Claim your author profiles
Claim your Goodreads author profile
Once your book has a record on Goodreads, apply to the free Goodreads Author Program so the author profile and its book list are under your control.
Why it matters
Goodreads is where a large share of readers track and rate books, and its author profiles feed into other systems. An unclaimed profile with the wrong books or no photo signals nobody is home. A claimed profile with correct data means reviews, ratings, and shelvings attach to the right author, and reader questions reach you.
Your part
- What you do
- Do it. You normally do this yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Author. Only the author can claim; publisher data creates the book record
- When
- As soon as the book record exists on Goodreads, usually once preorder data reaches retailers (Claim your author profiles: once a retailer has a live listing or preorder for your book)Checked September 14, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
How to do it
The full walkthrough
Goodreads builds author profiles automatically from book data, and those automatic profiles are often wrong: a missing title, a book by a same-name author, an empty bio. The Goodreads Author Program lets the actual author claim the profile and manage it. It is free and open to any author anywhere, provided a book of yours (published or forthcoming) already exists in the Goodreads database.
The claim is made from the desktop site. Find your book, click your author name, scroll to the bottom of the profile, and choose the link that asks whether this is you. Goodreads says it verifies by email within a couple of business days. Once verified, the profile shows an author badge and unlocks tools such as a bio, photo, blog feed, and the ability to answer reader questions.
The route is the same on every publishing path. A traditional publisher's data feed normally creates the book record automatically; hybrid and self-published authors may find the record appears once retailer data flows, or they may need to add the book manually through the Goodreads librarian request process.
After claiming, check the book list. Merging a same-name author's books out of your profile, or combining separated editions into one work, is done by volunteer Goodreads librarians, and the request is made through the Goodreads librarians group rather than by editing the profile yourself.
Common mistakes
- Trying to claim before the book exists on Goodreads and concluding the program is closed to you.
- Applying from the mobile app, where the claim link is not available.
- Ignoring a merged profile that lists another author's books until a reader points it out.
- Treating the profile as a sales channel and posting only promotions.
Identifiers for Claim your Goodreads author profile
Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All author identifiers.
| My status | Identifier | Why this matters | Yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goodreads Author Program The free way to claim the Goodreads profile that is created automatically once a book under your name enters its database. | The profile exists whether or not you claim it, so leaving it alone means the picture, biography, and book list readers see are whatever the database assembled, and a book by a different writer with your name can end up attached to you. Reader reviews and ratings sit outside your control by design, and claiming the profile does not change that. All three routes do the same thing here; what differs is how the book record arrives in the first place, normally through the publisher's data for a traditionally published book, and through your platform or a volunteer Goodreads Librarian for a self-published one. You're done when the profile is claimed and every edition is grouped under the right work and author. | Add your Goodreads author page link |
What done looks like
- Profile claimed and verified, showing the Goodreads Author badge.
- Every edition of every book listed under your name and combined into the right work record.
- Bio and headshot matching your canonical versions.
- Any same-name author's titles separated from your profile with librarian help.
- The login details recorded in your identity file.
Evidence. Done means someone says the work happened. Verified means you checked the confirmation, link, or public record yourself.
Sources and last checked
- Official source
- Official source (opens in a new tab)
- Last checked
- September 14, 2026
- How confident we are
- Verified
Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 14, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.