Support for Indie Authors discussion

Terry wrote: "Newbie here. Is there a way to list upcoming book releases?"

Not in this group. This is a support group where we discuss marketing strategies, writing techniques, etc. We don't sell our books to one another.

I sent a message to the Librarians group weeks ago and have not received a response. Just wondering how to update books covers or add the alternate cover to each book page on GR. Thanks!

Their stance is that covers are not updated unless it was placeholder cover before release. If it was changed later, it is done by adding a new edition with the new cover (even if with same ASIN/ISBN).
Unfortunately, I don't know whether you're supposed to add this 'new edition' or just let them know about it. I guess the pairing/link needs to be done by them either way.

I think there is an option when you add a new edition to make it the primary edition, which is what I do when I do a cover update to make sure people see the new cover if they search for my book. I haven't done a cover update myself for a while though, but I imagine it's still the same.

I just clicked on one of my books where I have updated the cover in the past and I spotted there is actually a link that says "add an alternate cover edition", so that's probably what you want to do :)

*Just realised this was posted on the ask a moderator thread, apologies if I wasn't supposed to answer here.

L.K. wrote: "Just realised this was posted on the ask a moderator thread, apologies if I wasn't supposed to answer here."

Everyone is welcome to help others.

D. wrote: "I sent a message to the Librarians group weeks ago and have not received a response. Just wondering how to update books covers or add the alternate cover to each book page on GR. Thanks!"

Hi, D, I sent a note also asking how to create my dashboard. No response. Um, can anyone here help?? :-)

Denise, what do you mean by "dashboard"? The author page/profile on Goodreads? Or something else?

If on Goodreads, you need to follow a few steps. The first one is the name on your Goodreads profile must be the same as the name on your book, to the letter.
Then, go to the page of your book, and there will be something like "is this your book? let us know" (not sure how exactly is it written). Edit and correction for further reference: this is actually on the author page, not the book page - see post #222
You'll fill in and submit some form and they'll upgrade your GR account to author account in a few workdays (and should send you an e-mail when done).
Then, you can write your author bio and whatnot.
Of course, for all the above to work, your book needs to be in GR's database. If it's not, you'll need to add it manually.

Tomas wrote: "Denise, what do you mean by "dashboard"? The author page/profile on Goodreads? Or something else?

If on Goodreads, you need to follow a few steps. The first one is the name on your Goodreads profi..."

Thanks, Tomas! When I log into my account I can see my profile in the dropdown menu but there's no dashboard to click on for 'ask the author' and such. So I need to follow the steps you outlined above to create the dashboard?

Denise Shaw wrote: "So I need to follow the steps you outlined above to create the dashboard?"

Yep.

Tomas wrote: "Denise Shaw wrote: "So I need to follow the steps you outlined above to create the dashboard?"

Yep."

Hmmm, my book has my middle initial. My GR page does not. How do I correct that? And thanks so much for the help, Tomas!!

Denise Shaw wrote: "Hmmm, my book has my middle initial. My GR page does not. How do I correct that? And thanks so much for the help, Tomas!!"

Sorry for taking my time to reply, I was tabbing between GR, a game, and going off to have a peek at the news as well.
Anyway, go to your account settings. There should be three fields (surprisingly) for first, middle, and last name. Edit those to match what's on your book.

Thanks, Tomas! I made the changes as you advised but there is still no 'dashboard' in the drop down menu. I signed out and back in but still nothing. What am I missing / doing wrong?

Denise wrote: "Thanks, Tomas! I made the changes as you advised but there is still no 'dashboard' in the drop down menu. I signed out and back in but still nothing. What am I missing / doing wrong?"

Okay, I see it's telling me my changes have been saved but I don't see the change (added middle initial to match the book page) on my profile page itself.

Hi, again, I think I got it! Joining GR is not the same as joining their Author's Program and I need to do that. Jeez!! Thanks for all your help, Tomas! :-)

Setting up the name correctly is just the first step. Alone, it won't enable you to have author account/profile.
I've just looked up the guide again, so when your name matches what's on the book, you need to follow these steps:
1) find your book on Goodreads (the easiest way is to type the ASIN/ISBN into the search field).
2) from there, click the author name, which will get to the default author page. You need to merge this with your profile. To do this...
3) scroll down, there should be something like "is this you? let us know". Click it and follow the instructions. Then, you'll just need to wait for them to confirm it and 'promote' you to an author.

