Close-up ready: the author page you didn't know you had

I've never been the sole author of a published book. And yet -- I have an author page at Goodreads. Maybe you do as well. When Goodreads notified me that it had set up an author page I was all, like, how can this be? Although I have about 20 short story publications, for which people, mostly, paid me, I'd never published an actual book. You know, something with an ISBN. What I learned was that several editors had published my works in numerous anthologies that were, actual books. (I'll get to what Goodreads considers "actual books" in a few moments.)

Whenever these anthologies showed up as Goodreads books, with my listed among the contributors, I rated an author page. Exploring further, I discovered that being a "Goodreads" book pretty much mean being an "Amazon" book as well. Except, to my chagrin, this meant that if published books in which my writings had appeared were now out of print with Amazon, well, they were no longer Goodreads books either.

Goodreads' stated goal is to have a complete record of every book ever published, but this can be tough to prove for out-of-print volumes unless the author can supply the corresponding ISB or ASIN (see more about this later, as well.) In fact, there is a no-longer available anthology on my Goodreads page because I had a contributor's copy with the necessary identification numbers. If only I had kept copies of some of the rest.

However, several anthologies still in print weren't listed on my original Goodreads author page. In those cases, all that was needed was to contact Goodreads staff of volunteer librarians to have those additional books added. Not to be unduly modest, you can see my current author page here. 

So, what does, or doesn't Goodreads consider an actual book worthy of an author's page? Very generally, Goodreads will treat as "books" any content with an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) or ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number). This includes items as diverse as bound comics, workbooks, and many recordings. Goodreads, however, considers as non-book item such as magazines, zines, and short stories only published in a magazine or anthology. Note: the anthology itself can be a "book" even though the story within it is not.

All of this information and more -- lots, lots more -- is available on Goodreads itself.

At this point, many readers of this blog are probably saying, wait! I've been published in anthologies, i bound comics, whatever! Do I have (or why don't I have) a Goodreads author page of my own? And if I don't, how can I get one?

I'm glad you asked! Simply scroll to the bottom of the Goodreads homepage to the question, "Are you an author or a publisher?" and click "author program." You'll need to be a Goodreads member (but that's free), and answer some questions, but setting up your author page is also free, along with numerous other benefits. Plus, you keep your original Goodreads login and password.

Image by Ag Ku for Pixabay

OK, been there, done that. Now what? How about your Amazon author page? Follow pretty much the same procedure, although Amazon seems less proactive about searching out authors than does Goodreads. 

Sign into Amazon (you can use your existing account) and search for your book. Lucky you, if you name already appears as "author" below the book's title. I went to the latest, pending anthology I contributed to -- From the Ashes: An Anthology of Elemental Urban Fantasy (available on Kindle February 28). My name wasn't listed as an author, although it was clearly visible on the book's list of contributors.

So, onto Amazon Author Central. I signed in with, again, my regular login and password. If you don't already have an Amazon account, sign in as a "new customer." From there, follow the directions. You'll want a picture of yourself, bio, and, if possible, your website's URL. It's the same kind of stuff we've have already provided to the anthology's editor. And to Goodreads author's page. Amazon will do some verification. I'm still waiting on mine and thinking I really need a better photo!

For anyone not yet ready to dip into full-on publishing,
anthologies and the author pages they lead to -- are great ways to start building contact with potential readers. They can also be used to recommend other writers' books, a share-the-love shout-out to your own favorite authors.

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Next up: Speaking of sharing the love -- mini-reviews of works by some of my favorite authors!