Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast
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Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast
Goodreads Evolution: Amazon's Game-Changing Integration
Amazon has finally unleashed the full potential of its Goodreads acquisition, and savvy authors should be paying close attention. After years of minimal integration, Amazon has introduced a game-changing feature that transforms the Goodreads "Want-to-Read" shelf from a simple bookmarking tool into a powerful sales catalyst.
When readers browse Amazon, they'll now receive reminders about books they've added to their Goodreads Want-to-Read shelves—creating the perfect impulse buy opportunity exactly when they're already in shopping mode. For authors, this single change dramatically increases the value of Goodreads engagement, especially giveaways. With successful Goodreads giveaways averaging between 2,000-4,000 entries (each adding your book to a different Want-to-Read shelf), the $119 investment suddenly offers exponentially more marketing reach.
Ready to leverage this new connection? Tune into this informative show as Amy and Penny unpack this new feature! Don't miss this opportunity to transform casual interest into actual sales through Amazon's newest author-friendly feature.
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Hello and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast. This is Penny Sansevierie and Amy Cornell, and we are really excited. This was actually a show that Amy outlined and came up with the idea, and we're both really excited about this particular topic, because Goodreads tends to be a little bit controversial, I know, and we're going to talk about that more in a little bit. But first and foremost, we want to thank you all for ideas that you send us. We love your show ideas. We love reviews. Amy put together a very easy way to review a book and and that's going to be in the show notes to review a book oh my gosh, listen to me To review the podcast on iTunes, and that is going to be. That's in the show notes. So we love reviews Without further ado.
Speaker 1:You know, a handful of years ago Amazon purchased Goodreads and we were all kind of holding our breath wondering what Amazon was going to do with Goodreads. You know, goodreads is this big platform with all these authors and all this other stuff, and Amazon just kind of sat on Goodreads for a long time. I mean, we saw a couple of minor things like Goodreads reviews were appearing on Amazon, and then sometimes they weren't like there. It's not consistent. You know what I mean Like um.
Speaker 1:So I'm really thrilled to see this latest change that we're going to impact in this um, in this episode, and I also think that it's worth mentioning that there's a lot of Goodreads haters out there. Amy and I see this both on Reddit, strings and things and authors. Just they hate on Goodreads and sometimes they don't even know why. It's just kind of like, well, everybody hates Goodreads, so I should hate Goodreads and not everybody actually hates Goodreads. They do a very robust service to authors. Or complaining about the you know the price of entry for the giveaway, which, frankly, is what this episode is anchored to. I mean, amy, we see that a lot right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean yeah, like you said, it's kind of a controversial platform, but I think a lot of that has to do with expectations for what it is and what it isn't, and so hopefully we're you know, everybody will kind of get some reminders, refreshers and tips on that as we break down this new announcement too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, basically, so, the announcement, the heart and soul of the announcement, is that the Goodreads shelf, or the Goodreads want to read shelf, is now clickable, is accessible, like you can click on the book and go straight to Amazon, which is such a cool thing, because when you're running a giveaway for your book, everybody who enters has your book added to the want to read, the Goodreads want to read shelf and now there's a clickable link right through to Amazon. I mean, amy, that's because you are the resident Amazon expert. That is correct, is it not? It's actually better than that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what this is doing is Amazon is actually incorporating the want to read self on the Amazon side now. So when people are shopping on Amazon, if somebody has a book on their want to read shelf, now when they're shopping on Amazon, Amazon is going to remind them that they wanted that book so they could add it to their cart while they're already in Amazon.
Speaker 1:Okay, but the books are clickable from Goodreads as well, correct or no?
Speaker 2:That's always been the case. Yeah, typically, amazon has always let you go through to Amazon from the Goodreads. But now, when people are just doing their regular shopping on Amazon, they're going to get reminders about the books that are on their want-to-read shelf while they're shopping. They're going to get reminders about the books that are on their want to read shelf while they're shopping. So we're talking like this is Amazon Goodreads version of impulse shopping, almost.
Speaker 1:Right exactly, which I think is a really, really smart thing to do, because it creates I mean, look, it creates a more unified shopping experience and discovery experience. But it also better unifies Goodreads and Amazon, because Goodreads is again, it is an extremely robust site and porting those titles over to Amazon like hey, this is on your Goodreads want to read shelf is just so smart. Yes, right.
