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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 2,001-2,050 of 2,216 (2216 new)
Patrick wrote: "Peter wrote: "So tell me, Otis. Why has my review been "disappeared"?"Peter, I removed your review from the community book page as it was not, primarily, a review of the book. It will still appea..."
Thanks, Patrick, you've made the situation very clear. I'll be salvaging any comments on my reviews that I want to keep and moving on.
GoodReads is no longer a place for readers to discuss books. It's a strip mall. We're no longer reviewers and librarians; we're product.
"The community"? Nicely put. More like "the herd", I'd say. You've got a snug little chorus here, gleefully hailing the glorious new Amazon regime. They truly belong here. You're welcome to them, Otis. Congratulations, you're a hell of a con man.
Why am I reminded so strongly of Animal Farm?
Readers and their love of books are not commodities to be bought and sold...unless we allow it.
I will not be product.
Alexandra, the traditional role of Literature has been an expansion of consciousness. More than any other media, Literature has moved us. I don't mean in the same way that a textbook instructs future generations, but meaningful/educational contributions to all aspects of humankind within a universe still conceived as smaller than reality. Such is Literature, the rest is little more than video games.
I just read the article blow and kinda agree with the writer. Maybe we should focus more on the book reading and recommendation which brings joy to our life than who owns the website. http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/secti...
And surprise, surprise, I just got my first "Buy all these books with amazon links!" email from you guys. Have now unsubscribed from emails. Seriously, I get enough ads -- and I love that the email I got was full of books I already have marked as "read" on Goodreads, so even more a waste of time.
Book wrote: "Pam wrote: "I think it's interesting that so many are worried about the damage to the "publishing industry" Amazon is causing. Any publishing company worth it's salt would recognize (can't afford n..."Thank you for such a beautifully, concisely written response. I'm still baffled as to why people don't understand Amazon in these terms, and I really appreciate your eloquence on the matter.
what I have used Amazon for is used books and I am noticing less and less available but kindle books galore. I am visually unable to read on kindles/nooks, etc. I am very afraid of the future. As it is there are no bookstores in my city anymore other than used ones. We used to have a fantastic independent book store that closed and we also had a small Borders. Now we have nothing. Thank heavens for libraries.
Oolookitty wrote: "And surprise, surprise, I just got my first "Buy all these books with amazon links!" email from you guys. "
Oh. My god. Well, I guess that answers all our questions about whether things are going to change! So much for the "assurances".
Oh. My god. Well, I guess that answers all our questions about whether things are going to change! So much for the "assurances".
I don't know if Amazon will become a monopoly, but the way I see it their competitors are also to blame. As an author I have found that it is easy to upload an ebook directly to the Amazon site. There is also a spot where an author can see how his books are selling, what his/her rank is among other books of that genre. Barnes and Noble nor any other that I know of, have a similar program. The competitors need to start creating programs to entice authors and readers alike if they want to stay in business.I can understand that people would like the reading site to be seperate from the book seller. In thought that would be an ideal situation, but the fact is Amazon is a business, and to many people's dismay, so is Goodreads.
re: 2191 Just yesterday there was news on the Barnes & Noble self-publishing program. More info here:http://www.zdnet.com/barnes-and-noble...
Gary wrote: "I don't know if Amazon will become a monopoly, but the way I see it their competitors are also to blame. As an author I have found that it is easy to upload an ebook directly to the Amazon site. ..."So in your way of thinking, GR can also take monthly fee from its users?
I think noone in here says to anyone, don't make any profit from this site. They should make. But please don't ignore amateur/voluntary side of this site neither.
For me, the main problem right now is: Users have still questions on their minds for what will be going. Our main attitude is wait and see, but we want more transparency. Thats all.
I stand corrected on my Barnes and Noble statement. I will have to look into their self publishing program.I do think that their needs to be questions answered. I just don't think Amazon should be critisized for wanting to get bigger. It's up to the competition to keep them in check. I would think that Goodreads would be more emotionally connected and strive to keep this site reader friendly.
I think wait and see is a good plan. Then go from there.
