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Problems with Buy Book Links
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Kevis
(last edited Dec 04, 2012 06:44PM)
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Dec 04, 2012 06:40PM
I'm a member author as well as a librarian and have noticed that none of the links using the "Get a Copy" feature on my respective book pages work. Is there a way for me to manually repair these links? Or do I need to contact a Super Librarian (or Goodreads' administrator) to have the proper urls restored? Thanks ahead of time for any help.
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Kevis, all of your "get a copy" links are customized by you. Which links have you tried, and can you link to the exact edition which you were checking? I sampled a few of your books with my "get a copy" links using amazon.com and google and they seemed to be turning up okay.
Uhmmm...I did not change mine but all of a sudden Google Play just replaced my Barnes and Noble button. And I read on the nook.
Cait wrote: "Kevis, all of your "get a copy" links are customized by you. Which links have you tried, and can you link to the exact edition which you were checking? I sampled a few of your books with my "get a ..."Hi Cait. I really appreciate you helping me with this. As far as I can tell, none of the buy links for my newest book works. Can you take a look at it and tell me what I need to do to fix the links?
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...
Debbie (Debbie Rice) wrote: "Uhmmm...I did not change mine but all of a sudden Google Play just replaced my Barnes and Noble button. And I read on the nook."Hi Debbie. I just realized that I was looking at the wrong edition (the paperback version of my book isn't out yet). However, when I switched to the ebook edition, I can't link to either a Google Books or Nook edition. Do I need to create a different edition for both of these versions? Or is there a way for me to customize my links like Cait suggested?
You need an ASIN for your kindle edition. For nook edition, you put bnid starting with 294... In the isbn13 field (leave isbn-10 blank on nook edition). If you have, I can put them in for you.That's how it used to work. I'm convinced something has happened to the buttons you clck to buy; but, as Cait says, that's custom for most members. So I don't have a handle on it other than knowing that yesterday kobo was overwriting my Barnes and Noble link and Google Play just started (or I just noticed).
I'm not positive because I don't use often but I believe Sony, iBooks and Google Play all use the isbn number for the generic ePub format (a few unique Stanza things for enhanced iBook ones and a few stray PDF format files)—which is why they just say "ebook format" without specifyng. Mobi, some publishers (like Baen) don't change isbn and some do.
I'm a little confused. I added the ASIN# and a url link to my Kindle version at the metadata screen the day my book was published. Is that the wrong place to place the ASIN for the "Get a Copy" link to work? The reason I ask is because the Amazon link is working, even though it doesn't link only to my book.
Debbie (Debbie Rice) wrote: "You need an ASIN for your kindle edition. For nook edition, you put bnid starting with 294... In the isbn13 field (leave isbn-10 blank on nook edition."Okay. I'm going to try that right now. Crossing my fingers that this will work. Thank you so much! :)
I might have looked at cross-eyed. I'll look again. Nope, when I click link you gave me, click "other editions" at righthand side and expand details, seeing edition but not a corresponding Isbn/asin/bnid except on first paperback format. Snagging a screenshot; can you see what I see on screen below?
Debbie (Debbie Rice) wrote: "You need an ASIN for your kindle edition. For nook edition, you put bnid starting with 294... In the isbn13 field (leave isbn-10 blank on nook edition). If you have, I can put them in for you.T..."
That's what confuses me. I don't understand if I have to create a separate edition for my book or if I need to add the book#id's instead.
Mod
The ASIN was not there, and the official URL may not be to a bookseller. But I scavenged the ASIN from the link before I removed it, so the Kindle edition should link properly to Amazon now.
Debbie (Debbie Rice) wrote: "I might have looked at cross-eyed. I'll look again. Nope, when I click link you gave me, click "other editions" at righthand side and expand details, seeing edition but not a corresponding Isbn/a..."Despite my confusion, I'm making some progress. Ever since I added the information you mentioned, I'm able to link to the Nook version. Maybe if I play around with the metadata for a while, I'll figure out what to do with the Kobo, Sony, and Google Play versions. But I'm relieved to see the major eformats now linked. You've been a great help to me, Debbie. I can't thank you enough for your assistance. ;)
Mod
Each book ID#, whether ISBN, ASIN, or Nook pseudo-ISBN, must have its own edition. (The only exception is a corresponding ISBN-10 and ISBN-13, which will be almost identical except for the leading 978 and the final digit.)
rivka wrote: "Kevis wrote: "I don't understand if I have to create a separate edition for my book or if I need to add the book#id's instead."Each book ID#, whether ISBN, ASIN, or Nook pseudo-ISBN, must have it..."
