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Kindle/Audible ACE Creation No Longer Functioning?
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Drace
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Nov 03, 2025 02:47PM
A while ago I started a thread to clean up a specific book that got a bunch of ACEs in 2024. When a librarian finished (most of) the thread up today, they informed me that they were unable to create ACEs for Kindle or Audible editions of the book. Is this a new issue tied into Goodreads staff suddenly deciding to lock Kindle/Audible editions down from certain types of editing? If so, how are ACEs supposed to get created? (I know contacting staff is an option, but in previous dealings they have seriously mishandled ACEs, so I'd rather avoid that if possible.)
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We are supposed to change the cover to the new one. We are given the option to create an ACE using ebook/audiobook as the format. The bots started turning the prior Kindle ACEs into ebooks last November. So, basically the reverse of what they were doing back in December 2023. I am still finding ebooks they changed to Kindles. Those are mostly school books.I have seen where many librarians just don't bother creating the ACEs. I can see both sides of this. People who have the default option turned on for their Kindle will have the new cover automatically updated the next time they open their book. I knew this was a thing and didn't really care...until a book that I had bought back in 2017 was showing a cover that looked nothing like anything I would bother reading. Yuck.
Then you have people who have their Kindles set to only update when they tell it to do so. Those are the ones that ACEs will benefit. I will be surprised if that option isn't taken away at some point. Who knows, maybe the newer models are already there.
Drace, earlier I came upon a discussion you had with someone about The Power Broker. I read the article that you linked there. It was very interesting. Well, I went to the book and it is now LEGALLY on Kindle. I used the sample feature and the normal legalese is there. I didn't touch the bad ones since I don't want to risk my status. It irks me that those jackanapes get away with so much crap. Of course, that has always been the way. The fake books are no different than the knock-off watches and purses. And don't even get me started on the public domain rot. I don't care if the writer is long dead. The material should still be treated with respect.
In the case of the books that my thread was for, the new ACEs added brand new introductions by other authors, so I figured creating ACEs would be best. If just changing the cover art is the new policy, good to know, I'll keep that in mind for future threads. Is it possible for librarians to handle the cover art changes, or is it only staff?
We handle it. Unless, of course, it has the warning about it being set by the system. Those started appearing around the beginning of the year. I've seen them in maybe 5% of the books. I expect that number will increase greatly.
Thank you for the clarification. Would it be alright to post the ACEs that need to be created in this thread, or link you to the thread I already have up for them?
I don't handle most requests. My preference is cleaning up specific authors. My project file has over 200 names - that is SIMILAR names pages. I learned that a while back that the system only displays 500 at a time. Yeah, there are some very painful ones waiting for me. Since I check every single edition, you can imagine how long it takes.Here is the link that Jaclyn made about the policy:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Add that to any request. Again, I wouldn't expect many to do ACEs, but they should definitely update the covers.
