So today I wanted to share my thoughts on the Goodreads Choice Awards that were just released. In recent years I have had some issues with this. Its really because I remember what these choice awards used to be like. If you look at older years like 2015 or 2016 they were so different from now. Of course publishing and how books are marketed are very different. TIk Tok and Book Boxes have really altered how things get read. Like you can be guaranteed if a book is in the Book of the Month, you can almost be guaranteed it will be on this list lol So Goodreads Choice Awards has basically become a popularity contest. And the issue with this especially with certain genres is that certain genres aren’t being represented. Now there were some changes to what they did for this year. The first is they added in a “Romantasy” category but took away 3 or 4 categories. I actually think we need many more categories that what they place in it. I think that way more genres would be more balanced in how they are represented.
Impressions of this years choice awards
So was I shocked by what there is on the Goodreads Choice Awards this year? Not really but in some aspects I actually was. So I was surprised that they added a new category. I am not going to lie that I was thrilled. This will help the fantasy and romance sections by a ton. Because Romantasy is very different and tends to be read by a large audience so it tends to take over those genres and it has become very popular in recent years. Another surprise was how many categories they removed. I have always thought they needed at least 5-6 more haha So as far as the sections of books I actually read which is Historical Fiction, Debut and Romance and Non Fiction are the only genres I really read in. Sometimes you will see a romance in other categories like fantasy or sci fi but its not super common. (For example last year a Jessie Mihalik was actually in the sci fi category and not in the romance category).
Historical Fiction Category—-I actually was shocked that there was NO Amy Harmon on there. The book she released this year had quite a bit of ratings too. I don’t really read much in HF unless its an author I occasionally read. So I am not sure how the other books in the category are in that regard, but I was disappointed as that was one of my favorite books and was looking forward to voting for it.
Romance Category–So I wasn’t shocked by the turnout of the romance category. The romantasy category helped a bit with this but it also didn’t shock me that the rest of it was just contemporary romance and most of them the hyped illustrated covered books. I did like seeing a Liz Tomforde and Elsie Silver on the list as I loved both books listed but I really struggle with how our genre is represented. There is no PNR or Historicals on the list at all. I was really surprised to not see J.R. Ward, normally she always makes the first cut at least. Now I wasn’t shocked by historical, because even though there has been some good historical releases, historical is not as popular or mainstream as it used to be. And the amount of audiences that some of these books touch, most romance novels will never touch. So at the end of the day its a popularity contest and what has the best marketing for. And unfortunately, there is a brand of contemporary romance that has a huge audience like Emily Henry. I don’t consider her romance, but more women’s fiction with romantic elements. And quite frankly it turns me off when I see It’s really Ali Hazlewood and Emily Henry that have such a massive audience, so at the end of the day as long as they are in the romance category no other book will have a chance. Much of this is due to the book-of-the-month subscription. I do think if we had another two categories —one for rom com’s and another for women’s fiction, then most likely the genre would be a bit more balanced and represent the romance genre better as a whole.
Romantasy-I was delightfully surprised to see this category. I mean we all know what will win though lol Fourth Wing. But I do love that we have this section. Because it really has become a genre all on its own. And I really enjoyed the books that they placed in this category. I loved seeing a Carissa Broadbent on there.
Overall there are some pros and cons to this year’s Goodreads Choice Awards. I do feel that romance gets burned by how they do it when its solely based on ratings. Because the romance genre is read differently than other genres like adult fantasy or thrillers. But this is also why I do my own event in December for this so that the genre can be represented and see how it should be represented.
I’d like to see more catergories and more representation to be sure.
Yeah. I think it would be really nice to see more balanced representation. If you look back at years 2018 or previous, it was much better represented. I think adding more categories would really help a ton. Like how Romantasy did.
My problem is that in certain categories, I have read and loved nearly all the books and so, choosing is hard!
I wish that I had that!! LOL I am lucky if I have read one book in a category. Were you sad not to see Amy Harmon? I was so hoping to vote for her haha
I’d love to see more representation and more of the books I love to read 🙂 I’m gonna go check it out and try to see if ANYTHING I’ve read has made the list lol.
haha yeah I know. I did see a Elsie Silver and Liz Tomforde on there which is impressive and shows that indie authors don’t need publishing houses to be successful.
I’m with you on the need for more categories. Goodreads has to know where the bulk of their readers are reading and could divide that up like in real life when population growth requires new congressional districts. LOL
Honestly, I don’t let the Goodreads Awards impact me in any way anymore. I go through and if I’ve read a book(s) in a category I vote for my favorite. If I haven’t, I move past it. At this point, I think we all know it’s not a good award system and it gets worse each year. I do think what they did this year was dumb, though, but I also get it.
I definitely agree about it being a popularity contest at this point.
There are SOOO many books published each year. Every book cannot be on the list. Not sure how the nominees come to be, but I think people put too much value in it. When other social media platforms blew up, so many abandoned GR, especially authors. Seeing all those authors tweeting about the awards was hard for me to put any value in because they aren’t interacting on the platform the way they had in the past. Most don’t even post updates there any longer. I just will never understand the drama. It’s an internet award.