Speaker 2:Yes and fewer clicks. You know what I mean. Few.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean fewer clicks, which is really, which is really smart. And now you also had a note in the in the show notes about um. View them along your, alongside your amazon saved books. What do you mean by that? What does that mean?
Speaker 2:so this is so like your amazon list, that you can create an Amazon. So when you, oh God, okay. So basically, I mean the very short version of this is that Amazon is going to start pushing your book to people that have interacted with it on Goodreads on the Amazon side. Now Got it Okay? Goodreads has always been trying to remind authors about like, oh, you shelved this book, oh, you did that, you did that. And it's like, okay, great, those reminders. I mean it's not a bad thing, but it's a huge shift to now get those reminders at the point of sale. Like people are already shopping on Amazon. They are there to purchase something, they are looking for things and so, yeah, this is like I don't mean to repeat myself, but this is like your book is now getting into that like impulse purchase category where, as people are shopping, they're being reminded that oh yeah, that book's on my shelf. I remember seeing that cover. Yeah, toss it in my. You know, let's, let's get it now. Let's check out. You know, add it to my cart.
Speaker 1:Well, and I think probably what Amazon discovered because, as you said, the books on the want to read shelf have always been clicked or at least in recent history have been clickable over to Amazon I think probably what Amazon discovered is that the buy ratio directly from Goodreads was probably much lower, and so here's a better way. Now that we have all these giveaways going all the time and these books are automatically being shelved, here's a better, because you know, I mean Amazon's all about Amazon. This really benefits authors, but Amazon probably looked at that and said we're going to make more money doing it this way Exactly.
Speaker 2:Like, let's make it easier for them to add that book to their cart and remind them when they are right there in the moment already shopping for things with the intention to buy and spend money when you're on Goodreads, you're not. I'm sure most users don't go to Goodreads in a shopping mode.
Speaker 1:For sure.
Speaker 2:Right. They're reviewing, they're discovering, they're checking on their groups. They're you know what I mean All those other things. They're not there to shop. That's not really what their focus is for Goodreads. And now Amazon has smartly integrated the two, so there's more shopping power behind what's going on with Goodreads. By integrating, you know what people are interested in and reminding them at the point of sale when they're on Amazon.
Speaker 1:Well, and essentially, I mean here's Amazon just being Amazon again. Amazon is using Goodreads as a funnel. Yes, amazon is using a Goodreads Goodreads as a funnel to funnel more buyers, to funnel more, you know, more sales, which again benefits authors. So if it's on you know, if it's on somebody's you know want to read shelf and it shows up when they're, you know, on Amazon, then I mean that's, I think, any visibility. And this also I got to tell you for all the haters out there, this also makes that $119 entry fee for your Goodreads giveaway.
Speaker 1:I mean I hope those prices don't go up. I hope, now that I've said it, I didn't jinx everything, but that makes it so much more I mean frankly lucrative for authors, because now you're getting this additional exposure on Amazon that you're essentially not paying for, because you have to pay for everything on Amazon. I mean you know what I mean. I mean you pay for ads, you do. I mean there is no end to how much money that you can spend trying to get your books visible on Amazon. 119 bucks, I mean hello.
Speaker 2:Right, yep, this is. It's a big deal deal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is a really, really big deal and I know we're going to break down, I know we're going to talk about action steps in a second and I already have a bunch of questions for you. But I think that you know, goodreads seemed like it was just kind of going down the wrong track because it did remove several author features in recent years which I found like I was, I found that very confusing because I'm like well, amazon owns you. I mean, are they going to close? Like at some point I thought, well, maybe they're just going to close down Goodreads. I mean, I know you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was scary for a while because I'm like, what is going on here and what is your end goal? And, honestly, nobody asked me, nor do I have any insider info, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they were just getting too many. It was turning into too much of a tech support thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think there was. Just they decided there was too much going on and too much for authors to figure out how to use. Yeah, which kind of bums me out a little bit.
Speaker 2:But at the same time, I can kind of understand, like they're like okay, what are our goals for this site? What are, you know, users goals for this site? What are authors goals for this site? And you know, maybe they decided it wasn't to learn eight new tricks. You know what I mean. Maybe, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But at the time, at the time, it was really critical because they were like okay, here's your list of things that authors can do on Goodreads. And as that list started shrinking, it's like what's really going on here and where's the tipping point going to be?
