Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

Should remarks about the author, such as bragging, be left in the description field. I thought the description field was to be about the book, not the author. After all, there is an author page for that.

Here is one example I am speaking of.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

The text in question is:
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The #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
A Stephanie Plum Novel

Janet Evanovich's novels are the hottest bestsellers in America!
# 1 New York Times
# 1 Wall Street Journal
#1 Los Angeles Times
#1 Entertainment Weekly
#1 Publishers Weekly
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I always try to remove the "bragging", not only when it's about the author, but also when it's about the book. "Masterpiece" and such are for the reader to decide, the description should be as neutral as possible IMO.

Same. I don't really go looking for it, but I always prune it if I am editing the book anyway.

Mike wrote: "Should remarks about the author, such as bragging, be left in the description field. I thought the description field was to be about the book, not the author. After all, there is an author page for..."

this came up a long time ago, and the reply was that the book's description should contain only that - the book's description. any promotional commentary, blurbs, brags, or author bios (or any other information which is unrelated to describing the book - like bestseller rankings, excerpts, tour dates, etc...) should not be noted there. i also remove it when i encounter it, and make note of it in the 'change comment' field when making these edits. i believe, too, when a new book record is being created, a popup reminder is given indicating the space is only to be used for the book's actual description, but i can't check that at the moment without a record to create. :)

Thanks for the replies!

As a book collector, I normally only concern myself with the technical data but when its in your face, like "Book slightly worn" or "Cover slightly damaged," it's tough to overlook.

Book condition in the description field is a no brainer when it comes to deleting, but this author bragging was not directly addressed in the Library Manual.

Just thought I'd check!

Thanks again.