Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
Book Cover Help
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Please replace existing cover

I'm hopeless!

here is the link to the Alternate Cover Edition.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
changing the cover of an existing edition is a violation of Goodreads policy. Some people may have added the existing edition with that specific cover because it is the one they own. So for this reason an Alternate Cover Edition(ACE) for the new cover of the book. If it has the same Isbn(ASIN) numbers.
THanks!



Was there only supposed to be one edition back in February?

The new cover was added today by me. I had no idea that Amazon upload editions?


OK, I merged both February editions and Aakash added an edition with the new cover: https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...
You can choose to make the new edition the default, see here: https://www.goodreads.com/help/show/3...
@Aakash, you did everything right and it's looking good now :)

Won't that lead to confusion for potential reviewers, not to mention untidy and slightly unprofessional. It's the same book with a different cover that's all.


Umm... No it won't lead to any confusion the reader will select the book with the cover they have and as far as the rating and reviews are concerned. Their ratings and reviews will be shown combine.
Follow the link provided by lethe.

Confused? You will be, just try and change the cover for you book!

Won't that lead to confusion for potential reviewers, not to mention untidy and slightly unprofessional. It's the same book with a different cover that's all."
Because goodreads keeps all editions of a published book, even if not currently in print. No product pages here (showing just what is currently for sale) only book data.
Some readers won't care and will choose whatever edition (usually the currently for sale one) an author sets as the default edition.
Others care to shelve exact edition they own and consider it vandalizing their book catalog/shelves whenever someone changes cover, isbn or other editions on them.
Just because amazon kindle and other ereader services offer an option to automatically update your book when there is a new edition (even if just a bookcover change) doesn't mean all readers turn that option on. If they want to keep the older edition they sampled/own/read/categorized, goodreads let's them even if it means upsetting authors who want goodreads to only match their product pages.
Others even if not shelving or owning an edition may have used it in goodreads activities using books that might have criteria set to require certain things about the book cover (a listopia of bookcovers showing dragons, red bookcovers, etc.; group challenges and games -- which incidentally often require reading and reviewing the book so generally something authors like -- where readers need an "orange" cover or a cover with a person's head cut off). Change their qualifying bookcover to a disqualified bookcover ... again, they consider it vandalizing.
Yank a bookcover away from a reader using and some consider it just like going into their house and stealing the first/older edition they own ...

Goodreads sees it as trying to change the cover of a published book that may already be in use on the site.
It's only confusing if you expect to have product pages here only showing what is currently for sale. Or if you don't obtain a new isbn/asin/bnid when creating a new cover edition.
It's also one of the very rare FAQs on the goodreads site (see top of these discussions for brief Author FAQs).
And choosing which edition/cover is the featured/default/primary one is one of the few things with book data a librarian cannot do. Either an author sets it or goodreads just uses the most popular edition on search results, author pages, series info, etc.
[If an author doesn't want a published bookcover to show, just set the one they do want as the primary. That means doesn't bother/anger anyone using (or wanting to seek out and use) the other bookcover by replacing "their" cover on them and having their goodreads experience soure--while readers not using the older cover will only see the one author selected (unless deliberately looking for or at other editions).]
ETA: in hopes of better clarity. Incidentally, the changing bookcovers but re-using same isbn/asin is something predominantly done in the self-publishing sector.

I would be one of those people :)
D.A. - missing my author friends lost to new follow button issues wrote: "Incidentally, the changing bookcovers but re-using same isbn/asin is something predominantly done in the self-publishing sector."
Don't forget publishers of mass-market paperbacks.

Nah. Almost always the mass markets change isbn numbers when cover changes--unless sometimes several "collectible" covers release at exact same time (starting to happen more often now that the self-publishing manage to do it but still very rare before the 21st century that new cover didn't equal new id numbers).

https://www.goodreads.com/help/show/3...


--i mean a different cover for the same isbn# or asin# of course.


Presuming that applies to the first ever Kindle release of a book (9/15/2015), then Dealing with Dragons, ASIN# B00QPHX2U2, should have it's cover replaced with the one displayed on Amazon (here: http://www.amazon.com/Dealing-Dragons...).


Thanks, Lethe. I've set it now.
Thanks, DA.

Except the first ever kindle edition is not an unreleased/unpublished edition -- it was released/published for sale/download/preorder on amazon.com. Amazon.com has product pages for published kindle editions currently for sale/download; goodreads has book data pages for all editions of a work even if no longer available.
Setting the alternate/new cover edition with the bookcover matching current product pages as your featured/primary/default edition effectively hides the older, no longer available covers from new readers not deliberately seeking them out without bothering the bookshelves and other activities of others who may have used, read or own the defunct edition.

But the expected publishing date isn't until September, and the image added by someone clearly is of a (print) book.
I never know what to do in these cases, argh.

But the expected publishing date isn't until September, and the image added by someone clearly is of a (print) book.
I never know what to do in these cases, argh."
If the image added is clearly of a print book and not of that edition -- then, a librarian can delete or replace it with the bookcover of that edition.
Wrong covers can be corrected. Outdated covers no longer matching what shows on product pages get kept and a new alternate cover edition gets made to match product page.

If it really is that simple, I can finally replace the cover of a book I own that was given the cover of an edition that wasn't published until 20+ years later.

If the edition published 20 years later has no cover image, make sure to save image before deleting so you can move it to the correct edition.
I don't think it's exactly a rule/policy; but, I'd make sure to add a comment (or even a librarian's note) to explain to staff and to next librarian editing about the cover change. Many get so used to just revoking cover changes automatically when there's no explanation ...it's been a few years since I was a goodreads librarian so feel free to ask Rivka or others. Used to be any changes with isbn/asin or bookcovers, they did want explanations noted (and it was never wrong to explain any changes).

'...looks like there were two Kindle editions added in February, one by you and one by Amazon...'
Ive always added my own books but is this unnecessary now?
Thanks


The cover is on the correct edition as well. I have brought it up several times, before and after BGLS (being granted librarian status):
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Rivka said 'I would add an ACE', but she also said only to replace covers you're very sure of, which I am in this case.

GR uses several import bots, one of them Amazon. I don't know how they work exactly, but for your next book you could wait and see if it's added by Amazon, and if it's not, you can do so yourself.
Back in February, Amazon added the book one day after you did.


the isbn on Goodreads was incorrect, missing the last 3 digits.
When adding a book, make sure the isbn13 is in the isbn13 field, not in the isbn-10 field.
Added cover from Amazon
Edit: link to edition https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

GR uses several import bots, one of them Amazon. I don't know how they work exactly, but for your next book you could wait and see if it's added by Amazon, and if it's not, you can do so..."
Thanks, Lethe, you've been really helpful.

Also, another not yet published kindle edition, Searching for Dragons ASIN# B00QPHNUGS, has been given an old cover - in this case that of an old audiobook version. Amazon has yet to put up a cover though (here: http://www.amazon.com/Searching-Drago...).
Books mentioned in this topic
Searching for Dragons (other topics)Dealing with Dragons (other topics)
Dealing with Dragons (other topics)
Beneath the Boards (other topics)
The new cover is here :
https://d.gr-assets.com/photos/142885...
Is this okay?