MyNextList (former FictFact) Users discussion

Are there rules against you using data from goodreads to update FictFact?

Just wondering if I could just make a list here with links to books that need adding or the dates updated?

Goodreads API states that we can't use their data for commercial use without talking to them first. We haven't talked to them (yet) about it, but we imagine they won't take kindly to it.

Each series on FictFact now has a "Is this series missing a book?" link on the bottom for adding missing books in the series. We are working on an edit interface for correcting book dates as well, we are planning on starting testing on that this month.

Where do you get your data?

That's fine for one or two books, but too much work for the number of corrections I want to make.

Most of our data is hand curated by myself, Christine or Richard (the 3 founders). Since we added the "Is this series missing a book" link we are getting a whole lot of submissions from our users.

We don't rely on automated data because we haven't found any data providers that offer series data. We've talked to one of the larger data providers to get some data, their quoted price was so large we fell over.

Our "vision" with FictFact is that it'll be more "Wikipedia-like" with authors, data providers and users correcting the data as it grows.

The series records on goodreads are not automated either. When the series table was initially created. A one time script was ran to populate the table using data that was entered entirely by volunteer librarians. Now all data in that table is entered and updated by volunteer librarians.

I'm one of those volunteers. Updating series data was the reason I became a goodreads librarian. I don't do as much editing since they became gramazon, but I still update series that I read.

Deborah wrote: "The series records on goodreads are not automated either. When the series table was initially created. A one time script was ran to populate the table using data that was entered entirely by volunt..."

And that's the direction we'd like to go in as well. It's been slow going for us because we are working in a bootstrapped fashion (haven't taken any funding). We'd love to know what the workflow is for Goodreads series and how they keep them in check.

There's no workflow. Non-librarians can post requests in the librarians group. The librarian that makes the change replies to the post when it's done.

Deborah wrote: "There's no workflow. Non-librarians can post requests in the librarians group. The librarian that makes the change replies to the post when it's done."

Does the librarian have a web application (form?) they fill out? Is it simple?

Brian wrote: "Deborah wrote: "There's no workflow. Non-librarians can post requests in the librarians group. The librarian that makes the change replies to the post when it's done."

Does the librarian have a we..."

Yes. You have to read the librarians manual and have 50 books shelved, then apply. You have to give a reason why you want to be a librarian. They have enough people now though, so not everyone gets approved. It's harder for authors to get approved now, because they can already make edits to their own books. Authors can't edit series, but may be able to create them.

You can join the librarians group and read the manual.

I would volunteer to help handle book updates to FictFact.

I bet others would too. If you could compile edits to a daily email, across 10 or so volunteers, I bet it would free up a lot of time.

I bet using something like zendesk could handle that.

I would gladly help out as well as long as instructions are clear.

I'd be glad to help too. I've been a GR librarian for some time and I've manually added at least 100 books. I'd like to give back a bit for all the hard work that has been done by all of the Fict Fact staff.

Actually I was wondering how we could volunteer as well. I've been a gr librarian for about 4 yrs, in the top 20 librarians worldwide and I submit quite a few books & series to FictFact as well.

I was concerned when I got the message last week that my request may take some time to process. And I wondered if the same librarian approach here might work at FF?

Give it some thought on the best way we could assist you.

Sandra wrote: "Actually I was wondering how we could volunteer as well. I've been a gr librarian for about 4 yrs, in the top 20 librarians worldwide and I submit quite a few books & series to FictFact as well.

..."

We're have a bunch of interfaces in our admin system for adding books/series. We're currently making them more "user friendly" and will be releasing them for public admins to use.

Deborah wrote: "Updating series data was the reason I became a goodreads librarian."

That's the exact same reason I became a GR librarian as well.

With more and more authors publishing series now, I would think the publishers would be better about including info on the series.

I'd also help as a librarian on FF. Series info is important to me.

I use FictFact almost entirely independent of GoodReads. So I would be willing to help when I can as well.

