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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 1,801-1,850 of 2,216 (2216 new)
For those of you who are still considering where to move, Librarything has extended their free signup for a year until this Friday. According to the post, they have had more than 500,000 (!) people sign up since the news of the amazon purchase was announced. http://www.librarything.com/blogs/lib...
Ruby wrote: "For those of you who are still considering where to move, Librarything has extended their free signup for a year until this Friday. According to the post, they have had more than 500,000 (!) people..."I think that number represents the books that have been transferred.
Bugmenot wrote: "http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/bus...This is why nerds reviewing books (honestly and out of passion for readin..."
Well said. I am out.
Will I be able to stay with Goodreads if I have a Nook?
Susan wrote: "Ruby wrote: "For those of you who are still considering where to move, Librarything has extended their free signup for a year until this Friday. According to the post, they have had more than 500,0..."Susan: That was my thought too when I saw it.
I don't think I like this. I have concerns about my privacy, which is why I never link any of my accounts (even if it were possible for my Amazon & GR accounts to be so; but I use different emails for each and will pretty much use separate browsers as well from here on), but I'll be honest and say part of my unease is the increasing corporate accumulation--everything is run by big companies. Thought monopolies went out in the 1800s!I can say I don't want my reviews or my comments to show up on Amazon, so FEATURE REQUEST: allow us to opt out!
So, while I'm not happy with this, if my personal experience doesn't change and everything I write/review/star on GR doesn't automatically show up on Amazon, I'll stay on Goodreads. I can wait & see what happens, but I promise that if it starts going in directions that I'm uncomfortable with, I'm gone, baby!
Really sad to hear this news. I am an amazon customer and I own a kindle but I use amazon purely as a consumer. I do not participate in book reviews there because there really is no community and quite often there are false reviews posted there. Amazon has too much stake in the sale of books to truly be objective about their content. Goodreads was perfect for book lovers who were looking for a community and I just hope that wont be lost by amazon's mission to make a profit. It is upsetting for those of us who have invested so much time into this site to post reviews and communicate based purely on our love of books. I think with the sale to amazon goodreads will lose that pure, unbiased sense community.
Danielle wrote: "I wonder whether Amazon will be able to change or delete our Goodreads reviews as it does reviews on its own site?"Since 29 Mar, I've asked and reposted three times a question to that end, including once today when Otis made two appearances on a feedback thread to supposedly answer questions. He did not return to answer my question. It remains unanswered by any GRs staff. I infer from their silence on the matter, the answer likely isn't something they want to confess.
P.S. Bugmenot, another great post in re: reviewing.
Brixton wrote: "Danielle wrote: "I wonder whether Amazon will be able to change or delete our Goodreads reviews as it does reviews on its own site?"Since 29 Mar, I've asked and reposted three times a question to..."
I've seen your question three times, so I'm sure GR has read it. The fact that they haven't responded actually speaks volumes!
One of the reasons I liked goodreads was because you stood up to amazon for the love of books; I've been recommending this site to customers of my bookstore for years. Guess the love of $$ was stronger than the love of books and community. I will be deleting my account. I cannot support, even in a small way, amazon's predatory attempts to take over the entire book industry.
For those who are disturbed about what's happened to Goodreads: some GR members are exploring our options via a new community, "Escaping Amazon". Anyone is free to join.We currently have a public Google spreadsheet which lists 31 alternatives to Goodreads (for reviews) and Amazon (for shopping). It can be freely viewed (no membership or login required) at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/c...
The spreadsheet's not complete yet (many thanks to Feliks for the data), but we're working on it and anyone can suggest notes and additions via the Escaping Amazon group, at https://plus.google.com/communities/1...
Carol wrote: "Aves wrote: "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."I am ..."
Wow! You are reminding me of one of the reason why I don't read Amazon reviews or read their discussion threads any more. I got tired of all the unpleasantness.
Cathy wrote: "Peter wrote: "Cathy wrote: "Ads already? Sent a few personal comments out today and a dinosaur ad from the 40 mile away Jacksonville Zoo comes up and blinds my typing area. Is anyone else getti..."
This is totally off-topic, but if you're loading add-ons and tend to write online at all, I can't recommend the Lazarus addon strongly enough. It automatically saves what you're typing on the web. So even if there's a power failure, you can recover your text.
I'm not associated with it, except as a user. I just HATE to lose a long post. One of the worst feelings I know!
Kimberly wrote: "Bye Bye Shelfari . . . Hello Goodreads!! I hope nothing changes with Goodreads. I hope Amazon merges my "To read" list with my Amazon Wishlist."Hope this would be optional; I already own everything in my "To Read" list.
