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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 251-300 of 2,216 (2216 new)
message 251:
by
Lisa
(new)
Mar 28, 2013 02:25PM
Mixed emotions on this. I'll guess I'll have to see how it turns out. I don't want Amazon trying to sell me something based on my To Read list. I also don't want Goodreads' recommendations to go away. They've always been more on target than Amazon. I don't want all of my Goodreads info to be accessed by Amazon users either.
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Boo. Goodbye community, hello corporation! If I wanted to review books so amazon could sell them, I'd review on amazon.
Otis:Will's father chiming in here. He just sent me the press release.
I truly hope you can maintain the great culture you have established at Goodreads. And as an Amazon customer for many years I look forward to the integration.
I hope the synergy works for you as you anticipate.
the other William...
Liza wrote: "One thing that I love about Goodreads is that we don't have to give stars, we can just write a review. I hope that won't change because I think it's a strength of this site. When I use Amazon, star..."I agree! As well, with Amazon a text review is required, whereas with Goodreads it's optional. I hope that doesn't change either.
I'm an Amazon customer, and I love my Kindle, however...I don't really want integration with Kindle.
What I want is an independent site where I can feel comfortable discussing books, feel comfortable reading reviews, feel comfortable as an author and a reader...
I'm disappointed right now. I'll wait to see how things play out, but if Goodreads becomes just another tab on Amazon instead of remaining a small independent community of genuine book lovers, I doubt I'll stick around.
Damn. Wish you hadn't done that, Goodreads. I might have to go in search of another booky site. :(
Does this mean Amazon owns our reviews now, and by extension, our existence in the realm of GR? Will I see any percentages of net revenue, if so?
Thanks for all of the comments and thoughts so far. To answer a few questions that have been asked:* We don't expect to make changes to our review policy. Our reviews are obviously a strength of our site, and we don't plan to change how we handle them.
* As we said in our blog post, we are going to remain a home for all kinds of readers, whether you read on a Kindle, another ereader, printed book, or audiobook. We have no plans to change how the links on our book pages work. That being said, if you do read on a Kindle, we expect to be able to integrate your Goodreads and Amazon experience, should you choose to do so, in exciting ways.
Sad. Amazon's reviews are clunky and difficult to use, and I don't like the way they collect and use data about what I read. I hope we will get to keep the current Goodreads interface.
We'd like you to integrate with all e-readers. Silly us, we assumed Goodreads was for readers period, not buyers only from one source.
I hope this news doesn't turn Goodreads into a non-stop commercial for Amazon and Kindle. If that turns out to be the case, I'm gone.
HORRIBLE! Amazon is evil and over-censoring of its users.$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Please please please don't let Amazon ruin this lovely site. I love using this place. Don't let them change a thing...please
Not happy at all. I try to stear clear of Amazon as much as I can and the idea of writing reviews and rating books for them to use doesn't sit well with me.
I am so disappointed by this decision, although I understand that there are financial issues. But as a reader and a supporter of independent bookstores, I am hard put to be glad of this. loved being able to track my reading history independent of ANY retail choices or influences. Now I have concerns about supporting a megabusiness which has put the little guy out of business and has not put money back into the local economy. I am considering withdrawing from Goodreads because of this.
Happy for the team at Goodreads. Please don't let Amazon destroy the integrity and community of your great database!
Despite being a Kindle owner and understanding the POSSIBLE benefits of this change, I am really saddened by it. I also have a tablet and read books in all formats, as well as still buying many many books from independent bookstores. Amazon has put a good many small bookstores out of business and I hate to see an independent site taken over by the mega-super-web-store.
I'm exporting all my data and getting out of here for good. The main issue is that Amazon owns all, or a stake in, every book management/social network service.
Amy wrote: "I think in celebration of the announcement, Amazon should give all current Goodreads subscribers a free new Kindle. Who's with me?"If they did that to me I'd throw it back in their faces. So hard it broke, probably. I don't want the Amazon spy machine.
So sad you sold out and chose capital over community.
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..."You've summed up my feelings on this exactly.
Melissa wrote: ... I"would like some assurances that my personal information, reviews, and posts, etc will remain ONLY on Goodreads and not become part of the Amazon conglomerate. If not, I may have to reconsider remaining a part of the community which makes me sad considering the number of years I have been on here. "
Same. I feel sick to my stomach at Amazon reaching its claws into my space here, having access to the lists of titles I've read & want to read, etc. Very disturbing news. :-((
Same. I feel sick to my stomach at Amazon reaching its claws into my space here, having access to the lists of titles I've read & want to read, etc. Very disturbing news. :-((
P.S. I dont use a kindle I use a Samsung Galaxy tab 2 7.0 its WAYYYY better and Best Buy has had it as low as 179 so kindle integration means nothing to me.
Well, I'm leaving goodreads AFTER I delete all my reviews. I guess it's time to go check out librarything.
Amazon owns everything, and now goodreads. A sad, sad day. I could have been grumpy and kept using you...but you didn't even care to go over it with your audience either before selling out. That means I have lost complete respect for this site.
