BookLikes vs Goodreads

2023. Goodreads introduces new Giveaway marketing tool for authors



Goodreads has unveiled its latest initiative, the U.S. Giveaways program, introducing two comprehensive packages equipped with impactful features aimed at boosting book discovery and garnering reader reviews. Tailored to address the requests of authors and publishers, the program provides enhanced marketing advantages, facilitating diverse ways to connect with an author's audience and automatically adding giveaway participants' Want-to-Read lists. Notably, Kindle Direct Publishing authors now have the opportunity to host giveaways for Kindle ebooks, a feature previously exclusive to traditional publishers. The all-encompassing benefits of the Standard package, priced at $119 for up to 100 copies (either Kindle ebooks or print books), include these new features. Additionally, the Premium package, available for $599, offers exclusive "Featured" placement on the prominently visited Giveaways page along with all the perks of the Standard Package, catering to both print books and Kindle ebooks.


2019. Goodreads starts Giveaways to help authors promote their books



The new tool Goodreads Giveaways provides valuable support for authors aiming to launch their debut book, maintain momentum for their latest release, or reinvigorate interest in a previous title. This platform serves as a creative tool utilized by authors and publishers to promote their books to potentially millions of readers, injecting an element of excitement into their marketing strategies, and allowing readers to introduce their favorite books to friends. Goodreads Giveaways offers numerous marketing benefits, including the opportunity to expand your audience and increase book discovery. Giveaways are prominently featured in the popular Giveaways section of Goodreads, enabling readers to stumble upon new and exciting titles. Furthermore, your giveaway is prominently showcased on your book page, encouraging more entries and further growing your book's audience. Additionally, your followers on Goodreads and individuals who have already added your book to their Want-to-Read list receive automatic notifications about your giveaway, maximizing the reach of your promotion.


2018. Goodreads launched new Android App



Goodreads has unveiled its latest Android app, offering an enhanced ebook discovery and social community experience. With this app, users can conveniently scan book covers to quickly locate titles on Goodreads, explore personalized recommendations, and effortlessly add recently finished books to their Reading Challenge. The app's refreshed design and intuitive interface make navigating Goodreads from an Android device simple, fast, and enjoyable. Furthermore, the app is optimized for tablets, providing an excellent user experience across different screen sizes.


2018. New Goodreads app for Android is available



GoodReads, the renowned social book community owned by Amazon, has rolled out an update for its Android app. The redesigned GoodReads BETA app offers improved speed and enhanced usability, with a visually appealing interface that is optimized for both mobile phones and tablets. With this app, users can effortlessly search, rate, and review any of the 12 million books available in the catalog. Additionally, they can stay updated with book reviews and posts from friends, engage in discussions by commenting on them, provide status updates and track page numbers for books they are currently reading, and efficiently add their book collection using the barcode scanner feature.


2017. GoodReads is rolling out the ReRead system



Numerous GoodReads users set annual book goals for themselves. In the past, if you wished to revisit the enchanting world of Harry Potter or immerse yourself in the captivating pages of the Divergent series, those rereads would not contribute towards your goal. However, all of this has changed with the introduction of a new BETA ReRead feature that will be gradually made available worldwide in the upcoming months. Now, when you decide to revisit a book that you have previously marked as "Read" on Goodreads, simply update its status to "Currently Reading." Once you have completed your reread, mark it as "Read" once again. You can perform these actions through the Goodreads iOS and Android apps, on Goodreads.com, and even within the "About the Book" feature on Kindle. This exciting development ensures that your rereads will now count towards your book goal, allowing for a more accurate representation of your reading accomplishments.


2016. Amazon is closing book cataloging service Shelfari, merging it with Goodreads



Amazon is to close Shelfari, a social network for book lovers with various recommendation and cataloging features. Since Amazon purchased Goodreads back in 2013, it has been neglecting Shelfari for years, and now it’s officially getting the ax. If you login to Shelfari you get greeted with the following message: "Shelfari is in the process of merging with Goodreads and is no longer accepting new accounts. We recommend joining Goodreads.com if you haven’t already done so". Calling it a merger is just a nice way of saying Shelfari is closing down for good.


2015. Goodreads adds Audible integration to let you listen free audiobook samples



Amazon's popular platform Goodreads has introduced an exciting new feature that allows users to listen to free audio samples of 180,000 titles. This feature is made possible through a "Listen" button that taps into Audible's extensive digital audiobook catalog. All Goodreads users, regardless of whether they have an Audible subscription, can access these samples. Additionally, as part of this feature, Goodreads is offering a 30-day free trial of Audible, which is also an Amazon-owned service. Initially available on the Goodreads website, the streaming feature is set to expand to the mobile site and apps in the near future. This move aims to facilitate the discovery of audiobook content for ebook readers and aligns with ongoing efforts by publishers and retailers to encourage cross-usage and exploration between the two formats.


2014. Goodreads mobile app gets a makeover



Amazon's Goodreads has introduced a significant redesign for iOS (coming soon to Android) in response to the desires of regular Goodreads users. Instead of presenting users with an outdated, grid-like homescreen upon launching the app, it now immediately showcases a dynamic "news feed." This feed is populated with recent updates from your friends on the network, including information about the books they've read, rated, reviewed, and more. Within this feed, you have the convenience of easily liking and commenting on your friends' posts. This update fulfills Goodreads' commitment to functioning as a social network for book readers, going beyond its original purpose of merely cataloging individual reading progress.