My biggest fear is that comments will pop up on Amazon, they'll try to merge my amazon account with my goodreads, and then we'll lose the honest review style. I've had so many reviews deleted on Amazon simply because fans didn't like that I gave it a low rating, not because it had broken any of the review guidelines.
Will the "2013 Reading Challenge" become the "2013 Buying Challenge"?
Glen wrote: "Will the "2013 Reading Challenge" become the "2013 Buying Challenge"?"Maybe it'll be like those godawful home shopping "parties". "Who's going to be the best friend of [hostess's name] and buy the most product?"
Whoever came up with that concept should be chicken-fried!
I hope that the only change this website will have will be that you can buy books on here but through Amazon!
Sorry to not share your enthusiasm about this, but what about all the personal data (like posts, reviews,...)?
I really don't want mine to be passed on to Amazon, I would appreciate any assurance that all of my information will remain only on GR.. otherwise I'm very sad about it, but I will have to delete my account here.
I really don't want mine to be passed on to Amazon, I would appreciate any assurance that all of my information will remain only on GR.. otherwise I'm very sad about it, but I will have to delete my account here.
Peter wrote: "Does the situation remind anyone else of 1984? Last year Amazon was the implacable enemy, and we all had to pull together to save Goodreads from their onslaught. Today we're joining their happy f..."
Hahahaha :)
Aloha wrote: "Sorry to not share your enthusiasm about this, but what about all the personal data (like posts, reviews,...)?
I really don't want mine to be passed on to Amazon, I would appreciate any assurance t..."
It has already been stated in an interview that Amazon owns GR and will use user information as they see fit.
I really don't want mine to be passed on to Amazon, I would appreciate any assurance t..."
It has already been stated in an interview that Amazon owns GR and will use user information as they see fit.
Bugmenot wrote: "The reason they're selling Fad is that they're they're selling widgets and fad sells volume and it is both perishable and concupiscent so demand doesn't need to slow down as the purchase is digested by the purchaser. They don't sell reading material - they sell book-product. Fad and schlock sell consistent units per month. At the end of the day they have a graph and a line and they want the line to point upward whether there is any meaning conveyed in the content.."Wow, that's really insightful, Bugmenot. It makes a lot of sense. If your book selling business is driven by your love of business supremacy, there's going to be a very different outcome than if its driven by a love of books. And the fact, Amazon's whole online business model was premised on scalable volume is another key here. Low unit profit - high volumes. Just like junk food companies, junk books company, Amazon, has a vested interest in hooking more and more people on easily consumed books. If good 'nutrition' slows down the ingestion, it's probably not as profitable a book to sell...?
I love it when hard working people make a success from an idea they developed! I hate it when they, for lack of a better term, sell to something that was their hated enemy just last year. I wish some smart group would start another GR type of place, accept subscription in a tiered level of usage, no ads, and provide sales buttons to booksellers. Maybe offer the national chains and an option to plug in a zip code and order locally. It'd be a dream, and make money if the owners got a percentage of the sales generated from the sales through their direct link buttons. I'd buy!
This I found most logical, I haven't seen it posted here yet: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/a...Other than that I have no illusions: Nothing I do on the Internet is mine and mine alone, there's always someone looking to profit. I'm still disappointed, though.
The one thing I hope will improve again is the quality of the monthly "New books" newsletter. Ever since the original split from Amazon it no longer contained books from authors on my shelves, even though there were new ones. So, whatever data source was nuked, I hope it'll get reestablished.
Other than that: Wait and see.
Thanks for posting that article, Alena. It definitely points up how one-sided the advantages are of this takeover. At no point is there any suggestion that Goodreads or its users will benefit in any shape or form. The profit (both monetaary & otherwise) is all Amazonian.
Allie wrote: "... The profit (both monetaary & otherwise) is all Amazonian."If I were smarter, I'd come up with a good metaphor comparing the GR buyout to the deforestation of the Amazon jungle...oh well. :D
☯Emily wrote: "Brixton wrote: "Danielle wrote: "I wonder whether Amazon will be able to change or delete our Goodreads reviews as it does reviews on its own site?"Since 29 Mar, I've asked and reposted three times a question to..."
I've seen your question three times, so I'm sure GR has read it. The fact that they haven't responded actually speaks volumes!"
The former owners are unlikely free to answer questions without permission from their new masters.
Sorry, I'm out. I'll be deleting my account (assuming it's easier to do here than on FB). Congrats to the Chandlers and all but I won't be supporting Amazon with data about my reading habits. Back to searching for a good, INDEPENDENT site on the web where I can keep track of my books and talk to other book people.
