Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
Questions (not edit requests)
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HELP! HELLLLLPPPPP!
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"D.X. Stone" is the standard format on Goodreads for authors using two initials. If "D X Stone" is a pen name, not initials, you'll have to contact support for assistance changing the account name which is linked to the GR Author program; librarians can't make that change to GR Author names, and we would be hesitant to do so anyway since it's a nonstandard name format. You said you asked for help -- did you contact support using the contact form, or by email? That's the best way to reach someone who can make those changes.I can make sure that all of your books are together, though. Since D.X. Stone is your account name currently, I've grouped all of your books under that name. (If it's changed by support, all of your books will move to the new name.)
Well, yes... I DID ask thru a contact form. I don't have an email address to contact them by... I thought that was the point of the form.Thanx for at least grouping them properly. I'm not sure why you ask if they're initials or a pen name; they ARE initials, but they look better without those annoying periods... and that is how I am seen on Amazon, so that should be what they follow here, seems to me...
Do you have an email address, or is it just support@ ?
Yeah, I'm not finding an email address anywhere on this site! And again, two of my inquiries have simply been ignored, I guess... Weird.
I hope you can help me further here.
As Cait explained GR policy is to use dots with initials in nameshttp://www.goodreads.com/help/show/60...
Edit: dots should not be removed from initials, I have reverted your changes
This is the contact form: http://www.goodreads.com/about/contac...And this it the topic for such requests: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
None of us could really help you any further.
Take care.
We love having authors on Goodreads. But, we are a site that's focused on readers first. If there is a choice between what is best for readers and what is best for authors, we will always err on the side of readers. It's right there in how we describe ourselves: "the largest site for readers and book recommendations."
On the other hand, lots of readers love to have direct interaction with their favorite authors and we're happy to provide a platform for that to happen.
For new authors looking to establish themselves and build awareness of their books, we'll continue to educate them on the best way to interact on Goodreads. It's a learning process and our key advice will always be: first and foremost, be a reader on Goodreads.
Well, I guess that answers my one question, at any rate. I guess I can live with the periods, if this is your style, now that I've got all my books under one name.As to the question of a contact number, as referenced above... I guess that's not something Goodreads wants anyone to know, or i'd be able to find it.
I don't know why this particular site is, for me, a labyrinthine maze of inscrutable cunning... guess I'll keep trying...
Thanx, everyone, for your help; it's much appreciated.
The support email is support@, yeah. I'm pretty sure it goes into the same queue as the contact form, though (and it's a long queue indeed these days if your request is not an emergency).
Myself, I usually get a response 3 to 5 business days after contacting staff for something (rarely on weekends). Requests for exceptions to long standing policies I would expect not to be a high priority.It may help authors to just remember that goodreads, unlike amazon and other booksellers, has no product pages. Goodreads only has data pages. Some standards and policies apply to help us maintain the database/catalog—and the data page does not have to follow whatever is on bookseller product pages.
If staff or anyone takes out the periods, the next goodreads member adding a new book by you or the next librarian noticing will just put them back automatically in because that's what the help screens and librarian manual say to do. Then author is right back to having books not all on their profile.
Goodreads gets some books via industry data feeds. Not every data feed, bookseller site or online data source matches amazon product pages. Anyone can add books—goodreads had to put some standard practices in place or could never keep up the millions of books in catalog, much less gather onto an author profile. Goodreads programmers have written stuff to handle some of the data feed's data formats.
Most of the goodreads standards developed after experience with data feeds and how members add books. Exceptions can get made by staff. Not sure if an exception easy to get made for this author to not have periods; am sure would just get changed all the time back and forth on books causing editions to be missing from author profile or from superlibrarians on auto-pilot running thru long lists of author changes needed or spotting.
Thank you all so much for your input! I'm ok with this naming convention thing, now that I understand it as such... and I'm guessing Goodreads must accommodate for such differences in their search software... oops, just checked it and I see that only 2 of my four books are revealed under the search terms D X Stone. My two artbooks display in the search; my two poem books, Van Gogh's Ear and The Dark Side of Des Moines, DO NOT. Can anyone correct this for me? This was the reason I was originally so upset to find your system "changed" my name, actually... but if it's something you can fix on your end, that would be great!
Thanx again!
Hmm, they seem to be showing for me - can you confirm if this is now fixed as it may have been a caching issue (i.e. the books were moved, but not showing yet)
Wow... nope, I still can't see them in either of my browsers... just the two art books. Darn.
D.X. wrote: "Wow... nope, I still can't see them in either of my browsers... just the two art books. Darn."The reason is because d x stone is in the title. That is why ONLY those two results show up.
D.X. stone shows all works as it should be!
Mod
Librarians have no control over the search feature. However, one of our developers has an ongoing project regarding improving the search engine, and the issue you mention is one of the items on his list to look at.
