It’s that time of year again.
Y’know, the time where Amazon makes a move that results in it being branded all sorts of not-so-nice things. What’s the old dog gone and done this time? It’s only gone and bought everybody’s favourite reading social networking site, GoodReads.
No! R.I.P GoodReads. Why can’t Amazon just like, stop being so wise to the contemporary eBook climate? Jesus, it’s as if they want to succeed as a business or something.
Sarcasm aside, the move has naturally been met with some rather discontent opposition. A skim through the comments on GoodReads’ very own announcement post reveals a whole mix of emotions, generally positive but the occasional ‘not happy about this’ sneaks in without any real reasoning. I get it — it’s natural to oppose change, especially when GoodReads is just fine as it is, but I simply can’t see any reason why Amazon’s acquisition should affect GoodReads for the worse.
Firstly, Amazon are the most forward-thinking eBook retailer in the business. That isn’t opinion, it’s fact. No platform offers visibility and exposure anywhere near the level of KDP at present, and for readers, there’s no site better than Amazon to discover new books. Sure, the other stores might claim they’re ahead of the game, but they certainly are yet to show it. It still baffles me that people are so opposed to Amazon when they offer such a good product for both authors, publishers and readers.
‘But Amazon are monopolising!’
Perhaps, but I don’t care. Good for Amazon — they’re taking advantage of incompetent competition. It’s the competition’s job to step up, not Amazon’s job to back down. Right now, all that matters is that my (and many others’) books are selling copies at Amazon and not selling many copies elsewhere. That needs to change, but until then, I’m happy the way it is.
But anyway, back to the point. GoodReads and Amazon. Just think of the potential positives — adding books to your ‘to read’ shelf directly from Kindle, having the option to purchase from Amazon via GoodReads, and even more excitingly, a merged review system across the two sites. How is that a negative thing? It’s Amazon acknowledging the social benefits of the eGeneration. They didn’t buy GoodReads to run it into the ground, did they? I for one am very excited to see how Amazon and GoodReads approach their Kindle output, and you should be too.
‘Amazon supports us continuing to grow our vision as an independent entity…’ That’s taken directly from the GoodReads blog, so again, just chill out a bit. GoodReads and Amazon are still separate entities to look at, so no, they won’t start banning Kobo users and throwing tomatoes at Nook-ites.
The GoodReads and Amazon deal is a really exciting step for all involved. Yes, Amazon are monopolising the hell out of the market. But when their product is so good right now, does it really matter? Perhaps we should take a day to stop groaning and realise how fortunate we are to have such an effective platform right at our fingertips.
Have a great Easter weekend everyone. Remember, What We Saw, my coming of age mystery novel, is free on Kindle until Sunday. The BookBub emails go out today so I’m looking forward to observing the results.
Ryan
What do you make of Amazon’s acquisition of GoodReads? Is it a good or a bad thing?
Ryan, I can’t help but agree with you. The acquisition can only be a good thing, especially for Kindle authors. Sure, Amazon is trying to capture the whole market, and why shouldn’t they? That’s what every company would love to do, Amazon is just very good at it, and its business savvy pushes other companies to do better.
I just picked up What We Saw and am looking forward to reading it.
I agree, Jane. I think you hit the nail on the head when you say ‘why shouldn’t they try to capture the market?’ They do a damn good job of it, and it encourages healthy competition. We’re seeing the rise of Kobo and interesting new concepts such as Uncovered Books, so it forces the dominant publisher to keep on upping their game. The acquisition of GoodReads signals a great awareness of the social nature of the ‘always on’ eReader world we live in.
And thank you! I hope you enjoy reading.