Kindly create "Castle of Horror Anthology" Series

[Jason]

Hi there-- if you'd be so kind as to create a series, the following two books are in a series called "Castle of Horror Anthology"
Volume One: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Volume Two: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Weirdly it looks like there are duplicates...
There are two entries for Volume One:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

And two for Volume Two:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Thanks for your help in combining these duplicates and creating a series!

[rivka, Former Moderator]

To be a series on Goodreads, books need to have more than a common theme -- like characters in common, an overarching storyline, a shared universe, etc. What makes this a series?

[Jason]

Great question. These are anthologies, like the series Scary Stories (https://www.goodreads.com/series/7881...) and the Year's Best Horror Stories series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/9924...

Here, they are a titled series of anthologies edited by the same people every time-- that's why they're even titled "Castle of Horror Anthology" Volume One, Volume Two, and soon Volume Three.

It's likely that someone who got Volume Two would assume there's a Volume One. I think it's not illogical to think of it as in fact a series brought together by title and brand, like the two examples, which is why they do in fact bear a series title and branding.

Let me know if that helps!

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Jason wrote: "These are anthologies, like the series Scary Stories (https://www.goodreads.com/series/7881...) and the Year's Best Horror Stories series: https://www.goodreads.com/seri..."

At first glance, neither of those meets our criteria for being a series either, although someone more familiar with them should take a look.

[Jason]

I hear you, either there's such a thing as an anthology series (like "Scary Stories") or there isn't. Can't wait to hear what you decide!

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Jason wrote: "either there's such a thing as an anthology series or there isn't."

Oh, there isn't, at least on Goodreads. However, on occasion such anthologies also all have stories sets in a common shared world. That does not seem to be the case for any of these, but before deleting the series that have already been created, I'd like some Goodreads Librarians who are familiar with those works to take a look.

[Jason]

Did anyone else want to weigh in on this? Maybe this (anthology series) is a new rule?
Incidentally I thought of another example: Chicken Soup for the Soul series https://www.goodreads.com/series/2451...

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Jason wrote: "Maybe this (anthology series) is a new rule?"

The rules about what does and does not qualify for inclusion as a Goodreads series have been unchanged for quite a few years.


Andrew wrote: "Chicken Soup wouldn't meet GR series requirements"

Correct. And gone.

[Scott]

Neither Schwartz's Scary Stories or Year's Best horror are series by GR standards.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Scott wrote: "Neither Schwartz's Scary Stories or Year's Best horror are series by GR standards."

You have read some/all of both sets of books?

[Scott]

Some of both, yes.

Scary Stories is just collections of scary stories, no connections between them.

Year's Best Horror collects horror stories from various sources in each year, again no connections.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Thanks for confirming.

[Jason]

Hi guys-
This is totally not my call but:
I am okay if you don't give me a "series" nomenclature, but please don't un-series Scary Stories-- readers will definitely rely on this and the site would be actually making it harder to find the books they want. That makes less sense than leaving it. I really urge you-- knowing that of course it's not my place-- to not un-series such a popular series.

[Scott]

Jason wrote: "Hi guys-
This is totally not my call but:
I am okay if you don't give me a "series" nomenclature, but please don't un-series Scary Stories-- readers will definitely rely on this and the site would ..."

They can always click on his name. They are the top books on his profile.

[Jason]

Right-- and again this is your playground so, all good, but-- I'm not entirely sure that this rule is as helpful as it could be when those series (Chicken Soup, Scary Stories, Year's Best) are clearly series in the sense that they share a title, branding, editors... Does this rule *feel* right to you? Or does it seem to be missing something?

[Emy]

If one wanted to get very technical, the ones which are being debated would be better defined as serials not series. They currently fall into an area where they are neither series nor truly accurately placed under Listopia. While it would be nice if the developers could add a serials function, I feel it's not particularly beneficial compared to other developments. Listopia is probably the better place for these until or unless another function is added to encompass the concept of associated-but-not-linked.

[Jason]

OK now I think we might be getting somewhere, if the request is for a feature for a serials, then that means we could or I could start hitting up the product managers of the actual product. Who would email to find a product manager for goodreads?

[Emily]

The links to Goodreads Help and "Contact Us" are in the description of this group.

[Jason]

thanks!