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ATTN: Authors with Kindle and Createspace Books

Got a question/comment about the business of writing or about the publishing industry? Here's your place to post it!
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Misfit
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ATTN: Authors with Kindle and Createspace Books

Post by Misfit » Sat January 28th, 2012, 2:08 pm

On January 30, 2012 Amazon is no longer going to allow Goodreads to source them as a data source for books. There are have several discussion threads at the librarians groupand librarians have been working hard the last week to save as many *in need of rescue* books as we can. As I understand the facts, at first Amazon was going to continue to allow the sourcing for ebooks to continue, but apparently now they are not.

The staff at Goodreads really can't say much of what's going on behind the scenes, but considering the popularity of Goodreads and that Amazon owns Shelfari, they must want to make things difficult. Bad move IMO, but it's a done deal and there may be many Kindle books in need of rescuing.

To make this as simple as I understand the facts (please correct me if I've got it wrong) - book info on Goodreads cannot come from a book seller site, specifically not Amazon. It must come from another source, i.e. Author/publisher website, library website, etc. - but then many self-published/smaller press books aren't going to be that easy to fix.

A reader can add their own book data if a reader owns the copy, but then again getting the cover from a source outside of Amazon, let alone the page count and book description, publisher info, etc. World Cat is a great source for book info, but then again the self-published ebooks aren't going to be there. Authors, this means we need your help. If you are already on Goodreads as an author I believe they are going to send out an email. If you aren't, please sign up and check your book(s) and get them rescued!

If you need help getting your book rescued, the best place for answers is at the threads at the librarian's group. Goodreads officials are monitoring them and answering questions as best as they can.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Sat January 28th, 2012, 7:26 pm

I usually upload all my own information anyway.

This is just another way Amazon stinks with regard to books.

SGM
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Post by SGM » Sun January 29th, 2012, 10:28 am

i ususally load my own books too. I got the email and did log in and have a look but I am either not reading the instructions correctly or none of my books need rescuing.

I have to say that quite a bit of the information I came across for the older OOP didn't seem correct anyway which I find unusual because I quite often have to go to Amazon for details of books when I can't find them on some of the online catalogues I use.
Currently reading - Emergence of a Nation State by Alan Smith

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Sun January 29th, 2012, 4:26 pm

I had mine all completed (or the books I cared about), but this morning a bunch of new e-books showed up. I suspect the smaller/indie authors might suffer from this.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Mon January 30th, 2012, 1:44 am

FYI, it appears the Amazon plug has been pulled and despite advance warnings, many Kindle editions are missing covers and jacket blurbs. Librarians are pulling their hair out and waiting for the dust to settle.

Authors, please - go to GR and check your book page and see what you can do to fix the data. Thank you.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Mythica
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Post by Mythica » Mon January 30th, 2012, 12:56 pm

I've just applied to be a librarian so I can help add book covers and such. The problem is, the book covers can't even come from another source which originally got the image from Amazon! So you have to be careful where you find the image and this is especially problematic with Kindle books - because they ARE Amazon books so unless the author or publisher supplies the image on their website, we're screwed. We can't even scan the book if we own it because we don't have a physical cover to scan. It's so annoying, if I weren't already invested in Kindle, I'd be boycotting Amazon.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Mon January 30th, 2012, 3:56 pm

There's been some announcement this morning that they're still merging data from another source and it may take a few days to get it all in, so no panicking yet. I'm doing a little *housecleaning* this morning on my books, but not every author has a website with book info :confused: :mad:

If you have the Kindle PC app, you can view the cover on screen and take a screenshot, save it and upload it. I can't see how that is any different than scanning a cover for a dead tree book.
At home with a good book and the cat...
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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Mon January 30th, 2012, 5:25 pm

[quote=""Mythica""]... if I weren't already invested in Kindle, I'd be boycotting Amazon.[/quote]

That's what I'm doing with regard to books. I won't even buy used books through Ammy anymore. If I could get by without them at all I would, but they're still one of the best sources for gluten free foods in bulk.

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Mythica
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Post by Mythica » Tue January 31st, 2012, 11:51 am

[quote=""Misfit""]
If you have the Kindle PC app, you can view the cover on screen and take a screenshot, save it and upload it. I can't see how that is any different than scanning a cover for a dead tree book.[/quote]

That's a great idea, I just tried in Kindle Cloud Reader - here's hoping that's acceptable!

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Tue January 31st, 2012, 3:25 pm

[quote=""Mythica""]That's a great idea, I just tried in Kindle Cloud Reader - here's hoping that's acceptable![/quote]

I've been hearing that screenshots are OK of books that you physically own, as are scans of *real books*. I have noticed the updates are beginning to roll in and some kindle covers have returned.

The librarian status is handy to have. I pick up a lot of old OOP (or I get them from the library) and I like to correct page count, get a cover and add the jacket blurb. Much easier to do it myself than having to go to the librarian group and ask someone to handle it.

Series are easy to set up as well, I like that feature on GR and one you won't find at Amazon.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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