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Policies & Practices > Welcome to Night Vale 'Condos' - why did my bought episode got deleted again?

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message 1: by Lucas (new)

Lucas | 6 comments Hi folks.

I got a question.

I know that the Welcome to Night Vale Podcast has no home on Goodreads because it is an ongoing podcast (read: unfinished), it's not commercial, it doesn't have an ISBN and it would make it hard to draw a line why you might allow one podcast but not another.

I did find that argument, once, upon a time.

What I don't understand is why my favorite Episode - Condos - keeps getting deleted along with it.

I bought it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Condos-Live-at-...
It has an ASIN
It's not really different from an audio book.

And - in my humble opinion - it is the best episode they ever made.

As a fan i want this one episode on Goodreads. And I don't understand why it just got deleted for the second time. It does have an ASIN after all. I would have thought that made it okay...


message 2: by Renske (new)

Renske | 12222 comments This is what Rivka answered to a question about that

"Are we counting podcasts as audio books?"

Generally no, unless they are audiobooks of print/ebooks (or shorts thereof).



message 3: by Lucas (new)

Lucas | 6 comments It is a commercial product.

(And there are more than enough audio books that don't have a counter part in print.)

And this isn't the podcast itself.
It is a single, buy-able episode. A live recording of a show. And as I said: a fan-favorite.

It plays in the same universe. But to me - from a media-standpoint - the podcast and a buy-able bonus-episode are two different things.


message 4: by Renske (new)

Renske | 12222 comments The popularity makes no difference whether something is a book according to our policies or not.


message 5: by Lucas (new)

Lucas | 6 comments which is a non argument which takes the easy way out without answering my questions.

Seriously, I got a media-something-degree and as far as I know podcast is a rather... flexible term, to put it mildly. At the very least it lacks a definition anyone can agree on... or at least it used to, when I looked at it about five years ago.

There are TONS of audio books - Batman, half of Paul Temple, Cabin Pressure, most of the newer Sherlock Holmes stuff - that have no written book as a basis. (Come to think of it, most of the audio books based on comics and movies.)

And all that stuff still gets cheerfully added, because it has an ASIN, it fits a very mushy term called "media", because it may or may not have originated with radio and because - quite frankly - it is a way to stay in touch with media for the visually impaired. (Something that does concern me personally) And some people like being read to and still consider that they now know the book.

Reading, books and podcasts are all very flexible terms to me.

And I mean:
it is not the entire nightvale podcast with its... I don't know, close to 80 episodes by now?
It is a commercial (!) bonus. It is a live recording of a special tour they made, giving a live reading, recording it for the fans who couldn't make it. (or who simply live on a different continent.)
It is a commercial product with it's own ASIN. Something a podcast usually doesn't have.

And to me it is still unclear where the line gets drawn.

Why all the audio CDs but not this commercial bonus, that is related to the podcast, plays in the same universe, but is not necessarily needed to follow the ongoing series?

After all it is a commercial bonus (which in my eyes qualifies it as an audio book), hoping to find an audience that is willing to part with a few bucks because they know the origin...

I am not asking about the entire podcast.
I am asking about this particular episode.

Why doesn't it qualify?


message 6: by Lucas (new)

Lucas | 6 comments (You don't have to type an explanation, if you want you can just link me to some argument that covered this before but actually explains the difference...)


message 7: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl "Theatrical production recordings" are not books according to the NOT A BOOK author profile.


message 8: by Lucas (new)

Lucas | 6 comments And I just spend a good 15 minutes trying to find that list.
Can you by any chance link it for me?


message 9: by Renske (new)

Renske | 12222 comments Here is the Not a Book part of the manual https://www.goodreads.com/help/show/1...


message 10: by Lucas (new)

Lucas | 6 comments Thank you


message 11: by lethe (new)

lethe | 16359 comments Reading through this discussion, I too find the distinction very muddled. Does this https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... qualify as a book and if yes, what is the difference with the Condos episode?


message 12: by rivka, Former Moderator (new)

rivka | 45177 comments Mod
No, it does not. NAB pending.


message 13: by lethe (new)

lethe | 16359 comments Thanks, rivka.


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