To Emy: I see all four in your example.To Ellie: Yes, but the problem is: What if someone searches for me using the search terms D X Stone, which is how my name appears all over Amazon, not to mention many other places?
I will say this: I think it's odd that Goodreads has such a naming convention, rather than simply using the name submitted by the author as is. I cannot be the ONLY person who is experiencing this problem. If no one can help me at this point, I will trouble you all no more... but I do think it's a strange choice for Goodreads to make, given that many books begin at createspace/Amazon, where no such convention exists.
And it certainly can lead to some confusion, that's for sure!
I sow that people usually search by the name of the book or even ISBN instead of author, but I bet anyone that is so interested in you will sure find a way to your page!
Find one, click on author name, find all - that's my technique anyway, even before becoming a Librarian here.
Don't worry that this will limit people finding your books. If they know you as author they will find them. And most books I decide to read I either scan with my smartphone or get from feeds, lists, groups, not from the search option. I only use it as a Librarian 0.0 :D
An author could be imported in any or all of the following formats depending on the publisher or import site: A.B. Smith, A. B. Smith, A B Smith, AB Smith, A.B Smith, A. B Smith, and the list goes on. Books could also be added in any of the above formats by a member who is unfamiliar with the policy or makes a typo.In the example above that one author has at least six different author profiles. Having one convention that is "correct" makes it easy for librarians to group all the profiles together and keep editing wars to a minimum.
True, you might not have the issue above, but making exceptions can get messy so it is easier to stick to one policy.
D.X. wrote: "... but I do think it's a strange choice for Goodreads to make, given that many books begin at createspace/Amazon, where no such convention exists.And it certainly can lead to some confusion, that's for sure! ..."
Amazon is one bookseller.
Library catalogs/databases and data feeds, Onix/Ingram bookseller data feeds, the publishing house data feeds, and manual additions by goodreads members that account for literally millions more books than amazon carries all have their own naming conventions and standards.
With the goodreads book database having a single author name field--to keep books with their author needs what's in the field to be standard. With being a U.S.-based company, they went with the most standard U.S. English data feed format and common language style manual conventions.
While suggestions can be made to change policies or improve search, currently that is the standard. Will be in place unless and until policy changes. Would be extremely unusual to convert to the standards of a single bookseller site (even a new owner) and then have to spend a few years using programming resources re-programming how data feeds import. All for the tiny percentage of authors spacing and punctuating initials oddly. (exceptions can be requested for a single author profile and are more likley than changing literallly millions of books to do it your way--and can cause members familiar with goodreads conventions like potential fans not knowing you have more books because not on your profile because someone added in standard goodreads format [once on another author's profile, you cannot edit yourself] or the power reviewers with thousands of followers to have trouble finding your profile...)
I don't think there are a lot of exceptions made for the periods in initials reason because would defeat the purpose of having a standard.
You are welcome to contact staff requesting an exception for your author profile regardless of how unlikely we think it will be granted. You are welcome to make suggestions and request policy changes in the feedback group. The exception being made for your author profile is much more likely than changing millions of author books/authors on goodreads data pages to convert to your desired format even if that means doing it the way amazon product pages do it.
(The amazon data feed, incidentally, is one goodreads has had before [amazon yanked, a whole long drama on the older discussion threads] so unlikely major programing changes/overhaul are going to be needed when reinstated or database standards changing just to accommodate.)
If an exception does get made for your profile, please never delete the official from staff librarian note that gets added to it letting librarians know that staff okayed-do-not-edit. Ditto for librarian notes on books to stop the author name being corrected back to goodreads standards on the individual books.And you will need to keep an eye out, just because you got changed on author profile, that your books stay on your profile. Members and data feeds adding are likely to do so with goodreads standard author format. As books get author name edited and disappear from your profile or new ones get added incorrectl (to other spelled/punctuated versions of your name author profiles), just post back in librarians group to have corrected for the ndividual books.
Sounds worse than likely would be; with a little practice you'll get used to looking for the author namings books will stray onto. And how much effort will = how many books you write. It's worse if you had a very common name like "John Smith" or "Robert Brown" with dozens of author profiles where books could be incorrectly placed.
Someone said in the goodreads feedback group that I should post here about this:Black Dog Of Fate: American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past should be Black Dog Of Fate: A Memoir by Peter Balakian.
Also, can't find it when I try to look it up for links on add book/author feature right above, although I can find it when I use the magnifying class search box. I need to add it under add book/author when I cite the book for a group challenge. Group rules.
I'm not sure how to fix this so am trying to find someone that knows how to do those two things. Thank you. :)
Sandra wrote: "This was fixed in the other thread."Thank you :)
Can SOMEONE please help me out there? I've been trying for a month to get ANYONE to even respond.
Thanx,
D X Stone