Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

Is there a way to combine authors that are listed under various versions of their names but are just one person, so that then all the editions can be combined? I'm sure there are lots of others, but it happened to me most recently with Beaumarchais. He has at least five different author pages.

Thanks!
Mindy

Assuming you don't want to just change all of the name variants to one canonical form, I guess? Which sometimes you don't.

One trick I've found is this:

1. Under the first name variant, combine all available editions of the book.
2. Under the second name variant, combine all available editions of the book.
3. Pick one of those editions and change its author name to the other variant.
4. Combine that edition with the other editions under that name.
5. Change that edition's author name back.

Usually, now all of the editions under both name variants are combined.

Another trick is:

1. For each edition under a secondary variant, edit the edition to make the primary variant the first author and the secondary varient the second author.
2. Combine editions under the primary variant author name.

My last trick is:

1. Throw your hands up in the air and say, "Someday we'll have that author aka feature!"

:)

Cait,

;-)

I go with your last trick, usually.

I do have a copy of Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott that's published with the author name Louisa M. Alcott and I changed the middle name to May so that it would be with the other editions and put the book cover's author information in the (manually added) book's description field. And I'll change it if/when we have the AKA feature.

I go with your last trick, usually.

Heh, ditto. Although I did mess around with a couple of Agatha Christie's alternate names earlier today.

Thanks everyone!

I will plug away at Beaumarchais tout de suite!

:)