A few days ago I posted a short message on a Goodreads thread asking for anyone who would like the opportunity to review my latest novel prior to publication to get in touch. I did not share my email address.
Since then I have been emailed by numerous people all offering to review my book – for a fee. Not only that, some of the return email addresses look a little dubious; and the emails have been sent to numerous ‘undisclosed recipients’, so I know I’m not alone in receiving these.
The key question is where did these people get my email address? If they found my name on Goodreads, then somehow they must have got my email address from there too. I can’t see that I’d entered it on my profile and I know I didn’t share it openly, so Goodreads must have done so… Indeed, in the fine print of their Ts & Cs it says that by signing up an account holder is giving them a pretty much unregulated ability to use email addresses as Goodreads chooses…
In many ways this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I have tried two ‘Goodreads giveaways’, both of which proved very poor value for money in that, having paid to give away 200 copies of my books, I have just a handful reads / reviews – little wonder when some Goodreads members have thousands of books on their ‘to read’ pile. Perhaps they collect ebooks like magpies…
On reflection, I got very little of value from Goodreads, so the decision to close my account because of their sharing of my email was an easy one. I am assured by Goodreads that all my details have now been deleted. We shall see.
Ian Gouge - Writer 