THE Group for Authors! discussion

As you may have heard, on January 30, Goodreads will no longer display book information that comes from Amazon. For years, we've used Amazon's data, and while they have always had certain restrictions and requirements, those terms have gotten harder and harder to adhere to. We have been working as hard as we can to find a new, independent source of data. Ultimately, though, this deadline is Amazon's, and they have told us that we must stop using their data by January 30, and we have to meet this deadline.

So what does this mean for you? First, let me assure you that none of your reviews, ratings, to-read shelvings, or any user-generated data about your books will be lost. That information is 100% safe.

A few of your books may need to be rescued, though, to ensure that the reviews and ratings don't migrate, temporarily, to a blank book record. Rescuing a book is easy, especially since, as the author, you own all of your data and don't need to enter a source.

To see which of your books need to be rescued, click the link below:

Rescue your books!

To rescue a book, click on the "Rescue Me!" button to the right of it. Enter the appropriate information, and click "Submit."

Since many authors have had specific questions, I thought I'd just open an FAQ thread here and anybody who wants to ask a question can do so.

I clicked the link above and none of my books were listed. Are my books already rescued?
Yes, it's likely we found a record for your books from our new primary data partner, Ingram.

My books are only published through Amazon (Kindle and/or CreateSpace). Do I need to rescue my books?
Yes. Late this afternoon, we received word from Amazon that we will not get a feed of book information for Kindle and CreateSpace books. Previously, we’d been told that we would get a feed and that’s what we’ve been communicating to Librarians and authors. What this means is that these books will now need to be rescued. If they are not, the reviews and ratings will be merged into other editions of the same book, if we have other editions. If no other editions of the book exist, the ratings and reviews will move to a blank book record with no author or title until we can find a new, alternate source of data for those books. We apologize for the late notice, but as I said, we just got the news late this afternoon. If we could have given you more notice, we absolutely would have.

My book is part of Amazon Select. Does that matter?
No. Amazon Select has no bearing on whether your book will need to be rescued or not.

Can I rescue books I've read in addition to books I've written?
At the moment, Goodreads Authors can rescue the books they've written, and Goodreads Librarians can rescue all books. If you are a Goodreads Librarian, you can rescue any books you like once you've finished rescuing the books you've written.

I rescued one of my books and it disappeared from my profile. What happened?
It's likely that you have the same name as another author, and at some point in time, we had to disambiguate you from this other author with the same name. To do that, we add an extra space (or two, or three) between your first and last names. These spaces only appear internally--to Goodreads members your name appears normal--and the extra space is what allows us to credit your books and only your books to your profile. To get your books back onto your profile, please contact us. We will get you squared away ASAP.

Please keep in mind that your author name on your books must match exactly what we have on your author profile, including punctuation and spacing.

For more on the general background of our data switch and some general FAQs--including a list of data sources we are already using--please see this thread in the Librarians group.

If you have more specific questions than this topic covers, please feel free to ask them here.

I have a question! Will regular Kindle books that aren't published through KDP and all that still be listed? Or will those go away and we'll only have the regular ebook listing?

The biggest hitch I've observed so far is that my actual newest title Initiate's Trial no longer shows up as the up front title on my home page. Not sure why this happened, but the synchronicity points to the change.

Janny wrote: "The biggest hitch I've observed so far is that my actual newest title Initiate's Trial no longer shows up as the up front title on my home page. Not sure why this happened, but the s..."

I think the title that shows up in the front is the first book alphabetically. In your case it should probably be "Against the Wind" as the front book on your home page.

Ralph wrote: "I have a question! Will regular Kindle books that aren't published through KDP and all that still be listed? Or will those go away and we'll only have the regular ebook listing?"

Good question. Kindle editions of books published by someone other than Amazon will be safe. Think of it this way--if there's no possible source for data other than Amazon, we will be getting data for those books from Amazon. The data that's going away is all of the other data--data that could be sourced from somewhere else, most of which we were getting from Amazon.

Ralph wrote: "Janny wrote: "The biggest hitch I've observed so far is that my actual newest title Initiate's Trial no longer shows up as the up front title on my home page. Not sure why this happe..."

I am talking about the book that shows on my HOME PAGE, not my author's page, and I have written no book titled Against the Wind...

Janny wrote: I am talking about the book that shows on my HOME PAGE, not my author's page, and I have written no book titled Against the Wind... "

I'm not sure exactly how that book is being chosen--it may be the one with the newest publication date--but changing it is a very low priority at the moment. Please keep in mind that you are the only person who sees that book.

