Goodreads vs Wattpad

2023. Goodreads introduces new Giveaway marketing tool for authors



In the vast, improbably complex universe of bookish endeavors, Goodreads has embarked on a curious new adventure, launching the U.S. Giveaways program—a cunningly designed initiative packed with features that might well baffle even the most seasoned Vogon poet. This masterstroke of literary marketing wizardry comes in two gleaming packages, each engineered to propel books into the hyperspace of discovery while enticing readers to leave their invaluable reviews. Authors and publishers, long clamoring for more robust tools to dazzle audiences, will find their wishes granted with seamless audience connections and the magic of automatically updated Want-to-Read lists. For Kindle Direct Publishing authors, the previously mythical ability to host Kindle ebook giveaways is now a thrilling reality. At a mere $119, the Standard package boldly delivers up to 100 copies—Kindle or print—while the $599 Premium package boasts not only these same perks but also a dazzling "Featured" spotlight on the Giveaways page, perfect for showcasing your magnum opus to the galaxy’s most voracious readers. Ford Prefect would probably approve, though he'd insist on a towel being part of the deal.


2023. Wattpad Premium subscribers now have access to 5 free monthly Wattpad Originals



Imagine, if you will, a grand and slightly eccentric narrative experiment devised by Wattpad, now called "Premium Picks." Under the great umbrella of its freemium model, Wattpad offers Premium and Premium+ subscribers a rather splendid deal: five of their Wattpad Originals, gratis, each and every month. Gone are the days of individual content payments—this is a curated buffet, handpicked by Wattpad’s team of literary connoisseurs, blending celebrated blockbusters with unsung gems from both literary legends and bright-eyed up-and-comers. The catch? Well, not so much a catch as a clever ticking clock: these tales are freely available until the first of the next month. After that, should you wish to resume your journey through an unfinished story, your wallet may politely nudge you. To keep things lively, Wattpad has thoughtfully added a countdown timer to the Premium Picks screen and a system of cheery app nudges, lest you miss the arrival of the next story feast.


2023. Wattpad has launched Publishing Scheduler



If you are an author on the Wattpad self-publishing platform, you've probably considered the idea of scheduling your Story Parts in advance to provide a seamless reading experience for your audience. Thankfully, this is now possible with the newly introduced feature called the "Wattpad Publishing Scheduler." This initiative by Wattpad aims to help authors maintain a consistent publishing schedule, leading to a more engaged readership. With the Wattpad Publishing Scheduler, you can plan and set the release dates for your story parts ahead of time, ensuring a continuous flow of content even during your breaks. Presently, this feature is only accessible on the web version of Wattpad, but the platform is actively working on making it available on the app as well. To manage your scheduled Story Parts, you can easily check them in the My Stories section. This new tool offers an efficient way for authors to connect with their readers while maintaining flexibility in their writing routine.


2023. Wattpad improves its Creator Program for writers



Wattpad, the popular online platform for storytelling, is preparing to revamp its creators' programs in order to enhance accessibility for writers. The Wattpad Creators program, currently in its second year, was launched a year ago to provide various benefits, opportunities and practical assistance to writers. It aims to equip writers with the necessary tools to create exceptional stories, offering editorial support and resources tailored to creators. The primary objective is to boost their Engaged reader metric and offer them the recognition they deserve. Until now, participation in this program was by invitation only. However, with the new program, the company is expanding beyond providing stipends based on tiers. Wattpad acknowledges that not all writers have the luxury of time, resources and privilege to attend writing workshops and retreats. Consequently, the company intends to foster a similar sense of community, support and valuable insights within the Wattpad Creators Program.


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.


2019. Wattpad launches book publishing platform



Social storytelling platform Wattpad has recently introduced a new publishing arm called Wattpad Books. The titles will not only be available as ebooks on a variety of online platforms, but they will also be stocked in physical bookstores such as Indigo Books and Music and Barnes & Noble. Wattpad Books’ first collection is set to debut in Fall 2019, with six titles being released this year. The 2019 Wattpad Books lineup features six young adult novels, covering genres like fantasy, romance, mystery and more. The stories on Wattpad Books’ 2019 list are already popular on Wattpad, together garnering over 100 million reading minutes in 2018.


