreads (and from what I've seen there, has very articulate reviews, but a limited socializing community), and The Reading Room is a very nice site that allows for private shelving, half star reviews, and import of books from GR, but is limited in its respective catalog and community.
The ones I can say I've looked at but didn't care for: BookCrossing seems like a diverse site, but the interface leaves much to be desired to navigate. BookLamp.org is actually NOT a socialization community nor a book cataloging site, but something that's like a book discovery service. It functions like Pandora does for music, except it's HIGHLY limited at this point in time. Reader2 reminds me a bit of LibraryThing, though I didn't really like the interface that much.
I'm still combing through the rest.
Cathy wrote: "So another good site succumbs to the lure of the big name...I hope the original purpose of Goodreads won't be lost. If it is, I'll return to pencil/paper to record my reading."Agreed. Disappointing news.
Rose wrote: "Vivl wrote: "I can't find Sumeer's original post and list. Could it perhaps have been deleted?I made a copy. The only difference with the original list is that I removed one that is wholly-owned ..."
Thanks, Rose! I'm not familiar with most of those sites, so that's really valuable information.
May I post it on the Escaping Amazon community? Or, better still, would you? I have a feeling that this thread is either going to shut down or disappear soon, and I'm not sanguine about my future here.
Peter wrote: "Am I missing something or have all of Sumeer's posts in this thread disappeared?Actually, Sumeer seems to have deleted his account so his posts are showing as [deleted user]. See posts 1753-1755.
Elizabeth wrote: "Peter wrote: "Am I missing something or have all of Sumeer's posts in this thread disappeared?Actually, Sumeer seems to have deleted his account so his posts are showing as [deleted user]. See po..."
I see. But at least some of the posts are simply gone. Can't know if Sumeer deleted them him/herself, or if they were thoughtfully removed by management.
Rose wrote: "I can actually vouch for Anobii, BookLikes, and The Reading Room, since I'm a member to all three of those sites..."
Thanks for that summary! Very useful.
Thanks for that summary! Very useful.
Peter wrote: "Rose wrote: "Vivl wrote: "I can't find Sumeer's original post and list. Could it perhaps have been deleted?I made a copy. The only difference with the original list is that I removed one that is ..."
Peter, I'm actually not a part of G+, but if you want to cite me for commentary, you're more than welcome to do so. I'm hoping it helps people evaluate their choices to some degree from what has been posted here.
Note that while some of these sites are not owned by Amazon (as far as I know), they may have references/citations/links to Amazon as they are a prominent bookseller. That's not surprising considering they are a marketing juggernaut.
Rose wrote: "Peter wrote: "Rose wrote: "Vivl wrote: "I can't find Sumeer's original post and list. Could it perhaps have been deleted?I made a copy. The only difference with the original list is that I remove..."
I don't think that I can send this privately, or I would. Don't want anyone to think that I'm shilling for Google. But Google Plus accounts are free, and if you have a Gmail address I believe you already have a G+ account. It's a bit like Facebook, but considerably less juvenile. And they're more respectful of the privacy of their users, I think.
I can't guarantee that Google won't terminate the service in a few years, though. They seem to be doing that a lot lately!
Anne wrote: "I'm an amazon customer and certainly don't hate the company and I am happy that people who took the initiative to put goodreads together are being rewarded financially. That said, this news strike..."100% agree, Anne.
I am extremely excited about this. Amazon's work with the Kindle has been groundbreaking and impressive, but what I really like about this is the potential ability to share reviews/ratings/etc. One thing I'd like to see is greater integration of my ability to share reviews across both sites - that is, to add the ability to push Goodreads reviews of a book onto Amazon's site. I find that Goodreads has effectively become my way of managing my library, but that requires sharing across sites and reposting of reviews and the like. If when I'm browsing Amazon I had the ability to see what my friends on Goodreads thought of books without jumping over, it'd be excellent.
Peter wrote: Am I missing something, or have all of Sumeer's posts in this thread disappeared? If so, talk about your iron fist! But of course that's quite typical in this day and age. Dissent must be silenced.Could we please all avoid speculating about or implying malicious intent on Goodreads' part unless there is proof? (Disappearance of someone's posts isn't proof. If Sumeer deleted his/her account, I suspect that could cause all posts, reviews, etc. to go away.)