2014. BookLikes goes international with multilingual book database



Book-focused blog platform BookLikes has unveiled its new design, featuring a modern and clean layout that promotes an intuitive and user-friendly experience. The refreshed design aims to encourage the BookLikes Community to explore new books and engage with fellow book reviewers and authors. A key highlight of the new design is an updated book database that is tailored to the language version of each BookLikes member. Enhanced book search options and book pages offer innovative ways to discover new books, including language editions, tagged posts, and reviews. With the ability to switch between language editions for a given title, BookLikes members can enjoy a truly global reach and gain insights into reading preferences on a worldwide scale.


2014. Goodreads allows to import books, purchased on Amazon



Users of Goodreads now have the convenience of automatically importing their purchased print and ebooks from Amazon directly into their Goodreads accounts. Goodreads presents an enticing incentive for linking the two accounts, stating that the more books added to Goodreads shelves, the better the recommendations tailored to the individual's reading preferences. Goodreads utilizes a highly intelligent algorithm to analyze the books users rate, providing personalized suggestions to enhance their reading experience. Furthermore, this account linking serves as another means for Amazon to identify which of its customers are also Goodreads users. However, Goodreads ensures users retain complete control over which books to add, allowing them to exclude any books purchased as gifts. Books that are neither rated nor added to a shelf will not be included in the Goodreads account.


2014. Amazon adds Goodreads integration to Kindle Paperwhite 1



Amazon has commenced the rollout of a software update for the first-generation Kindle Paperwhite, introducing various new features to the e-reader, including Goodreads integration. The second-generation Paperwhite, which is already available, acquired Goodreads support in November of the previous year. Additionally, the update incorporates Kindle FreeTime, an element that curates books for children and enables parents to allocate dedicated reading time. It also introduces Cloud Collections for efficient organization, Page Flip for seamless content scanning, and quicker access to the Bookmarks, Highlights, and Notes feature. The update will progressively reach devices in the United States, Canada, and Australia within the next few weeks. For more information, refer to: Why you need Kindle collection manager.


2014. Goodreads competitor Slice Bookshelf shuts down



Unfortunately, Slice Bookshelf, a social community for readers that aimed to offer a more modern and user-friendly alternative to Amazon's Goodreads, will be discontinuing its services. The company has decided to shift its focus towards enhancing its core product, Slice, a mobile shopping companion. While operating Bookshelf, Slice explored the use of its innovative inbox-scanning technology in a new domain. Instead of tracking general purchases, the technology specifically identified book and e-book receipts, enabling the automatic creation of users' libraries. By leveraging data from Facebook, the service eliminated the need for manual data input, a requirement still present in competing platforms like Goodreads.


2014. Book recommendation site BookLikes integrates with Kindle


The BookLikes platform, designed to facilitate the sharing of reading experiences and the exploration of new books, has introduced a new feature: reading progress synchronization for Amazon Kindle. This functionality enables BookLikes members to effortlessly keep their followers updated on their current reading status and provide the latest information about the ebooks they have read and rated directly from their Kindle devices. If a user reads on Kindle and shares their reading progress and ratings through social media, these updates will automatically be reflected on their BookLikes account. Each member has the flexibility to configure their synchronization preferences in the BookLikes Settings, allowing them to seamlessly share their ebook reading journey and ratings in real-time directly from their Kindle e-reader.


2013. Amazon integrates Goodreads into Kindle Fire OS



Earlier this year, Amazon initiated the integration of the renowned book recommendation site Goodreads (which it acquired in March) into its tablets. However, with the latest release of Fire OS, Goodreads has been seamlessly incorporated directly into the reading experience. This integration enables readers to actively engage with the Goodreads community without the need to exit their book and launch a separate application. Now, readers have the ability to effortlessly capture and share their favorite quotes to Goodreads from within the book itself. They can stay updated on what others are reading, provide ratings and reviews upon finishing a book, and even import their entire collection of purchased books from Amazon, whether in print or Kindle format, into their Goodreads account. This feature proves particularly useful for individuals who may have not actively maintained their Goodreads account in recent years.


2013. Kobo stops showing Goodreads ratings and reviews



As you may recall, Amazon completed its acquisition of the book-review social network Goodreads in March. Consequently, it is unsurprising that Kobo has ceased using the Goodreads API on its website and apps. This means that Kobo book pages will no longer display Goodreads ratings and reviews. It appears that this decision was made by Kobo rather than Goodreads or Amazon. Michael Tamblyn, Kobo's chief content officer, mentioned to Good E-reader that there is a possibility of Kobo reintegrating the Goodreads API in the future. However, this move highlights the risk of relying on an API provided by a competing retailer. It is worth noting that Goodreads itself encountered a similar predicament in the past. In early 2012, it shifted from utilizing Amazon's API for book data to relying on Ingram, a book wholesaler, instead. Currently, Goodreads states that it combines metadata from various sources including Ingram, WorldCat, and ONIX feeds.


2013. Amazon to acquire Goodreads



In a recent announcement, Amazon revealed its plans to acquire Goodreads, a prominent book discovery website boasting a user base of 16 million and over 23 million book reviews. Goodreads offers a platform for users to participate in book-discussion groups, share recommendations, reviews, lists of books they have read and enjoyed (or disliked), and create "want to read" lists. The site also features its own recommendation engine. Currently, Goodreads provides users with convenient access to download or purchase books from various online retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others. It remains uncertain whether Amazon will continue to permit links to non-Amazon stores on Goodreads in the future.