THE Group for Authors! discussion

Now that Goodreads has become part of Amazon, will Goodreads reviews show up on Amazon book pages? If so, when?

I wouldn't think so I mean a lot of reviewers already post their reviews on both sites.

I wish I could write one review and opt to post it both places. I also wish that all of my books' reviews showed up on both sites.

I hope this is in the works! Please let us know.

It would be awesome to have the reviews on Goodreads migrate to Amazon. The biggest problem I see is that the rating system isn't the same. The perception on Amazon is that a 3 star review is a low quality book, while here on Goodreads, it's exactly the opposite.

Yep unless they can change the rating system it will not work and I can't see that happening

Agreed. I seriously doubt either Amazon or Goodreads will retool the rating system for both sites just to migrate reviews. Then again, I've been wrong before, so we'll just have to see how it goes. But it still is an awesome idea.

Sigh. You are right, the rating system differences do pose a problem. But not an insurmountable one. Fingers crossed.

Kevis wrote: "It would be awesome to have the reviews on Goodreads migrate to Amazon. The biggest problem I see is that the rating system isn't the same. The perception on Amazon is that a 3 star review is a low..."

It would be awesome to have the reviews on Goodreads migrate to Amazon! It's such a chore to post the same reviews on another site which I have yet to do.

So, I'm fairly new to goodreads and this thread is confusing me a bit. How are the ratings different? It looks to me like both amazon and gr have a 5 star rating system. Yet one comment on here said 3 stars indicates that a book is not very good on amazon but it's the opposite here on gr. does that mean a 3 star here is preferable to a five star? I'm completely confused and I definitely think I'm missing something. Help? :)

Hover your mouse over the stars if you try to rate a book here. It'll tell you what GR thinks that rating means. (Three is "liked it.") Amazon's suggested rating for 3 stars is less positive (I believe it's "it was OK).

On the other hand, that assumes that raters at either place use the ratings with their suggested meanings. Because they're just suggestions.

In short: no, a 5-star rating is still the best rating. On the other hand, 3 stars is a positive rating here at GR. It's just not as positive as a 5-star rating.

Thank you!

Anna wrote: "That's genius - let's hope they read this!"

Not so far. I wrote and got a the simple answer" no we don't post at both sites". No reason as to why not. You'd think it would be simple enough and benefit users.

Hello all,

I'm sorry not to have answered sooner, but it had seemed like you all had arrived at the right answer on your own. Both sites have a different review culture--including but not limited to the differences in star-connotations mentioned above. With that in mind, here's the official response:

Goodreads and Amazon are happy with how reviews work on our respective sites and our goal is to learn from each other. We have no plans to change how our reviews work, but will look for opportunities to improve what we offer to readers.

reply to message 15 - Well there's a vanilla response if I ever read one.

I wish Amazon reviews could migrate to Goodreads, since I only just joined GR but have a lot of reviews on Amazon written over the years. Maybe I should get them and repost? Most of them are also on my blog too, though--maybe enough is enough!

I've been migrating my reviews the hard way now and then, but didn't realize the difference in 3-star ratings at both sites! Now I think of it, one of my own books' reviewers from Goodreads reposted her review on Amazon verbatim, with the same 3-star rating. Reading her review on Amazon, I couldn't figure out why she gave it only 3 stars but wrote about how much she liked it. Now I understand the confusion! :) I'll have to be careful about that.

Sue wrote: "I wish I could write one review and opt to post it both places. I also wish that all of my books' reviews showed up on both sites."

That is genius.

I don't see what the big deal is about posting twice--after you post once you just copy it and then paste it into the other.

I'm a bit confused in this thread, please verify... Do some here say that they are copying reviews from amazon and posting them in goodreads on their book page? How is that possible!! (Not the actual copy/paste)

No. I think they are saying as a reader they just cut and paste the text from the Goodreads review to the appropriate product on Amazon. Or vice versa.

Authors rightly can't review their own books on Amazon and they can't post someone else's review under the product.