2018. Goodreads launched new Android App



Goodreads has introduced a new ebook discovery and social community app for Android. Whether you're looking to scan covers to quickly locate a book on Goodreads, explore personalized recommendations, or add a book you've just completed to your Reading Challenge, using Goodreads on your Android device has never been so straightforward, efficient, or enjoyable. The app’s updated design and interface also work well on tablets.


2018. New Goodreads app for Android is available



GoodReads, the largest social book community owned by Amazon, has updated its Android app. The GoodReads BETA app has been redesigned to be faster and more user-friendly. It now offers an improved appearance on mobile phones and tablets. The app allows users to search for, rate and review any book from a catalog of over 12 million titles. You can view book reviews and updates from your friends, comment on them, post status updates and page number updates for books you're currently reading and use the barcode scanner to quickly add all of your books to your GoodReads shelves.


2017. GoodReads is rolling out the ReRead system



Many GoodReads users set a reading goal for the year. Sometimes you just want to revisit the Harry Potter series or one of the Divergent books, but previously, these would not count towards your goal. This has changed with a new BETA ReRead feature that will be introduced globally in the coming months. Next time you decide to reread a book that you've already marked as Read on Goodreads, simply label it as Currently Reading. When you finish, just mark it as Read. You can do this from the Goodreads iOS and Android apps, on Goodreads.com and also in the About the Book feature on Kindle.


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 Goodreads now allows users to listen to free audio samples of 180,000 titles on its platform through a new “Listen” button powered by Audible’s digital audiobook catalog. These samples will be accessible to all Goodreads users, regardless of whether they are Audible subscribers, but the new feature includes an offer for a 30-day free trial of Audible, which, like Goodreads, is owned by Amazon. The streaming function will be available to users on the Goodreads website, with plans to extend it to the mobile site and apps soon, according to a statement released today. This move is aimed at helping ebook readers discover audiobook content and comes as publishers and retailers explore ways to promote the use of both formats together.


2014. Goodreads mobile app gets a makeover



Amazon's Goodreads has introduced a major redesign on iOS (with an Android version coming soon) – a change that many regular Goodreads users have been requesting. Instead of opening to an outdated, grid-like home screen, the app now immediately shows a “news feed” featuring your friends’ latest updates on the network, including books they've read, rated, reviewed and more. You can easily like and comment on posts from friends, enhancing Goodreads’ role as a social network for book lovers rather than just a tool for tracking your own reading progress.


2014. Wattpad will be free forever and make money from native ads



**Wattpad**, the social reading app that allows authors to share their stories with a community of readers, is experiencing notable user engagement — the company reports that 27 million of its 30 million users are active each month. However, Wattpad has done little to monetize this activity beyond trying out crowdfunded self-publishing. That’s changing now. The company has introduced its first native advertising campaign and is preparing more. Similar to ads on Twitter and other social platforms, Wattpad has integrated promotions for accounts and individual titles with its regular recommendations. The company is still in the “very early stages of ad experiments,” but CEO Allen Lau has already stated that Wattpad will never charge for the app itself: “It will remain a free app forever.”


2014. Goodreads allows to import books, purchased on Amazon



Goodreads users can now automatically transfer the print and ebooks they’ve purchased on Amazon into their Goodreads accounts. One benefit of linking the accounts, according to Goodreads, is that “more books added to your Goodreads shelves means better recommendations to help you discover more great books to read. The advanced algorithm driving our recommendations engine examines the books you rate to provide the best book suggestions tailored to your unique reading preferences.” The linking also allows Amazon to identify which of its customers are Goodreads users, although Goodreads emphasizes that “We give you full control over which books to include so you can avoid adding any books bought as gifts. Any book not rated or added to a shelf will not be included on Goodreads.”


