Goodreads has CHANGED YOUR PERSONAL SETTINGS

[Kaje]

**A note to all members -

In an anti-spam move, Goodreads has arbitrarily changed the setting for your private messages on your profile to "friends only" even if it used to be "everyone."

If you want to be able to get PMs from people who are not friends, you need to go into your profile settings and switch it back.

It is not clear whether this means that members who are not my "friends" will receive monthly newsletters or not. I will post this month's newsletter below, in case. ETA - they did block newsletters too, but got enough complaints that they say they have removed the block for group-wide broadcasts only.


To reset this so folks who are not your friends can contact you:

On a computer, or mobile device using the "desktop version of Goodreads" (so not using the app):

1. Click on your profile picture and go down to "Account settings". You might need to enter your password first, but then the Account Settings screen should open.
2. Click on "Settings"

3. Scroll down and in Privacy you will see: "Who Can Send Me Private Messages:". Unless you have already changed it, it will be set to "just my friends". Instead click the "anyone" button.

4. Now simply scroll further down and after hitting the "I'm not a robot" CAPTCHA click on the "Save account settings" to save the changes. Once that is done you will be able to receive messages from other members who you are not (yet) friends with.

***

If you are using the mobile app it's a little different, but just as simple. These instructions and screenshots are using an iPhone as that is what I have available. But I think it would be very similar on an Android.
1. Open the app and go to the bottom right hand corner and click on "More"


2. Then go to "Settings" and in the new screen go to "Account settings"



3. A new screen opens again, and here go to "Privacy"


4. Scroll down until you see "Other" and directly below that "Accept Private Messages from"

Hit Edit to change it from "Friends Only" to "Anyone" and the hit "Save" which will be bolded.



YOU don't have to switch, of course - some people want friends only - but for authors and others who may want broader contacts, you have to switch this to be able to see them.

[Kaje]

October Newsletter and GIVEAWAY:

Hey folks, a fun book giveaway for the group this month. I hope everyone is having a good October, and looking forward to Halloween (traditionally a great LGBTQ holiday.)

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This month, we have a GIVEAWAY for 5 ebook copies of The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (via Amazon.com US only and Barnes & Noble)

I apologize to everyone who does not use either of these vendors - I know this is US-centric of us, but these are the copies we have available.

To enter, you can find a giveaway thread with all the information here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... Please do read it carefully, before commenting to enter, and tell us which format you are entering for. We will draw them separately. Entries close 11:59 PM EST October 10th.

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Although discussion or review is NOT a requirement of winning a copy, I thought I'd make this our October book of the month. I've seen several members really liking it, and also heard it recommended as a good choice for younger teens looking for LGBTQ rep. I'd love to hear your thoughts about The House in the Cerulean Sea.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune - A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life, as a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth. When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management, he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist.

You can find our Book of the Month discussion thread for this story here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

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Favorite New Reads : We had members post quite a few recommendations of a relatively new YA LGBTQ book (published sometime in the last few years)

You can find them, and post your own book recommendation here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It's good to know what people are loving recently, and we'll pick from some of these for next month's Book of the month poll.


~*~*~*
For creative writing this month, we have 2 inspiration pictures to choose between:

VOTE for our next writing prompt here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2... Poll open through Oct. 6th.

Check out the stories on our older writing prompts; our most recent prompt was - "Spots and Stairs" https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...and remember you can always write for any of the older prompts now, if you feel inspired to do so. We'd love to see what you come up with.

~*~*~*

If you have anything you'd like the group to be doing (or doing differently) you can PM me or Jay, or mention it on the "What's on your mind?" thread - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/.... "What's on your mind" is also a place for general chat, links to cool stuff you found, anything you want to share with the group.

Don't miss the deals that several diligent members list for us on YA LGBTQ Sales/Discounts - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/.... And if you spot a sale or are an author with a book discounted please stop by and share the good stuff with the group.

Take care of each other, stay safe, and read good books.

- Kaje & Jay

[Brooklyn]

Kaje wrote: "**A note to all members -

In an anti-spam move, Goodreads has arbitrarily changed the setting for your private messages on your profile to "friends only" even if it used to be "everyone."

If you..."

Thank you for the heads up! I think, as Goodreads is slowly usurped by Amazon, you will see more and more of this forward behavior. Just like the Beta version that they are thrusting down our throats which makes rating invisible for your publications, Goodreads will slowly become more and more like Amazon. Whatever happened to federal antitrust laws, I wonder?
Brooklyn