Thanks for the heads up, Rivka. That's exactly what I wondering. Since I am a guest here on Goodreads, I didn't want to start mindlessly creating and deleting editions to figure this out. But between the information you and the other posters have given me, I think I'll have all those links working in the next few minutes. I'm going to see if I can get them up now. Thanks for your help!
Now showing up; so your edits are working. Not sure if will fix the vendor/purchase links for you or not; but helpful to have the id numbers on respective editions (some members use to search or shelve books).I sure hope I've helped you. I sure can't fix tmy own issue with Google Play overwriting my Barnes and Noble or track how it happened. (Posted in feedback; brought it up here in case related).
Debbie (Debbie Rice) wrote: "I might have looked at cross-eyed. I'll look again. Nope, when I click link you gave me, click "other editions" at righthand side and expand details, seeing edition but not a corresponding Isbn/a..."Sorry, Debbie. I didn't notice the snapshot you added to your post. That's a wonderful image. Didn't even know you could call up something like that. But there was only three editions before (Paperback, Kindle, and ebook). But I'm adding editions now. I should know within a few minutes if I'm on the right track.
Looks like you're fine with how you are doing; if you run into trouble or need help combining editions, just let us know.
Thanks, Debbie. I think I've finally struck gold!
Glad you're fixed. I'm still going nuts trying to figure out how Google is taking over my links.[EDIT: my issue explained by gr staff on this post http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1... which says " We have been doing some experimenting with the buttons (and the links in the dropdown menu). People in the US are likely to see Google Play buttons from time to time for awhile. Sorry if there was any confusion. ]
[EDIT AGAIN: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1... says "My post before may have been a bit confusing. If so, I apologize for that. The button is always a paid placement, akin to an ad. Barnes & Noble and Kobo are the two most frequent purchasers of it, but Google Play has purchased all of the book pages (regardless of what kind of book it is) for a few weeks. That's why the button may change from time to time. Hope that clarifies. " ]
I'm confused about the "Get a Copy" link. I have an ISBN number on the book (link below) and I figured out why B&N and Kobo had issues. I'm not sure what's wrong with the link to Amazon. Can goodreads only use ISBN -or- ASIN, not both? If so, is there a way to make it work better?
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...
Thanks in advance, Andrew
You need to have an edition with the ISBN and a separate one with the ASIN.Amazon works only one the ASIN one if it is a kindle edition
Oh heck. You mean two separate entries in Goodreads? Is that a good idea? Doesn't Goodreads have a way to control where the "get a copy" points?
No, two editions for one distinct work (distinct work is one seperate entry in goodreads with multiple editions). See Starbridge for example, over on right hand side are thumbnails of more editions. Click on that book's page upper right side where it says "Other Editions" to see more details for each.If you give me the asin and other item numbers, I can create new editions for you then combine into one work. Let me know if all use exact same bookcover or I'll need links to the right covers.
Or if you want try yourself, go to your book page, click other editions, choose to add new edition, then on new edition by "other editions" click "combine" menu choice. If you run into trouble, just ask for help. If you leave book description blank when creating a book, when combined with original work it automatically pulls in the default description.
All reviews and ratings for all editions of a distinct work show up on the book's page and rating averages regardless of which edition reviewed. (You have to click the little "ratings detail" graphic buried near title to see more details like ratings for a specific edition)
Here is an example with 145 other editions http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41...It's not just the click to buy links, some members search and shelve by the isbn/bnid /asin/whatever numbers.
And when shelving or reviewing a book you can specify which edition or switch to a different edition. Some readers don't care; some want to catalogue by the exact edition or bookcover they own, read or wishlisted.
I just saw a kindle edition show up so looks like you are doing well. The kobo and Barnes and Noble 13-digit id numbers just get put in the isbn 13 field if you are adding those.iBooks/iTunes, google ebookstore, Sony and lots of the other sites (I believe, not an expert on those and some of the links stuff on goodreads are new vendor things) will use the isbn-13 from your ebook edition so do not need their own vendor specific editions. Subject to change by vendors and currently goodreads is experimenting with some of the vendor links.
Can take more than 10 minutes for all the pages, lists, images, author page, etc. to pick up new editions and changes.
