Today, I received a wishlist book that is listed as a hardcover but is actually a paperback book. I checked the ISBN# on the back of the paperback book I have and it is the same as the one listed as a hardcover. I accepted the book as I preferred it to be a paperback anyhow, so it is fine for me.

Pictures of You
Author: Caroline Leavitt   This is the book. Now there are 73 wishers for this book. Even though this transaction worked out for me, it may not work out for others that are wishing for this book to be a hardcover. There is something wrong here with the ISBN# showing it as a hardcover while in actuality it is a paperback book. Is there something that PBS can do about this? Should I let them know for the sake of the other wishers?

The sender posted the book in error and because you didn't say anything about it-they will probably do it again.  You will need to repost the book without an ISBN unless you can prove that the ISBN never existed in hardcover form.  This should all be in the help docs BTW.  Publishers frequently reuse ISBNs especially when reissuing the same book from hardcover to paperback.

Also check and make sure that the book you received is not an ARC.  If it is then you just paid a credit for a book that isn't postable in PBS. 

The publisher might have used the same ISBN for both editions of the book. Which means your sender should have posted the book WITHOUT an ISBN, since the binding does not match.

Or, the PBS listing could be wrong (less likely). Either you or someone on the Book Data Editing team would research the ISBN and determine if the ISBN is for both bindings, or if the PBS database is wrong. In any case, once the research is done, then the PBS team determines if they can change the binding in the system. (it might be harder to change  this since there will be at least one transaction against this ISBN that was marked received normally (yours)). You should have marked it Received with a Problem - Wrong Book (even if you are fine with the book) because the sender made an error, and now they either are not aware that they need to doublecheck their book postings, or they did it on purpose but have not been held accountable.

You don't have to ask for your credit back. But the sender needs to know to doublecheck better.

PBS is unlikely to change the binding type in the listing unless it can be proven that the book was never published in hardcover with this ISBN. And, now that there is at least one transaction showing that a hardcover was sent and received normally, it will be even more unlikely that they will change it. Unless yours is the ONLY successful transaction so far for this ISBN, and they are notified that it wasn't really a hardcover that you received.

What information is needed to prove that a book was never produced in HB?

If the poster had paid attention when posting they would have seen they couldn't post the book to the ISBN. Had they consulted the Help Center they would have found:

When I enter the ISBN on my paperback, the listing shows a hardcover!

What information is needed to prove that a book was never produced in HB?

What I do is search all of the major book sites on the internet (Not just BN and Amazon, but hit publishers and resource sites too, I try to hit 6-8 sites and browse the Google results for anything I might have missed). If noone but PBS lists the book with that ISBN as a Hard Cover, then I'd submit it. If I find one other source showing the book listed as a HC, I don't submit a change.

With 73 wishers and a successful trade logged, I doubt the Team will change this without some really really strong proof.

Connie,\

  I am #4 on the wish list hopefully when you are done it will come to me LOL.  I like paperback better the hardcover also.  I checked Barnes and Noble and it looks like the book is trade size is it??

I'm going to say that I'll bet $$ this is an ARC - the book isn't even scheduled for release until the 11th.    You should have marked this Received with a Problem / Wrong book. 

They have changed a binding type for me when it had 400 wishers on it, so they will do (even if people are wishing it) it if the listing is just flat out wrong.

But a listing with a successful transaction ... don't know if they would change that.

Rhonda, you may well have lost your money. Actually, this listing is weird on many levels. Amazon has it as a paperback, published on the 25th of this month, and yet currently in stock and available. So, the listing may well be wrong on this one. Still, it should have been marked RWAP. Posting the book incorrectly is still against the rules, even if the PBS listing is wrong, and it also makes it harder for things to get straightened out if people mark these books as received normally.

I would do the research on this and see if it seems to need to be changed in the system, but I really don't have any time to look at all the sites right now. My mom just got home a short bit ago, so we can get all the errands and stuff done that has to be done.

Any other book data people want to handle this, since it does seem likely the listing could be wrong?

Well, Amazon, Borders, and B&N all show that it's paperback with a publishing date of 1/25/2011.  The author's website says "Coming in January" - so I still say it could be an ARC.  But I agree that the database is incorrect - it looks like it should be paperback.

I've noticed that Amazon's release dates can sometimes be a little sketchy.  I've recieved preordered books before Amazon's listed release date in the past.  I think it might depend on when the publisher ships them out to retailers. 

It could also be a finished review copy (not an ARC).  When publishers send finished copies out to reviewers they often are sent a few weeks early. 

Thanks everyone for all your input. When I received this book, I was so excited to finally get it and in "new" condition that I clicked on the button on the right side quickly. As soon, as I did that I noticed the "Hardcover" statement underneath the picture. That was before I clicked the last button under the checked placed in your TBR pile. It was already too late to mark it as a RWAP. Before I wrote my remarks to the sender in the box, I looked at the book description again to check the ISBN# and they were the same, to my amazement. I thanked her in the comment area but also mentioned that it was suppose to be a hardcover edition according to PBS.

I also checked three booksites -- Amazon, B&N and Abebooks (the one that most on PBS edit book data teams seem to refer to) and none of them mention a hardcover book edition. At B&N according to their "Pick Me Up" program, every store in our area has this tradesize paperbook available in their stores now. No, this book is not an ARC, it is the authentic book. I am going to report this to the PBS editing team as it truly appears to be an error that I feel needs to be corrected or there will be a whole bunch of problems.

Bertie, this book looks like a very interesting book and has lots of great reviews so far. I am going to read it very soon and if you are still on the wishlist, I would be very happy to post it to you after I'm done. Yes, it is a tradecover book.

I will come back here after I hear from the edit book data team and let you all know what they say about it. As far as posting the book without an ISBN#, I realize that would be the norm, but in this case, those 73 people would never get the book as there is no hardcover edition, so they wouldn't be interested in that. The book will sit on their wishlist for months on end unless they are lucky like me to have a sender send it to them anyway. Sorry, but now I realize how lucky I really am to have received this book.

Wondering if the book was originally scheduled for release as a hardcover, then reconsidered as the economy continues to stall?  With tighter budgets, cheaper editions must sell better than expensive books that a patient reader can read free at the library or cheap from a UBS.

Regarding release dates, alot depends on the retailers contract with the publisher.  If the books are in the store, and no agreement otherwise, they can go on sale early.  If there's a formal agreement, the retailers have to hold the stock until the actual release date.  Or sold I've been told by bookstore employees.

Just checked on the publishing company and they also show there is only a  paperback edition. So from four sites not showing a hardcover edition, it sure looks like an error with PBS. I submitted my concerns to the editing data team and will wait for their reply.

sounds like you have it figured out and also wanted to comment about those saying it had to be an ARC since it was due to be released later in the month. 

so not true. 

I review books for publishers and while sometimes the book is an ARC, not always.  Sometimes the book is the full fledged version and available to reviewers prior to the release date.

I think the reason people leaned towards ARC wasn't just the pre-release, but that combined with the fact that it was a trade size paperback bearing the ISBN for a listing of a Hard Cover.  Those two combined are often an indicater of an ARC.

With people wanting to get into the Wish List lines as early as possible, we do run into listing set up prior to final decisions or even incorrectly.With the publisher's site information, it will make it an easier call for the Team.