Denise wrote: "Hi, again, I think I got it! Joining GR is not the same as joining their Author's Program and I need to do that. Jeez!! Thanks for all your help, Tomas! :-)"

Yep, that's exactly the difference. I'm keeping my previous response here in case someone had the same problem.

Terry, if you could elaborate on what exactly do you want to do? Have Goodreads list book that's not released yet? If it's already listed on Amazon (pre-order stage), it should be possible. You can also add a book manually (and later update it with ISBN/ASIN) and list the release date that way. Otherwise, as for Amazon-sold (e-)books, the data are pulled periodically, you just need to claim your author page (see post #222 just above) once at least one of your books is listed (either automatically or manually).

If your goal is to talk about the upcoming releases or otherwise push your books, then you should search groups with that specific purpose, within your genre, and see what you can do there (again, within their rules, so have a look at these).

I likely won't be able to respond in the next ~36 hours but I will be online on Sunday. If you mention what exactly you want to do in the meantime, I will try to help (and maybe someone else will react faster than I can).

HI. I'm a bilingual writer (English &Spanish). Which language should I use on Goodreads? Or should I write in both languages?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Daniel

I believe if you post in Spanish, there are automatic translations as on Facebook. (not always 100% accurate however).

bill wrote: "I believe if you post in Spanish, there are automatic translations as on Facebook. (not always 100% accurate however)."

Thanks a lot for answering
Daniel

V.M. wrote: "Frank wrote: "Hello to all. My first post, though I've been a member for awhile.

I have a new free verse poetry memoir (my 3rd collection) coming out later in the year and am hoping to interest bl..."




Apologies. I'll delete.

Hi, I'm new here, so I didn't know where else to put this. Does anyone know how long it takes Goodreads customer service to respond to an inquiry? I asked a question on Sunday, I think, but I haven't heard back from them.

I've only contacted them a couple of times and both times they got back to me within 48 hours. That's been a while. Hopefully someone can give you a more definite answer.

It depends on how busy they are, I'd guess. Maybe also on how important the issue seems to them. I've once filled a simple spam report, took a few days.

I think I've had it take 3-5 days. It just depends on how far down the list you are based on first come-first serve basis.

If you don't hear back within a week, I would reach out again.

Thanks Dwayne, Tomas and Ann. This is a good group. Glad I found you guys.

I contacted them in April of this year. The "Look Inside" feature displays an older version of the book. They still haven't corrected it and assure me that their people are looking into it.

This has been the experience I have often had with them since publishing my book in 2014. They're polite and have good intentions, but I get the impression that they're not getting proper training or support from upper management.

I've updated my book a number of times. When I want to update it in my library, I've had to tell the phone rep how to accomplish it on their end. I've dealt with it so many times I knew the steps they have to take on their end. They often do not know and seem confused by the request.

Bottom line -- it doesn't appear that Kindle management is insuring that all reps are getting proper training. After five years of dealing with slow responses and complaining about it often, I get the sense that their management just really does not care.

As for now, Amazon remains the giant in e-books. If they had stronger competition, maybe they would put more effort into quality customer service. Customer service for ebook authors remains deplorable.

My book has a good number of illustrations. I don't know if that figures into the equation of making the mobi file problematic. Has anyone else had a similar experience with Kindle?

Your comment is spot on. For the second time in a week when I logged on to my KDP page none of the versions of my book (original version was 2014) showed up but instead a page that said that it was 'incomplete'. I called and after being disconnected spoke to 7 (SEVEN!) of their esteemed reps. They kept switching me to their "Technical" depts. and each one asked me the same question over again. After the 3rd rep I told then when the switched me over to explain what the problem was so that I didn't have to go through the exercise again. No matter. Same questions. I changed my password 3 times. Yes, they are obviously very poorly trained.

I'm sorry you guys are having trouble with Amazon, but the moderators of Support for Indie Authors have no say over the training of the customer service reps at Amazon.

Does that mean that we shouldn't discuss it?

Well, since this thread is for asking questions of the moderator (hence the title of the thread), I'm not sure why you'd discuss all this here. When I get a notification saying someone has commented here, I expect to find questions about Support for Indie Authors. Support for Indie Authors doesn't run Amazon.

Frankly I'm confused. It could be that I had joined the wrong group as I'm not sure what kind of questions would be needed to ask the moderator. Is that the only purpose of this group?