2014. Wattpad raises $46 million to build a global literary community



Wattpad, an online community where writers and readers can share and discover engaging stories, announced that it has secured $46 million in funding to help Wattpad accelerate product development and user growth. "We have a very ambitious goal that one day this company could reach a billion users," said Allen Lau, cofounder and CEO of Wattpad. "That's precisely why we are raising this round of funding: to accelerate our progress toward that vision." Wattpad currently has around 25 million registered users, according to Lau, up from approximately 15 million at this time last year. While this is impressive for a reading-focused platform, it remains far from the billion-user target. "It's a very lofty goal," Lau acknowledges, noting that it likely won’t be achieved "this year, or the year after, or even in three or four years."


2014. Amazon adds Goodreads integration to Kindle Paperwhite 1



Amazon is rolling out a software update for the first-gen Kindle Paperwhite that introduces Goodreads integration and other new features to the e-reader. The currently available Paperwhite, a second-generation model, already includes Goodreads support, which was added last November. The update also brings Kindle FreeTime, which curates books for children and allows parents to schedule reading time, Cloud Collections for organizing content and Page Flip for browsing through material without losing your spot. The Bookmarks, Highlights and Notes feature can now be accessed more swiftly. The update will be rolled out over the next few weeks to devices in the United States, Canada and Australia.


2014. Goodreads competitor Slice Bookshelf shuts down



Slice Bookshelf, a social platform for readers aimed at challenging Amazon-owned Goodreads by offering a more contemporary experience and one less reliant on manual user input, is closing down. The company states that, moving forward, it will concentrate on enhancing its primary product, the mobile shopping assistant, Slice. With Bookshelf, Slice had explored using its proprietary inbox-scanning technology in a new area: rather than tracking general purchases, it specifically identified your book and e-book receipts. By integrating data from Facebook, the service could automatically compile your library, eliminating the laborious data entry that competitor Goodreads still necessitates.


2013. Amazon integrates Goodreads into Kindle Fire OS



Earlier this year, Amazon began incorporating the popular book recommendation site Goodreads (which it acquired in March) into its tablets. With the latest Fire OS update, Goodreads has been seamlessly integrated into the reading experience, allowing you to engage with the Goodreads community without exiting the book or opening a separate app. Readers can now capture and share their favorite quotes to Goodreads directly from within the book, see what others are reading and rate and review books after finishing them. You can also import all the books you've purchased on Amazon, including print and Kindle editions, into Goodreads, which is useful for those who haven't been actively managing their Goodreads account over time.


2013. Kobo stops showing Goodreads ratings and reviews



As you recall, Amazon acquired the book-review social network Goodreads in March, so it's understandable that Kobo has ceased using the Goodreads API on its website and in its apps. This means no more Goodreads ratings and reviews on Kobo book pages. It appears this decision was made by Kobo rather than Goodreads or Amazon: The company’s chief content officer Michael Tamblyn mentioned to Good E-reader that Kobo may potentially reintegrate the Goodreads API in the future. However, this situation highlights the risks of depending on what is now a rival retailer’s API. Goodreads faced a similar issue in early 2012 when it stopped using Amazon’s API for book data and switched to data from book wholesaler Ingram. Currently, Goodreads states that it utilizes metadata from a combination of sources — Ingram, WorldCat and ONIX feeds.


2013. Wattpad, the social network for aspiring writers, launches a crowdfunding feature



Wattpad is a social platform for budding writers, often referred to as the "YouTube of writing" because it enables amateur authors to share their work with a global audience and build a following around their writing. Wattpad has now introduced a crowdfunding feature similar to Kickstarter called “Fan Funding,” which simplifies the process for members to leverage their fan base to monetize their work — and could also assist the platform in monetizing its own user base, as it charges a fee for the service. Fan Funding allows you to support your favorite authors in new ways by helping them achieve their goals and receiving rewards in return. To support a project, select the reward level that appeals to you most and specify the amount you wish to contribute. A valid credit card is required to back a project.