How People Discover Books Online

1. How People Discover Books Online

2. 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.

3. Goodreads’ mission isDiscoveryTo help people find books they love and share them with friends.

4. Deep Reading Data200 million 315 million books shelved, growing at 17 million a month150 million 110 million100 million 64 million 50 million 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

5. photo by o5com6 million books discovered a month (added to to-read) Every second...

6. photo by o5com6 million books discovered a month (added to to-read) Every second... 2 books are discovered on Goodreads

7. The Long Tail of To-Read Books 16,000 16,000 Top 40 books: 5% 12,000 Added to to-read 14,000 12,000 8,000Added to to-read 10,000 4,000 8,000 0 10 20 30 40 6,000 391,031 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

8. In an increasingly digital world, discovery is becoming more and more important.Serendipitous discovery is key to driving book sales.

9. In an increasingly digital world, discovery is becoming more and more important.Goodreads is leveraging social discovery to reinventthe way people find books. We’ll show you discovery tools.

10. Where people discover books on Goodreads Giveaways 2% Other 7% Mobile Search 6% 19% Lists 7% Author & Series 8% Registration 19% Genre Browsing 9% Friend Recommendation Updates Engine 9% 13%

11. Where people discover books on Goodreads Giveaways Word of mouth 2% Other 7% Mobile Search 6% 19% Lists 7% Author & Series 8% Registration 19% Genre Browsing 9% Friend Recommendation Updates Engine 9% 13%

12. Where people discover books on Goodreads Giveaways Word of mouth 2% Other 7% Mobile Search 6% 19% Lists 7% Author & Series 8% Registration 19% Popular books Genre Browsing 9% Friend Recommendation Updates Engine 9% 13%

13. Where people discover books on Goodreads Giveaways Word of mouth 2% Other 7% Mobile Search 6% 19% Lists 7% Author & Series 8% Registration 19% Popular books Genre Browsing 9% Friend Recommendation Updates Engine 9% 13% Midlist

14. Where people discover books on Goodreads Giveaways Word of mouth 2% Other 7% Mobile Search 6% 19% Lists 7%Browsing: Author & Seriespopular & 8% Registration midlist 19% Popular books Genre Browsing 9% Friend Recommendation Updates Engine 9% 13% Midlist

15. Registration has popular books, search has the long tail 0.2 Books added to to-read 0.15 Search 0.1 0.05 0 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 Popularity of book 0.2 Books added to to-read 0.15Registration 0.1 Flow 0.05 0 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 Popularity of book

16. 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.

17. A Taste Based AlgorithmIf you liked these books, thousands of other readers liked these similar books…

18. Goodreads Recommendations designed to hit mid-list sweet spot 0.2 Books added to to-read 0.15 Goodreads 0.1Recommendations 0.05 0 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 Popularity of book 0.2 Books added to to-read 0.15 Registration 0.1 Flow 0.05 0 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 Popularity of book

19. How it increases discovery of books 400 50% found this book via 350 Goodreads recommendations 300Users who added the book 250 200 90-100 people added per day 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

20. 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 Books added to to-read 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 Popularity of book

21. 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!

22. 50000 Fifty Shades of Grey The Origins of a Publishing Phenomenon40000300002000010000 0 Jul 2011 Nov 2011 Mar 2012

25. 50000 Fifty Shades of Grey40000 The Origins of a Publishing Phenomenon3000020000 “So how did an obscure BDSM novel, which Publishers Weekly confirmed began as "Twilight" fan fiction, become a phenomenon? At least part of the explanation can be found10000 in the social network for book worms, Goodreads.” 0 Jul 2011 Nov 2011 Mar 2012

26. 50000 Fifty Shades of Grey40000 The Origins of a Publishing Phenomenon300002000010000 0 Jul 2011 Nov 2011 Mar 2012

27. November 3: Fifty Shades nominated for Goodreads Choice Award in Romance, 2500+ people add the book 3000 2250Books Added More than 4500 members, More than 2400 members, 500+ add the book in one day 1500 500+ add the book in one day, 600 the next July 3: Romance Readers October 6: Erotic Enchants June 20: Publication Reading Challenges starts starts reading Fifty Shades reading Fifty Shades 750 0 Arp 2011 July 2011 Oct 2011

28. 20,000 book clubs on Goodreads4,853 members

29. 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

30. The Mini-Oprahs: Tastemakers of Fantasy & Sci-Fi 200 May 28: Vaginal Fantasy 150 Hangout (3500+ members) Books Added begins reading Kushiel’s Dart 100 50 Originally Published: 2003 0 Mar 1 Mar 15 Apr 1 Apr 15 May 1 May 15 200 150 Books Added May 25: Sword & Laser (9300+ 100 members) announces they’ll read Tigana next 50 Originally Published: 1990 0 Mar 1 Mar 15 Apr 1 Apr 15 May 1 May 15

31. Goodreads Book Launch PackageBuild 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.

32. Anatomy of Book Discovery

33. Anatomy of Book Discovery

34. Anatomy of Book Discovery 450 400 350People who added book to "to-read" 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

35. Anatomy of Book Discovery 450 400 350People who added book to "to-read" 300 NPR Fresh Air Ads + Sponsored Poll Movers & Shakers 250 Rate Books Page 200 Published 150 Other 100 50 Friends Search 0 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

36. Anatomy of a Bestseller May 21: Berkley buys Bared, touting “2,500 reviews” on Goodreads as a major reason, hits NY Times Bestseller list Apr 23: Became top related book for Fifty Shades of Grey 100People who added book to their shelves 80 Mar 12: Giveaway Began 60 40 to-read 20 reviews 0 Feb Mar Apr May

37. 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.

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

39. 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

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

41. Maximize touchpoints around launch!Find your audience: existing fans,comp fans, etc.Start the process well before launch.Use the tools at your disposal toamplify any traction you get.

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