Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

Hello,

Someone just brought to my attention that the cover image for the Kindle edition of my book A Damaged Mirror, is incorrect. The one that is showing is actually a "placeholder" graphic and was never assigned to an actual book. The correct image is visible here https://www.amazon.com/Damaged-Mirror...

When I google the book, the image the comes up as the default is also the placeholder graphic and not the real cover. Is it possible to:

1) delete the placeholder so that it will no longer , and

2) allow me to upload the actual Kindle cover?

Thanks!

-Yael Shahar

Yael, did any copies go out with the placeholder cover? This would include Advance Reader Copies, whether print or electronic, if they included that cover.

No, that image was never used, other than on social media and as a placeholder some months before the book was printed. I'd really like to get rid of it, if possible, as it was never meant to be anything other than a concept study for the cover (there are also different quality images of the actual cover, each listed as a separate book, but we can live with that).

Which is the one that should be deleted? I see 4 different covers on the editions (different typography): https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...

This is the correct one: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

The hardcover has the same cover as the paperback, but the Kindle edition has this cover: https://www.amazon.com/Damaged-Mirror...

I have the Kindle cover in tiff, jpg, and png. Is there a way I can send that to you? I don't see a way to attach files here.

Yael, copy the correct cover to your photo section of your profile. Librarians can pick it up from there.

Will do that now! Thanks!

OK I've added the correct file to my Author Profile section. Is there any way of getting rid of the old design concept photo? It was never used on any actual book, and it keeps showing up as the default in Google searches.

Just to be sure my answer to Lethe's question was clear, this is the version that should be the default:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

And these are the ones that should be deleted:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

In addition, the cover image of the Kindle edition should be this photo:
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/autho...

Thank you so much for helping me out here!

-Yael

I understood that only one Kindle cover should be replaced, but now you're asking for the deletion of other covers as well. I'm not comfortable doing that. One is an alternative cover edition added in February 2014!

I found this old thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

You mention there that one cover was uploaded pre-publication and the one it was published with is much clearer. I don't know if you were talking about the same Kindle edition, but if you could point us to the undistributed pre-publication cover, I think we could change that one (pointing us to the correct cover doesn't help, because as I said, there are about 4 different covers on those editions).

This is the only one that has the actual cover:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

All the others use the pre-publication cover, which I would really like to have deleted. It was never used on any printed book or ebook. These are not in fact separate editions of the book; they are simply attempts to get rid of the pre-publication cover.

Meanwhile, the Kindle cover is the one I uploaded to the author profile, which can also be seen here: https://www.amazon.com/Damaged-Mirror...

One reason I would like to get rid of the pre-publication graphic is that it's showing up as the default for Google searches of the book. It was never meant to be used as a cover, but only as a design study. Is there any way to get rid of it?

Ooops! Correction: I was looking at the thumbnails and thinking they were all using the pre-publication cover. I see that some of them use the actual cover of the first edition, and only one has the pre-publication cover. That is this one:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Is there a way to delete this edition, and have the current edition be the default?

Also, is there any way to change out the cover on the Kindle edition to the actual cover?

There are about 4 different versions of that cover and at least one of them was added as an alternative cover edition. I don't believe all those versions can be deleted.

Right, didn't see your latest comment. Pre-publication cover on the Kindle replaced: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

To set it as the default edition, see msg #4 in the Author FAQ: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

OK, even if we can just get rid of the pre-publication cover that would be very much appreciated. The first edition did indeed have a darker cover, so that's legit. But this one (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...) is simply not a real edition at all.

We cross-posted, see my updated comment :)

Thank you Lethe! Much better!

So now, only this one still has the bad cover: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Should that one have the same cover as the "new" Kindle edition, or should it be this one: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... ?

Now that's odd: the Kindle edition that you linked to above (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...) isn't showing in the book page, but this one with the wrong cover is showing instead.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Evidently there are multiple Kindle editions too... Very strange!

I think the Kindle editions should all have the same cover (the one you put on the new one).

Ah, I see you were asking about the old version with the placeholder, not the extra Kindle. I think the one with the bad cover can probably have the older cover (I don't like it as much as the newer paperback cover, but the first edition did have that rather dark cover). But do we really need two identical versions of the first edition?

Yael wrote: "I think the Kindle editions should all have the same cover (the one you put on the new one)."