A.L. wrote: "No. I think they are saying as a reader they just cut and paste the text from the Goodreads review to the appropriate product on Amazon. Or vice versa.

Authors rightly can't review their own books..."

Ah that makes more sense. In my experience out of all my book reviews, only one or two are on both sites simultaneously. It seems readers just pick either one or the other to post their thoughts but rarely both.

I copy to both, usually because I buy on Amazon though.

Goodreads should adopt the Amazon reviewing system first, or Amazon should apply its system, since they own Goodreads, so they are both using the same protocols, before this idea is ever considered. This way, the reviews can be consistent across both boards.

If I am not mistaken Amazon bought Goodreads some time ago. Same organisation speaking with forked tongue?

And how many users do you think will go along?

And rerate all their books here. Some have several thousand.

I read a lot of books from Net Galley and the main thing I love about Goodreads is the ability to post an early review. On Amazon only members of the Vine club can post early reviews. Seems to me Amazon would want early reviews as this would drive up the interest on an upcoming book and help preorders. It is annoying to have to wait to publish a review on Amazon till release day. I often wonder how many Amazon review posts I might miss doing because of this wait.

Well, I guess a lot has changed. Now you can post your reviews to both Goodreads and Amazon at once, at least if you've bought the ebook from Amazon. I really like this feature.

Lenita, Thanks for the information about posting on Goodreads and Amazon at once. That's great to hear. Is there one link for both?

In reading some of the other comments, I believe that they are correct in saying that Amazon and Goodreads are now connected or somehow merged.

Lenita wrote: "Well, I guess a lot has changed. Now you can post your reviews to both Goodreads and Amazon at once, at least if you've bought the ebook from Amazon. I really like this feature."

How? A link would help :)

Ken wrote: "Lenita wrote: "Well, I guess a lot has changed. Now you can post your reviews to both Goodreads and Amazon at once, at least if you've bought the ebook from Amazon. I really like this feature."

Ho..."

I think I get a prompt to review on both Amazon and Goodreads when I finish a book on my kindle. I ignore it because I don't post on Amazon, so I don't know how it works or how they deal with the inconsistent stars.

I just wrote my review on my blog and then copy it to both Amazon and Goodreads. It only takes like a minute to do both reviews. Also I have had people review my book and all of them have posted to both Amazon and Goodreads (and usually their own blog as well).

Rebekah wrote: "So, I'm fairly new to goodreads and this thread is confusing me a bit. How are the ratings different? It looks to me like both amazon and gr have a 5 star rating system. Yet one comment on here sai..."

The definitions of each star means something slightly different.
If you hover over each then it'll show you.
5*s is always best, but on GR it means 'amazing' but on Amazon it means 'I love it'.
3*s on GR is 'liked it', on Amazon 'it's OK'

Also, there's many different Amazon sites, all of which are stand alone. Reviews don't show up (or at least count) on each Amazon site; just the one you post it on.
I'll be interested in seeing where the GR reviews go; just Amazon.com or all Amazon sites.

Exactly. I'm just happy to have reviews anywhere. I can link my book on my blog to Amazon and Goodreads so people can see my reviews on the site of their choice.

Many would argue that AMAZON reviews are more vital for authors than any other reviews. The algorithm pushes them up in ratings, up in their categories, which translates in more sales /income = success/ and ultimately more readers. :-)

Ken wrote: "Lenita wrote: "Well, I guess a lot has changed. Now you can post your reviews to both Goodreads and Amazon at once, at least if you've bought the ebook from Amazon. I really like this feature."

Ho..."

I think you can do that only from devices with goodreads integration -- Fire and Paperwhite if I remember correctly.

And, ther's no adjustment made for different scale -- the kindle/fire just adds posts same star rating to both sites (and I gave up asking staff here and Amazon abiut that one).

I don't know about on the Fire, but it's a b*tch to write a text review directly from my Paperwhite. So I don't (I'll review but not firm the device.)

