The differences between Goodreads friends and followers

As an author, you might scratch your head when it comes to friends versus followers on Goodreads. What is the difference? Which should you encourage your readers to do? Here’s a breakdown of the differences between friends and followers on Goodreads.

First, being friends is a two-way street. You will get their updates and they will get yours, while followers only get your updates - you don’t see any of their activity.

Friends were introduced by Goodreads for reader-to-reader interaction, so a friends-only relationship will not include any of the author/follower benefits. For example, email notifications that your followers get (new book release, new giveaway posted) - those won't go to your friends unless they are also following you.

To clarify, when someone asks someone on Goodreads to be their friend, the default is to also follow that author or user. See the below image:

So that friend will receive your author-specific email notifications, but only because they are initiating the friendship.

Some authors spend a lot of time inviting readers to be their friends, so it’s important to understand that friendships that you initiate can get your activity in their newsfeeds, but won’t carry the same punch as a new follower. If you ask 2,000 people to be your friends, they won't be your followers unless they pull up your profile separately and make that action (which most won’t do).

If you’re confused by Goodreads and need some guidance on how to promote your books on the site, check out this one-hour free workshop that I recently held: REPLAY LINK HERE