This presentation was presented by Goodreads CEO Otis Chandler at the 2013 Tools of Change conference in New York. It details how readers discovered, acquired, and read two specific titles -- Gillian Flynn's mega-bestseller Gone Girl, a hardcover book, and The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, which is available in paperback.

1. What’s Going On With Readers Today?

2. Open call to publishers: what would you like
us to ask Goodreads members?
2

3. The Journey of a Reader

4. A Tale of Two Books
Published September 2011 Published May 2012
Paperback July 2012
Surveyed 1,000 Goodreads Members Who Surveyed 1,000 Goodreads Members Who
Read the Book in Dec 2012/Jan 2013 Read the Book in Dec 2012/Jan 2013

6. Where Did You Hear About The Book?
Friend’s Recommendation
Media
Goodreads
Goodreads Choice Awards
Amazon
Bookstore
Library
Facebook
Book Club
Blog
Twitter
0 10 20 30 40
Gone Girl Night Circus Percent
Note: multiple responses allowed

7. Goodreads Choice Awards
Goodreads(Users(Adding(Gone(Girl(by(Week(
!20,000!!
!18,000!!
!16,000!!
!14,000!!
!12,000!!
!10,000!!
!8,000!!
!6,000!!
!4,000!!
!2,000!!
!"!!!!
1/7/12! 2/7/12! 3/7/12! 4/7/12! 5/7/12! 6/7/12! 7/7/12! 8/7/12! 9/7/12! 10/7/12! 11/7/12!12/7/12!

9. What Convinced You To Read The Book?
Trusted Friend
Everyone Talking About It
Book Club
Goodreads - Reviews
On “Best” Lists
Sample Read
Amazon Reviews
Goodreads Choice Awards
Liked Author’s Books
Book Blurb
Cover
0 10 20 30
Percent
Gone Girl Night Circus
Note: only one answer allowed

10. The Effect of Goodreads Reviews
163,500 Ratings 126,000 Ratings
34,200 Reviews 22,000 Reviews
58% 52%
Goodreads reviews primary reason I bought/
helped convince me to buy the book

11. Goodreads Reviews Work Harder For You Than Other Reviews
Goodreads Reviews on Reviews in Goodreads Newsfeed Goodreads Updates Shared on Twitter
Goodreads members share
19 million books/month on Facebook

12. What Convinced You To Read The Book?
Trusted Friend
Everyone Talking About It
Book Club
Goodreads - Reviews
On “Best” Lists
Sample Read
Amazon Reviews
Goodreads Choice Awards
Liked Author’s Books
Book Blurb
Cover
0 10 20 30
Percent
Gone Girl Night Circus
Note: only one answer allowed

13. Sampling books is slightly more
popular with bookstore buyers
Look Through Book/ Bookstore Online
Read Sample Buyers Buyers
Always 25% 19%
Often 19% 18%
Usually 16% 17%
Sometimes 30% 32%
Never 10% 14%

14. What Convinced You To Read The Book?
Trusted Friend
Everyone Talking About It
Book Club
Goodreads - Reviews
On “Best” Lists
Sample Read
Amazon Reviews
Goodreads Choice Awards
Liked Author’s Books
Book Blurb
Cover
Gone Girl 0
Night Circus 10 20 30
Percent
Note: only one answer allowed

16. Where Did You Acquire The Book?
Library 30% e-book
Kindle
Amazon
Borrowed
Nook
B&N Store Gone Girl Night Circus
B&N.com
Gift
Apple iBooks
Independents
Costco/Target/Walmart
Audible
Kobo
Used Books Store
0 10 20 30 40
Percentage

18. In what format did you read the book?
Print
Total E-Books
Kindle
Nook
iTunes
Kobo
Other
Audiobook
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Gone Girl Night Circus

19. Which Format Do You Prefer to Read?
Print & E-Books 45%
Print Only 23%
Print, E-Books & Audiobooks 21%
E-Books Only 9%
Audiobooks Only 1%
0 10 20 30 40 50
Data from Goodreads Member Survey Dec 2012

20. Now Looking at Results from
General Goodreads Members Survey
1,500 US-Based Goodreads Members
83% Female / 17% Male
(Usually 70% Female / 30% Male)
13 - 17 years: 5%
18 - 24 years: 11%
25 - 34 years: 28%
35 - 44 years: 24%
45 - 54 years: 16%
55+ years: 17%

21. 37% of Cell Phone Owners Read E-Books on Them
Commuting/Waiting
Lunch break at work
In bed
Around home
Only device for e-books 13%
0 20 40 60 80
Note: multiple responses allowed

22. 86% of Tablet Owners Read E-Books on Them
Commuting/Waiting
Lunch break at work
In bed
Around home
Only device for e-books 32%
0 20 40 60 80
Of members who got a new device this xmas, tablets beat e-ink 3.6:1
Note: multiple responses allowed

23. 31% Highlight when reading e-books
78% Highlight for own personal use
21% Share them with others via social media
22% Use them when writing a review
9% Would share highlights but don’t know how/don’t have option
Note: multiple responses allowed

24. “Life takes us to unexpected places sometimes. The “There’s something disturbing about recalling a
future is never set in stone, remember that.” warm memory and feeling utterly cold.”
The Night Circus Gone Girl
1,152,000
Quotes Shared on Goodreads in January 2013
“The finest of pleasures are always the “Sleep is like a cat: It only comes to
unexpected ones.” you if you ignore it.”
The Night Circus Gone Girl

25. 73% of E-Book Readers Shop Around for Best Price For an E-Book
29
27
19
14
11
Always Often Usually Sometimes Never
% of E-Book Readers Who Shop Around for the Best Price

26. If you read e-books, where do you get them from?
% of Kindle e-book Apple iBooks 18% E-Book Readers Are
readers who Nook 15% Experimenting With Platforms
also read:
Google Play
Kobo
Sony
% of Nook e-book Kindle 37%
readers who Apple iBooks
also read:
Google Play
Kobo
Sony
% of Apple iBooks Kindle 65%
e-book readers who Nook
also read:
Google Play
Kobo
Sony
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

27. What Do You Want to Do When You Get to the End of a Book?
83% See what else the author has written
75% Find more books similar to what just read
69% Discuss the book with friends
35% Read other people’s reviews

29. What Should I Read Next?
Gone Girl Readers Read The Night Circus Readers
These Books Next Read These Books Next

30. Would Readers be Interested in Reading a Book in Serial Format Instead of
Waiting Six Months for Complete Book?
49% say yes!
Extremely Interested
Very Interested
Interested
Somewhat Interested
Not At All Interested
0 15 30 45 60
Percent
Like Author Unknown Author

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