Goodreads doesn't require reviews to be exclusive and has an API other sites can use to echo reviews to here (for example, booklikes will let you turn on that option to echo booklikes reviews here). In your settings, there is an option to check if reviews will be shared with third parties who subscribe to the goodreads data feed which doesn't mix yiur reviews into any if that site's reviews (Google Play and some libraries and many others do, kobo stopped when Amazon bought goodreads...).

If Amazon "subscribed" to that same feed -- they'd get a lot of duplicate reviews. Or reviewers who did not want reviews on amazon reviewing (Amazon is a retail site, unlike goodreads Amazon doesn't allow reviewers to moderate the comments, et. al.).

I'm happiest just copy/pasting review text to sites I want my review in. there's always something timtweak like whether or not a title is needed, what is the ratings scale, what are the review guidelines/policies (good luck getting even ★★★★★ blandly worded 100% polite reviews to post on Barnes and Noble after their little algorithm refuses -- I manage to get less than 25% of mine posted there although admittedly now I stop trying when refused the first time and given the link to the edit page that never goes to an edit page.)

If goodreads or Amazon started echoing each other without making that "opt-in" -- I'd pull all my reviews. Between the duplicate reviews and the reviewers who deliberately did not want to review in ine if the sites, it would be a real mess.

ETA: typos

Sorry all - not sure if I'm doing this right (1st time user)
I just ran a Goodreads contest and one of the participants emailed me with a lovely note saying that she wasn't a winner but she offered to write a review on Goodreads and Amazon. (Here is her letter)
Hi Lee-Anne,
I know i wasn't chosen to read Clamming Up but if you'd like an additional reader to write a review then I'd love to have that chance! My reviews are on Goodreads as well as Amazon....

Born and bred on the coast of Massachusetts we did our share of clamming...scuba was my dads thing.
These days i read aloud to my husband ( disabled vet) so you'd get 2 for 1 readers input?! But if not Lee-Anne i do apologize for being a bother.

My question - is this legit? Is it a good idea to send a copy or is that like 'paying' for a review?

thanks

Lee-Anne wrote: "Sorry all - not sure if I'm doing this right (1st time user)
I just ran a Goodreads contest and one of the participants emailed me with a lovely note saying that she wasn't a winner but she offered..."

It's not considered paying for a review. I have no idea whether the offer is legit.

Lee-Anne wrote: "Sorry all - not sure if I'm doing this right (1st time user)
I just ran a Goodreads contest and one of the participants emailed me with a lovely note saying that she wasn't a winner but she offered..."

I say go for it! She is offering an honest review for a free copy. That is fair and generous! :-)

Faith wrote: "Lee-Anne wrote: "Sorry all - not sure if I'm doing this right (1st time user)
I just ran a Goodreads contest and one of the participants emailed me with a lovely note saying that she wasn't a winne..."

Thanks for responding. I guess by the time I pay for the book & postage (and exchange rate - ouch) it would be around $11 or $12 - probably worth it.

Mimi wrote: "Lee-Anne wrote: "Sorry all - not sure if I'm doing this right (1st time user)
I just ran a Goodreads contest and one of the participants emailed me with a lovely note saying that she wasn't a winne..."

Right then, I guess I will. Thanks for your advise!

Lee-Anne wrote: "...or is that like 'paying' for a review?..."

Amazon and goodreads both are fine with payment solely by way of a free book/review-copy, so long as that's disclosed in her review and you place no conditions on their review (like has to be ★★★★★, you get to edit review before it posts ...).

I don't know if it is a legit offer or someone wanting a free book to re-sell because I don't know her.

If nothing screams odd about the account, I'd think she was just contacting you to ask for a review copy because she knows (a) you probably want reviews since you just had a giveaway and (b) you'd get flagged for spam if you messaged all your giveaway entrants unasked.

If worried, you might discreetly message a fellow author or two (of books she reviewed saying she got free from author) to see what they think.

If worried about book being resold without her reading or reviewing -- ask if she'd like an ebook edition. (And then worry that that will be pirated into torrent sites ...).

