# Be notified of new works by an author-new link on Amazon



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Saw this being discussed in the Writers' Café, thought it would be of interest. (If it's been discussed here already, sorry, I missed it!)










Seems to be on all authors' pages--I checked both indie and trad published authors.

Betsy


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

Ohhh, that's an excellent addition. I use several methods to keep up with new releases from favorite authors, but I always figure I'll miss something and I welcome any new tools to help out.

Not that I'd miss any of Mike's books....


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Thanks for letting us know, Betsy!  I think this is a terrific addition.


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## cagnes (Oct 13, 2009)

Awesome! thanks Betsy!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

It's one I've been waiting for for a long time; seemed like a no-brainer to me, I couldn't believe Amazon didn't have it earlier!

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

There are reports that some aren't seeing it for all authors; try using a different browser or different computer if you don't see it.

Betsy


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## cagnes (Oct 13, 2009)

I just looked up about 5 or 6 different authors & the option wasn't available on any of their pages.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I tried a bunch of authors and I don't see it on any of them. 

Its a great idea though, once I get it that is.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks for pointing out that tip, Betsy. I went and flagged a dozen or so authors. I didn't find any that did not have the option.

I've been using the iqReader site to keep track of specific books and notify me, but this is nicer.

Mike


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Not showing up yet in the UK store .....


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

It sounds like it's perhaps not fully implemented yet, Linda!  Hopefully it'll cross the pond soon.

I've found every author I've tried so far.  Using Safari on my iPad1.  I've signed up for alerts for 
Lee Child
Deb Geary
Michael Hicks
Hugh Howey
Margaret Lake
Monique Martin
JD Robb
Michael Wallace
and a couple more that aren't coming to mind.

If it's not there for an author, post the author (or at least one of the authors you don't find) so we can see if its universal.

Betsy


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## cagnes (Oct 13, 2009)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> It sounds like it's perhaps not fully implemented yet, Linda! Hopefully it'll cross the pond soon.
> 
> I've found every author I've tried so far. Using Safari on my iPad1. I've signed up for alerts for
> Lee Child
> ...


Hugh Howey is one of the authors I looked up om my pc, using Chrome & the info wasn't there. I just checked out his author page on my iPad using Chrome and the option was available.

So far, I've been able to sign up with every author I checked on my iPad, but not on my computer... strange!


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

DreamWeaver said:


> I cannot see the new "Stay Up to Date" feature on any authors' pages (including Michael Hicks and my husband) using Firefox on my PC, but I can see it on my Android tablet. Looks like it may be browser/platform dependent at this time.


It's possible it's a Firefox/PC issue. I tried it using Firefox on a Mac, and it worked fine. I signed up on about 20 author pages.

Mike


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

jmiked said:


> It's possible it's a Firefox/PC issue. I tried it using Firefox on a Mac, and it worked fine. I signed up on about 20 author pages.
> 
> Mike


I use Firefox and see all the authors I looked up (I run on a laptop, non-mac).


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I tried with Firefox on my netbook and couldn't see it on the Mike Hicks page I tried.  Nor with Opera.  So back to my iPad for signups....

Betsy


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## loonlover (Jul 4, 2009)

I'm using Firefox on a PC and saw it on all the author's pages I looked up.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Hey, that's pretty cool.  Thanks for posting that.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I don't see it from my Fire, but I'll probably see it from Firefox. We were just discussing another feature that I can see from Firefox but not from the Fire.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks for reminding me Gertie!  

Margaret Lake was another one I subscribed to.  Adding it to my earlier list...

Betsy


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Thanks for reminding me Gertie!
> 
> Margaret Lake was another one I subscribed to. Adding it to my earlier list...
> 
> Betsy


Oops . Wrong smiley got posted. Sorry Betsy.

