Authors with Initials

[K.Z.]

Hi, all! A reader just brought an ongoing problem to my attention. Those of us writers who use initials in our author names are often plagued by a lack of cross-referencing for our titles. Periods and spaces, or lack thereof, seem to throw off the search function.

So . . . how can I standardize my author name on ALL my book listings? I do have librarian status. Must I make the changes manually, title by title, or is there a more streamlined method? Thanks!

[Paula]

GR policy is to use periods between initials. If your books get added manually or via imports with no periods or wrongly spelt the author profiles can be merged. Merging is the easiest way but must be done by a GR Employee if one of the authors is a GR Author.

There is a specific thread for requesting this be done:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...

If none of the author profiles are GR Authors then any librarian can merge profiles.

Merging is preferred since it will merge fans and quotes to the correct profile

Edit: If only a few books belong to another author not all the books on a author profile then each book will need to be changed separately.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Paula wrote: "GR policy is to use periods between initials."

And no space.

[K.Z.]

Thank you! I'm off to request a merge.

[Janice]

I have a question about GR policy about using periods between initials and NO SPACE. I wonder why that is true when all major style guides MLA, APA and Chicago require space after initial.

Doesn't that create issues, as most publishers would follow one of those guides?

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Actually, books importing from various sources import with all sorts of inconsistent spacing/periods -- including, often, the same author from the same import source. Regardless, we have to edit many of them.

This policy was set several years ago by our content editing team.

[Shannon]

Sorry, I did try to find an answer to this first, but couldn't seem to find any other examples.

Found this author, Scott Campbell (Scott C), and the book he's written, he's actually listed as Scott C., not Campbell. It's like that on the book's cover and inside as well.

So how do we handle an author that uses an initial for their last name?

[Vicky]

If that is the name the author uses on the book, we treat it as though it is a pseudonym. In this case, Scott C. would be fine.