Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
This topic is about
The Dawn of Global Sense
Book & Author Page Issues
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Book changes needed by Librarians
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Both books now have Vandana Shiva and "Thomas Paine (Inspired by)" and Hoku House. We don't often have "Inspired by" as an entry so it might be removed.Your request seems to be just a normal request for faulty data to be fixed. This entire group is used for those type of requests.
Banjomike -- Thanks for making these changes so speedily!A couple tweaks, if I may?
Forward author Vandana Shiva should be listed as "Dr. Vandana Shiva" because she is an internationally respected scientist.
Rather than the unusual credit line of "Inspired by", the more widely used book industry term would be "Based on a book by". Such a credit line might be more likely to remain in place, seems to me, or so says my gut.
Thanks for your help!
Anyway, my notion is that once the changes on my book are done, this thread might become the "go to" thread for all Goodread authors to posts their requests, rather than having to start a new thread for each new request. Just a thought....
Judah wrote: "Forward author Vandana Shiva should be listed as "Dr. Vandana Shiva" because she is an internationally respected scientist. "Goodreads does not use job-related prefixes or qualifications (MBA, Ph.D, etc).
I'll change it to "Based on a book by".
"start a new thread" for each topic or book, is a mantra on Goodreads. It gets confusing when a thread is started for one book and is then used for umpteen other books. There are exceptions, usually when a specific technical issue is involved, but not for everyday edits.
This search will give you an idea of the size of the issue.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/comme...
Banjomike:Thanks. I hear you. Vandana Shiva has a PhD in Physics, not an MD, so that rule is fine and makes sense. So, I now consider my metadata changes finished, and my thanks to you for doing this (see P.S. below).
Re creating a thread for book corrections:
I do see the confusion possible if a thread is started for one book and is then used for umpteen other books, as you say. This ensues from GR requiring every new discussion thread to be attached to a listed book, yes?
An alternative may be to have a FOLDER or SECTION (with a link to that folder/section shown prominently) that is exclusively for authors to post new threads on their book corrections.
I suggest this because before I posted my thread I found such book change requests scattered throughout the feedback section (where I gather such posting are discouraged) and throughout the Librarians Group section. Perhaps creating a Librarians' folder/section exclusively for metadata change requests might help isolate these requests to one spot for easier action by librarians and super-librarians like yourself.
Just thinking aloud here, mind you.
P.S. As long as I have your attention, two questions:
(1) When I click the link to create a widget from both of my detail pages for The Dawn of Global Sense, I get an error message that says: "Sorry, we couldn't find that author." or else: "That book link won't work for this book." Please advise about whom I contact to address such site functionality issues?
(2) How do I add links for buying my books (or any book)? The purchase links for buying my print and ebook editions go to secondary sales sites like half.com and Powells instead of primary sellers like Amazon and BN.com. Please advise on how to upgrade these links.
Thanks again for your help!
Mod
It's not required. Linking a book or author is optional. Regardless, with a few exceptions we prefer in this group to have many short threads rather than a few long ones.
As far as a special folder for authors, I don't think that's necessary. Anyone can post a new thread in the Book Issues folder (or wherever in this group is appropriate). The fixes to a book's data get dealt with in much the same way whether the person requesting them is the author, or just a user with a copy of the book in their hands.
Mod
Regarding the widget, if that is an author-specific issue (accessible from your dashboard), librarians can't help with those. The Author Feedback Group or the Contact Us link on the Help page would be your best bets for author-specific issues.
Judah wrote: "PhD in Physics, not an MD"Any and all qualifications are ignored.
Judah wrote: "This ensues from GR requiring every new discussion thread to be attached to a listed book, yes?"
Not really. What happens is that librarians look at the unread topics in Book Issues and if a thread has a new posting then some librarians will look at the thread to see what needs doing. If it isn't a task that that librarian wants to handle then they will ignore that thread forever even if a later posting is something they would be happy to deal with. Makes perfect sense. This is why the staff/moderators will close a thread when it starts to become a generic thread because then requests can get missed. Not ignored, just not seen. We have no problems with loads of new threads but having to open a bunch of generic threads to see what has been added can get tedious. The listed book isn't seen until the thread is opened.
Judah wrote: "An alternative may be to have a FOLDER or SECTION (with a link to that folder/section shown prominently) that is exclusively for authors to post new threads on their book corrections. "
That is precisely what this Book Issues folder is for. I agree that many authors will just dump a request anywhere they want but that would still be the case if there was an enormous neon sign saying HERE!
Purchase links are specific to the member not to the book or author. For example, I see links to Amazon UK, Kobo,eBay UK,Audible,IndieBound,Barnes & Noble Nook,Smashwords.com,Half.com and others which I set on this page
https://www.goodreads.com/work/compar...
Adding sales links to the blurb is not allowed. You can have sales links on your author page blurb.
You can contact Customer Support for any reason.
EDIT: Rivka types faster than me but I think we covered all the points without disagreement.
Mod
I think so. And yours was funnier.
rivka wrote: "Banjomike wrote: "Rivka types faster than me but I think we covered all the points without disagreement."I think so. And yours was funnier."
Have a good Christmas.
Mod
For starters, please look at the ebook edition of my new book, The Dawn of Global Sense, which incorrectly lists the publisher as Media Visions Press. The actual publisher is Hoku House.
Further, the ebook edition page wrongly lists Thomas Paine as the "original author" where the listing instead should say "based on a book by Thomas Paine" or more truly "inspired by Thomas Paine" -- if Paine is even listed at all. (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...)
The print book edition page correctly identifies the publisher as Hoku House, thankfully, but it wrongly lists the name of the foreword author as "Dr. Vanda Shiva" where the actual name of this famous person is Dr. Vandana Shiva. Thomas Paine is not shown at all in the book credits, neither accurately nor inaccurately. (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...)
My prior attempts to fix mistaken metadata errors were rejected, and I learned that such changes must be done by a librarian not affiliated with the book. I fully appreciate the integrity behind this policy. So, the best alternative is to invite a librarian to make the changes on my behalf.
If you are a librarian willing to make my metadata changes, please let me know.
If you are a Goodreads author needing a librarian to make metadata changes on your titles, please post a request under this thread, which I hope becomes an ongoing way we can help one another.
Thanks and blessings
Judah Freed
Goodreads Author