New check

Comparison

Dear Author vs Goodreads

Dear Author lands on Skip, and Goodreads lands on Worth it.

Dear Author

Skip

Confidence: High

Dear Author is a free romance book review blog, not software . there is nothing to buy, deploy, or integrate.

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Goodreads

Worth it

Confidence: Medium

Readers who want the biggest book catalog, reviews, and a friends feed should use it . it's free.

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Dear Author versus Goodreads
Compare	Dear Author	Goodreads
Verdict	Skip	Worth it
Best for	Romance readers seeking editorial reviews	Avid readers tracking books
Who it's not for	Anyone shopping for software . it is a blog	Anyone wanting modern UX or smart recommendations
Privacy	No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.^⁵	No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.
Support quality	No vendor support exists	No usable evidence in sources
Public sentiment	Romance readers on Reddit debate where to weigh reviews, often defaulting to Goodreads over blogs like Dear Author.^⁶	Users and critics love the catalog and community but constantly complain the product is stagnant and outdated.¹³
Biggest gotcha	Site funds itself with advertising; free reading is the trade-off	Public API is closed; exporting your data needs scraping or third-party tools¹⁶

Pick Dear Author when

Romance readers seeking editorial reviews
Authors seeking book coverage and publicity

When Dear Author is not a fit

Anyone shopping for software . it is a blog
Teams wanting a CRM, database, or workflow tool
Buyers comparing pricing tiers . there are none
Non-romance readers; coverage skews romance and paranormal

Pick Goodreads when

Avid readers tracking books
Discovery via community reviews
Authors building an audience
Book clubs and challenges

When Goodreads is not a fit

Anyone wanting modern UX or smart recommendations
Authors expecting review moderation or fairness
Privacy-averse users uncomfortable with Amazon
Businesses or teams . consumer book app, not a work tool

Sources

Dear Author - Romance, Historical, Contemporarydearauthor.com
official
Review Policydearauthor.com
official
Dear Author WordPress archive (2006)dearauthor.wordpress.com
official
UPDATED: Ellora's Cave Sues Dear Authorsmartbitchestrashybooks.com
news
Security page (not found)dearauthor.com
security
How much weight do you put on Goodreads/Amazon reviews?reddit.com
review
Examining the participatory culture of online book reviewingjournals.sagepub.com
review
Creating Your Book Marketing Plan Using the Dear Author Letternewshelves.com
news
Goodreads homepagegoodreads.com
official
Is Goodreads free? . Reddit r/goodreadsreddit.com
review
Goodreads: A Case Study in Outdated UX/UIlinkedin.com
review
Almost Everything About Goodreads Is Broken . OneZeroonezero.medium.com
review
Goodreads defense: For book lovers, it's perfectly awful . Slateslate.com
review
Goodreads Is Terrible for Books . The Walrusthewalrus.ca
review
Goodreads Gamification Case Study . Trophytrophy.so
news
Goodreads data without an API . Apify blogblog.apify.com
news