Ideas for Goodreads-Kindle integration

[Tom]

Thought it would be interesting to discuss what sort of integration between Kindle and Goodreads might look like.

First, the more or less obvious:
- bulk import Amazon book/ebook/audiobook purchases to Goodreads, or Amazon adds an export book list feature that you can use to import to GR after editing.
- add ability to link Kindle's Sharing feature to Goodreads
- if Goodreads is linked, offer to add to 'to-read' shelf when purchasing
- Sharing to Goodreads automatically adds/moves it to 'currently-reading' shelf and updates reading status with current reading position and whatever note you add
- if sharing at the end of the book, move to 'read' shelf with the assigned rating

[Dan]

Hi, Tom,

Great list!

Might as well go whole hog: add import buttons for Kobo and iBookstore and Nook and Sony purchases.

... with a special link for each ebook: click here and for a dollar you can "convert" (i.e., purchase; i.e., license) your book from the Kindle ecosystem.

I'd be willing to pay $1 to get the Kindle version of books I've purchased elsewhere when they were on sale or advertised.

Would you?

Cheerily,

Dan

[Dpeach]

Allow me to number Tom's comments so that they can be easily referred to.


1. bulk import Amazon book/ebook/audiobook purchases to Goodreads, or Amazon adds an export book list feature that you can use to import to GR after editing.
2. add ability to link Kindle's Sharing feature to Goodreads
3. if Goodreads is linked, offer to add to 'to-read' shelf when purchasing
4. Sharing to Goodreads automatically adds/moves it to 'currently-reading' shelf and updates reading status with current reading position and whatever note you add
5. if sharing at the end of the book, move to 'read' shelf with the assigned rating

My thoughts on some of these points:

1. I love the idea of import to GR. But I think the option to edit before wholesale import is important to make available (though if a person wanted to wholesale import then they could do that with a single button click).
2. No comment since I have no interest in the current Kindle sharing options.
3. Instead of making it an option at purchase, it should automatically be added. It could be added to a queue that I could edit before making it public. Or, there could be an option that would make it live immediately if the user chose to do so.
4. No comment, other than I like the idea of it being in a "reading" section. (Not sure about sharing notes.)
5. I like the idea that whenever I hit the final splash page that allows sharing and rating that GR would put in on a "read" shelf whether I choose to rate or share it (I almost never rate and share).

The vast majority of stuff I read I don't mind people knowing about. In fact, I usually announce to the world, or individual friends, the books I read (but never through the built in sharing tools). But, there are reasons why it is not wise for me to share with the world everything I read. (No, I am not talking about steamy romance.) There are books on philosophy within my industry that could be wrongly interpreted if I spoke positively about them.

No automatic sharing! And always let me make the decision before telling the world what I am reading.

[Greg]

I like the proposals that are listed. There is certainly much to consider in the integration.
Here's another suggestion for the integration: Export to Amazon the Goodreads book ratings and comments, but somehow mask the person's Goodreads identity to protect privacy.

[Paul]

I'd like to better manage collections, either via Amazon itself, or via Goodreads. And, to be selective about what's shared via export option to Goodread.

[Loren]

I'd like a way to sync what I am reading/finished reading with the status bars on the home page to let people know how far along I am. I'd also like to find a way to save or put my notes in my profile. That would alone be worth the price of admission - let my notes go straight to good reads and let people see what I am noting or writing down.

[Tom]

I'd like to see a way to create a book discussion group where participants can opt in to share notes/highlights in the Kindle edition. Then others in the group can 'follow' those sharers (click on a link in goodreads) and see their contributions as they read the book on their Kindle (via Shared Highlights).

I think the shared notes/highlights feature has a lot of potential but it is too hard to discover people to follow for a given book.

[Tom]

I see that the latest Overdrive Media Console app for iOS now has Goodreads integration (but not the Android app). Its the first time I've seen that in a reading app, and perhaps a preview of what we might expect for Kindle platform.

It lets you add a book you are reading to one of your shelves and post a review (but not update reading status). You can update the review as you read. It seems it would be trivial to update reading status with a % or page number, since that app knows your current reading position. Or maybe the Goodreads API doesn't currently offer that functionality.

The Share option is available when reading the book if you tap to bring up options and touch what looks like a 'contents' icon in top right, on the Details panel. You can also bring up Details from the Bookshelf and share from there, without opening the book.

If you look at my currently-reading list, I added "In Other Worlds" from OMD.

[Len]

The feature I desire the most is to be able to update my reading progress from within a Kindle book. It's pretty easy to switch to GR on the Fire, but on my Paperwhite it's not worth the effort to get there via the experimental browser.

[Nick]

I love the ideas. I would also love if the Kindle/Goodreads integration also scraped titles/authors of third party book sources. There are so many places to buy ebooks, heck even authors put them on their websites for free sometimes at the same time they're on sale in the Kindle store. I constantly get tired of the "sharing is not allowed".