authors on goodreads randomly requesting friends?

5077 Views 38 Replies 21 Participants Last post by glutton, Jan 4, 2013

purplesmurf

Discussion Starter · Jan 4, 2013

I don't really use goodreads that often, i've got a small group of people i'm friends with, really I just use it to keep track of what i'm reading and put up reviews from my blog, but lately i've been getting lots of random friend requests from people I don't know. Today I just got a request from an erotica writer and I don't read erotica, if they looked at my books they would know this. I don't know why i'm so annoyed by this but I really am for some reason. I understand it can be used as a social networking site to get exposure for your books, but just randomly requesting friendships and seeing if people take the bait, at least see if i'm interested in the type of books you write if that's your plan otherwise it just seems spammy and annoying.

It's ok if you don't care, but I had to vent and figured the group here might be more interested in my vent than facebook would.

1 - 20 of 39 Posts

Patty Jansen

· #2 · Jan 4, 2013

You don't have to approve the requests.

Simple.

G

· #3 · Jan 4, 2013

I agree it would be annoying, I would at least spam people with Conan, David Gemmell, David Drake, or Ed Greenwood books in their faves or something.

Also, what Patty said.

purplesmurf

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 4, 2013

Patty Jansen said:
You don't have to approve the requests.

Simple.

I realize that they can be ignored, it still irks me for some silly reason.

Atunah

· #5 · Jan 4, 2013

First name of that author Liz by any chance?

. In 9 hours since I get a request from that author, she acquired 3000 friends. Yep, 3000. Can you imagine how many requests are being send out?

In the last few weeks and months I been seeing quite an upswing of these quick frienders. They have no history, read apparently no books, but suddenly have friends in the 1000's.

I also got a convenient book recommendation for the book by that author from someone I never heard of. You know, the omg just read this amazing book. Both the author and the mysterious "reader" just signed up to goodreads.

Oh and the book was just published yesterday

Must be some marketing manual out there. That is one quick way of making yourself not very popular with readers.

Vukovina

· #6 · Jan 4, 2013

I'm always a little suspicious when the person requesting my friendship has 8,000 other friends and only 8 books. Then again, the more the merrier. Goodreads ain't a pimp-free zone, so I usually accept.

48209

· #7 · Jan 4, 2013

Have you posted a review or comment that's gotten a lot of attention? Maybe the requests are coming in because of that and people want to see whatelse you have to say? On my reader account I'll find other readers who have views I agree with and/or enjoy who are strangers and follow their reviews.

But, other than that... no. I wouldn't be chasing down readers on Goodreads. My GR is for me. I assume other people's GR is for them. Not every website is about collecting people *sigh*

libbyfh

· #8 · Jan 4, 2013

There is a way to have Goodreads reach out to your FB friends and ask if you want to be friends on GR too... I do use that, and find it's a pretty good system.. at least they're not TOTAL strangers.

56139

· #9 · Jan 4, 2013

I approve everyone. My friends are pretty much all book bloggers and authors or at the very least, readers who frequent book blogs I like it that way because I'm interested in finding readers at Goodreads, go figure you can do that by letting them see your profile and interact with you, see your reviews, and check out theirs and make comments. I also tie all my updates into Twitter so all my Twitter followers can see what I'm doing over at Goodreads. This is called networking.

If an author reads and reviews my books, I take special notice. I'm sure they do the same for me. Maybe at one point in the future I write a book that they're really interested in, they remember my name, that I liked a book of theirs, and they decide to pick it up and give it a try. I actually just had this happen, only in the opposite direction. Another author found my books and we started chatting - turns out she has a story that has some common elements that I have in my series and of course I'm going to take a look her her book when it comes out. Of course I am. Maybe I don't write a review, maybe I do. Maybe I think it's a so-so book - or maybe I love it. Either way - I'm reading it no matter what. This is called networking.

In addition, when someone sends me an event I almost always check it out and comment. It's not only polite, it's a good way to get people to pay attention to your event notices when you feel like having one. Most of them say - check out this book over at my blog or this book is going free. I always stop over to the blog and make a nice comment on the book. This is called networking.

