How People Discover Books Online

How People Discover Books Online

Tuesday, June 26, 12

What is Goodreads?

Goodreads is the largest site for readers and book recommendations in the world. 9 million readers Social Network Recommendations Reviews Shelves Book Clubs A Comscore April US top ten social network. Tuesday, June 26, 12

Goodreads’ mission is

Discovery To help people find books they love and share them with friends.


Deep Reading Data 200 million

315 million books shelved, growing at 17 million a month 150 million

110 million 100 million

64 million

50 million

0


2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

photo by o5com

6 million books discovered a month (added to to-read)

Every second...


photo by o5com

6 million books discovered a month (added to to-read)

Every second...


2 books are discovered on Goodreads

The Long Tail of To-Read Books 16,000 16,000

Top 40 books: 5%

14,000

Added to to-read

12,000

10,000

Added to to-read

12,000

8,000

4,000 8,000

0

10

6,000

20

30

40

391,031 unique titles 4,000

Top 5,000 books: 56%

(99.9% not shown)

2,000

0


1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5000

In an increasingly digital world,

discovery

is becoming more and more important. Serendipitous discovery is key to driving book sales.


In an increasingly digital world,

discovery

is becoming more and more important.

Goodreads is leveraging social discovery to reinvent the way people find books. We’ll show you discovery tools.


Where people discover books on Goodreads Giveaways 2% Other 7% Mobile 6%

Search 19%

Lists 7%

Author & Series 8%

Registration 19%

Genre Browsing 9% Friend Updates 9%


Recommendation Engine 13%

Where people discover books on Goodreads Word of mouth

Giveaways 2% Other 7% Mobile 6%

Search 19%

Lists 7%

Author & Series 8%

Registration 19%






Search 19%

Lists 7%

Author & Series 8%

Registration 19%




Popular books



Search 19%

Lists 7%

Author & Series 8%

Registration 19%

Popular books



Midlist Tuesday, June 26, 12



Search 19%

Lists 7%

Browsing: popular & midlist

Author & Series 8%

Registration 19%

Popular books



Midlist Tuesday, June 26, 12

Search

Books added to to-read

Registration has popular books, search has the long tail

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

1,000,000

100,000

1,000,000

Registration Flow


Popularity of book

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0.1

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0

100

1,000

10,000

Popularity of book


Goodreads Recommendation Engine • Last year Goodreads acquired Discovereads. • Netflix level recommendation algorithm. • 20 billion data points about books. • Launched in September 2011. Result: 60% increase in books discovered in months following launch.


A Taste Based Algorithm If you liked these books, thousands of other readers liked these similar books…


Goodreads Recommendations


Goodreads Recommendations designed to hit mid-list sweet spot 0.2

0.15

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1,000

10,000

100,000

1,000,000

100,000

1,000,000

Registration Flow


Popularity of book

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100

1,000

10,000

Popularity of book


How it increases discovery of books 400

50% found this book via Goodreads recommendations

350

Users who added the book

300

250

90-100 people added per day

200

150

Published in 2004

100

10-20 people added per day 50

0


2011-02-19

2011-04-10

2011-05-30

2011-07-19

2011-09-07

2011-10-27

2011-12-16

2012-02-04

Lists & Genre Browsing •

Account for combined 16% of discovery.

•

Lists are focused on popular & mid-list titles.

•

Power users will put your book on the right lists, driving lots more discovery.


Popularity of Listopia books discovered 0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0

100

1,000

10,000

Popularity of book


100,000

1,000,000

Goodreads Drives Book Discovery on Facebook • Currently seeing 10 million books shared per month. • Generating 220 million impressions per month!!!

Monthly Actives have grown 440% since January!


Fifty Shades of Grey

50000

The Origins of a Publishing Phenomenon

40000

30000

20000

10000

0 Jul 2011


Nov 2011

Mar 2012


50000


40000

30000

20000

10000

0 Jul 2011


Nov 2011

Mar 2012


50000


40000

30000

20000

10000

0 Jul 2011


Nov 2011

Mar 2012

50000

Fifty Shades of Grey The Origins of a Publishing Phenomenon

40000

30000

20000

10000

“So how did an obscure BDSM novel, which Publisher's Weekly confirmed began as "Twilight" fan fiction, become a phenomenon? At least part of the explanation can be found in the social network for book worms, Goodreads.”

