THE Group for Authors! discussion

Briefly, in 2006, I had a PDF of a novel on my website. It was never even published to Amazon -- and frankly, it wasn't very good. Two years ago I started over and rewrote the whole story. It is now a four-novel series, and the first three novels are available on Amazon. It is now, and I say this modestly, infinitely better than the old version.

Unfortunately, the old PDF novel had the same title (The Leafstone Shield) as Book 1 of the new series. I can certainly understand why Goodreads does not want to delete old cover art or old editions, but in this particular case the potential for confusion is huge -- and in any case, the old PDF is long gone.

Is there any way I can clarify for those who browse for my books that the old PDF of The Leafstone Shield is _not_ the current version, and that any ratings or reviews it may have had are 100% irrelevant?

I, too, rewrote a novel that still appears on Goodreads. After learning that Goodreads would not delete the original book, I included "Second Edition" as part of the title of the rewrite.

Good idea. Thanks. Unfortunately for my predicament, the new book isn't just a 2nd edition. The original book was expanded into a 4-volume series.

Jim wrote: "Good idea. Thanks. Unfortunately for my predicament, the new book isn't just a 2nd edition. The original book was expanded into a 4-volume series."

Jim,

Perhaps you're being a little too literal/technical about "2nd edition." If that's the way to get your new "volume 1" into the GR database, then I respectfully suggest going with the proverbial flow.

Just my USD .02.

Eric

Don't do it. Give your book a subtitle that does not include "edition" anywhere. The GR librarians and "experts" don't understand their own policies.

I recently rewrote and expanded a book that was 5 years old and is now only an out-of print paperback edition on Amazon. I put the words "Second Edition" in the TITLE of the new e-book (it's printed on the book cover and the title page and has been copyrighted as such) and posted it to Goodreads with the expected publication date. Goodreads chopped off the subtitle and placed the new book as a 4th edition under the old title. When I told them that WAS the title (and I even checked with Amazon beforehand to be sure the books would appear separately on their site --and they said: yes, if the title/subtitle says "second edition" it is considered a new book), the librarians and "Goodread experts" sent me a link to a librarian rule that states that a book's edition shouldn't appear in the title field (although you can find plenty of books that break that rule here). I tried reasoning with them and even showed them the part of their policy that states that the title must match the title of the book, and the same thing for subtitle. I made my case that it isn't a "second edition" (a simple glance at the old books page shows that there were 3 previous editions from other sellers). I even mentioned that this will now be part of a series, and all of the books will refer back to the new "second edition" title.

Goodreads ignored me, and continues to.

When the data was fed to them from Amazon after the book was released, it was live in the correct format for maybe 10 hours--then someone again DELETED the "second edition" from the title and dropped it under the old, out-of print book, replacing the old book's blurb with the new blurb and cover (which doesn't match the original data OR Amazon's data), and applying all of the old reviews to the new book (which--again-- no longer apply). The book is now completely lost. A couple of people who left ratings/reviews now have two ratings/reviews showing up under the old title because Goodreads doesn't care about accuracy, data integrity, or author IP.

I can't even retitle the new book now because Goodreads has screwed up the data so badly, it will look like I have two different books with the same cover art and blurb.

That's horrifying, Lia. Thanks for sharing your cautionary tale. In my case I seem to have solved the problem by designating the new edition as the "default" edition. This at least puts the correct cover art in my book list.

I, too, have had a run-in with the Goodreads librarians. I had an old book that I rewrote, and put "Second Edition" in the title. I checked my dashboard one day and saw the new and old editions had been combined. I contacted Goodreads through the "contact us" link, and they were separated for me. I returned to the website the next day, and saw they'd been combined again. I queried the librarians, and got the same answer Lia did, and it was pretty snippy, too (that REALLY pissed me off). When one reads through the 70 combined reviews, it quickly becomes apparent that the reviewers are referring to two different books. I thought about contacting the librarians again to press my case, but then I just threw up my hands and said to h*** with it. What's done is done. But I'm still angry about it.

Lia wrote: "Give your book a subtitle that does not include "edition" anywhere. The GR librarians and "experts" don't understand their own policies."

Uh, that edition info belongs in the edition field and not in the title field? Seems a pretty clear policy to me.

Except in my case it isn't the edition info, and if you read the entire policy it is contradicted by GR policy on subtitle. In my case, "second edition" are two words that are being used as part of the title, that appear on the cover of the book-- they are not there to convey edition info, because as such, they would be inaccurate--, and Goodreads policy states that the title (and subtitle) should match the title of the book. If nothing else, it should match what is being shown at Amazon.

In effect, Goodreads is dictating what authors can title our books. What if Someone titled a book with just the words "edition one"? By the way GR is applying their policy, this book would have no title.

An ambiguous rule applied inconsistently is terrible policy. And policy can't be used as justification (or considered "clear") if you only apply it some of the time.

And because of Goodreads other policies on book covers, even if I changed the title, the cover showing "Second Edition" would still show up under the other, out of print book title, leaving identical but unrelated entries.

I've said my piece, and merely hoped to spare other authors from having to go through the same BS. Unless an author has an IP attorney and a large trad publisher behind them, they can't use the word "edition" in any context as their book title and expect it to be respected as such.

If I didn't already have too much on my plate, I'd write a novella called "Edition" (or how about "Third Edition"?) just to mess with them.

Lia wrote: "if you read the entire policy it is contradicted by GR policy on subtitle. In my case, "second edition" are two words that are being used as part of the title, that appear on the cover of the book-- they are not there to convey edition info, because as such, they would be inaccurate--, and Goodreads policy states that the title (and subtitle) should match the title of the book. If nothing else, it should match what is being shown at Amazon."

There are many, many (f.e. technical and academic) books with "Second edition" or "Revised edition" on the cover. In no universe are they considered subtitles.

No, GR does not have to match the titles as they appear on Amazon. Amazon often lists genres, language and such in book titles. Those do not belong there.

Lia wrote: "In effect, Goodreads is dictating what authors can title our books. What if Someone titled a book with just the words "edition one"? By the way GR is applying their policy, this book would have no title."

An author is free to name their book "Untitled" if they so wish, but they should not be surprised that it will create a lot of confusion and to-ing and fro-ing, just as your "Second Edition" that is not a second edition does.