Thanks for adding me to your list.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

That's awesome. Thanks.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Sorry if this has already been discussed, I've been busy and I'm only on my iPad right now. I just opened Amazon and got a pop up saying a new book by an author I've bought from before is available for preorder! I know others have been wanting a feature like this so I thought I'd mentioned it. Not sure if they're just beta testing it or not and I'm not totally sure how it works (does it just alert books from authors I've previously bought from or is it smart enough to rule out ones I rated poorly?). Anyone else notice this or know more about it?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

history_lover said:


> Sorry if this has already been discussed, I've been busy and I'm only on my iPad right now. I just opened Amazon and got a pop up saying a new book by an author I've bought from before is available for preorder! I know others have been wanting a feature like this so I thought I'd mentioned it. Not sure if they're just beta testing it or not and I'm not totally sure how it works (does it just alert books from authors I've previously bought from or is it smart enough to rule out ones I rated poorly?). Anyone else notice this or know more about it?


Yep. . . it's a fairly new thing though apparently not working consistently for everyone. I've merged your post with the thread where it's already under discussion. 

The interesting thing you've observed, though, is that you apparently got an alert, even though you'd not specifically signed up -- they just went by your order history. Hmmm.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Yep. . . it's a fairly new thing though apparently not working consistently for everyone. I've merged your post with the thread where it's already under discussion.
> 
> The interesting thing you've observed, though, is that you apparently got an alert, even though you'd not specifically signed up -- they just went by your order history. Hmmm.


Yeah, I'm not sure what HL received is the same thing as what we're discussing here. I think it's a history thing, not related to the author sign-up. I logged into Amazon this morning on my iPad and also got a popup, but it wasn't for an author I knew anything about, but was more "thought you'd be interested in this new book by author so-and-so." So something based on history.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Maybe, along with the new sign up button that some are starting to see, they're being a bit more pro-active with recommendations from order history.  I mean, I've always had recs based on what I'd bought, but never seen them as a pop up or anything before -- so I'd say that's new.  

It sure feels to me like the two things are part of a concurrent implementation of new features.


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## cekilgore (Oct 31, 2012)

I hope so, Ann. 

I have so many unfinished series on my bookshelf. Not because I don't want to finish, but because I forget to check and see if the author has released the next one or not. I'm also not too keen on signing up for individual author "mailing lists" run by the author. If this could be an integrated Kindle/Amazon notification feature it will make me happy.


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## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

Wow this is so cool!  It isn't showing up on my PC Chrome yet, but I can hardly wait for them to get it fully rolled out.  There are a couple authors I feel borderline stalkerish about based upon the number of times I go to see if their sequels have snuck into the marketplace while I wasn't looking.  GREAT feature and am so glad Amazon is doing it!


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Yeah, I'm not sure what HL received is the same thing as what we're discussing here. I think it's a history thing, not related to the author sign-up. I logged into Amazon this morning on my iPad and also got a popup, but it wasn't for an author I knew anything about, but was more "thought you'd be interested in this new book by author so-and-so." So something based on history.


I've been getting these off and on for several months. They must have been testing it, if no one else had seen it. Pops up from the upper right, near the 'my account' link.

Oh, and I added several authors using Firefox on a PC yesterday....just to add to the data.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

cekilgore said:


> I hope so, Ann.
> 
> I have so many unfinished series on my bookshelf. Not because I don't want to finish, but because I forget to check and see if the author has released the next one or not. I'm also not too keen on signing up for individual author "mailing lists" run by the author. If this could be an integrated Kindle/Amazon notification feature it will make me happy.


The link I originally posted about is definitely an Amazon feature, not an individual author list. Amazon will notify you when there is a new book out.

Betsy


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

Oddly, today I'm not seeing the 'email me' links on author pages in either Firefox or Chrome, on the 10 or so authors I've checked in each -- including ones that I signed up for yesterday (I was curious to see if it would reflect that I was already signed up, what exactly it would say).  Hmmmm.....still buggy, I s'pose.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

What I've noticed is not all authors have a full 'author page'.  Those who do not, don't show the option to sign up for emails.

It also varies by computer and browser -- probably due to when the last reboot/cache happened.  This morning it was there on Firefox on my Win 8 desktop.  But I'm not seeing in via Firefox on my Win 8 laptop this afternoon.  

So my guess is it has to do with what flavor cookies you have.