Late this afternoon, we received word from Amazon that we will not get a feed of book information for Kindle and CreateSpace books. Previously, we’d been told that we would get a feed and that’s what we’ve been communicating to Librarians and authors. What this means is that these books will now need to be rescued. If they are not, the reviews and ratings will be merged into other editions of the same book, if we have other editions. If no other editions of the book exist, the ratings and reviews will move to a blank book record with no author or title until we can find a new, alternate source of data for those books. We apologize for the late notice, but as I said, we just got the news late this afternoon. If we could have given you more notice, we absolutely would have.

We have just opened up the rescue books page to all users, and later tonight (Friday) or early tomorrow (Saturday), we will be sending an email to all authors with a book at risk, as well as to all users with books at risk. We are continuing to import books from WorldCat and several other sources, which will help a bit.

Thank you for all your efforts in helping us with this transition. We’ll continue to keep you updated and please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have additional questions.

Ralph wrote: "I have a question! Will regular Kindle books that aren't published through KDP and all that still be listed? Or will those go away and we'll only have the regular ebook listing?"

Ralph, please note my latest post for a change on this issue. All Kindle editions will now need to be rescued.

Here's another quick update:

As of last night, we removed any cover images that were sourced from Amazon. If you are missing a cover image today, that is likely why. We are importing millions of images from Ingram, but is going to take awhile (days) to finish.

In the meantime, feel free to upload a new image if you have one on your computer. Simply go to your book page, click "edit details," and upload the image using the tool on the right-hand side of the page.

Thanks for your patience as we finish the transition.

I have a question. I'm about to do a giveaway for ARCs for my newest novel and it did not upload a book cover, even though I have a book cover on my page. Is it pulling the cover from B&N? Because though AMZ has the cover, they don't. Is there anything I can do?

Patrick, I have my book cover for THE BOOK LOVER uploaded to my page, but it's still not showing for my giveaway.

Maryann wrote: "Patrick, I have my book cover for THE BOOK LOVER uploaded to my page, but it's still not showing for my giveaway."

The giveaway pages are cached, so they don't update automatically when your book page does. It usually takes awhile longer. I just checked, though, and I do see the book cover on the giveaway page.

As for where the cover image is coming from, we are getting a feed from a company called Firebrand that aggregates many publisher feeds, and they have the info for your book.

I received the email saying the paperback version of my book needed to be rescued, I clicked the link and was told on arriving at Goodreads that my book had been rescued. Today the book is listed as Unknown Book 13275064 by Unknown Author 65. If I try to change anything using "edit this edition" I get a banner saying "Thanks, that book has already been rescued!"

Is this a problem, or is it just a matter of waiting for the information to be updated automatically?

Would it be possible to allow everyone to upload missing book covers, titles, author info. etc. instead of only being allowed to edit some of the data of books on our bookshelves? I've rescued all my own books, but there are 'Unknown Book/Unknown Author' books on my bookshelves that I'm unable to fix, although I could if allowed access.

Craig wrote: "I received the email saying the paperback version of my book needed to be rescued, I clicked the link and was told on arriving at Goodreads that my book had been rescued. Today the book is listed a..."

This is because the rescue page is going through some changes. It should be back up in a state that will allow you to re-source the book shortly. Until then, please just sit tight. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Nell wrote: "Would it be possible to allow everyone to upload missing book covers, titles, author info. etc. instead of only being allowed to edit some of the data of books on our bookshelves? I've rescued all ..."

Unfortunately, we won't be opening the entire catalog up to non-Librarians. But if you'd like to work on adding book data, you can apply to become a librarian. Just click here:

http://www.goodreads.com/about/apply_...

Patrick, it seems strange to allow some editing of data yet not all, but I suppose if it makes for fewer errors (or at least errors that matter less) then it's understandable. Even a temporary relaxation of the librarians-only rule might just help get things back to normal more quickly.

I would apply to become a librarian, but dry eyes, time and additional distractions from work are an ever-present problem.

I have a book only listed at Amazon (B007BHHPDK). its called LUNARA: PARKER AND THE PROTECTOR. How do I get this added to goodreads?

I don't see it under rescue me.

Wyatt, you can add it manually, or ask in the Librarians Group for help.

Couldn't find the answer to problem. I have since published the 5th book in my series and added it manually to my Author Dashboard.

Unfortunately, I can find how to upload the cover image. I'm been searching GR for the last 1/2 hour and all I find is GR no longer uses Amazon images, not "HOW" to upload images from other places - like my website.