Speaker 1:Well, and I also think that it's really high time. I mean, how long is I remember being at Book Expo America when Amazon bought Goodreads? So I said it was a handful of years ago. It's been more than that, yeah, I mean, I think it's maybe been even 10 years if I'm not mistaken. But I think it's really high time that Amazon treats Goodreads more strategically, as opposed to just this little thing that it bought and doesn't really know what to do with yes, bought and doesn't really know what to do with. Right, and this, as you pointed out, this could potentially signal, you know, even bigger, stronger tools for authors and a you know, and a better, richer reader you know interaction. I mean, hopefully they're going to continue doing these updates. I think Amazon is. I think that when Goodreads sees an uptick in giveaways because of this, I think that that's going to really start to open up the doors for Amazon to do more robust, strategic things with Goodreads.
Speaker 1:So break down the action steps. So I'm an author, I do Goodreads giveaways for my books. What's changed here from that, I mean? Or actually you know what? Why don't you just pretend that I'm an author that doesn't really know what to do with Goodreads? What do I do?
Speaker 2:Okay, All right, no pressure.
Speaker 1:No pressure, Amy no pressure.
Speaker 2:Well, and you know what's interesting and maybe everybody listening is like what? Amy should not be that shocked because Amazon owns Goodreads. But as I'm thinking about it, I'm like you know what A lot of what we recommend for Amazon is also really relevant for Goodreads, you know. So it's not static. So keeping your profile optimized, keeping it complete, keeping it updated you know we've talked about this on how many shows Penny, when we say, like you know, if your website says your book is coming soon and it released last June, that's a problem, you know. Or if your bio on Amazon says author of and lists a couple of books, but you're now on your sixth, you know details like that matter. So treat your Goodreads profile because that is quite literally part of your resume. We talk about it all the time. Everything you do is part of your resume. It's part of your platform and it's part of your brand. So put Goodreads when we you know we remind y'all to do regular updates, check in on all your stuff, do your housekeeping, add Goodreads to that list and make sure that that housekeeping is done as well.
Speaker 2:And what's really great is that you can engage with your want to read shelf. You know you can encourage your readers to use it. Encourage your fans I mean, I think a lot of this, penny, honestly and I realize this is like a sweeping statement but getting used to treating Goodreads as a really quality, important element of your overall platform. Yes, instead of you know what I mean that cousin we don't really want to talk to at Thanksgiving, right, right? Exactly, just kind of incorporate Goodreads into all those good habits that we always talk about. Encourage you guys to track and follow up on. You know so. Engage with people. Encourage your followers to engage with you on Goodreads as on. You know so. Engage with people. Encourage your followers to engage with you on Goodreads as well. You know, add a call to action on your email list like remind people, add it to your want to read shelf because, remember, if it's on their want to read shelf, they will get reminders on Amazon that they probably should buy this book. You know so that is something that you want to do.
Speaker 2:To want to read is not just reserved for giveaways. That is something that you should be pushing all the time. So you can do that on your social media, on your newsletter. Things like that you might think like well, if they're on my newsletter. They probably already have my book, but you never know who they might share it with. That's the thing too. You know, yeah, never, never, talk yourself out of an opportunity, right, right, right. Right. It may seem kind of redundant sometimes, but it's better. We and we say this with reviews all the time. I think, penny, you always. It doesn't hurt to remind people, it doesn't hurt to remember. You need to say things two, three, five, 10 times, because most people mean well, but we all get busy. Yeah, life is a real thing, and so most people that follow you, support you, that are genre fans, even that don't even know you very well yet, all are very well-intentioned, but they need those pushes, they need those reminders.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's absolutely true. Yeah, I love that idea of engaging with your readers. To add this to your want to read shelf, I think that's so smart In your other books.
Speaker 2:For those of you listening that have more than one book or plan to that's another thing, too is that this is a habit you want to get readers in. They want you know what I mean. Or in your communications and in your self-marketing and self-promotion, you want to encourage people to add your books to their want to read shelf. So remember this isn't always about the book that you're focused on right now. It could be your backlist also. You know what I mean. That's a great way to utilize your newsletter and maybe one of your backlist titles and say, hey, remember to add that next time you're on Goodreads, add it to your want to read shelf. Hey, remember to add that next time you're on Goodreads, add it to your want to read shelf and you can make your book.