Book,Since you have a MBA, I forgive your narrow view of what has happened to true Literature in the last decade. What you outlined was a small tip of an iceberg that would only, global warming analogy, melt faster with more competition among self-publishing options. In summary: big publishers "sold out" a couple of decades ago by their management decision to pursue big profit as oppossed to their traditional roles as the most effective free speech advancers of culture, by the most independently assessed talented writers in existence, regardless of the individuals' prior status; Literature became merely books, written about anything and by anybody that/who would produce an anticipated profit; an occurrence overwhelmed, technology advanced quickly -- PCs in every home; without notice, cultural advancement stagnated because consumers were blinded by the increased quantity of information availability; resisters and new profitmakers emerged, quickly squashed by an ever exapanding difinition of a new term - "spam" - a mass propaganda campaign by big and emerging profit makers that was so effective that many already overwhelmed consumers became almost religious zealots; another technological jump to diversions other than reading that provided instant gratification with games, social cyberspace, etc. continues to grow; once regarded as the lowest form of "authorship," self-publishing established, influenced and fueled by the instant gratification values that our society had been conditioned to expect -- ergo, your perceptions of a free marketplace filled primarily with garbage that readers now "review" with positive "stars" and a competition that has expanded to include paid for book reviews, paid for "author" promotion, and a diminished definition of Literature that may permanently scar our society and most certainly will discourage true genius from emerging.
Thank you for such a beautifully, concisely written response. I'm still baffled as to why people don't understand Amazon in these terms, and I really appreciate your eloquence on the matter. Because some of us have a strong preference for buying physical books at physical bookstores and have no interest in what Amazon has to offer.
Who dictates what good literature is? Many of the great authors didn't receive acclaim until they were dead. Did Dr. Seuss write good literature? I doubt that Stephen King or James patterson would fit your mold. They write for entertainment. For the most part that's what books are for. Entertainment.
I do not like this at all. One of my favorite things about GR was the fact that i could post my writing and get reviews for it and NOT pay for server space. maybe this is me being naive....but I think Im taking my things off GR.
Dan wrote: "Koontz & Steele both predate the existence of Amazon, and THERE's the rub. The industry was consolidating and it was becoming impossible for new authors, who, whether Fitzgeralds or just people writing for a fairly tight niche market, were already finding it impossible to get the attention of agents and editors long before Amazon arrived on the scene." No one was saying that publishing before Amazon or e-readers was perfect. But just because there was a trend of increasing difficulty for new authors to break into the industry, doesn't mean that trend would have been permanent or irreversible. The industry was still capable of change. Meanwhile, the alternative? Very daunting. I think the trends which Amazon and e-readers are introducing to the world, DO look permanent and irreversible.
Dan wrote: "Createspace and Kindle have reopened opportunity for new authors and have widened the path to readers."
Opened the door to predominantly poor quality, hack writing. Lowering the bar drastically, for the quality of all literature. Self-publishing is offering the same kind of banality you might see on people's Facebook publishing. The authoring process--without the expert assistance and oversight of publishing houses--is generating junk. What you have with Createspace is a tool for dilettantes and amateur scribblers, to disseminate whatever mental gruel they have sloshing around in their heads, and spread it out on a public buffet table.
The end result: simply a lot more chaff blowing around our faces in this society. A lot more falsity and fraud for us to wade through. A babble. A cacophony. How many e-authors know how to research their writings before they 'click' to submit them? I predict a tsunami of lawsuits in the future over reckless, unprofessional, incautious publishing.
I digress. To get back to an earlier point: will the future of publishing yield us high-caliber writers of the stamp which the past certainly has? Frankly..(my opinion)..no way. There will be no Melvilles or Dickens, no Tolstoys, no Flauberts, no Faulkners in the future world of ubiquitous personal electronics. There's a lot of reasons I think this. You can challenge me on it if you wish but its probably better as a sidebar conversation..
Dan wrote: "But the idea that Amazon, because it has rearranged the game board, is somehow responsible for some epic "fall" from an idyllic world of craft publishing and bibliophilia that probably never existed in the first place, is just absurd. ..."
As I say: you can see from the quality of self-publishing, that this idea is patently not as absurd that you think.
For someone more experienced in self publishing go to jaKonrath.com and see what he thinks.
