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my book links don't work
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Kathleen
(new)
Nov 04, 2012 05:23PM
Hi, I am new to this group. I just uploaded my two published books and they are on Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Sony, Ibookstore...and others...but the only purchase link that works is Kobo. Anyone know why? I put all isbn#'s in as well as full details but still only Kobo takes me directly to a purchase page. All other links say 'this page is broken' Help?
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Did you just just upload the books? Some sites like amazon take weeks to add your book page especially if you are a new author that has never published before.
By the looks of things you have only added kindle editions with ASINs. They are the oly ones I can findPlease provide links to the books you think should work so we can take a look.
Are all these books yours
http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/...
Hmmm that is strange, because I added the isbn#'s first and then I didn't see amazon's link so I added the ASIN. My books have two isbn's. One for Smashwords and one for Amazon. Apparently you can't have both. I don't really care about Amazon but Smashwords is a must becasue it's distributed world wide with multiple links. Amazon is just one. So I went back into the detail and only used the isbn's. Still don't see Barnes and Noble link and that is very important. Perhaps they take a long time too. Kobo rocks...it's up there right away with no delays! I guess I'll wait it out for the others to follow suit.
and p.s...I don't know who those other books are supposed to be from but I didn't write them. I don't know who the other Kathleen Morris is. I think goodreads is getting confused. Not sure how i'm supposed to start an author page when it thinks i'm somebody else. I only wrote...Deep Bay Vengeance and Deep Bay Relic...not the others.
Each ASIN or IsBN is added as a separate edition.If you post the ISBN's here some one will add them.
The barnes and Nobel edition should have an isbn starting with 249
Kathleen wrote: "and p.s...I don't know who those other books are supposed to be from but I didn't write them. I don't know who the other Kathleen Morris is. I think goodreads is getting confused. Not sure how i'm ..."Kathleen, when I sent my author page request to Goodreads there were also other books listed by an author with my same name. So, I added a comment identifying the book I had written, and noted that the others were not mine. Goodreads sorted it out very quickly and when my author page was activated only my own book showed up.
I have disambiguated you to Kathleen^^Morris so you have your own profile. When adding books you need to make sure that there are two spaces between your names.This is your profile You will need to claim it by following the link at the bottom of the page.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Kobo editions of books generally have an ISBN starting with 123
I have added the kindle and ebook editions of the books the ebook ones still need covers I will add latere.
The buy links will only work if the bookseller sells the edition with the same isbn/ASIN.
So the buy links on the kindle edition will always fail on BN and Kobo
The buy links are also configurable by user not by author or book
Thank you so much! Not sure if I understand completely about why the buy links fail though.
I clicked on the link but is that the only thing I do to claim it? How do I combine both my profiles? They are still separate. And when I click on the author one, it says I don't have librarian status...but I do. ??
Okay....so something is REALLY Screwed up. I try to put in my 13 digit isbn for my book and it gives me an error message that another book called DEEP BAY VENGEANCE and DEEP BAY RELIC already exists. These are MY books. Can someone please fix this. I only want to use my 13 digit isbn but I can't change it back because my own book is locking me out.
What is the ISBN you are trying to add?Both you books are here
http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/...
If you go to the book page here:
http://www.goodreads.com/work/edition...
You see two editions one with ASIN the kindle and one with ISBN an ebook. These are set up correctly, do not keep switching out the ASIN for ISBN - Kindle editions use an ASIN per GR Policy.
The same is true for the other book
http://www.goodreads.com/work/edition...
Kathleen wrote: "Thank you so much! Not sure if I understand completely about why the buy links fail though."The buy links fail because
If you select the Kindle Edition and then use the KOBO button or BN button or other bookseller button - they do not stock the book with that ASIN identifier.
In the same way if you have a book with a BNID (Barnes and NOble ID) that starts with 249 and try to look it up on Amazon it will fail since Amazon does not use that identifier.
Okay well these are my buying links if someone can check into them. And I think my books are both on here twice. How do I fix these issues. BN http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/deep-...
Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/deep...
Kobo http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Deep-B...
Sony https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/kat...
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Bay-Vengea...
But I have a kindle edition available through smashwords with an isbn so I don't need amazon link.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
So these links are only for my first book...I have a whole other set of links for my second book
And the isbn's are (BooK 1)9780991674909
(Book 2) 9780991674916
All links go by these isbn's the only one that doesn't is Amazon's edition which is an ASIN (B1)B0099DS0NI
and (B2)B0099E2DZI
I want both my books to be listed under my isbn's though...not the ASIN. Sorry for all the trouble. Thanks for anything you can do.
