standard for rewritten books?

[willaful]

I'm wondering how to indicate that one book is a rewritten version of another (rather than just a retitled edition that should be combined.)

[Lisa]

If you're trying to prevent a book being combined with a different book, but it has the same or similar title, if the content is truly different, a librarians' note can be made on the edition asking that it not be combined with the other conditions and giving the reason. If a librarian goes to edit at the book page, the make a librarian note link is near top left above the book information. Clicking in it will open a test box such as these comment boxes. The librarian who makes such a note will be linked with the comment.

[willaful]

It's not that the books have the same title, it's that one is a rewritten (and retitled) version of the other. My understanding was that editions that are substantially different shouldn't be combined. But it seems like there should be some way to note the rewrite for readers.

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

You can edit the book description.

[Todd]

Like it is a translated version?

[willaful]

Nikki - is that the established standard, or just a suggestion?

Todd - I'm talking about an old book, which was rewritten/expanded by the original author and then published as a new book with a different title. It's fairly common in the romance genre, I guess less common in other genres since it seems to be an unfamiliar concept.

[Lisa]

You can write librarians' notes on each book and say why they should not be combined, if in fact someone has been combining them incorrectly.

Which books are you talking about?

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

It was more in the nature of a suggestion.

It happens sometime in SF/F too. C.J. Cherryh's Faery Moon is a revision of Faery in Shadow, and Marion Zimmer Bradley did this at least once. The Sword of Aldones was re-written as Sharra's Exile.

[willaful]

No one has combined them; I just think it's information that readers want to know.

Though I did come across a similar instance in which the books have been combined and should probably be separated. I happen to own both books and they're substantially different: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95...

[This Is Not The Michael You're Looking For]

It seems to be a book-by-book basis. The standard for textbooks *IS* to combine different editions, even though these may be dramatically rewritten. Generally, "expanded and revised" editions are also combined.

Rewritten fiction gets a bit dicier and we've never had a set standard and I'm not sure there can be one. Another general example beyond those mentioned would be cases where a short novella gets turned into a novel. Another specific example which generated a short discussion here (if the search was working...) was Lies, Inc. by Philip K. Dick.

At this point, the issue probably needs to be treated on a case-by-case basis. I'm not sure one can set a standard for this.

[Carolyn]

that wench willaful wrote: "No one has combined them; I just think it's information that readers want to know."

I think the key here is that you're looking to let readers know when it's a revised/rewritten/expanded book, yes?

If that's the case, regardless of whether the book is combined or not, on that specific edition's book page you can edit the description to add a sentence at the bottom stating the information. Something like "Faery Moon is a revision/expansion of the original novella Faery in Shadow." (I'm just making this up, for example's sake = )

I know, as a reader, that I appreciate getting that kind of information when I'm looking at an author's books.

[Sandra]

Carolyn, I always find that information very useful. For those people that don't scroll down to the bottom of the description - I always list it at the top.