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## Routhwick (Apr 1, 2012)

Not on my author page yet. (I'm using Chrome on Windows 7.)


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I haven't checked all of them, but I did check Hugh Howey's page; earlier I could sign up for new book notifications on my iPad and now I can't.  Sounds like something they're testing...

Betsy


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## Meka (Sep 8, 2011)

Cool feature, thanks Betsy!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Friday I could and did flag authors to be notified of.  Saturday the feature doesn't show up even on authors I've already checked and flagged. Very strange.

Mike


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I think they were testing it.  It'll be interesting if we get any notifications for those we signed up for.


Betsy


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Steph H said:


> I've been getting these off and on for several months. They must have been testing it, if no one else had seen it. Pops up from the upper right, near the 'my account' link.
> 
> Oh, and I added several authors using Firefox on a PC yesterday....just to add to the data.


Here's my screenshot of it:










Speaking of browsers, I tried using kboards in chrome on the iPad and it wouldn't let me type in the reply box. I know kboards is on tapatalk but I tried using it and don't love it.


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## cagnes (Oct 13, 2009)

history_lover said:


> Here's my screenshot of it:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've never had a problem, I'm using my iPad now with Chrome. I've never tried taptalk, not exactly sure what it is. I don't care for Safari, so I mainly use Chrome.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Steph H said:


> I've been getting these off and on for several months. They must have been testing it, if no one else had seen it. Pops up from the upper right, near the 'my account' link.
> 
> Oh, and I added several authors using Firefox on a PC yesterday....just to add to the data.


Right, that's where I've gotten them, and they look like HL's screenshot below.

Betsy



history_lover said:


> Here's my screenshot of it:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

cagnes said:


> I've never had a problem, I'm using my iPad now with Chrome. I've never tried taptalk, not exactly sure what it is. I don't care for Safari, so I mainly use Chrome.


Thanks, I did an iPad update and it works now!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Glad to hear it.  I don't use Tapatalk on my iPad, though I do on my i'Touch and my Fire.

Hadn't tried Chrome, going to play with it now.

Betsy


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## jeffaaronmiller (Jul 17, 2012)

That's a great feature, and one that I will certainly use. I'm not seeing it on my author page yet, but I did see it on a number of other author pages. Wonder what I need to do to go about getting this.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I don't think you have to do anything (though there is a separate thread about it from the author's point of view in the Writers' Café). You might check that out. It appears to have been a test. I hope they roll it out for real soon.

Betsy


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

I mentioned it to a friend of mine and she said, 'Oh that's okay.  I get new books are out updates from goodreads."  

I haven't figured out WHERE that is, but apparently GR has some sort of notification feature as well.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

MariaESchneider said:


> I mentioned it to a friend of mine and she said, 'Oh that's okay. I get new books are out updates from goodreads."
> 
> I haven't figured out WHERE that is, but apparently GR has some sort of notification feature as well.


GR notifications are sent out the month of release, whereas these new Amazon ones seem to activate as soon as a new book becomes available for pre-order, which is what I've been wanting for years. By the time a book I'm interested in is released, I've usually already known about it for months! So GR's notifications haven't been very helpful to me.

To switch on the GR notifications, go into edit your profile, click the emails tab and then scroll down to where it says "Newsletters and other mail". Tick the box that says "Send me the monthly New Releases email" and if you only want to receive an email if there's a new release by an author you've read, also tick the one under it which says "Only send this to me if it includes an author I've read". If you don't tick the second one, you'll get an email with new releases in the genres you've picked as your favs, even if there's no new release from one of your authors.

