Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

Now that we update Kindle covers how do we treat author names? If Kindle is the only edition and the author name is changed does the new name become the primary author?
I ask for this one
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Editing form isn't allowing me to add the new name even as secondary author

It allowed me to do it with the go-around.
Added author "123" and then changed the author name to "Jessie Cooke".

One of the supers told me about needing this. That time it was an anthology with two authors whose names were very similar.

I am surprised that the author in question here didn't claim the other profile as well. Most of their books are under the full name.

I saw where she created (wrongly) editions with the new covers and name.

Thanks, at least the name is added now.
I'm still keen to hear opinions on changing the primary author.

I always create an edition for the old cover so it is preserved, and the primary author stays the same. It feels wrong to me to delete a cover. I know it’s allowed now, it’s just my personal preference. The manual says we are allowed to create an ebook edition for the old cover, but it doesn’t really say anything about changing the primary author.

The primary author is always the name under which the book was first published.

Librarian Manual: Author names and profiles/"Author pseudonyms/pen names" section
https://help.goodreads.com/s/article/...

In some cases, a book may be originally published under a pen name, but then later reissued under the author's original name. When this happens, the author listed for any and all editions should be the author name the book was originally published under - so the reissued edition would need its primary author name changed to the originally published pen name, with the additional name added as secondary for all editions with it on the cover. Doing this will allow the various editions to be combined.

That instruction was written before the decision to update Kindle and Audible editions covers. I was wondering specifically about cases in which the book was only published on those formats.

Ah, I see. Perhaps if you add something like "Attn Jaclyn" to this thread subject, we can get an official answer to your question. I hadn't even considered that the "primary author" policy might have changed. Thanks for bringing this up!

A little tangential, sorry—where was the update to Kindle covers announced? I've seen some offhand mentions in this group but haven't been able to find the official policy.

Thanks, I've now done that.

Liralen wrote: "A little tangential, sorry—where was the update to Kindle covers announced? I've seen some offhand mentions in this group but haven't been able to find the official policy."

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Camilla wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Ahh, thank you! I guess I did read that back in April; I was looking for something newer :)

Since we’re on this topic, could something else be clarified? There are three situations not mentioned in the new Kindle policy:

1. When a new Kindle cover changes the author name (covered on this thread).
2. When a new Kindle cover changes book title, series name, or series numbering.
3. When omnibus or box sets are reissued with more books but use the same ASIN as the older set.
4. For Audible editions, when the narrators change between covers for the same ASIN, are the older narrators removed? And what about translator changes on Kindle editions?

Should we update the existing record to match the new cover in these cases?

In the third case, this could affect users’ shelves and reading progress, since the same edition would now include a different number of books.

1. When a new Kindle cover changes the author name (covered on this thread).

Previous policy was to include both author names on the book page, and this will remain policy.

2. When a new Kindle cover changes book title, series name, or series numbering.

This information for a Kindle edition should match the Amazon listing for that ASIN. A new edition can be created for the older title + information.

3. When omnibus or box sets are reissued with more books but use the same ASIN as the older set.

Same as above.

4. For Audible editions, when the narrators change between covers for the same ASIN, are the older narrators removed? And what about translator changes on Kindle editions?

We'd like to look into this a bit more - please share any examples that you come across where narrators have been changed and the ASIN remains the same.

Thanks for the clarification