According to the earlier thread (see msg #11), you said that this was the correct cover for both the paperback and the Kindle editions: http://www.damaged-mirror.com/wp-cont.... So the "alternative cover" edition that was added for the Kindle edition was in fact the replacement of the undistributed pre-publication cover, and should be the one with the ASIN in the ASIN field: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2....

So the cover I added yesterday is in fact not the first published cover for the Kindle edition, but an alternative cover edition for https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2.... Can you tell me when the "new" cover was published?

(This is getting more complicated by the minute. It also doesn't help that the default description says it's a "newly revised edition", so which one would be the first?)

Yael wrote: "Ah, I see you were asking about the old version with the placeholder, not the extra Kindle. I think the one with the bad cover can probably have the older cover (I don't like it as much as the newer paperback cover, but the first edition did have that rather dark cover). But do we really need two identical versions of the first edition?"

No, I was asking because if the cover on the "ACE" edition is in fact the proper first cover, both editions can be merged so only one paperback with that cover remains.

Edit: requested a merge here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hi Lethe,

Whew! I know what you mean by complicated! But I think what you wrote in your "merge request" has it all straight now.

Yes, the Kindle edition first came out with the same cover as the old paperback. It got the new cover when the second edition came out with Rav Cardozo's Foreword. So I can alter the descriptions to make that clear. Hopefully once the merge is done, the new Kindle edition will show on the book page instead of the old one (which is no longer available in any case).

Sorry about all the confusion. Thank you so much for having the patience to help straighten all this out!

Oh wow! I see that the merge is done and all looks good. That was fast!

Lethe, thank you so much for you help!

No, the paperback merge has not gone through yet. I just separated both editions in preparation for the merge by a superlibrarian.

And I haven't started yet on the Kindle editions. What is the publication date of the "new" Kindle edition (does not have to be exact)?

Oh, it looked like only the correct versions were showing.

I think that the newer Kindle edition came out the same time as the new paperback edition (March 2015). But it probably need not be exact.

Meanwhile, I did go in and change the descriptions, so that the first edition no longer says "Newly revise" but instead "First edition". And on the pre-publication cover, I added "Design study for cover". That should help in keeping things straight.

OK, I've corrected the Kindle editions. When the two paperback editions have been merged and recombined with the others, you can set the default edition to the one you want shown on your author page and in searches, see the link in msg #14.

We're getting there! :)

Yay! About setting the default edition, I didn't see that option where the instructions said it should be. But one bridge at a time!

Re: message #26: "I just separated both editions in preparation for the merge by a superlibrarian."

I've always suspected that somewhere, somehow, there existed librarians with superpowers. Finally, the truth is out there! ;-)

Yael wrote: "Yay! About setting the default edition, I didn't see that option where the instructions said it should be. But one bridge at a time!"

Oh, that is right. Only the primary author can set the default edition, so it needs to be done by Ovadya :-(

lethe wrote:
Oh, that is right. Only the primary author can se..."

Not a problem. I think I have the sign-in information somewhere. (Ovadya is listed as primary author in his memory, but he was no longer alive when the book was published.)

Oh, I am sorry.

In that case, would you mind reporting that to support (at) goodreads (dot) com, with proof of his passing? He is still listed as a GR author, that needs to be corrected: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

(Probably better wait until you have set the default edition.)

In that case, would you mind reporting that to support (at) goodreads (dot) com, with proof of his passing? He is still listed as a GR author, that needs to be corrected: ."

OK, let me see if I can get that straightened out (after setting the default edition). Maybe I should set myself as the primary author for these purposes. (I actually wrote the book, but included excerpts from Ovadya's journals and letters. It was important to me to have him listed as the main author.)

So I fixed the publication dates, and set myself as primary author on the default edition. One odd thing is that most of the reviews seem to have disappeared, but presumably that will get worked out once the merge happens. Making progress!

All editions of a work must have the same primary author -- whichever was first listed on the cover of the earliest edition.

Edited.

Thanks Rivka,

I'll make sure they are all the same in that case. The book has two authors, but one is deceased.

Yael, the superlibrarian in the 'merge' thread asked me to doublecheck with you what the correct publishing date is for the first edition paperback (with this cover: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...). She remembers there was a giveaway in March 2014, which might have influenced the pub date. See msg #341: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I believe that 14 March 2014 was the publishing date for the first edition. The first publicity and review copies started going out in January of that year, but as far as I know, the actual release date was in March.