It's weird how some people are about e-readers and publishing houses and brick and mortar bookstores. Most people under the age of 70 love computers, phones, etc., any kind of new technology that will make their lives easier or even just more fun. But heaven forbid that anyone anywhere read an electronic copy of a book! All of a sudden the same people that probably have all kinds of electronic devices in their homes, bags, purses, pockets, and cars go all medieval when it comes to books. Que pasa?Probably the two best qualities of an e-reader (to me) are that you can get a book anywhere, anytime, without having to leave your home AND that you can change the font and font size for better readability. Those qualities are even better for disabled people or those with transportation issues.
I don't have enough knowledge about publishing to really comment intelligently, but I get a bit weirded out to hear people talking about limiting what is allowed to be published. That's what you're really saying, that only a relative few - such as yourself - should be allowed to decide what is available to be read.
Kimberly,Rarity from the Hollow, my first novel after a few short stories published on paper, was originally an ebook before its time. I have no problem with ebooks except the barriers imposed by the powers that existed in 2006, its original copyright. Within a month of its original release, despite having been acknowledged as one of the top ten release of that year by an independent cooperative, dozens of glowing (and free) professional reviews by authors, magazines, and the Missouri Review (one of the few only independent book review companies left), my ebook company went down. My novel was too early for that market, as was the company, owned by the acquisitions editor for the University of Michigan.
In my opinion, censorship is not the issue. Large Houses failed society. Small publishers, such as the one that reprinted Rarity from the Hollow in 2012 (both ebook and on paper, including hardback) were not profitable enought to promote -- to compete. That's still the case. Small, elite, critical and selective publishers will continue to produce until they are bankrupted by the existing conditions.
If you want true Literature, my recommendation is to research for small publishers that fit your tastes. If all you want is entertainment, roll the dice, or wait until the next "in thing" is introduced.
Nothing is black and white. Video games improve eye-hand coordination.
A dear one left me their Kindle, he was an avid reader and the library is HUGE. Too huge for me to make sense of till I discovered Goodreads. I am able to cross check authors with titles and genres, (everything is in author folders) and receive recommendations, check responses of readers and even join groups. Listopia has broadened my horizon dramatically.I love it - the more I flit around in here the more I appreciate the nature of his gift.
I know I am using the site as a rowboater sits on a pool, paddling gleefully on top blissfully unaware of the vastness beneath and that doesn't worry me at all. What would worry me is an invasion of flash ads, unsolicited mail to me based on any of my data by Amazon and loss of access to reader reviews - for myself, sometimes reading is less about the book and more about the folk you are reading that book with.
Kimberley It's weird how some people are about e-readers and publishing houses and brick and mortar bookstores. Most people under the age of 70 love computers, phones, etc., any kind of new technology that will make their lives easier or even just more fun. But heaven forbid that anyone anywhere read an electronic copy of a book! All of a sudden the same people that probably have all kinds of electronic devices in their homes, bags, purses, pockets, and cars go all medieval when it comes to books. Que pasa?Why does having a computer and a smart phone make it weird that I will still only read print? I just prefer print. Ebooks add nothing to the experience to me, they only take away. None of the frequently cited advantages to ebooks make up for what is lost for ME. What do you care what I read? I like my smart phone because I can use the internet when I am waiting somewhere bored, or eating lunch out alone, or to get directions when I get lost or movie times when I'm out or whatever. I like my computer because it helps me earn a living and there is all sorts of fun and interesting stuff on the internet. I don't like ebooks because I find them less enjoyable to hold and look at, and I prefer owning the physical book if I enjoyed the story. What is so odd about that?
No one was saying that publishing before Amazon or e-readers was perfect. But just because there was a trend of increasing difficulty for new authors to break into the industry, doesn't mean that trend would have been permanent or irreversible. The industry was still capable of change. Meanwhile, the alternative? Very daunting. I think the trends which Amazon and e-readers are introducing to the world, DO look permanent and irreversible.
I will NOT read self published books unless I already read the author's traditionally published books and enjoyed them, or an extremely trusted friend or blogger with similar tastes liked the book. Sorry but I don't feel like having to wade through a bunch of unfiltered stuff. I will never say that publishers are a perfect filter because they are not, they deny some great books that might not sell well, they pick some crap because it's the flavor of the week/month/year. But for me an imperfect filter will always be better than no filter at all.