Brian,

I just added another book to a series and after I submitted it, it came up as pending already on the top right hand side.

Perhaps the pending tag should be visible on the add a missing book page so we don't double, triple add a book that is already in the system waiting to be looked at? Just a thought :)

I too would be willing to update series lists on FF. I don't stay ahead of series enough to generate my own data, but would be happy to work from other data submitted.

I find that I submit quite a bit of data about series to FictFact too; so you can add me to the list of willing volunteers.

Hi,

I'm the author of the Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse Series (http://www.fictfact.com/series/23038/...)

I noticed the last books, #6 & #7, were missing. I added them through the "Is this series missing a book?" function.

I also noticed that Beginnings is marked as #0.5. This is probably my fault, but actually this book is an extended sampler. It contains the first 12 chapters of book #1. It isn't a prequel or an original story. It doesn't contain original material, and it has since been retired.

Could you please remove it from the series?

If you need further information you can either PM me, or find it here: https://www.goodreads.com/series/6084...

(I entered this information and you have my explicit permission to use it. None of this information is exclusive to Goodreads.)

I tried to leave a message at FictFact, but I'm not sure it got posted.

O'Neil Brothers by Sarah Morgan is listed as

OaNeil

A little while ago I requested a change of series name for Rachel Gibson's Writer Friends series. The name has been updated on the series page but still appears as Sex, Lies and Online Dating on my series list. Is this a bug?

It's Writer Friends on my series list.

Mine is still Sex, Lies and Online Dating :0(

My mistake....I was looking at a different listing. Mine is listed like yours on that page you have in your screen shot.

I was looking under Rachel Gibson and have this:

Series (6)
Chinooks Hockey Team (by Rachel Gibson)
Writer Friends (by Rachel Gibson)
Lovett, Texas (by Rachel Gibson)
Military Men (by Rachel Gibson)
Truly, Idaho (by Rachel Gibson)
Gospel, Idaho (by Rachel Gibson

Disney reorganized the Star Wars books into "canon" and "legacy". The cannon has also been called "journey to the force awakens"


Star Wars journey to the force awakens series is not in factfict.com

Are the FictFact release dates just for the US or are they the first day available anywhere? I'm asking because Lucinda Riley's third book in her Seven Sisters series isn't being release in the US until sometime in the spring but will be released in the UK on November 3rd, which is what the date is on FictFact.

I'd also be willing to help out with adding series info to FF. I've added quite a few already, and would be willing to help out even more if needed.

I go to the authors webpage. They always have the release dates posted. Just type in her name and you will find her webpage and become a fan if you really like her writing. I follow every author that I like and write reviews on every book I read. It is worth the effort.

You can also check Fantastic Fiction web site...

Good ideas.

According to GR:
Philippa Gregory's 'Cousins' War' and 'Tudor Court' series have been re-listed as 'The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels' as of August 2016.

Could you please change the FictFact listing for these series to reflect this change?

Thanks!

https://www.goodreads.com/series/1879...

I will be weaning myself off Goodreads. I read the manual and thought I was allowed to enter fan fiction zines. After three plus years, I woke to my 2018 Challenge decimated. I thought it was an error so I spent a day and re-entered 50 zines that had been wiped off. Today I logged on to enter yesterday's read and found someone has wiped out all those entries plus more. No warning, no note to me saying you read the rules wrong...just arbitrary removal. I find that a bit impolite and unkind. I was already a bit offside with winning reader of the year having 1800 books READ in one year to her credit..which I find impossible. She might have entered 1800 books to the record which helps Goodreads files but she did not READ them. So, effective today, since I am reading my way through a stack of zines that will take me at least another year....this site has become useless to me. Did this happen when Amazon took over and they only want books that they actually sell themselves? Zines cost more than most paperback books, have a word count higher than a lot of books, have professional grade artwork and print quality and editing, the information on editors, writers, publisher, date of publication, page count and list of contents and photo of cover is all equal to a graphic novel or other books that lack ISBN numbers. Their only drawbacks as books are....they are limited editions, you cannot get them at your corner library or buy them on Amazon. I liked being able to see a page of covers of books and zines I have read but I don't need it. Since my reading is only in competition with myself...I don't need it for the challenge (since, as I said, that was fake news anyway), I did like seeing books read by others that interested me but my TBR pile is so high right now and my 'to buy' list is in the hundreds...I can afford to quit while I am ahead. It was fun while it lasted but like most things I like...it gets spoiled, discontinued or changed out of recognition. New brooms always want to put their fingerprints all over things and generally spoil what was great enough to bring it to their attention in the first place. Amazon has already priced its Kindle books out of my comfort zone. time to wipe their website off my computer's memory.