Speaker 2:You know you can add a click through for your book onto your Goodreads shelves. You know we do that a lot for our Amazon listings. We do that a lot for other things. Make it easy for them. Make it easy for them to click something to get to your book on Goodreads as well and then just right there. Yeah, exactly, a lot of people that use Goodreads use the app on their phones and stuff like that too. You know, yeah. So making it easy, making it clickable, one-stop. You know, shopping after those reminders. If you have Linktree or any of those other apps that help you add multiple links to your social media that can send people traffic in different ways, make sure that Goodreads is represented there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, static. If you're promoting a new book, make that the feature, but when the newness starts to fade off, cycle through highlighting some of your back lists, things like that.
Speaker 1:Well, and running a Goodreads giveaway doesn't have to necessarily be exclusive to brand new books either, right, not at all, so it can really help to spike some of that activity too either, right, not at all.
Speaker 2:So it can really help to spike some of that activity too. Yes, absolutely Run regular giveaways. Like Penny already said, they're $119. That is something that I think is absolutely worth working into your kind of annual marketing budget to do a handful of times a year, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and for those of you that aren't super familiar with Goodreads giveaways or maybe you've done them just to check it off your list but don't actually know what the full benefits are I mean, goodreads does remind winners to review the book and so, depending on how many you give away like that may just be a handful of people, but that still doesn't hurt Every review counts, you know. And then entrance like we said, but I'm going to say it again Anybody who enters to win your book this is not just winners Anybody who enters to win a copy of your book gets your book on their want to read list, because that is so freaking huge. I got to tell you guys, right now we are averaging and we work with a lot of different kinds of books, so obviously different levels of like quote unquote mass market appeal. But even with that in mind, we average between 2,000 and 4,000 entries for our clients' giveaways.
Speaker 1:Isn't that amazing.
Speaker 2:On a regular basis.
Speaker 1:Isn't that?
Speaker 2:amazing. Yes, and some of our mass market genre fiction titles have tipped over the 5,000 mark.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. Now let me ask you a question. I know we really talked about this in the um in the green room, but so when you run a Goodreads giveaway, you can choose to do like five books or 50 books, or usually, if if authors are going over like the 10 book number, they're usually doing e-books. Do you have any recommendation in terms of how many authors should give away?
Speaker 2:There's a few different considerations to make. We love when authors test out different versions. Typically, when we work with an author, we do have a few clients that we work with Goodreads giveaways, kind of ongoing over multiple releases, some of our long-term clients, and that is a slightly different animal. Typically, though, when we work with an author, we do one big, robust Goodreads program with them and we lean toward print books because the author, it's easier for the author to include, to sign the book if they want to, if they have them on hand, they can include. A note we have had Clients Penny put together little like gift packages of some swag and stuff with that they send their books out with, which I think is so cool, it's so smart and it's so cool and it's amazing branding, and so the print option, especially if you have them on hand or willing to even buy a few copies of your own book to have on hand, to put something special together, is really next level. But that you know. So we say five, but some authors, like some of our clients, we have a client right now that says let's go with 10. Like, let's do it, like I've got books here, let's make this big, and you know, and so it really. I mean I think it's fair to say like what's in your budget, what can you manage in terms of logistics, what you know, what do you have on hand, what are you willing to do? But then I do think that as you do another Goodreads giveaway, maybe three to four months down the road, try a Kindle giveaway, you know, and see what kind of responses you get from that, because that's another option.
Speaker 2:You can do print or you can do Kindle. We usually focus on print again because it's a lot more personalized, but Kindle, there's nothing wrong with that. And if you are in a genre where you know you know eBooks are the preference, you know that might factor into whether or not you do Kindle. And then again, what's really nice about it is that if you are super busy with other marketing efforts or life in general, if you do a Kindle giveaway, goodreads handles everything for you. They ensure that. And it's amazing how many authors don't realize that. We've had clients that are like well, I want to do Kindle, but how do I get those to the winners and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Nope, they handle it all. So they choose the winners. The book magically appears on their, on their Kindle device. It's amazing. So there are there are definitely pros to both, but we do love the personalization of a print giveaway for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really love doing. I mean I think that, um, I love doing. I mean I think that I love doing. I love mailing print books with signed print books to the winners and you pull something in there and you know it's not always necessarily like a swag bag or something, but it's just something a little bit extra. You know you won this book what a cool, you know what a cool thing. And there's a note from the author. I think that level of personalization is really fabulous. So okay, so what's next? So we monitor good, so you recommend monitoring good reads just to see if there's a spike or what. Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, this is just I mean and this is for the data people, you know for sure Not all of us are data people, but, yeah, not all of this, not all of us are data people, but there is.