The first run of the "Goodreads alternatives" spreadsheet is complete and public. There are 37 entries, listing and describing alternatives to Goodreads and Amazon with our real user experiences. Many thanks to everyone who contributed!https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/c...
It's not a final version, of course. We'll continue to develop and add to it as we learn more. And anyone is welcome to contribute additions or corrections; just let me know, either here (as long as I'm still a member) or at the "Escaping Amazon" group. It's at https://plus.google.com/communities/1...
The issue with the Small Demons site for some users may be the fact that, unless I'm being dense, you can only register through FB or Twitter. Presumably that means that people who don't use those sites are unable to use it?
Sorry - just seen you can use just an email. Apologies.
Book wrote: "Peter, have you checked out Small Demons? https://www.smalldemons.com/ ..."That's fascinating! I've really never seen anything like it - hadn't even imagined something like that.
Thanks very much, Book! I've added it to the list, attributed to "Book @ Goodreads". Please let me know if that should be changed.
Bugmenot wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Bugmenot wrote: "http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/bus...This is why nerds reviewing books (hone..."
Fantastic post.
Peter wrote: "Does the situation remind anyone else of 1984? Last year Amazon was the implacable enemy, and we all had to pull together to save Goodreads from their onslaught. Today we're joining their happy f..."
Haaaaa I hadn't thought of that, but, yeah.
PopcornReads wrote: " It belongs to the owners, not us even though we may all feel proprietary toward it. That we publish content on the site benefits the owners but they aren't shafting us when they decide to sell their company or merge it with another one. "But you're ignoring that, as with Facebook and all the other free-content-driven companies, without that content this site wouldn't be worth anything.
Is there going to be an opt-out if I don't want my reviews shared with Amazon? I posted those reviews here for the GoodReads community. I didn't write them so Amazon could use them and profit off my work without my consent.
I concur with other comments. When I finish a Kindle book it would be so convenient to be able to post one review and have it reflected on both sites.
Considering the reason I switched over from Shelfari to Goodreads was that I didn't want to have to link my Amazon and Shelfari accounts.... this is terrible news. I'd love to have clarification on whether the log in policy would change and data privacy.
Peter wrote: "Does the situation remind anyone else of 1984? Last year Amazon was the implacable enemy, and we all had to pull together to save Goodreads from their onslaught. Today we're joining..."
A couple of days ago, another user in the Feedback forum pointed out that if you are signed in to Goodreads with facebook (or heck! Even if you're not!), amazon essentially has a wormhole to whatever can be known about you (and friends, and family) on facebook. I don't use facebook, so I hadn't thought about that side of it. In reply, I posted:
"Hey, remember when GRs was still pretty new and it would suggest a batch of books for new friends to rate; and every time a friend joined you'd see over and over updates for 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, etc. because EVERYONE has read those books?
Except now it's like no one has read those books. :o("
Given the lack of response to either of our posts, I'm not sure if people don't "get it", aren't concerned, or... like you suggest, Peter, "We were never at war with Eurasia".
Everything has already been said, but wanted to throw my hat into the ring - this is bad news. I am tired of being a commodity. This site was rare and special and I would have paid for it. We are now just information for Amazon to mine and sell to. I think I will be deleting my account as well and using my local bookstores for recommendations. Hopefully a competitor will arise.
Connie wrote: "Everything has already been said, but wanted to throw my hat into the ring - this is bad news. I am tired of being a commodity. This site was rare and special and I would have paid for it. We are n..."Connie, I do know how you feel - and you're not the only one. If you're looking for information about online competitors to Goodreads and Amazon, a bunch of us have posted a public list. The link is in message 2034 above.
For what it's worth, some of them aren't bad. Although it's definitely a good idea to support your local bookstore. You're lucky to have one! There are none in my city.
Alena wrote: "This I found most logical, I haven't seen it posted here yet: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/a...Other than that I..."
Very interesting article. Thanks for posting it. Nothing it said surprised me very much except the statistics on reading. I had no idea, I read so much more than the rest of the population.
Peter wrote: "Connie wrote: "Everything has already been said, but wanted to throw my hat into the ring - this is bad news. I am tired of being a commodity. This site was rare and special and I would have paid f..."None in my town either. I still want someone to approach Paul Allen or Oprah and see if they'll foot the bill for starting an independent (always) book review site.
It's been interesting to see the tide so overwhelmingly turn against the buyout, at least from the end user's perspective. I write for a living and make it a point not to contribute original writing to social sites; I'm not interested in enriching some giant company with the fruits of my labors, which is pretty much what Web 2.0 amounts to.
