I have often said that I am a social media neophyte. I am. And, for the most part, I don’t care. However, there is one social media platform that I’d like to know more about: Goodreads. Yes, I am the only person in the entire world, perhaps the entire Universe, that does not have an account. yes, I know that’s strange. I know so very little about it…
Here is my understanding. I put down the books I want to read. I say which book I am currently reading. I check them off as I read them and rate the books. Then Goodreads recommends new books to me based on my likes. It also lets me know what people I know are reading, have read or want to read.
Is that pretty close? Did I miss anything? Say anything wrong?
I don’t read as much as I should. I have a stack of books, both real and virtual, that I am waiting to read, enough to last me the rest of the year and beyond. I know something will come up, such as a fellow blogger’s book, which will jump to the top of the list and push everything else down. I don’t need social media to tell me that. I have my own ways to get recommendations. I know what I like. I don’t care that much about what others are reading (unless they are reading Seasons of Imagination ;) ).
But since so many people like it, I feel I must be missing something.
Here are some questions:
With my reading style, how will Goodreads help me?
Since I do read fellow bloggers’ books, would it help them if I am on and tell Goodreads that I read those books? How?
How does it help me as an author to be on Goodreads? Does it even matter? Do I have to (or should I) “push” my books there?
Anything else I need to know?
I am very serious about wanting to learn. Any tidbits of information you can give me is much appreciated!
Trent's World (the Blog) 
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I started a Goodreads account back in ’11, but I haven’t used it much the past few years. Just keeping a basic list here does me well, without ever having to log into (yet) another site! I do remember how I loved it and kept it meticulously updated at the beginning, though …
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I just started an account but haven’t played with it much yet. I rated a bunch of books and put in my current read, but no real reviews, no goals, lists, etc.
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I love Goodreads! You needn’t worry about doing your to-read list “out of order” or anything like that — you can mark books as “Want to Read,” but it’s entirely optional. You can also go straight to “Read” and review the book or give it a star rating. For a long time I didn’t use the “Want to Read” feature at all, although I’ve since found it a good way to keep a running list.
You can also be as social as you want — if you want to make friends and watch what they’re reading you can, or you can just use it to keep track of your own reading, or just to enter reviews of your friends’ books to help them out. (As an author it may or may not help you to use the site. “Pushing” books there is generally discouraged because it’s a site for readers and reviewers, but there are options to offer your book for giveaway and things like that). It will help you to make sure your books are listed on there though, and leaving reviews there helps the author the same way an Amazon review would. I definitely check the Goodreads reviews and only look at the Amazon rating if a book is so indie/obscure that it doesn’t have any on Goodreads.)
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I will have to check it out. Thanks.
A few days ago I had something pop up on Facebook that someone was reading my book, so I know it is there. That message is what prompted this post – I hadn’t really thought about it until I saw it.
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It’s worth joining, Trent. Corina is right that you’ll get out of it what you put into it (like anything else). There are lots of parts to it, many that I don’t even know. So, if you sign up, do some exploring.
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Yeah, I’ll have to break down and do it ;) I’m sure, like anything else, one I start I’ll wonder why I was dragging my feet so much…
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I am not very active, but my blog is linked and I keep my books up to date. Like everything, it takes time, and I never seem to have any of that!
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Wasn’t the whole idea of technology to give us more time, not take it away? Yeah, that’s the problem, doing these things does take time.
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I use it to track what I read (I’m all about the reading challenge!) and as motivation to read more books. I follow a few authors on there, as well. And I enter free book giveaways! (Incidentally, I won the second or third one I ever entered.) I only read the reviews AFTER I’ve read a book, because that is just the kind of person I am.
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The tracking and challenges are what I’ve heard the most about Goodreads. I’m not super interested in that aspect, though I will look at it. Following authors might be more interesting, though I need to find out what Indie-Authors do on there as far as that type of thing goes. I get it about book reviews. And then there are some books that 90% of the reviews contain spoilers. Not fun. I’ll most likely take a look.
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Since there are literally thousands and thousands of books (and growing!) that I still want to read, I’m a very goal-oriented reader, which is why I enjoy the challenge aspect of GR. But, it is a great place to connect with authors and readers (including real-life or existing on-line friends). It is still a social media site, after all! And it takes, maybe, 60 seconds to join, so it is hardly a time commitment!
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One more social media platform to join ;) But it is very specialized, so that’s cool. I most likely will take a few minutes and set up an account sometime soon. As i said to Corina, I’m being lazy and if anybody has already done any research that I won’t need to do ;)….
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Yes, there are soooo many social media platforms. A person needs to pick and choose, or become exhausted! With GR, you sign in via Facebook. So, it is somewhat simplified.
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I hate recommendations, it takes away the fun of searching. :-)
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I pretty much agree :)
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Like anything, you get out of it what you put in. I joined years ago to help me keep track of the books I read and to keep track of my yearly reading challenges. I don’t often rate the books anymore but that’s usually because I’m on my phone and it’s more difficult. I have met authors after I review their books and they stop by to thank me for the review. I even met an author who later named a character after me in a sequel to the one I had reviewed!
There are also groups you can join, including genre groups, author groups, self published author groups, etc. You might like it. I say join and check it out. Give it a few months and if you don’t like it, don’t use it.
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I most likely will join up and explore it a little bit. With all that is happening, I feel a little lazy here and so was expecting everyone else to research for me ;) Save a little trouble….
Thanks for the input!
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