My experience with Goodreads has always been favorable. I've never had reason to doubt the site's or the owners' integrity. Presumably that's been true for most of us, or we wouldn't be here. Yes, I'm concerned about the possible impact of this acquisition, for reasons I have stated. But Amazon's acquisition is not necessarily the end of Goodreads as we know it.
I don't plan to abandon this site and this community based on speculation and fear. I've expressed my concerns in this forum as rationally and reasonably as I can, in hopes that they will be taken into account as Goodreads goes forward. Having done that, I plan to wait and trust that Goodreads and those who run it are acting and will continue to act in good faith. I will leave if and only if I see real (not speculative) reasons to do so in the future.
Claire wrote: "Such a shame, another site where we are now going to get Amazon shoved down our throats on every page. I don't own, nor want a Kindle, and you can bet now that Goodreads is going to be tailored for..."I could see this happening. I do not own a Kindle, and I don't want one either; neither do I want to click through endless ads for Kindles or Kindle-format e-books on GR. That $150 million has to be recovered somehow... (guesstimate on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03...)
Peter wrote: "Rose wrote: "Peter wrote: "Rose wrote: "Vivl wrote: "I can't find Sumeer's original post and list. Could it perhaps have been deleted?I made a copy. The only difference with the original list is ..."
I actually opted out of G+ by choice a while back (didn't like the lack of control over privacy settings or approach to pennames/pseudonyms). I haven't decided whether or not I want to return to the service, unfortunately, but again, if you want to quote my post, that's perfectly fine. :)
I am happy for your joining at the hip with amazon.com. I have an amazon.com account and use their Prime account for free shipping and 1-2 day delivery when I can. However, I do not have an amazon kindle e-book, and do not intend to get one. I have an iPad and find it serves my purposes as a genealogist and reader very well. I would hope that amazon.com would state when a book is available in all formats, not just for kindle. I do understand that they have to push their own product.
Rose wrote: "Peter wrote: "Rose wrote: "Peter wrote: "Rose wrote: "Vivl wrote: "I can't find Sumeer's original post and list. Could it perhaps have been deleted?I made a copy. The only difference with the ori..."
I did quote it, thanks. Do you know of any good alternatives? Other than Facebook? I know of some smaller social sites, but the problem is that they're all pretty much ghost towns.
I posted on LiveJournal for the last ten years, but since they were sold to Six Apart (sound familiar?) and then to the Russians, things have pretty much fallen apart over there. It's mostly inhabited by Russian spammers and pornographers now!
Jennifer wrote: "Now I know on Amazon your reviews are no longer your own, but Amazon's, does this mean that my reviews on GR will belong to Amazon?"I'm concerned about this too. I repost my reviews from my own blog, and I own them. So this is key to my continuing to post on Goodreads.
Peter wrote: "I did quote it, thanks. Do you know of any good alternatives? Other than Facebook? I know of some smaller social sites, but the problem is that they're all pretty much ghost towns.I posted on LiveJournal for the last ten years, but since they were sold to Six Apart (sound familiar?) and then to the Russians, things have pretty much fallen apart over there. It's mostly inhabited by Russian spammers and pornographers now!
"
I wish I knew. XD I'm still searching for good alternatives, admittedly. And I remember what happened with LJ as well.
Mostly, anything I do with respect to social media, I use my Wordpress blog, Tumblr, Twitter and some of the book socializing communities I mentioned above in addition to a few others.
Dijun wrote: "I am not sure I am happy with that announcement but we'll see.(I find it sad that it's certainly be all about the kindle...It already is when you read this article. there is more than one brand f..."
I'm also concerned about this aspect. Here in Canada, with our stronger privacy laws, Kindle's don't work with library lending of ebooks because Amazon gathers information from Kindle users as they access the library books. Kobos, and many tablets are much more popular here.
prompt me to recommend books to friends
I was looking at my account settings yesterday and that wasn't there. It was checked by default.