Hi Bill,

What Dwayne is pointing out is that this particular topic is called "Ask the Moderator." We have lots of other topics that would be more fitting for this discussion. We try to maintain organization within our folders to keep the chaos away and to make sure that our topics are searchable for the topics our members are looking for.

bill wrote: "Frankly I'm confused. It could be that I had joined the wrong group as I'm not sure what kind of questions would be needed to ask the moderator. Is that the only purpose of this group?"

The group exists for a number of reasons and we've been over this several times in the past, bill. The last time you even said you were quitting as you didn't understand what the group is for and didn't care for how we moderate it. This is a support group for Indie authors as the name indicates. Here you can discuss marketing strategy, get advice on your writing, get feedback on blurbs and covers, etc. It's not really a place to vent your frustrations with Amazon.

Bill was sharing information. Should all information in this forum originate solely from the moderators? If I have information relevant to someone's comment, I might share it. If it's not relevant to your needs, you have the option of ignoring it.

No - we are only referring to THIS thread which is titled “Ask A Moderator.” There are many other threads within the folders of the SIA group which would be more suited for this conversation:

I am happy to further explain how forums>folders>topics work but this is NOT the place for this as this particular topic is for members to specifically ask the moderators of this forum questions.

Personally, I recommend taking this conversation to a new thread under the eBook Publishing folder:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

If you need assistance doing that, please let me know and I will happily help and continue to discuss this with you via private message.

Margaret wrote: "My book is listed on Goodreads, but I am confused about how to get it reviewed by this support group."

I'm not sure where you got the idea we do reviews here. We don't. We also don't allow links in posts. Thanks.

Sorry Dwayne...I was confused on the group's purpose, as I said. In a comment you made on a post above, explaining what this group is focused on, you stated "get advice on your writing" and I misunderstood that to mean that writers in this forum might "review." Guess that was my mistake in semantics.
Also, there is a link to the top right of the comment window that says "add book/author" and that is why I made the wrong assumption about linking to my info. Should have gone with the "no links" rules you posted, but I was confused (again, I know) about why the comment window would want you to add linked info. Live and learn.

What that refers to is, we have a folder called Writers Workshop, where you can ask advice on how to write a scene you're having trouble with, asking advice on naming characters, whether or not to title your chapters, that kind of thing. Reviews are a whole different animal and exist solely as an aid to readers, not writers.

bill wrote: "I didn't realize that I was still in this group, which frankly I don't find useful for authors."

Bill, you've made it abundantly clear over the past two or three years that you don't find anything useful in this group and you've stated numerous times you're leaving. I'm not sure why you're not gone yet. Why not... just an idea... why not go start your own group and make it everything you find lacking in this one? I know. Nutty idea, right? It's easier to keep reminding us we're not here to suit your specific wants.

Dwayne wrote: "What that refers to is, we have a folder called Writers Workshop, where you can ask advice on how to write a scene you're having trouble with, asking advice on naming characters, whether or not to ..."

Thank you for the clarification, Dwayne. I appreciate the time you give as a moderator. Cheers! Maggie

Thank you, Maggie! I hope you'll stick around and get some use out of the group.

Dwayne wrote: "Thank you, Maggie! I hope you'll stick around and get some use out of the group."

I've learned quite a bit already! One thing would be to make sure I am posting in the right group/folder for my needs! I'm still looking around GR for a group/discussion to support indie published writers in the quest to promote and navigate marketing options for the "individually published" book. If you have a suggestion of where I can look, I would so appreciate it. Again, thank you for taking on the moderator post. (Does it come with armor? Swords? A damnit dolls to thump on when the frustration is just too much?) ;-)

Esther wrote: "Hi there, I’m Esther,"

Esther. Please stop using our forum as a way of promoting yourself. I realize you've disguised it thinly as a thank you to the group, but it's still clear this is self-promotion. We also ask that you don't put links in your posts. Thanks.

I publish self-help emotional intelligence boosting books. Do you have a discussion for either? Love here, but want to be more specific.

We're a group that focuses on sharing our experience and knowledge about the various parts of writing and publishing process.

If you want to talk about how to write such things, then you're welcome to do so, as long as you follow the rules.
For discussing the content of your books, I think you should look for a group focused on self-help.

Thank you.

Sumant wrote: "I thought it would be a good idea..."

You thought it would be a good idea to use the current world wide crisis to hawk your books? And you thought this was the place to do it? Offering your books is not going to help fight the Coronavirus. Go away!