Rebecca wrote: "Kimberley It's weird how some people are about e-readers and publishing houses and brick and mortar bookstores. Most people under the age of 70 love computers, phones, etc., any kind of new technol..."I just think it's odd that some people embrace all other kinds of technology but not an electronic book. It doesn't have to be read on an e-reader, either. Books can be read on a smart phone or a tablet. I'm certainly not trying to insist that you or anyone use e-books/e-readers, but some act like they are inherently bad and that anyone who does read them is somehow not really reading. I could turn your question around about me caring what you read - it's not so much that I care that you aren't reading e-books, it's that you (general you) seem to care that I and others ARE reading them.
I don't enjoy reading from a screen. I read for enjoyment, and I prefer the look and feel of a physical book. The smart phone I couldn't read on even if I WANTED to. A short article is about my limit on there - the screen is so small.I don't care if you want to read e-books. But I won't support a company that wants to destroy bookstores and have everyone read from a kindle. To me, e-books ARE inherently bad, I feel they take something away from the experience. I don't want to push that on other people who have other values, but I certainly won't be buying, say, my future kids ebooks, because I think they are bad, or supporting companies that push e-books to the detriment of physical books.
Rebecca wrote: "Thank you for such a beautifully, concisely written response. I'm still baffled as to why people don't understand Amazon in these terms, and I really appreciate your eloquence on the matter. Beca..."
if you'll go back and actually read my statement, you'll see that i agree with book's comments and dislike the merger for the exact same reasons as you and everyone else on here. i was saying i don't understand why people don't see how amazon is a predatory group and bodes ill for the book industry and consumers.
Page 45, and I still haven't received a satisfactory response to my questions:1. Will Amazon have access to my reviews without my permission?
2. Will Amazon have access to my personal information without my permission?
3. Will Amazon have access to all data pertaining to my reading behaviour (books read, kind of books I have on my shelf, etc) without my permission?
Also I would like to know Otis & Co.'s reaction to what I feel is a legitimate concern among us librarians, which user Bugmenot has put so succinctly:
http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/41...
That's what really bugs me, most of all. There was so much concern last year when Amazon decided to pull out their data, and librarians worked very hard to restore information where it is needed. That's no joke. And now you've sold Goodreads--this community--to the same company who gave us so much grief. After all our hard work, I feel like in the end, it was just a ploy to see us dance.
For those who are leaving GoodReads, or are concerned enough about the sale that you'd at least like to know your options for copying your GR reviews elsewhere: You can find many alternatives to GoodReads (for reviews) and to Amazon (for shopping) at the "Escaping Amazon" community [https://plus.google.com/communities/1...]. Our free public resource listing and describing alternatives is at [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/c...Readers and their love of books are not commodities to be bought and sold - unless we allow it.
I am on an airplane, writing this in my iPad. I have books on my iPad, but vastly prefer print. I embrace technology, use it when it works best. But amazon is predatory. Anyone who refuses to see that probably has an ulterior motive. I only buy books (print) from amazon when I can't find them elsewhere, and I'm happy to pay more elsewhere. I don't care to get free ebooks, because as my Dad always said, you get what you pay for.
Ellen wrote: "I am on an airplane, writing this in my iPad. I have books on my iPad, but vastly prefer print. I embrace technology, use it when it works best. But amazon is predatory. Anyone who refuses to see t..."It's getting really old, being accused of having an "ulterior motive" if you don't hate Amazon or e-books like you're "supposed to" if you're a "real" reader. I'm a freakin' medical transcriptionist, and as far as I know Amazon doesn't have any medical transcription jobs!
IMO, e-books do work best. Your opinion is different and that's fine, but it's not evil for me (or anyone else) to like the features that e-books and e-readers can offer, for pete's sake. Just because lovers of hard copy books can't understand or appreciate the benefits of e-books doesn't mean those benefits don't exist. Even if you don't like them and prefer paper books, you should be able to understand that there are people who see the features of e-books as honestly desirable without any evil ulterior motive.
I haven't explored free e-books, but if I ever do I won't be out anything. If I don't like it, zap it'll be gone.
That's no worse than the hardcore pro-eBook crowd out there that insists anyone who dislikes Amazon and ebooks and loves print and bookstores must have a financial motive such as working for a large publisher. Just go to any of the really pro eBook and self publishing blogs.