Oops, I think I posted that last rant to the wrong place, sorry. So upset I didn't read properly.

Sorry you had such a bad experience Karen-Leigh. However, the Librarian Manual didn't change with the Amazon takeover.

From the Manual:

"The following is a list of items that should not be added to the database:

* Magazines
* Zines
* Individual comics (unless they have an ISBN or ASIN (Kindle only))
* Shorts:
***Short stories only published in an anthology or magazine
***Deleted scenes
***Extras only published at the back of a specific book edition
***Stories only available via subscription to a newsletter, or via a website that requires registration
***Incomplete and in progress works (this is different from "forthcoming" works, which are considered completed but as yet unpublished)

Shorts are retained in some cases. Shorts that belong are those that are:
* Published separately
* Published online as a specified short story (i.e. not a 'bonus')
* Complete flash fiction

Please note that items that do not meet Goodreads policies for inclusion in the database may be deleted without warning."


So, if you're zines are published by amazon with an asin you could add them & the great artwork, even if you read a different edition. Just a thought, not sure how they are published.

With the comics the ones on GR are usually either paperback or kindle and all have the isbns or asins, otherwise they get deleted too.

I know I did see fan fiction allowed but it was probably the ones that are novels only. Thanks for the update, the information is still a bit confusing to me...the bit about short stories and anthologies...anthologies of short stories with ISBN must be allowed. It clears things up for me and maybe after I have completed my project of reading my collection and actually go back to what Goodreads considers 'books' I will continue with the site. Thank you again for contacting me..I feel better with contact...it is just that it was a lot of work re-entering after I thought the first deletion was a glitch.

I don't get the high read-count of some people either. I read and listen to audio books almost every hour that I'm awake. The only times I'm not listening or reading is when I'm working (16 hours a week) or sleeping (about 49 hours per week). My best year was 2015 when I read/listened to 517 books. I don't know how anyone can legitimately do more than maybe 600, and that's if they're the 100 page Harlequin romances.

Yes, I've been there. Someone got really OTT and deleted a legitimate series with about 180 entries. With most of them different authors. I'd spent a lot of time and effort keeping it up to date. I just didn't have the heart to start over. Luckily others did all the work again. Though I haven't checked up on it lately, as its still on-going, I'd hate to think how many books are in it now.


The short stories and anthology section refers to short stories taken from the anthologies and listed separately instead. Which is fine if they've been published separately (many of my authors do that several months or a year after the anthology has been published) usually as a kindle or ebook.

But there are a lot of people who only read that one story and want to list that instead of the anthology. When they're found we merge them with the anthology so the anthology ends up on the mbrs shelves instead of the story.

Teri Pre wrote: "I don't get the high read-count of some people either. I read and listen to audio books almost every hour that I'm awake. The only times I'm not listening or reading is when I'm working (16 hours a..."


I remember seeing someone reading children's books, so many books per day. She had an interest in childrens' books, so it wasn't done deceitfully but it sure skewed the stats.

I guess everyone uses GR their own way. :)

I read the rules that Sandra posted and I found them helpful. I use Goodreads to kept track of books that I want to read, plus have read. It also lets me see the series plus others that I didn't know it existed. I used to keep track on paper, but it got so teadious, so I relied on goodreads to keep track of my books. I was also able to look up from goodreads to find the book on amazon.
I too read a lot, but nowhere near 1000 books?