0 Jul 2011


Nov 2011

Mar 2012

50000

Fifty Shades of Grey The Origins of a Publishing Phenomenon

40000

30000

20000

10000

0 Jul 2011


Nov 2011

Mar 2012

November 3: Fifty Shades nominated for Goodreads Choice Award in Romance, 2500+ people add the book

Books Added

3000 2250 More than 4500 members, 500+ add the book in one day

1500 June 20: Publication

750 0 Arp 2011


July 3: Romance Readers Reading Challenges starts reading Fifty Shades

July 2011

More than 2400 members, 500+ add the book in one day, 600 the next

October 6: Erotic Enchants starts reading Fifty Shades

Oct 2011

20,000 book clubs on Goodreads

4,853 members


Tips To Leverage Book Clubs on Goodreads

1. Follow groups in your genre 2. Author chats are popular in many groups (E.L. James participated in a chat with a group in January)

3. Follow the group rules and don’t spam 4. Befriend the moderator


The Mini-Oprahs: Tastemakers of Fantasy & Sci-Fi

Books Added

200

Originally Published: 2003

May 28: Vaginal Fantasy Hangout (3500+ members) begins reading Kushiel’s Dart

150 100 50 0

Mar 1

Mar 15

Apr 1

Apr 15

May 1

May 15

Books Added

200

Originally Published: 1990


150

May 25: Sword & Laser (9300+ members) announces they’ll read Tigana next

100 50 0

Mar 1

Mar 15

Apr 1

Apr 15

May 1

May 15

Goodreads Book Launch Package Build buzz and increase user engagement around a book launch.


•

Run giveaways well before the launch to build reviews & buzz.

•

Deep targeted ads: reach readers by author or genre.

•

Sponsored Poll: drive engagement and book adds.

•

Newsletter or New Releases placement: reach 6.5 million.

Anatomy of Book Discovery


Anatomy of Book Discovery


Anatomy of Book Discovery 450

People who added book to "to-read"

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

26 reviews

Giveaways

50 15 reviews 0

10/17/11


11/6/11

12/1/11

12/16/11

1/8/12

1/31/12

2/14/12

2/27/12

3/12/12

3/26/12

4/9/12

4/23/12

Anatomy of Book Discovery 450

People who added book to "to-read"

400

350

300

NPR Fresh Air Ads + Sponsored Poll

Movers & Shakers 250

Rate Books Page

200

150

Published Other

100

50

Friends 0


Search 3/1/12

3/8/12

3/15/12

3/22/12

3/29/12

4/5/12

4/12/12

4/19/12

4/26/12

Anatomy of a Bestseller May 21: Berkley buys Bared, touting “2,500 reviews” on Goodreads as a major reason, hits NY Times Bestseller list

People who added book to their shelves

Apr 23: Became top related book for Fifty Shades of Grey

100 80

Mar 12: Giveaway Began

60 40 to-read

20


0

reviews Feb

Mar

Apr

May

What does “discovery” mean anyway?

Discovery means all the touchpoints in the mind of the consumer it takes to get them to decide to purchase and read a book.


Marketing Adage

It takes about 6-12 touchpoints in the mind of the consumer to get to a purchase. The stronger the touchpoint, the fewer you need.


photo by anja_johnson

“

Between us and our readership, there’s a brick wall and we have little hammers, and if we keep hitting the wall eventually we’ll punch through it.

”

- Marketing Manager at a large publishing house, quoted in Merchants of Culture by John Thompson


Discovery happens in lots of ways - there is no magic bullet But there are a few things to keep in mind.


Maximize touchpoints around launch!

Find your audience: existing fans, comp fans, etc. Start the process well before launch. Use the tools at your disposal to amplify any traction you get.


Otis Y Chandler, CEO otis@goodreads.com goodreads.com/otis twitter.com/otown