Rebecca wrote: "That's no worse than the hardcore pro-eBook crowd out there that insists anyone who dislikes Amazon and ebooks and loves print and bookstores must have a financial motive such as working for a larg..."Nobody has said anything like that about print lovers here. But there have been several posters here who have made tacky insinuations about anyone who doesn't post that they hate Amazon. It's a cheap way to try to discredit the opinion of a poster you disagree with and it's not very pretty.
I wasn't able to read all 45 pages, so it's certainly possible none of them have posted here yet but they definitely exist and tend to congregate together on certain websites. Sometimes they will venture out and post on Publisher's Weekly articles etc. One told me they hoped all bookstores go out of business because I deserve to lose bookstores because I agreed with using agency pricing to limit Amazon's market power and thought the DOJ was unwise for helping a would-be monopoly gain even more power, and HOW DARE I HAVE THAT OPINION.I don't see many pro-print people wanting to shut down websites that sell e-books or prevent e-books from being sold altogether - just a lot of us are concerned about the market power of the biggest pusher of e-books, Amazon, and don't agree with their tactics of selling popular e-books at a loss to try and kill the print market and get everyone reading on a Kindle. But I do see a lot of people who will happily throw print readers and readers who love bookstores under the bus if it means they get cheaper e-books. So yes, I am very bitter on this issue after seeing the response to the DOJ lawsuit. I don't want to take away your e-books. But I don't think Amazon should be able to sell them at a loss to build a monopoly and destroy bookstores. If Barnes & Noble or another bookstore closes to get cheaper e-books, well, it's worth it to them, but god forbid the publishers try to keep a model that increases the chances of both e-books and print, both online retailers and physical retailers, surviving - because e-books need to be sold at a loss by Amazon no matter the cost to anyone else. Amazon has caused a large number of e-book readers to have a ridiculous sense of entitlement to below-cost e-books.
So that is the problem those of us who love print and physical bookstores have with the big Amazon supporters - you support a company that wants to destroy what we love. I don't want to put Amazon out of business. I don't want to stop you from buying from them. I just want to stop them from using predatory tactics with the goal of destroying options for those who don't want to buy from Amazon.
Kimberley wrote: "Ellen wrote: "I am on an airplane, writing this in my iPad. I have books on my iPad, but vastly prefer print. I embrace technology, use it when it works best. But amazon is predatory. Anyone who re..."Kimberley wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "That's no worse than the hardcore pro-eBook crowd out there that insists anyone who dislikes Amazon and ebooks and loves print and bookstores must have a financial motive such as wo..."
Actually, I never said anything about "you" being "evil" for disagreeing. I was simply stating my opinion. I never said it was better than anyone else's. My whole point is that even if you use readers, and I DO, amazon isn't the only ebook supplier, and when you choose a single platform you are limiting your own choices. But the biggest discussion you seem to be overlooking is the idea of monopoly, and what that will mean to you should amazon run everyone else out of business. I was talking price point, and the celebration of cheap downloads in the face of likely much higher pricing if amazon is the only game in town. You might consider that while trashing traditional publishing models, B & N, and indie bookstores. You might also consider the amazon workers who, much like Walmart employees, are overworked and underpaid so you can continue to buy undervalued goods.
I didn't say there weren't concerns about monopolies - there are. I was trying to talk about e-books themselves and the features they offer that I like.What is going to happen to the book industry - I just have no idea. Not everyone even has access to an indie or small bookstore or even a B&N. The merging and consolidating and closing down has been going on for a while, before e-books even came on the scene. It's an evolving situation.
Isn't this e-book versus print book argument rather beside the point? We're all book-lovers, no matter in what format we prefer to read them. Discussing the merits or otherwise of either format seems rather out of place in this thread.
Rebecca wrote: "I wasn't able to read all 45 pages, so it's certainly possible none of them have posted here yet but they definitely exist and tend to congregate together on certain websites. Sometimes they will v..."You are my hero, Rebecca, as are others who have so eloquently stated the truth. I purchased a Kobo from Borders (I worked there.) for my mother who had failing eyesight, and although the dementia had advanced to the point she couldn't use it, I read a book on it, just to try it, and have read one on my phone. For me it just doesn't work. I agree with Justin Cronin about the heft of the physical book making a difference to the reading experience in many ways. Given the fact I am a tactile hands-on learner, this kinda makes sense...for me. That doesn't mean I dislike others who use ereaders and/or ebooks! Many people I know do! It is Bezos' desire to control and monopolize publishing and book distribution by underselling to drive others out of business that sickens me...
