How to Set Up Your Goodreads Listing and Author Account
How Otterpine Can Help
Once we have finalized your cover design and back cover copy, we will submit a request to post your book on Goodreads. We will take this information (along with other aspects like the ISBN, page count, etc.) and submit a request to the Goodreads Librarians (volunteers that update the Goodreads catalog).
This method has the potential to work smoothly and in a timely manner; however, as volunteers, the librarians can sometimes work at a slow rate. It might take weeks or months for the librarians to reach our request, but we aim to submit it early enough, so that it’s uploaded before your book is released on Amazon.
If your book is released on Amazon before the librarians reach our request, your book will automatically be added to the catalog via AI. However, this method often produces incorrect listings, like inaccurate ISBNs, low quality images, and false editions. Don’t worry! We can fix this easily by creating a Goodreads Author Account.
Setting Up Your Author Account
Currently, Goodreads does not allow anyone besides librarians to add new books, and sometimes, they can fall very behind on listing new books for us. Our workaround is to allow the listing to auto-populate from Amazon (which it does in a messy way), but then you can set up a Goodreads Author account and claim the book as your own. Once you claim your book, you can edit your own listing.
Goodreads validates your identity through the public email address on your website, so we can’t set it up through our joint email address.
You can set up your Goodreads author account through the instructions here. It is best to take care of this task as soon as possible to fix any inaccuracies before your book’s release. It’ll likely take a few days (or longer) for approval. Make sure that you claim all the books that are yours. When you apply, it might ask you if you are the author of books written by someone with your same name. Be careful to only claim the books that are yours.
You can choose to do the rest on your own, or ideally, you can email us the login info, and we’ll take care of the rest (if needed)
Cleaning Up Your Listing
Once you have been accepted as a Goodreads Author, you can finish setting up your account by cleaning up your listing. Here are some instructions and guidelines that might help you with this task. Make sure that each edition is accurate (like the ISBNs, page count, etc.). We can help you double check this information.
FAQs
Why is the Amazon proof copy cover showing up on my listing?
Goodreads will often pull book information from an Amazon listing as soon as it’s available via AI, so sometimes Goodreads will list an edition of your book with old information, like an Amazon proof cover rather than the official cover. This is a situation where creating a Goodreads Author Account can be helpful so we can help you fix the listing.
Why are there multiple editions of my book on Goodreads?
With Goodreads creating editions of books from multiple sources, like Amazon or the Librarian discussion board, there can be some overlap between the information. Again, this is another situation where having a Goodreads Author Account can be helpful.