Speaker 2:I mean, if you are a data person, it's worth watching. After you do a giveaway, you like check your want to read shelf and like watch those numbers go up. And then, after a giveaway and again we're not sitting here like encouraging people to like lose their minds, refreshing their Amazon like sales numbers by any means, because we would never you know what I mean put somebody through that knowingly. But it is worth seeing if, especially now that Amazon has, you know, added this integration in the future. I think it will be worth it if authors take a look to see if there is a higher correlation of an increase in sales and in traffic after a giveaway, based on the fact that amazon will now be actively reminding shoppers to purchase books that they have engaged with on the goodreads sign, because that was not a thing before. You know yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think you know it's worth noting that you know Kindle and Audible. You know where it's literally one-click shopping. Nobody's waiting for anything in the mail. Talk about impulse shopping at its finest right. Oh, yeah, I know it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and I think it's you know.
Speaker 2:And to that point too, penny sorry, real quick like you may have done a print giveaway, you have your entrance, but you know, maybe those people are Kindle readers, maybe those people are actually Audible readers, but they were interested enough and they're like, okay, if I win a print copy, that would be cool, but maybe they actually gravitate toward audible anyway. And so you may also notice, like, so pay attention to every, to all of your formats across the board. Not just because you did a print giveaway Is it going to increase my print sales, because somebody you know what I mean Like I would definitely like consider all of your sales across the board, and if you even see small spikes in other formats, I think there's a very good chance that you could say that some of that is from traffic and generated interest through this new integration.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly. So how often? I mean, you know, unless you have a whole lot, unless you have a really robust backlist, authors are probably not running. You know Goodreads giveaways like all the time, right, author? Do you have a recommendation in terms of how often they should run? I mean, I know you like authors to run giveaways regularly, but is there a recommendation?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I would say, quarterly is fair.
Speaker 1:I think that's.
Speaker 2:I think that's reasonable, yeah, you know I think a quarterly giveaway is fair and you know quarterly doesn't have to be calendar.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. I think, based on your book, there might be certain times a year where it makes more sense to run a giveaway. You know we had a show a rerun show recently about Christmas in July and planning for Christmas and things like you know what I mean Christmas sales and things like that. So if there's something about your book that ties into a certain season or a certain holiday or anything like that, plan your Goodreads. So who cares if you do two Goodreads giveaways in four months if in that four-month block there are some two really great opportunities that make sense for either your topic, your genre, what your readers are looking for, things like that, either your topic, your genre, what your readers are looking for, things like that you know. So there's never it's never wrong to be strategic and just run the giveaways during time periods where you think there's an increased chance in somebody being super receptive to wanting to read a book like yours at that time, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Right, right, right, right, exactly. And I think that this really kind of I think for and we referenced the Reddit string at the beginning of the show and it was this whole string and some guy had like a click out to a video and there was like so many people commenting on there. If, even before this happened, I was always a fan of Goodreads giveaways, obviously we do them for our authors. We're huge fans of Goodreads. We don't work for Goodreads or Amazon. Let's just be clear. We just we're. I know we sound like we're. I know we sound like we're getting a commission. Trust me, we're not. I wish we did. That'd be amazing. That would be amazing, I know.
Speaker 1:But it's really just about steering authors in solid, strategic directions and Goodreads is one of them, and some of the comments were really around the Goodreads value, like what's the value of both Goodreads? But specifically, you know, specifically the giveaways, specifically the giveaways. You know specifically the giveaways, specifically the giveaways. And one of the things that you and I talked about and you can, you can kind of run with this is that you know, I mean, unfortunately, there are a number of authors that aren't doing things correctly, right?
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm and I think that a lot of that sort of colors their experience with you know, with the Goodreads giveaways experience, or just don't quote, unquote like I'm doing air quotes. You know good reads, you know there's a very good chance no-transcript, take the time to know how to use the site properly as an author, because there's a very good chance and there's a reason we have this podcast. There's a very good chance that some of these authors that aren't having a great experience on Goodreads aren't doing all the things correctly, and that's fair. But you know what I mean. There's so much that goes. Goodreads is super fans. These are super readers.