D.A.—has a headache from new design here wrote: "Lee-Anne wrote: "...or is that like 'paying' for a review?..."

Amazon and goodreads both are fine with payment solely by way of a free book/review-copy, so long as that's disclosed in her review a..."

Excellent advise, D.A. many thanks! As soon as I can figure out the Goodreads site ( :-) ) I'm going to look for her reviews.

Thanks again!
Lee-Anne

Lee-Anne wrote: "D.A.—has a headache from new design here wrote: "Lee-Anne wrote: "...or is that like 'paying' for a review?..."

Amazon and goodreads both are fine with payment solely by way of a free book/review-..."

Click on her profile. Under her avatar it will tell how many reviews she has posted. Click on the number and it will take you to the reviews.

Lee-Anne wrote: "Sorry all - not sure if I'm doing this right (1st time user)
I just ran a Goodreads contest and one of the participants emailed me with a lovely note saying that she wasn't a winner but she offered..."

I've done this and not gotten any reviews. (I've never gotten any reviews from a Goodreads giveaway, either.) Last time I got a request like this, I offered a coupon (which made the book free) on Smashwords. This way I gave away an ebook, which cost me nothing to send or print. I got a lovely review.

So my advice is, if they're really interested in reviewing, they will take an ebook. If they just want a book to resell, they'll demand hard copy and they're not worth your time.

Jennifer wrote: "Lee-Anne wrote: "Sorry all - not sure if I'm doing this right (1st time user)
I just ran a Goodreads contest and one of the participants emailed me with a lovely note saying that she wasn't a winne..."

Thanks, Jennifer. I checked this woman out and she has tonnes of reviews so I took a chance. (Thought for the $11 or so that it would cost me - it might be worth it.)

With close to 900 people entering the contest for my book, I haven't seen one sale so wondering just how worth while these contests are. Have you noticed any difference when you've run them?

Thanks again for responding.

Lee-Anne

You asked "Have you noticed any difference when you've run them?" Nope. Nada. I get better results from Facebook ads (a $5 add brought in $15 profit) and Amazon Count down deals.

Thanks. I have to figure out how to add my url to the 'safe' or 'unblock' list. What is the name of your facebook page? I'd like to check it out.

Lee-Anne wrote: "...With close to 900 people entering the contest for my book, I haven't seen one sale so wondering just how worth while these contests are...."

Depends on how worthwhile you think having 900 people discover/see your book who might otherwise not have noticed it, 900 people + any of their friends and followers seeing your book when the "so and so entered giveaway " notice posted to the goodreads newsfeed + any of their friends and followers seeing they shelved your book when that notice posted to the news feed + any of their public and private goodreads groups they told about the giveaway ... (with 900 entrants I suspect there was also some chatter among readers about the giveaway).

Sure, giveaway anything free publicly on the Internet and you attract some people just looking for free stuff.

Odds of members entering a goodreads giveaway being readers and reviewers versus on other sites and other social media giveaways ...?

Odds of another site's giveaway potentially reaching 20+ million members (unless you already have a lot of followers on social media giants like Facebook and Twitter) ...? (Yes, I know, not all of the 20+ million members enter giveaways or are even still active on goodreads but that goes for other sites as well.)

Odds of people not already a fan of an author's work entering a giveaway or taking author up on review copy offer directly from the author's personal sites/blogs versus a goodreads giveaway ...?

Odds of readers who entered your goodreads giveaway being interested in reading the book for free still being interested in reading it if they have to buy it ...?

Odds of readers really interested but not buying yet because busy with other reads that might also have been in their to read shelf ...?

Odds of new visitors to yiur book page who never entered the giveaway or heard of it now convinced to sample/buy by seeing someone they friended or followed showing your book on their "to read" shelf ...? Well that calculation would start with how many of the 900 entrants shelved it as "to read" -- and then likely stall because hard to calculate how many might randomly visit your book page who would also have followed/friended an entrant. But, an unknown book by an unknown author that their friends want to read versus an unknown book by an unknown author in a sea ...?