I'm out of here.
Amazon owns everything, and now goodreads. A sad, sad day. I could have been grumpy and kept using you...but you didn't even care to go over it with your audience either before selling out. That means I have lost complete respect for this site.
I'm out of here.
Well, I guess all good things must come to an end. I can already imagine what Goodreads will become and I'm not excited about it :/
Not terribly pleased to hear about this. Amazon takes over everything to the detriment of local economies. Amazon, take note: I still will not buy books from you.
Thank you Patrick, let's hope not expecting to change, actually means not changing the policies.And that all options are opt-in and not all automatic, any information you can give us as to the access amazon will have to our reviews?
NOT happy with this! I own a Nook and hope I'm not spammed even more by Amazon or that Nooks are discriminated against.
Bird Brian wrote: "Where have you been all my life? Stirring up trouble on Facebook mostly.
Or how about 2% off Amazon books ordered through the Goodreads site?
Amy wrote: "What about us Nookies?"I would love to have a better app for B&N on my nook.
Several points:1. Please do not automatically sync the books on my kindle with my goodreads account - there are many books on my kindle which I do not want appearing on my GR shelf for everyone to see
2. The censorship and control Amazon exercises over book reviews cannot be allowed to infiltrate GR
3. The aggressive bullying tactics by other Amazon readers who don't agree with a review is distressing - GR has always felt like a safer, kinder and more courteous place to express an opinion about a book; I hope this culture is maintained
4. What will happen to independent author advertising programs and giveaways?
5. Will we now be able to do eBook ( presumably Kindle only) giveaways?
Judy Croome
South Africa
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?"My question, too.
I must admit, I am leery about this. When big company gobbles up a little one, it's not usually a good thing. I hope I'm not disappointed. I have been enjoying my goodreads experience for several years now.
I hope you can still review a book the way you want to review it here on GR. On Amazon you have to be "oh-so-PC". Here on GR if a book is a piece of shit, I can SAY it's a piece of shit! Not so on Amazon. While I do buy the majority of my books on Amazon and I have a KindleFire, I'm not sure I like the idea of Amazon seeing EVERYTHING I read and then trying to sell me God knows what!
This is a sad day for Goodreads. I guess everything is a commodity in the end!
Very sorry to hear this. Tired of behemoth corporations swallowing up sites; it rarely ends with the site still being useful in any way. Another step towards the AmazonFacebooking of the internet.
Sad news, indeed. I'm not an Amazon customer except very occasionally and not inclined to be subject to their data mining and heavy-handed approach. I don't link anything on the web to anything else. I like independents.I like to fly under the radar. I guess I'll be leaving GR. Sorry. Hope it works well for you.
Sorry to hear this. Few of my ebooks come from Amazon. I have the Kindle app, for when I must, but much prefer reading on my JetBook Lite. Hard to believe that Amazon won't interfere ... umm, I mean "help out."
Julia wrote: "I find this very sad news. I hope the information I have entered will not be made available on Amazon. If that is the plan, I trust there will be advance notification to allow removal by those of u..."I also hope that is the case. I hope that we have the right to choose what is shared.
Also, I hope that it does not place preference to Kindle users. I have a Nook, and I absolutely love it, much more than a kindle. I really don't want to feel pressured to purchase my books in kindle format or from Amazon, just because they have teamed up.
Also, I agree with the others. I do not want the rating system to change. I want honest reviews that are not taken down by Amazon.
I still want the independence and freedom that goodreads provide. I don't want to feel like an outcast because Amazon believe their way is the right way!I like the feel of paper will this now be outlawed under the umbrella of Amazon?
Librarians at present give their work for free – at least as far as I'm aware – to improve the quality of the GoodReads database. I for one am most certainly not prepared to donate my time & work if the ultimate beneficiary is Amazon.
Are our social groups going to be evaluated by whether they make a profit for Amazon?It's your site, Otis. You had a right to sell it, but at least lay it out for us. You KNOW it's going to hurt us.
I have always purchased Nook e-readers and purchased books from BN or smaller book retailers. Amazon isn't good for bookstores. It is unfortunate that GR is alienating other retailers and e-readers by venturing into this partnership.
I guess I'll be saying farewell to Goodreads now. This news greatly disappoints me.
I've posted the news to my 4,900 follwers I've got on Twitter,As well as on all the 45 groups I have on LinkedIn - some of which are needing moderating. This includes over approximately 1,800 members of the two groups I own/manage.
THIS IS DEFINITELY A SUPER SUPER DAY FOR ALL OF US !!!
I use both Shelfari and Goodreads. Goodreads does an amazing job creating a vibrant book community, but Shefari wins on user interface. Maybe now you can borrow from the Shalefari bookshelf look and feel?
Great news for Goodreads. Getting financial backing is always exciting.However, this makes me heartsick when I think about the effect on the people who use this site. I abhor Amazon. I am really disappointed in this union and the backlash it will have on the people who really matter: the readers and the authors.
