Austenesque Lovers TBR Challenge 2023 discussion

Liz wrote: "Renee, thank you so much for answering my earlier questions, and all you've done for the group. I actually thought you were on the GR staff at first.

Could you add the audiobook to this one? https..."

Got this audio book added for you! :-)

And you are VERY welcome!

To our beloved short-timmer... please add the Kindle version of Elin's story. Thank you so much. I'm going to miss you.


https://www.amazon.com/Where-Love-Res...

J. W. wrote: "To our beloved short-timmer... please add the Kindle version of Elin's story. Thank you so much. I'm going to miss you.


https://www.amazon.com/Where-Love-Res......"

Hi! I got the Kindle added for you, but again, the ASIN is listed as in deleted status so I can't add that to the book's profile. This just means the Amazon link just takes you to the main search page and not directly to the book's page on Amazon. No idea how a book just published as an ASIN in "deleted status" but this has been an issue for months now. Sorry!

No worries. This is not your problem. I have noticed on other books that the link took me to the main search page and not the book. Now, I know why. Thanks for all your hard work and we will certainly miss you.

Hi Danielle, could you please add this novella to Lavinia Angell's profile? It is in Completed Stories on AHA.

https://meryton.com/aha/index.php?/to...

Also, there are 2 listings for the same book, though one shows unknown author. Can you delete the unknown? It is also still available on AHA, though maybe an earlier version.

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

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

Hi Renee,
One last request in before the end of the month.
Would you be able to add this book?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBT27417/...

Thank you!

The end is near, my dear. Please add the Kindle version to Jann Rowland's book: Thank you. Blessings, we'll miss you. 💔


https://www.amazon.com/Devoted-Sister...

Sam wrote: "Hi Renee,
One last request in before the end of the month.
Would you be able to add this book?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBT27417/......"

Hi! I got this added for you. But as has been the case for weeks, the ASIN is marked as in "deleted" status so I can't include it and the purchase links will take to the main search page and not directly to the book itself. :-(

J. W. wrote: "The end is near, my dear. Please add the Kindle version to Jann Rowland's book: Thank you. Blessings, we'll miss you. 💔


https://www.amazon.com/Devoted-Sister......"


Hi! The book has been added but same issue as I mentioned just above. :-(

Liz wrote: "Hi Danielle, could you please add this novella to Lavinia Angell's profile? It is in Completed Stories on AHA.

https://meryton.com/aha/index.php?/to...

Also, there are 2 listi..."

Hi Liz, I fixed the name and combined the editions. I don't have a profile on AHA so I can't see anything to get the new novella added.

Renee wrote: "Sam wrote: "Hi Renee,
One last request in before the end of the month.
Would you be able to add this book?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBT27417/......"

Thank you! And good luck with everything you do!

Waving goodbye: Danielle: 🙋‍♀️
Best wishes for the future. We have appreciated you so much and will miss you. Blessings.

A TV horse trainer closed his programs with this:
If I don't see you in the future, I'll look for you in the pasture.

Thanks for all you have done for us in the "pasture" and all the best in your future!

I just wanted to hop on here and say thank you all for being so sweet over the past couple of years, I know I was more of a lurker, but I really enjoyed reading all your comments about different books. I am not sure I appreciate all the books you made me add to my TBR but I guess I can forgive you. :-)

I will leave the group in a week or so, just didn't want to post this and be gone.

Also, found out why all the recent issues have been so bad on here lately. After Amazon bought GR they stopped doing any sort of upgrades and such, it has basically been left as is because they don't see it's value. I fear you may see more and more issues with the platform if they don't start to try and keep up to date with things. Just wanted to give you all a heads up so you can look at other options if needed.

Thanks again everyone!!!

Just one more quick note. I just learned this but you may already know this, ALL your reviews on here are owned by Amazon and are sold to publishers and others. They also now post the ratings to the books Amazon page. Just be careful on here.

Thank you so much, Renee! You've been a wonderful caretaker of the site, of the books and authors, and of us. Your insight is greatly appreciated.

Wishing you well!

I wish they *would* utilize our reviews on here in a better way!
i.e. Let them use our GR reviews on their Amazon site.
That would save us all the nail biting and agro for when our reviews either take forever to be accepted or are denied on Big brother!

I am already tagged on Amazon as it is. I don't believe I want them to look too closely at the reviews here. Only about half of those I submit actually go live as it is. Those that I wrote prior to March of this year have never been restored. They are gone. I don't want to lose these here as well. I have not been too pleased with their new AI-Bot scanning the reviews. They never tell you exactly where you didn't meet their guidelines.

Ah, I was thinking more along the lines of we post here on GR and it crossposts to Amazon, with them then leaving us alone...