Sorry people but Amazon isn't the only reason independent booksellers are going out of business. We have had three close down in the community I live in and in each case the owner wanted to retire and shutting down was the option they chose.
John wrote: "Sorry people but Amazon isn't the only reason independent booksellers are going out of business."
I don't think anyone would disagree with this. In my opinion that doesn't alter the fact that they have highly-questionable business practices, they are tax dodgers and they treat their workers appallingly. Those three factors alone (and there are many others that have been aired in this 45-page-long thread) give me good reason to want nothing to do with them.
I don't think anyone would disagree with this. In my opinion that doesn't alter the fact that they have highly-questionable business practices, they are tax dodgers and they treat their workers appallingly. Those three factors alone (and there are many others that have been aired in this 45-page-long thread) give me good reason to want nothing to do with them.
Din pacate nu sunt asa de incintat pe cit sunt unii. Nicigind sa am ceva contra Amazon, dar cind ceva merge bine trebuie lasat sa mearga bine. Cred ca sunt cititori de pe Amazon - parerea mea - care posteaza pentru bani. Nu ca pe GR nu ar face-o, dar acolo cred ca procentul e mult mai mare. Si daca se unesc platformele or sa iasa niste note de carti dubioase.
Wow, accusations of working for Amazon even in Romanian.
okay. I have no problem that a person works for Amazon. Someone selling a book on Amazon. Get More Reviews and big stars to increase sales. On Goodreads write only people who share opinions about a book. It has nothing to selling a book. Where are the big money at stake is no longer equality and justice. If Goodreads would do just part of the Amazon I would not seem like a problem, the problem is integration votes between the two sites. Excuse my English by Google Translate.From Romania - my opinion.
Cristian, Thank you for the translation/Vă mulţumim pentru traducere.
@Lynn : as long as there are people that love the feel and "heft" of a book as you so eloquently put it, ( that would be me as well) there will be books. I have an iPad. ( I HATE IT for reading! ) I want my books. I love beautifully illustrated books. You cannot truly appreciate them on a ( fill in appropriate expletive here. Example: €¥#%ing) iPad, Kindle,Nook, or Kobo!
Will it still be possible for those of us who don't sell through Amazon to list our books here? I hope so. I've only just joined but I love it here.
Eyehavenofilter wrote: "@Lynn : as long as there are people that love the feel and "heft" of a book as you so eloquently put it, ( that would be me as well) there will be books. I have an iPad. ( I HATE IT for reading! ) ..."agree and like
One of the things I hate the most about this situation is that instead of doing what we love, reading books and talking about them, we are spending a lot of time discussing the evils of Amazon (real or perceived), the evils of Goodreads (real or perceived), comparing other book websites, moving our libraries, everything but reading. I've decided to go back to reading.
Don't worry, Randee. I think you can take it as read (hah hah...) that we're all doing both at once. I certainly am!
Randee that may be the most sensible thing that has been said in this whole discussion.
karen wrote: "amazon has been very hands-on and overcautious with the way it treats its reviews and reviewers. will you at least tell us before you delete our reviews?? because they don't."Im a new writer and I cant find mykindle ebook on goodreads. Its called Syndicate by Emma Banks and has 4 good reviews
2) Will all of the data that librarians frantically saved (and, in may cases, corrected) last year when Amazon threatened to sue now be overwritten?
3) Will Amazon compensate librarians for that work? This feels like a bit of a slap in the face."
1) Most likely in some way. Either directly by some type of "trusted by goodreads review" tag or direct publishing of reviews. Or indirectly as the data is mined and figured out how to maximize the effectiveness of reviews on amazon that are already there. Commission ha ha ha ha. we have better odds at the state lottery.
2. They own the data so no need to sue. The data was worth the $150M price tag so that would be shooting off their own foot.
3)P.T. Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute" I am sure a close look at the Terms of Service will spell that out in leagalese.