If you’ve used the site called Goodreads but haven’t used its feature known as Listopia, you’re missing a fun and easy way to find exactly the books you’d like to read. And if you’re an author, you should make sure your books appear on Listopia lists where new readers can find them.
Joining Goodreads.com is free, so do it if you haven’t already.
Once you’re on the Goodreads Home page, go to “Browse” in the menu and drop down to “Lists.” You’ll see a page similar to this one, with featured and popular lists. In the upper right hand corner, you can search for names of lists. I always search for “Teen” and “YA.”
Farther down the page, you can search for a tag that a list-maker may have placed on the list when it was created. Search keywords associated with books you enjoy, such as a particular sport or art.
Be as broad or as specific in your searches as you like. When you find a list that interests you, peruse the books, which will be listed according to the number of votes they’ve received from readers.
Here’s a list that 10 Steps to Girlfriend Status is on, “Best Books for Christian teenage girls and young women.” It is currently 23rd on the list, with 7 votes. And look at what good company it’s in!
Goodreads no longer allows authors to add their books to lists or to vote on their own books. But authors can create lists when they see the need for one, as I did for the list “YA novels with a hearing impaired teen character.” (At that time, I was allowed to add 10 Steps to Girlfriend Status to it myself.) I made some of the readers I know enjoyed the novel aware of this particular list, hoping they would vote for my book. A few did.
When you go to any single book’s Goodreads page, such as for 10 Steps to Girlfriend Status, scroll down through its reviews until you see “Lists with this book.” This is the example from that novel. As you see beneath those two lists, you can find “More lists with this book…”
If you like a book, you will find books similar to it by looking at its lists.
When you find a list that contains books you’d like to read and some you’ve read, other readers will appreciate your voting on the ones you’ve enjoyed. Votes help other readers decide which books to read next.
Authors will appreciate those votes, too.
Do you use Goodreads Listopia lists? In which way and how often?
Bird Face Wendy 
Cynthia, interesting information.I have a Goodreads account, but I hardly ever go on the site. When I first signed up the site wasn’t very user friendly and I still find it that way. If we, as authors, can no longer add our books to a list, how can we help our books make it onto a list besides creating our own list as you did?
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Thanks for requesting elaboration on that point, Debra. In my case, I once in a while receive a nice surprise when a reader I don’t know adds my book to a list, which counts as its first vote. Fiction authors typically belong to one or more critique groups and writers groups (online and in real life), as well as book marketing groups. In all these groups, we mutually support one another by reading one another’s books and sharing information on social media. Finding appropriate Goodreads lists to place one another’s books on (if we enjoyed the books, of course) is one of the ways we support other authors. Once a book is on a list, I recommend an author let friends who’ve enjoyed the book know about the list, and they can choose whether or not to vote. Getting your books on a few appropriate lists will help them with visibility and allow readers interested in your topics to find them more easily. I consider this endeavor as much a service to readers as to the authors of the books. I hope you find some lists you like and have success in getting your books on them.
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Thanks so much for clarifying. I’ll post this link to FB to the author groups I’m in and will make a point to start using lists to support authors. Any other posts you can create about navigating and using Goodreads would be appreciated!
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Wonderful!
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I love Goodreads Lists and use them a lot – most often when trying to find a specific book or books that are similar. I’m a member of the “what’s the name of that book” group and lists can be extremely helpful in searching for a book with a specific plot. Or I’ll find a book with a similar plots and check all the lists that book is in. And while I’m digging around, if I notice a book is missing from the list, I’ll add it.
They had to stop authors from adding their own books because certain authors were spamming the lists and adding their books to all of them, whether they met the list criteria or not.
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I enjoy your “what’s the name of that book” in my Goodreads news feed. Thanks for commenting.
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lol – now the newsfeed is something I always forget to look at. 😉
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I’ve found the lists useful as a reader. I was looking for a book to round out a book review post. I’d read a couple Christian romances set in colonial America. I wanted to add another. Sure enough, there’s a list for that! Lists based on setting are great. If people like to read books set in their hometown, home state, or a favorite vacation locale, it’s a great place to look.
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I agree! I have found lists for many aspects of novels and also particularly like the lists related to setting. Thanks for the comment, Carolyn.
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I’m new to Goodreads and still getting to know how to make the best of it as an author and reader. This post has given me a clearer understanding of how best to use Listopia so thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for letting me know I helped. 🙂 I think Goodreads changed the name Listopia to simply Lists since I created that post.
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