Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

I would like to know if the "Adapted by" name ever comes before the original author.

The books in question are the following, listed with links. Their editions are in question as well.
The Nutcracker Adapted by "Danial Walden" from the story by "E.T.A.Hoffmann."

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Below are the only policies I have found on the subject.

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Books with multiple authors

Goodreads currently allows up to 50 authors per book. Authors should be listed in the order they appear on the book cover. If there is no cover or covers of various editions differ, use alphabetical order.

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Adding or editing author names on a book record

The first author field is for entering the primary author of the book. Be sure to properly spell and capitalize the name or the book will not link to the correct author profile and become harder to find in the GR database. Also, author names should be entered first name last name so they will link to the appropriate author profile on Goodreads. Only one author should be listed per author field.

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I had asked a librarian in an email that made one of the entries, but I continually receive the following reply, over and over.

"That is deliberate. It is not the original text by ETA Hoffman, but an adapted text by Daniel Walden. It's pretty common with adapted fairy tales. It is separate from other editions of the Nutcracker because it is a distinctly different version."

I'm not asking for anyone's opinion, nor have any desire to squabble. I just want to know the goodread's policy and where it's listed!

I own the books and they are near identical, yet they are in separate groups. If you are a Mod or Staff, could you please correct these and let me know the policy, that I may follow it correctly in the future?

Thank you!

Adaptations are not combined with the original work (abridgments are combined). To help prevent accidental combining, the adapter is listed first.

Here are some of Rivka's posts on the topic (since she is the Mod for this group and staff)

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

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

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

The two editions you linked to should definitely be combined. They appear to be reissues of the same text with new covers. Which author they should be combined under is what's important here, and I suspect it should be the adaptor.

In general, if a book has been truly adapted (e.g., not just an abridgement, translation, illustrated edition with the original text, or study guide/Norton critical edition w/ the original text), then the adaptor's name is primary author with the original author as secondary. It is kept SEPARATE from the original work (which is the big reason that the adaptor's name is primary, to prevent incorrect combination).

Incidentally, including rules about adaptations is on the list of things to be added to the next librarian manual:

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

Amanda & Z-squared, thanks for all the clarification! I think putting the Adapter's name first is a good idea! I just wanted to know it was the rule and not just a good idea.

Your links were very helpful too.

Thank you!!