I also use it to keep track of books I want to buy, books I have bought and want to read (my TBR list) and I have been slowly entering my personal library, as well as the books I am currently reading. I also have spent a lifetime keeping a list of every book I ever read and still do because I don't trust the internet not to wipe out everything (too many sites filled with stuff I loved have disappeared over time with Geocities and |Tripod etc). I am retired and the first year of challenge I did absolutely nothing except read all day, every day and managed 380 books (some over a 1000 pages and a few with as low as 50 pages) and it was at the end of that year when I checked the winning readers and all of the top ten had read over 600 books and when I went into their lists of twenty books read per day some of them with 100 pages (not children's books) I knew it was a cheat. Just as a point of interest as to why when I saw that zines were not allowed and fan fiction was allowed...I thought Goodreads recognized the difference between Zines as they were originally designed back in the 20s and fan fiction zines as they are currently created. Two very different things...fan fiction zines are books in their own fashion...more pages, professionally printed (not hand lettered), properly bound, completely stories many novella length or even novel length. Fifty Shades of Grey was originally a fan fiction novel..all she did was change the names. I love bringing up the list of things I have read and seeing the covers as a collage.

Fan fiction zines are privately published and many of the writers have gone on to write professionally. Many of the novel length zines have had the names scrubbed off and have been published professionally. As I said in my original post...they are limited editions. The older ones used to have an original print run of 200 and if popular a second or third run. These days they are printed on demand. With fan fiction so widespread on the net and free, fewer zines are being produced because it is so expensive. A single zine can cost at least 30.00..plus postage...more than a lot of hard cover books these days. Collecting them is not a cheap hobby and the quality of writing is comparable to anything you can buy on Amazon.

Very interesting Karen-Leigh, I don't think I've ever seen a zine.

I generally don't read fan fiction, though I know many of them go on to write professionally. Especially science fiction authors.

Perhaps you should put your case to The Policy & Practices thread in the Librarian Group. You'd have to be a member of the group, but don't have to be a librarian to post.

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

Librarian Group: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/220

Thank you. I did join the group and wrote my piece and spoke my mind. I do not believe it will make a difference but I needed to point out that there are two different types of zines...one type qualifies as books and one that does not. To arbitrarily assign them all to the scrap heap is wrong, in my opinion, and I do feel strongly that if libraries are archiving fan fiction zines as something valuable then Goodreads should recognize them as just as valuable as graphic novels and comic books that have been issued ISBN numbers.

Hopefully something good happens.

Unlikely but I can hope. Who has the power to change policy? It is a sure thing that the person or persons who have the power have never seen a fan fiction zine or they would recognize that they are books without question. Go into any bookstore and you can see the variety of bindings...so it is not the binding that makes zines not books. They are not magazines...despite the name. They are better quality products than comics...even graphic novels. The librarian's manual states that 'books' don't necessarily have to have an ISBN number to qualify for Goodreads. Zines are legally considered transformative works. They rest in a quasi legal status and cannot be sold for profit which lets out Amazon as a seller but resale on places like Ebay seem to go for a lot of money so it is all very gray. Still, in my opinion, if comics qualify as books, then fan fiction zines which actually are books (I have one anthology that, as an experiment, was bound as a paperback and is gorgeous but too expensive to produce).

Well that comment got cut off before I finished the sentence but I guess I made my point. Holding an 8 x 11, 200 page zine, spiral bound with beautiful artwork cover, heavy quality paper, thirteen short stories, poetry and interior artwork and knowing it is not considered a book just seems wrong. I will get over it...sigh.

And just so my post doesn't get lost before the FictFact folks see it:
According to GR:
Philippa Gregory's 'Cousins' War' and 'Tudor Court' series have been re-listed as 'The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels' as of August 2016.

Could you please change the FictFact listing for these series to reflect this change?

Thanks!



https://www.goodreads.com/series/1879...