Each of your books has two editions listed (and properly combined): one for the version with an ISBN, and one with an ASIN for the Kindle edition.Not only is that correct in terms of Goodreads policy, it's also the only way some of the booklinks will work. For example, the Amazon link will only work with the ASIN editions.
Okay, thank you for checking in on that. I really do appreciate it. I would have preferred the kindle edition with ASIN NOT be the one that shows up on my main author page. I wanted the isbn to be the one. You see, at one point I will be deleting it from Amazon and that ASIN altogether. I would have prefered that the ASIN not be used at ALL. But if that can't be changed that is fine. I don't want to direct people to the site that cost money (Amazon) to download my books. I want to direct them to the many sites that they are FREE and that is under my isbn. Thanks for all the help you gave me though.I appreciate it a great deal!
Kathleen wrote: "Okay, thank you for checking in on that. I really do appreciate it. I would have preferred the kindle edition with ASIN NOT be the one that shows up on my main author page."The edition that shows up on that page is the one shelved by the most users.
I'm having the same issue with the buy links of one of my books too. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...The ebook is live on all the major etailers. Per this thread, I need to create another edition for AMZ, using the ASIN number. Correct? Do I need to do the same for BN and iBookstore, because those links aren't working either? I checked my book's page on BN and noticed they've assigned a BN ID number that is not the ISBN number.
This seems to be functioning different from my traditionally published books. Those have the ISBN listed with an X at the end, and the buy links work.
(Let me know if I should start a new thread.)
Thanks for the help!!!
You need to create another edition for all books with a different ISBN or ASIN. So you need to add a Kindle edition with the ASIN and a BN ebook edition with the 249 number in the ISBN13 field.
Thanks, Paula! Is there an easy way to add another edition with the only difference being the ASIN, BN #, Apple bookstore #? Or do I need to copy/paste all the fields each time?
Not really, if you go to the book page of an existing edition, select the Other Editions link on the upper right hand sideThere is link - Add new edition, this will pre populate two fields the others will require copying and pasting. In addition, you will need to post back here or in the librarians group requesting the editions are combined
http://www.goodreads.com/help/show/9-...
Thanks, Paula. I've created the other editions and now all the links to the booksellers work, except for Apple. I tried using their identifier like I did with Barnes and Noble, but that didn't work. Using the ISBN doesn't work either. Do you know how I can get the iBookstore link to work on the Apple edition I just created?
Kathleen wrote: "Okay, thank you for checking in on that. I really do appreciate it. I would have preferred the kindle edition with ASIN NOT be the one that shows up on my main author page. I wanted the isbn to be ..."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 or editions to be deleted (really plays havoc with members who deliberately added particular cover or edition to their shelves); however, authors can now take the alternate cover or other 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...
Debbie (Debbie Rice) wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "Okay, thank you for checking in on that. I really do appreciate it. I would have preferred the kindle edition with ASIN NOT be the one that shows up on my main author page. I wante..."THANK YOU SOOO MUCH DEBBIE! I have been trying to figure out how to do this for so long. You made it simple. Thanks again!
Nah, it's honestly something brand new goodreads just started to do.Nothing you could have figured out before.
Debbie (Debbie Rice) wrote: "Nah, it's honestly something brand new goodreads just started to do.Nothing you could have figured out before."
Okay ;) well thank you anyway:P
Hi, I just now joined this group and I am happy to be here. Can anyone tell me of a group that caters to sports books for kids? I have a new kid's baseball novel out. Thanks! I appreciate your help.
Oh, man. Reading down through this thread just answered a lot of questions I had. I've been tearing my hair out over niggling little details with adding my books. Thanks.
Laurie wrote: "Hi, I just now joined this group and I am happy to be here. Can anyone tell me of a group that caters to sports books for kids? I have a new kid's baseball novel out. Thanks! I appreciate your help."If you clck "groups" on top menu ( goes to http://www.goodreads.com/group ), you can search for just that; over in righthand side there's also couple of columns of text underneath the ad in a "browse by tag" section.
Hi, I have a problem to link my account page with another page as authorI sent application to goodreads administration before, but they didn't answer me.
What should to be i do ?
this is link for my account page
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63...
And this is another page as author
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Thank you, I appreciate your help.