You can also view your content that gets sent out in the New Releases Email here: http://www.goodreads.com/new_releases/


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

history_lover said:


> GR notifications are sent out the month of release, whereas these new Amazon ones seem to activate as soon as a new book becomes available for pre-order, which is what I've been wanting for years. By the time a book I'm interested in is released, I've usually already known about it for months! So GR's notifications haven't been very helpful to me.
> 
> To switch on the GR notifications, go into edit your profile, click the emails tab and then scroll down to where it says "Newsletters and other mail". Tick the box that says "Send me the monthly New Releases email" and if you only want to receive an email if there's a new release by an author you've read, also tick the one under it which says "Only send this to me if it includes an author I've read". If you don't tick the second one, you'll get an email with new releases in the genres you've picked as your favs, even if there's no new release from one of your authors.
> 
> You can also view your content that gets sent out in the New Releases Email here: http://www.goodreads.com/new_releases/


Thanks. That GR thing doesn't sound like what I really want. I just want to know a few authors and I'll click those on Amazon.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

The link appears to be back now....

Betsy


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

And even better, the ones I marked are still there!

Mike


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Has anyone gotten a notification from this yet?

Mike


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I think Ann has...I haven't checked my Amazon emails lately...

Betsy


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

I haven't. Is there some place I can see a list of authors I'm subscribed to? I can't remember who I've subscribed to. 

Does it alert you when the book is released or when it's available for preorder?

I never got another one of those popup alerts telling me about a new book - as discussed, I had not subscribed to any authors at the time so this was something different. I was excited about it because it was for a book not yet released, which is what I want. Like I've said, by the time a book is released, I've usually already known about it for months, I want something that alerts me as soon as a book is available for preorder.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I did! For a James Patterson title. I actually really only like his _Women's Murder Club_ series but I signed up anyway. And it's not surprising his is the first notice I got since so much comes out under his name.


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## Elizabeth Krall (Dec 25, 2012)

Great tip, thanks for sharing! I'm one of those people who tend to forget to check various author lists to see what they've released, so this is a handy gadget.

As for platform compatibility, the feature certainly appears on my own author page on amazon.com, viewed with IE9 on Windows 7.

It does NOT appear on my page on amazon.co.uk, as other posters have noted. The .co.uk page offers fewer options anyway, eg, an author can't add editorial reviews, or link to a blog. Second-class treatment?


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I finally got a notification that one of the authors on my list has a book for pre-order. It's not a book I intend to get, but it shows the system is working.

Mike


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I've gotten several of them. . . . . . but, no, I haven't actually pre-ordered anything yet either.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Based on one event, this feature won't necessarily tell you when a Kindle version of a book is published, only when a completely new work from the author is published, be it hardcover, softcover, ebook or whatever.

So we still need eReaderIQ.  

Mike


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

jmiked said:


> Based on one event, this feature won't necessarily tell you when a Kindle version of a book is published, only when a completely new work from the author is published, be it hardcover, softcover, ebook or whatever.
> 
> So we still need eReaderIQ.
> 
> Mike


It lets you know when the author publishes a new book. Doesn't distinguish between paper or kindle.


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## George Hamilton (Dec 14, 2010)

Thanks for passing on the news, Betsy. It's not on the UK site yet, but we usually take a few months to catch up. Not sure how I feel about it, as my first thoughts are that readers who might sign up to my email list (over which I have some level of control), will sign up to Amazon's instead.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> It lets you know when the author publishes a new book. Doesn't distinguish between paper or kindle.


It seems a bit strange that it wouldn't count a book with a different ISBN/ASIN as a different book. It would certainly be more useful to me, anyway.

But that's just me. 

Mike


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

I just went and checked and -- yup! -- that facility is now there. What a terrific feature!


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## Russell Brooks (Dec 23, 2010)

What Amazon used to do was simply email a consumer whenever an author they purchased from in the past released a new novel.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Russell Brooks said:


> What Amazon used to do was simply email a consumer whenever an author they purchased from in the past released a new novel.


That would be annoying - just because I bought a book doesn't mean I liked it. What if I hated it and never wanted to read anything by that author again? I'm glad they've changed it so we can now choose which authors we get emailed about.


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## Lee Mellott (Aug 4, 2013)

It is a really nice feature!


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## bhazelgrove (Jul 16, 2013)

Well it would certainly help authors whose only recourse is to start a newsletter to let readers know of new releases.


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## bhazelgrove (Jul 16, 2013)

I am wondering if you have a certain amount of books or be traditionally published. Because a lot of authors do not seem to have it.


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