Shawn, the edit page for each book has a browse/upload option. The image will need to be saved to your computer; it cannot be uploaded directly from another site.

Thanks. Yes, I had the cover on my computer and it worked.

Great.

I cannot for the life of me figure out how to add my book which I cannot find in the database by searching either for author, title or ISBN. It's "The Lost King" by Devorah Fox, ISBN 9780977824526, it's available as a Kindle book and a print book distributed by Lightning Source and I'd like to participate in the author program. Could someone help me please? Thanks.

Devorah wrote: "I cannot for the life of me figure out how to add my book which I cannot find in the database by searching either for author, title or ISBN. It's "The Lost King" by Devorah Fox, ISBN 9780977824526,..."

I'm guessing somebody already helped you out, but in case not:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

I also added you to the program. You should get a welcome email shortly.

Thanks, Patrick. I did get help from a member of the Librarians group who added it to the database. Curious thing about that "published by LightningSource" detail, since the publisher is Mike Byrnes and Associates, Inc. and LightningSource is more the distributor. Something else to look into. Anyhow, thanks to your help now I can participate in the author program.

Devorah wrote: "Thanks, Patrick. I did get help from a member of the Librarians group who added it to the database. Curious thing about that "published by LightningSource" detail, since the publisher is Mike Byrne..."

You did not list Mike Byrnes and Associates, Inc as a publisher in your request. I have changed it

Librarians need to do it

message 20 has the link to the librarians group

I am probably losing it, but I cannot figure out how to add my latest book to my author's profile. I do not see a place to add it anywhere on the Dashboard Page. I already have two existing books on my profile. Can you help? Sorry, I know this is probably a dumb question but I have been looking for an hour and can't figure it out.

If your book does not exist in the database, then use this link to add it. It should then appear on your dashboard

http://www.goodreads.com/book/new?boo...

If you need help then post in the GR Librarians group and someone will assist

Paula wrote: "If your book does not exist in the database, then use this link to add it. It should then appear on your dashboard

http://www.goodreads.com/book/new?boo...

If you need help then post i...">

Is this documented anywhere? It doesn't seem too user friendly to me. But... Whatever.

http://www.goodreads.com/help/show/9-...

This thread popped up today (9/2/2012), showing two new posts - the latest only 19 hours ago. What I see instead is two posts from May 24th. Anybody else having this problem?

I am also having this problem Jon. It makes everything really confusing.

Sort of related but not really...the cover artwork for my re-written novel is ready for its release later this year (http://www.cambridgepress.us/drama_qu...)

As it has the same title as the original self-published version, is there a way to replace the old pic (and info) with the new? Or does this have to be done by Goodreads?

We do not change covers on already published editions.

Should you need help then the place to ask is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/220

If the book had a new ISBN/ASIN then a new edition is created with the new details and cover, which is then combined with the other editions.

If there is just a new cover then an alternate cover edition is created and combined with the other editions.

http://www.goodreads.com/help/show/85...

You should add your books to GR - GR generally do not approve author profiles if there are no books

Use this link to add your book to start with

http://www.goodreads.com/book/new?boo...

Paula wrote: "We do not change covers on already published editions.

Should you need help then the place to ask is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/220

If the book had a new ISBN/ASIN then a new edit..."

Authors can now set which edition/bookcover shows as default/primary edition (what shows in simple searches and in their author pages).

Goodreads policy still does not allow any previously published covers to be deleted (really plays havoc with members who deliberately added particular cover to their shelves); however, authors can now take the alternate cover editions and set them to be the primary.

Helpful links to new feature/policy:

Author FAQ #4 this group: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Goodreads help screens: http://www.goodreads.com/help/show/31...

I tried to combine my paperback and kindle editions, but I get a message that says I have to be a librarian. So I tried to add data to my paperback edition, but got another message that says i have to be a librarian. I only have one book, so I don't think I'm qualified to be a librarian, so what do I do to provide a book description and to make my author profile available to people looking at my paperback? The Book title is Threshold: A Memoir. My name is Faith A. Colburn

Because one edition has you as author and the other a typo leaving out the period after your initial, I'll correct and you should be able to combine. If not, post over in librarians group and someone will combine for you.

You do have librarian status over your own books. Just not over another author's and that missing period was enough to create another author.

Now try.

The event that this thread was created to address happened over a year ago.

For other book-data-related issues, please start threads in the Librarians Group.