I've always wanted that too, Sam. It would be nice and save time. I always posted the same review here and there. But then... they switched something at the first of this year. Suddenly, the review process changed. I'm wondering if a human even sees the reviews now or if AI scans them.

I am having to watch my tongue more than I used to. They wiped out all the reviews I had written since 2015 and locked me out of submitting anything. I couldn't post a review for several weeks until I finally reached a human who would reinstate me. I even hesitate to write a review now.

And another thing:

We can reach a book on Amazon if we have it open on GR
BUT we can't reach the book on GR if we have it open at Amazon!

It seems like a link between the two would work both ways!
Of course, the link from GR to Amazon is meant to encourage a purchase.

it is a shame that the authors are so dependant on Amazon reviews to 'promote' and push their book.
otherwise we could all bypass Amazon completely!

What's even worse Sam, is that so many readers (regular readers, not the occasional reader) know that Amazon is not a good place to read real reviews. I never look there, I know so many of us come here to get reviews. But I have seen some books review bombed so that can even be a little unreliable. I just know that if I want to get a genuine review I need to go to the people I follow (like those in this group) and I will get a good idea if a book is for me or not. So the books getting "promoted" on Amazon are often books that have a lot of fake reviews, the ones people are actually reading often get overlooked.

It really is such a shame. I wonder why they purchased GR in the first place...

If Amazon thought about it, Goodreads is a great source of honest reviews -- which translates into sales. Whenever I get an Amazon email recommending JAFF, I immediately go to either Amazon or GR reviews to see what eminent JAFF reviewers say (I'm thinking JW Garrett, wosedwew, Sheila, Sam, Debbie B, Huffer, JKom, Dragonflyer 13, Doni, Wendy Luther, Meredith, S L Majczan, Terry Mcclelland, SamH, etc.). I click "like" on their reviews because they're reliable and should be elevated in the reviews list. Then I buy the book if they like it. I'm hoping Amazon sees this post and realizes what an incredible resource they have for this genre. If they have any sense, they'll be sure JW's reviews are restored on both Amazon and GR.

I am definitely no defender of Amazon but the issue with reviews is very complex. I agree with Renee that the only way to get a reliable review assessment is to read the reviews rather than look at the number of stars, and particularly it is to read the reviews of someone you trust. I think this is perhaps more of a problem on Goodreads than on Amazon. On Goodreads there is no way of determining whether the reviewer has read the book or is just the author lurking with multiple Goodreads personalities. On Amazon there is at least a possibility these fake reviews will get picked up.

I have seen several JAFF reviews on Goodreads recently which are clearly false. The biggest hint is high stars but no text reviews. The other hint is to see how many other reviews the reviewer has logged against them.

Okay - what do I do now to get a book added on GoodReads? I went to the GoodReads Librarian group per the direction at the beginning of this thread - https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/220.

However, I'm not sure what to do from there. Do I have to join that group to make a request to add a book?

I think so, I had to. To post a request for a book addition.

Thanks, Sam!

Hi. I've just been checking my BookFunnel library and there are a number of works there that don't seem to appear here.

Here's the first:

That Voice: a Persuasion Short Story by Heather Moll

The only other info I have is the synopsis:

“ When Captain Wentworth is injured on the Cobb saving Louisa, it might be the knock on the head he needs to persuade him to show Anne Elliot the love she deserves.”

Here’s another:

First Impressions: A Pride and Prejudice Meet Cute Collection by Elizabeth Adams, Sarah Courtney, Leigh Dreyer, Heather Moll and Melanie Rachel.

Synopsis:

“Join Elizabeth Adams, Sarah Courtney, Leigh Dreyer, Heather Moll, and Melanie Rachel as they explore more felicitous first meetings for Our Dear Couple in these sweet Regency meet cutes!”

Here's another:

The Surprising Mr. Darcy by Debra-Ann Kummoung

Synopsis:

“ The day after Mr. Darcy insults Elizabeth Bennet at a local assembly, they meet in a chance encounter. Is Mr. Darcy proud and unsufferable or is he more surprising than Elizabeth first thought?”

Here’s two by the same author:

A Touch of Christmas Mayhem: A Tale of the Blue Order by Maria Grace

Synopsis:

“It's 1826, and the Darcy children, led by twelve -year-old little Anne are staging a Pemberley Family Theater Christmas panto for family and friends at Pemberley estate. A Blue Order panto. What could possibly go wrong?”

The second one is:

‘Twas the Night Before…..: A Tale of the Blue Order byMaria Grace

Synopsis:

“A story before bedtime on Christmas eve becomes complicated when one adds dragons to the mix.”