Goodreads was the sole exception to my self-imposed ban, and I wrote and contributed reviews because I appreciated the resource, and regularly accessed the high-quality reviews posted by others.
In other words, I realized I was creating value for others, but I got something from the site, and wanted to give back.
I'm unwilling to do so now that Amazon is pulling the levers, and just deleted all the books (and reviews) in my account.
Amazon bought Goodreads because it is probably the single best place for uber-readers to find and recommend books to others, and to a company like Amazon, owning that resource is a huge plus.
If you think they're not going to try to influence that resource -- whether towards Kindle use, or Amazon's writers vs other writers, etc -- well, I've got this bridge.
After all, they own the two biggest book sites (Shelfari has languished under their ownership), and own a small stake in the other (Librarythings, which seems relatively independent).
They made these investments why?
In a comment, Otis Chandler compared the Goodreads purchase to the buyouts of Zappos and Audible.com, apparently hoping we wouldn't notice those were relatively simple e-commerce brands and not a community-built site like Goodreads.
And even though the ink is still wet on the announcements, I'm already tired of having the word "Kindle" shoved down my threat.
I don't own a Kindle; I own a Nexus 7 tablet and run bookstore apps when necessary, escaping Amazon's walled garden whenever possible.
Because I don't own a Kindle, I already sense the looming reality that I'll be a second-class citizen on Goodreads (if you believe they'll put the same kind of money integrating Nooks or tablets as they do the Kindle, well, let's revisit that bridge thing...).
Iris DeMent sang "nothing good ever lasts" and I'm afraid it's true in this case. Bye-bye Goodreads.
Val wrote: "None in my town either. I still want someone to approach Paul Allen or Oprah and see if they'll foot the bill for starting an independent (always) book review site. "The problem is that if we depend on some big-money investor, we'll always be at their mercy. And in the end, like Otis, they'll cash us in. That's how the world IS these days. Not that that makes this GRAmazon deal any more tolerable.
The only long-term effective solution that I can imagine is technological. Some sort of decentralized software which allows continuing communities of interest to exist independent of any business or government. Possibly peer-to-peer. In any case, designed from the ground up to interact across websites and to be impossible for anyone to buy, sell, or control.
There are elements of the internet itself that have some of those qualities. I don't know enough about the tech myself to be sure how practical it might be, nor how much it might cost, but if it's feasible, even barely, I for one would donate money and time to it - for whatever that's worth. Maybe Kickstarter would be a good tool for funding?
Tom wrote: "It's been interesting to see the tide so overwhelmingly turn against the buyout, at least from the end user's perspective. I write for a living and make it a point not to contribute original writ..."
Thank you, very well said.
Late last night, I finally finished reading the pay-per-review article linked by Bugmenot above. It gave me mental dry-heaves on so many levels (eg, authors producing NINE novels in two years, who invest in review-buying because they are thoroughly incapable of accepting anything less than raves and 5-star "reviews" will never, ever be challenged to write well; as a reader, this article explains everything to me about the present lack and alarming erosion-rate of writing/editing/publishing standards).I'm slowly transitioning my information and activities away from GRamazon. Maybe they've got my history (I comfort myself with the fact that the accuracy and usefulness of data degrades very quickly), but they won't have my present or future. It can't be denied friends (and yes, I mean people with whom I have contact outside the internet) who are less "political" about their relationship with amazon will continue to use this site for awhile, so I may leave my account lying dormant in order to keep hearing from them. I have no doubt, however, that just as Myspace became a disaster area on the internet after re-purposing itself as a musician's promotion site, GRamazon too, in its quest to become THE author promotion site, will drive all lovers of reading and books away. Promoters and the promoted will aggressively rule and eventually outnumber the community which once was Goodreads, creating a ghetto wasteland with a single one-way, dead-end street to amazon Swindle.
In embracing the new by moving my cataloging and reading activity elsewhere, I am, contrary to what I expected, re-discovering what it was I used to so enjoy about being on a book site. It is pleasant to indulge in a love of books again. Because the emphasis on "discovering" (consuming), "reviewing" (influencing), and generally comparing ourselves to and/or competing with one another ("top this-top that") happened one bit at a time over the course of years, values I didn't have, experiences I didn't want, made their way more and more into my relationship with books and reading.
I believe I'm having that moment of awakening I hear some people have at the breakfast table, when they look at their partner of many, many years and suddenly wonder who the hell that person is and what they've been doing with them all this time.
Sent a few personal comments out today and a dinosaur ad from the 40 mile away Jacksonville Zoo comes up and blinds my typing area. Is anyone else getting ads in plac..."
Thank you, Peter. I will definitely load it, if I don't have it already. Much appreciation. Cathy