Click on the "Is this you? Let us know." link at the bottom of the author page, and then follow the directions to submit a request to claim your profile.
rivka wrote: "Click on the "Is this you? Let us know." link at the bottom of the author page, and then follow the directions to submit a request to claim your profile."I had previously done so and has not been any change!!
It can take 2-3 business days for such requests to be approved.
And, reading back through these posts — ebook/nook editions on Barnes and Noble, to the best of my knowledge, will either use the same 978### isbn as smashwords and other sites or an 294#### bnid that goes in the isbn13 field (isbn10 field needs to be left empty if 294### used or links won't work). I think "249" was a typo intended to be "294."
(And ditto for kobo, sometimes uses same isbn 978## number for the ebook and sometimes its own id that starts with 123###)
I've read these posts but I still can't get any links to work for my book Missing in Egypt - I must be missing something. I'd like to show Amazon, Smashwords and Kobo. My Amazon ASIN is B007JOUIIE, Smashwords and Kobo are 9781301492039. The best I managed was with Kobo which only took me to their home page.Help please!
Rita wrote: "I've read these posts but I still can't get any links to work for my book Missing in Egypt - I must be missing something. I'd like to show Amazon, Smashwords and Kobo. My Amazon ASIN is B007JOUII..."Looking into....already not letting me find that isbn on goodreads but will track down by title/asin and check it out.
Making you an ebook edition with isbn 9781301492039 ; there wasn't one. Once done, you can then test at Smashwords, kobo, Diesel, iBooks or wherever Smashwords is distributing for you.I'll post the link to edition page when done.
Try the ebook edition at Missing in Egypt (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...). See if ebook selling purchase sites work.I did not want to add to the confusion by saying something before; but, book specific issues get quicker responses in the librarians group and site issues in this group. I hadn't checked this thread in
I asked, and Smashwords did create a nook specific edition for your book with bnid 2940045143264 so I will also add that edition — it's at Missing in Egypt (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17... ). The Barnes and Noble purchase link for that edition should take you straight to the nook book.The ebook isbn 9781301492039 is likely the one used by almost every bookselling site Smashwords distributes your books. (Amazon and Barnes and Noble have their own ways of doing things.)
I have a question in relation to this. I'll use a real example of one of my books in case anyone wants to look into the matter.I have Dreamwalkers (Part One) on Kindle. I also uploaded it to Smashwords and onto the Premium Catalogue. So it is now on Nook and Kobo etc.
I've created 3 editions on GR for these three distributors.
In the Kindle one I use the ASIN, in the Kobo one I use the ISBN created by Smashwords (because Kobo uses that on their site), but Nook decided to add their own BN ID rather than use the Samashwords ISBN and so I've used that - and it seems to have worked despite GR instructions indicating only an ISBN or ASIN is allowed (however, the Barnes&Noble ID has 13 characters and so may count as an ISBN?).
I've combined the 3 editions.
My question is this:
The sales links (kobo - online stores - book links) are offered for each edition. But if the potential buyer is looking at the wrong edition then pressing the links suggests the book isn't in that store. So if you go to the Kindle edition of Dreamwalkers (Part One) then press "kobo" it tells you that link doesn't work for that book, or - for the stores - it goes to the site but says it can't find it (because it uses the asin/isbn/BN ID to find it).
So...how does the potential buyer know which edition is which? You can choose "Kindle edition" but the others are indistinguishable as "ebook", so the mouseover isn't very useful (if the buyer even spots that text!) Am I missing something?
The links (except Kobo) are user configurable so the links you see are different to the links I see as I have swapped to display the bookstores I buy from which are not BN and Amazon.Users generally know that if they shop at Amazon to use the kindle edition or BN use one with the 249 number or they use the link they set up to access their preferred stores then do a title / author search.
Or use the More link next to the buttons to do a title search rather than an ISBN search from GR book page.
No, ma'am. The kobo link is also configurable unless you are talking about "kobo" showing on the very first/leftmost green get-a-copy button.That first button is actually a paid, sponsored link. Kobo buys that space a lot (depending on your country, Barnes and Noble and Google Play also frequently purchase — but, any bookseller can purchase/bid.)
I know this from making an ass of myself on a support thread throwing a fit when they took away "my" Barnes and Noble button. :)
Members can also create or choose links that do search by title instead of isbn.The three green buttons, left to right are (1) ad/sponsored link, (2) custom or default bookseller links ("commercial"), and (3) other sites (libraries, book cataloguing sites, and other non-bookseller, non-commercial sites).
