Saturday, January 21, 2012

Have You Rescued Your Books on GoodReads Yet?

GoodReads has announced that it is no longer going to import book data from Amazon. They say they are doing this to make sure they have the most accurate data possible.

Since Amazon is the default method of adding books to GoodReads, this policy change represents a potential nightmare for readers, authors and publishers even if the data ends up being more accurate over the long term. If your book(s) were placed on GoodReads by either you or your publisher importing the data from the Amazon listings, the book(s) might be removed if GoodReads doesn't find another valid online source of data.

To check your book's status, look at its GoodReads listing. If you see a message at the top of the screen that says the book is in danger of being removed, you have until January 30th to rescue it. Click on the button available next to the message and enter the book's data and cover art either from a valid (non-seller) URL or by checking a box that states you have a copy of the book yourself.

While this isn't difficult, it's tedious. I've spent the last hour working on it and hope I found everything for my four novels and five Kindle e-books.

Good luck with your rescues!

Malcolm

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6 comments:

The Golden Eagle said...

Even for accuracy, I wonder why they would do that if it affects so many users.

Sun Singer said...

According to another author, it might have to do with Amazon tightening up on who can pull data from its site.

Malcolm

Kelly Robinson said...

Thanks for the heads up! I'm off to clean up now.

Sun Singer said...

Have fun, Kelly.

Malcolm

Kelly Robinson said...

Maybe I'm missing something, but it doesn't seem to affect any of my books.

Sun Singer said...

Perhaps your books were uploaded without data from Amazon. On the book's listing, the "warning" would show up at the top of the screen if they were.

Malcolm