Speaker 2:This is quite literally a social platform for readers specifically. That's another reason we do like it so much, because, while there's so much you can do on other social media platforms, people are there for a billion and one reasons that have nothing to do with your book. Yeah, yeah, people go to Goodreads and use Goodreads to nerd out about books. Yes, so it really is such a captive audience. Potentially, yeah, but because these are super readers and they are there to focus on books and book recommendations and chatting with authors and getting to find new books and new authors. They are serious, like you have to show up with your A game here. So I think a lot of like I think you're right, penny. I think a lot of people have mixed feelings about Goodreads because they may have had a couple not so nice reviews because, again, super fans, they know their stuff. Do not show up to play in the sandbox if you're not ready, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly, I think that's. I think that's very true. And then I also think that you know, I mean sometimes we expect way more from a particular strategy than I think it can reasonably deliver.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And you know it can reasonably deliver. Yes, and you know, for 119 bucks, um, and, and you know, in the grand scheme of all the investments that you'll make in your book, it isn't a massive, massive investment in, you know, today's market and the other piece of it, though, too. The other reason that that we like it and really wanted to do a show about this other than the big news, is the fact that you know there isn't. I mean, a lot of times, authors will invest in random, weird things online that don't really have any kind of a specific outcome. Right, they don't have. There's no, or deliverables, I guess, is the word to shore, whereas Goodreads is.
Speaker 1:You know exactly what you're getting Right and there's no question, there's no. So you know if we're going with just I want to invest my money in things that I know are kind of a sure bet. You know exactly what you're going to get. You just don't necessarily know. So I've had authors tell me, sometimes on the phone, that I thought everybody was going to review my book. I don't want to do a giveaway again because I thought everybody was going to review my book and look if you're going to make 2000 entries and five of those people review your book. I think that's a win, right.
Speaker 2:I mean yeah, I mean Penny think how many everybody listening right now I would be willing to bet if you already have a book out, at least I. I'm willing to bet you've sold more books than you have reviews to account for.
Speaker 1:Oh, for sure, yeah, I would hope so. Yes, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So that also they're. You know, doing a Goodreads giveaway is not like the secret way to cut the line to ensure you get a review for every single book that gets in somebody's hands. If that was the case, holy moly, like everybody would be doing these all the time and you know, a lot of other things would be going right as well, but that's but. You have to keep things in perspective. So like, yeah, expecting everyone who wins to review your book is even an overreach, let alone people that don't win and you hope, like well, and that's another part of this too that I think people also because they do a giveaway. Sure, you have 2000 entrants and they're like all right, only 10 people won. Let me wait for those other you know, like 1,990 people to go buy my book tomorrow because they didn't win, and it's like that's probably super unrealistic as well. It doesn't mean some people won't go ahead and buy and, again, this is why this new integration with Amazon is so important, because now they will be getting reminders to buy. Before there were no reminders. It was just that contest that somebody entered, you know what I mean and then all of a sudden, the book falls off their radar because they didn't win.
Speaker 2:That is what Amazon is trying to correct with this is that somebody showed an interest in this book. They don't want to lose that momentum. So now they are going to remind people on the Amazon side that, hey, you were interested in reading this book when you could get a free one. How about you add it to your cart right now? Look, it's only $5.99 or whatever. You know what I mean. Yeah, look, it's only $5.99 or whatever. You know what I mean. But that's what Amazon is trying to do. But I do think that that's where a lot of the expectations were really thrown off, and why some people had a sour taste in their mouth about Goodreads and especially the reviews, is because they're like well, I paid $119. Where are all my reviews? And why didn't I sell a bunch of books afterwards from people who didn't get a free copy?