D.M. Andrews (GoodReads Author) wrote: "So...how does the potential buyer know which edition is which? You can choose "Kindle edition" but the others are indistinguishable as "ebook", so the mouseover isn't very useful (if the buyer even spots that text!) Am I missing something?..."Gathered from llibrarian manual and group threads:
It's all about unique book identifier (isbn, asin, bnid ...) as goodreads has data pages vs. product pages.
If the ebook format is isbn 978#, should never have any edition information — that exact same ebook (even if available in multi-file types for downloading to different devices) is used on all the bookseller or publisher sites that carry. Just format = ebook. Readable by thousands of devices, browsers, or apps (none of which get specified in edition field or book synopsis any more than other data tht belongs on the product page members purchase the book from like file types, copy protections like DRM, loan permissions, et. al.)
There's a kindle edition because kindle editions have not-number-only asin numbers that don't work in the isbn fields (plus a statistically large number of only in that format books). Secondly, kindle edition pretty much works only on kindle devices and apps.
If there's a number in the isbn13 field that does not start with 978, edition info gets specified. For example, isbn13 field having a number starting 294# is a nook edition and edition field can note so (again, needs that specific device/app to read; nook editions that have 978# isbns don't specify as not sold just by bn for the nook), isbn13 field has a 123# number is kobo only edition so can say kobo edition in edition field...
If ebook = isbn 978# number, that's all goodreads tracks. Everything else left up to product pages members purchase ebook from and likely subject to change as authors, publishers and agents make new decisions.
If by "indistinguishable" you mean when looking at "other editions" you can't tell — try viewing that list clicking "collapse details" and " expand details" for different display. The expanded view shows any edition info plus the isbn/asin.
Some other bits and pieces (once spotted or requested over in librarians group, librarians will fix):The isbn13 294# nook editions with anything in isbn10 field = Barnes and Noble purchase link fails. Isbn10 will be blanked.
Isbn10 field with a 10-digit 978# number - that's a typo where someone tried to force a 978# isbn13 number into the wrong isbn field and the last three digits got chopped off so no purchase link will work. Will correct isbn info.
Odd promotional things, book reviews, or purchase links/ailbility in book descriptions will be removed. A link for publisher or author's website/blog for the book can go in the official url field. A plain text "This edition is out of print" or "This edition is no longer available" can be simply put at end of book description.
Ebooks and print books (per isbn policies, not a goodreads rule) cannot have the same isbn. One loophole for not requiring ebook to have a unique isbn if there is an isbn'd print version is if only sold on a single (usually publisher's) website. (Once distributed for sale by other vendors, has to get one). See Bowkers and other isbn sites for details on that one.
Spent a lot of time lately removing things from the edition and fields of blank or 978# isbn books like "smashwords edition" (no such thing, smashwords is a publisher and that exact same isbn distributed out to dozens of booksellers and the bookseller names don't go in edition field either), "epub edition"/"pdf edition"/etc. (not unless author/publisher paid for an isbn for each of those file types, because an isbn can be downloaded in multiple file types and to multiple devices does not mean an edition gets created for each, save it for the bookseller product page, not tracked by goodreads), book descriptions saying where to buy, ... It's the exact same book. How it's being read, downloaded, what devices ... Doesn't change the ebook edition, just the reader experience and possible settings.
I have two books on Goodreads, for one of them the e-book version links to the Barnes and Noble site with no problem. For the other, the Barnes and Noble link doesn't work. I've tried creating a new edition using the Barnes and Noble ID for that book but get an error message telling me that the book already exists with a different ISBN. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. ISBN for the book not working is 9781466012448 and B&N ID is 2940011523991. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
One edition moved to the correct author profile - you are Charles^^^Vella (where ^=space) so if adding books make sure there are 3 spaces between your names.Links are working as they should
B005YQ3ZR0 - Links to Amazon as it should
2940011523991- links to BN as it should
9781466012448 - links to ebook shop (will not link to BN as they do not sell it)
Hello, I am having the same issue with my novel, Born in Flames.
It is available on Amazon, B&N, and Kobo, but the 'Get a copy' links aren't working and I am not sure how to add them.
Here are my ISBN's:
Amazon: B0096PPK4Q
B&N: 2940015130775
Kobo: 9781937546083
Please help. :)
I added the two editions not already on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/work/edition...keep in mind that every user customizes their own links; they cannot be modified on a per-book basis.
THE Group for Authors!
Books mentioned in this topic
Shadows and Light (other topics)Born in Flames (other topics)
Missing in Egypt (other topics)
Missing in Egypt (other topics)
