Separating an expanded edition

[Julie]

I'm working with author Charles de Lint to clean up some of his book listings here and I've found a problem I can't untangle. There is an older (2002) version of Seven Wild Sisters (Subterranean Press 9781931081337) that is substantially different (~100 pages shorter, heavily edited content) than Seven Wild Sisters: A Modern Fairy Tale, the 2014 Little, Brown edition (978-0316053563 hb, 978-0316053525 pb). These two editions are combined on GR, but the content and audience are absolutely distinct--they are similar, but they are NOT the same book, nor are they simply different editions of the same book.

I'm not able to separate them because the older Subterranean version is listed as the most popular edition. Suggestions?

[Krazykiwi]

Use the mass separate tool and pull of all the other editions instead

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Do both of the editions contain the author's original text, just one is abridged?

[Krazykiwi]

Oops, tablet typing, that cut of on me. It's the separate link to the right, and the most popular edition does not show on the listing when you do it this way, so in this case you can probably literally select al the others.

[Melanti]

Julie, I've read both versions. Despite the drastic difference in number of pages, they're more or less the same book.

I had the two books side by side, comparing and text-wise, they only differ by a handful of pages and double the amount of drawings. Certainly not enough of a difference to meet the 15% rule of thumb we use in Goodreads.

Oddly enough, the one that is ~100 pages shorter actually has MORE content, not less.

I discuss the differences between the two versions on this thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Julie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Do both of the editions contain the author's original text, just one is abridged?"

They are both original, and neither is actually abridged. The first (Sub Press edition) was written for an adult audience, the Little, Brown edition was expanded but also heavily edited and published for a middle grade audience. So...two different versions.

[Julie]

Melanti wrote: "Julie, I've read both versions. Despite the drastic difference in number of pages, they're more or less the same book.

I had the two books side by side, comparing and text-wise, they only differ b..."

Hi Melanti and thanks for the link to your previous discussion--very interesting to see the changes laid out. I've read both versions too and while I agree that the story is basically the same, it's Charles himself that was concerned with the two versions being squashed into one listing. I think the concern is the different audiences that the two versions were published for. Now I'm not sure if it's enough to separate them out, though...

[Melanti]

I don't think it's drastic enough to separate them... Yes, it kind of sucks that the Subterranean Press edition is the default since it's the limited edition version that almost no one has, but I don't think the differences are enough to warrent a new edition.

From what I can recall, there was maybe 5 pages of content added in ("expanded" is a drastic overstatement) and probably about 5 continuous pages deleted from the epilogue and half a dozen half-page passages scattered throughout the book... The rest of the deletions were individual sentences or paragraphs.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

You can think of books that have a Norton Critical Edition that are combined with the original, as well as abridged editions that are combined with the original. I don't see how this situation is different than those, so that these editions should remain combined.

[Krazykiwi]

In that case, I'd say make liberal use of the edition field as well ("Expanded and Revised Edition" vs "Abridged, Young Readers Edition" or something that style perhaps?) It doesn't necessarily have to be an edition as printed on the frontispiece, to put something in that field.

And definitely have Mr de Lint claim his profile, so that the default versions of the books can be set.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Krazykiwi wrote: "In that case, I'd say make liberal use of the edition field as well ("Expanded and Revised Edition" vs "Abridged, Young Readers Edition" or something that style perhaps?) It doesn't necessarily have to be an edition as printed on the frontispiece, to put something in that field.

And definitely have Mr de Lint claim his profile, so that the default versions of the books can be set."

Both good ideas.

[Julie]

THANK YOU all for the input and suggestions. I'll keep the various versions combined, make liberal use of the edition field, and I've encouraged Charles to become a Goodreads author so he can set the default version.

Thank you!

[Susan]

but... if we combine these wouldn't we also have to combine the GN version of Neil Gaiman's Stardust with the novel -- they're the same story, but they're DIFFERENT

[lethe]

Susan wrote: "but... if we combine these wouldn't we also have to combine the GN version of Neil Gaiman's Stardust with the novel -- they're the same story, but they're DIFFERENT"

You cannot compare expanded editions to graphic-novel versions. Graphic-novel versions are adaptations (usually, but not always, by different artists than the original author), and they should always be separate from the original work.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Susan wrote: "but... if we combine these wouldn't we also have to combine the GN version of Neil Gaiman's Stardust with the novel -- they're the same story, but they're DIFFERENT"

Unlike graphic novels, Stardust is the same text in both illustrated versions and non-. And the illustrated ones came first, unlike graphic novel adaptations of other novels.

The different editions of Stardust are correctly combined. However, as noted above, that would not apply to graphic novel adaptions.

[Melanti]

Could you please explain what you feel is new content in the middle grade version?

This is NOTHING like comparing a graphic novel to a full length book.

As I said previously, much of this is identical.
Additional graphics and a handful of pages does not make this expanded, IMO.

There's a handful of new paragraphs (and also quite a few missing ones) and variation on word choice. But it's the same book.