Speaker 2:And that's just not a fair way to look at it. That is not how Goodreads quote unquote sells these either. You know what I mean. Nobody promised you that and then didn't deliver on it. That is just. I think a lot of authors have really high expectations for this to kind of fill in a lot of holes for them and like close the gaps in a lot of areas for their reviews and their sales. I mean how fabulous would that be. But Goodreads can't control buyer behavior any more than you or I can. But fortunately now Goodreads has Amazon helping them along with this integration and reminding people at the point of sale that they may want to add this book to their cart because they were interested in it before.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly, I think that I think it's just, I think it's just a really brilliant. I think it's a, it is a really brilliant addition and I mean, you know, put on your, put on your. Let's look in your crystal ball, amy. Yeah, right, where I mean? Where do you think? I mean, obviously, look, it took Amazon 10 years to do this. I really hope it doesn't take another 10 years to like, oh well, let's just revisit this in 10 years and figure out. You know what I mean, right, exactly.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I mean, I think that if Amazon is willing to start merging, like syncing these features, I really hope that they have more in the works and I really do think if they see this working, hopefully that means some of these additional, like other changes and other improvements will happen even faster, you know. So I'm certainly hoping that shoppers respond well, because I love a reminder. You know, I have a short-term memory like a goldfish, so if Amazon reminded me that I had wanted this book on Goodreads, and once I start getting those reminders, I 100% am going to end up adding some more books to my cart Because I need a reminder Again, best of intentions, but the reminders are key, and so I really do think, and I would love to see them integrate more of their book data, like the data that Amazon has for authors. It would be really nice if they could see some of that on the Goodreads side too and kind of merge some of that across the board, because I really do think it would behoove Amazon for more authors to use Goodreads as a way to connect with readers, and we've done shows on this. So I won't like get on my soapbox right now, and when I say that I don't mean sell your book to people you know.
Speaker 2:Get on there as a fan of your genre we talk about that a lot, penny like be a fan of your genre, read books, review books, get involved in the groups, talk about books, talk about tropes, talk about you know what I mean Things up and coming in genres, get involved, and I really do think Amazon will benefit if authors do get involved on Goodreads more and I think they'll be more inclined to start doing more of these syncing integrations across the two platforms because, as it is right now, authors are really spectators on Amazon you know what I mean. Like you can do. You can do your optimization and do all the right things for your first impression, but otherwise you just sit there and wait for things to happen. Goodreads is where you can actually get your hands involved and get involved with readers and interact with them. Readers and interact with them yeah. So I really think Amazon needs to continue merging those two in a way that authors feel like there's value in the interaction element more than they have in the past.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with that. And also, you know, if I can just make a request of Amazon not that they're going to listen to me, but if I could just make a request of Amazon like listen, if y'all are going to put the Goodreads ratings on one book, you need to put them on all books. Like I don't understand what the problem is. I don't know what the holdup is.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly Because we're not seeing that consistently. I mean, for a while we got really excited. We're like, oh my gosh, this is going to be great. But then they vanished. Then they kind of came back and then not all the books have them. So there's definitely more work to be done, but this is really exciting. I'm really really glad that we did a show on this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm glad Goodreads is kind of turning into more of a sales tool and they're sweetening the deal for authors to get involved, which I love, because it's one thing for us to say like, get involved, we believe in you, and it's another for Goodreads and. Amazon to actually start giving authors, you know, tangible benefits like this will be.
Speaker 1:I feel like yeah, I, I, I completely agree with you and we hope that. We hope that you have found the show helpful. Amy, this was a great, great idea to do a show on this. I am so, I'm so pleased I should let Amy just outline all shows from now on. Just kidding, no.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know it's it's. It's easy to it's easy to get excited about something when we have a new announcement. You know, I love, I love the breaking headlines.
Speaker 1:I know, I know we don't, we don't often get the breaking headlines in in book publishing, but I I, unless they're about Amazon doing something weird.
Speaker 2:Right, exactly.
Speaker 1:This was Amazon doing something good. So we all love we all love reporting on that. Right, listen. We want to thank you all so much for listening and, again, we love reviews. Wherever you listen to podcasts, amy has some cool, a cool little walkthrough on how to do it on iTunes and, by the way, we love your show ideas and your show feedback and all the things, so feel free to reach out to us.
Speaker 1:We have been doing this show now for five years and one of the things that we just recently started doing was rerunning some content that was popular but maybe that you missed if you just started listening to the show this season. So you probably saw a few weeks ago some of those shows that we that we ran. We'd love to get your feedback on that. Love it. Uh, what do you think? We're always rerunning any shows, obviously, that we run are ever great, so this isn't something like you're not going to get some of the amazon changed this particular thing as a rerun show, because a lot of times that is already old news. But we welcome all of your input on the podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll see you next week. Bye-bye.
