THE Group for Authors! discussion

I just need some help in clarifying something. In order for a NEW author to claim their GR author profile, does anyone know if they *must* provide a link to their published or up-for-preorder book? And if they don't have it up for pre-order yet, will having an ISBN work? Or do they simply have to wait until the first book has gone through the entire publishing process?

Thank you! I'm trying to help 3 authors who are excited about joining the GR author community to claim their author profiles. Two have already attempted to do so (one over a month ago), and one was confused about possibly having to give a link to a book that's not published yet, so she didn't complete the process.

I sent the question to the 'contact us' GR link, but I'd like to be able to interact with someone in case I have further questions.

Hi Renee! We can only approve authors who can provide proof that their book has been, or will be, published. The best way to do this is for the author to provide a link to a publisher site (such as Amazon, Createspace, Smashwords, etc.) that confirms their book(s) are published, or, are to be published.

When applying to claim an author profile, it's best to provide as much information as possible. Links to blogs, Facebook/Instagram author pages, write-ups about the book etc. are all welcome! This way there's a higher chance of the approval being successful.

I hope this helps!

Shaun wrote: "Hi Renee! We can only approve authors who can provide proof that their book has been, or will be, published. The best way to do this is for the author to provide a link to a publisher site (such as..."

Yes, thank you--we all saw this. But since that paragraph says 'the BEST way', we wondered what other way there might be (like possibly providing an ISBN#).

I'm assuming providing a link is actually the only way, so I'll tell them they can't claim their GR profile until they have a link to either a pre-order or a published book that they can provide.

Hi Renee! In short, yes — we'd need a link. 😊

An ISBN alone is not proof enough as books may get assigned ISBN during publishing process, but then never get released.

I hope this info helps!