If you're an AUTHOR on Goodreads - not just a reader with a reader profile, but a member with an actual author profile that lists your books - why the heck would you turn down a friend request?

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Patty Jansen

· #10 · Jan 4, 2013

Plus I syndicate my blog to goodreads. That's 1500 more sets of eyeballs I could possibly catch.

56139

· #11 · Jan 4, 2013

Patty Jansen said:
Plus I syndicate my blog to goodreads. That's 1500 more sets of eyeballs I could possibly catch.

Yes, me too Patty. I don't know if anyone pays attention, but hey - why not, right? I have my regular author blog syndicated to Amazon and my book blog syndicated to Goodreads. It's effortless marketing.

DCBourone

· #12 · Jan 4, 2013

Unfortunate and natural that goodreads would be punctured by the less than sincere.
But have found some true friends and like minds by noting comments and books.
One of those readers, months after our first contact, forwarded her review to
an influential blog, resulting in sixty buys in four hours, a pulse unlikely to be
repeated.
Also received my first anomalous and damaging review by someone clearly uncertain
about the material they were reading.
A mixed bag...
But all in all, goodreads a plus. There are some truly fine and devoted readers there.

STOHara

· #13 · Jan 4, 2013

Patty Jansen said:
You don't have to approve the requests.

Simple.

No, but you have to deny them if you don't want your inbox to fill up with requests. Doing this sort of thing only antagonizes potential readers.

Patty Jansen

· #14 · Jan 4, 2013

STOHara said:
No, but you have to deny them if you don't want your inbox to fill up with requests. Doing this sort of thing only antagonizes potential readers.

You set up goodreads so it won't send you those emails anymore, and simply bulk-approve them when you log in.

STOHara

· #15 · Jan 4, 2013

Patty Jansen said:
You set up goodreads so it won't send you those emails anymore, and simply bulk-approve them when you log in.

I'm talking about your Goodreads inbox where the requests show up. Bulk-approval or denial does no good if you have no interest in being friends with authors who are just there to shill their books but still have legitimate friend requests mixed in there.

Kia Zi Shiru

· #16 · Jan 4, 2013

Apparently I should be glad I don't get a lot of requests on GR, then again, I'm mainly a reader and not a writer there.

People can ask to friend me all they like, if I don't approve them it's no damage for them since they can still see my reviews and updates, I just don't have to see theirs. I'm mainly friends with people I know or a couple of writers I'm interested in on GR, some are friends and some haven't accepted the friend request but I can see their reviews and such.

I'm pretty picky about letting people in on my social networking places. Just like I don't friend people I don't know on FB (what else is a fanpage for if I just friend everybody?) or on G+ (people can still see my public posts and I post a lot of public messages about my writing and other interesting stuff, just not my day to day stuff). GR works the same way for me. People can follow me, but I don't need to see everything they do and they don't need to know about my every move.

BenEBrewer

· #17 · Jan 4, 2013

The more the merrier really! I get requests on Facebook from people I don't know, that's probably stranger, but for Goodreads - nothing wrong with having loads of friends come into your circle.

Patty Jansen

· #18 · Jan 4, 2013

I use FB, Twitter, goodreads and other social networking sites for my author persona, so I'll approve any request and will only unfriend if people seriously annoy me.

All my personal stuff is in password-protected places.

Judi Coltman

· #19 · Jan 4, 2013

I rec'd a message on Goodreads from someone offering me the "exciting opportunity for a paid review". I did not respond.

vrabinec

· #20 · Jan 4, 2013

Atunah said:
First name of that author Liz by any chance? . In 9 hours since I get a request from that author, she acquired 3000 friends. Yep, 3000. Can you imagine how many requests are being send out?

In the last few weeks and months I been seeing quite an upswing of these quick frienders. They have no history, read apparently no books, but suddenly have friends in the 1000's.

I also got a convenient book recommendation for the book by that author from someone I never heard of. You know, the omg just read this amazing book. Both the author and the mysterious "reader" just signed up to goodreads.

Oh and the book was just published yesterday

Must be some marketing manual out there. That is one quick way of making yourself not very popular with readers.

Just for that, I friended you.

1 - 20 of 39 Posts

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