Author Standards

Last Updated   August 22, 2025

Guide

Author Name

The author name is the primary identifier for an author on Hardcover. It should be the name they are most commonly known by in the context of their writing, formatted in a way that is consistent with their published works.

Authors Using Initials

Some authors use a space between initials in their name (J. K. Rowling), some do not (J.R.R. Tolkien). We should use the spacing of the author’s preference (what’s used on their website or printed on their books).

When editing the URL slug for an author, do not include periods or spaces between initials (our slugs typically use lowercase letters and hyphens). For instance, J. K. Rowling’s slug would be jk-rowling, and J. R. R. Tolkien’s slug would be jrr-tolkien. Slugs are generated automatically on author generation but require manual updating when editing an existing author.

Authors Sharing The Same Name

Note: This section is currently under review and will be updated in the future.

Authors with Non-English Names

Note: In the future, Hardcover may support multiple name fields or localized names for authors. For now, stick to an English/Latin name for consistency, unless the author has absolutely no transliterated name available.

Hardcover’s default interface language is English. Wherever possible, we’d like to rename authors written in other alphabets (Cyrillic, Hebrew, Hanzi, Arabic, etc.) to be translated or transliterated to English (Latin alphabet). This is to ensure consistency and searchability in our primarily English database.

If an author is commonly known in English by a transliterated name, use that as the author’s name. For example, Yevgeni Grishkovetz for the Russian author Евгений Гришковец. You may include the original-script name in the author’s profile as supplemental information. For instance, you could add the native spelling in the author’s Personal Name field (if one exists) or mention it in the biography. In the above example, you might put the Cyrillic spelling in parentheses after the English name in the bio. This way, the original name is preserved for reference.

Photos and Biography

Author biographical information is very important to Hardcover. We’d like authors to be portrayed accurately and professionally, with the most current and verifiable information available. As such, we have strict guidelines around these pages, as well as the sources we leverage to populate them.

General guidelines

Author bios should be concise, neutral, and factual. Focus on verifiable facts like the author’s notable works, achievements, and relevant background. Avoid subjective commentary or anything overly personal that isn’t publicly confirmed. In short, do not editorialize.

Do not include any data that has its own dedicated field, demographic or otherwise (self-identified gender, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, location, dates, etc.)

Photographs should be of the author, and not of their book covers or other images. They should be high quality and ideally a professional headshot. If the author has a preferred photo, it should be used. If not, use the most recent and high-quality image available.

Sourcing biographical information

Acceptable sources for author bios and photos are listed as follows, in order of authority:

1. Author’s official website or publications. Many authors have an “About” page or a bio in their books. This is the most authoritative source, and often provides a bio in the author’s own words or with their approval. Author websites or an official publisher-provided author page are ideal for both biographical details and author photos.
2. Publisher’s website. If an author doesn’t have a personal site, the publishing house’s author page can be used. Keep in mind these might be out of date, so verify if possible.
3. Author’s verified social media. Sometimes authors share biographical info on profiles or posts in their own voice. This can be used, but stick to factual elements and a formal tone.
4. Bookseller or book database bios. Sources like Amazon Author pages or Kobo, etc., can be used only if the above sources aren’t available. These often have short blurbs. Important: If you use these, consider rewriting portions in your own words to avoid plagiarism, as they may not be author-supplied text.

Unacceptable sources:

1. AI-generated content (e.g. ChatGPT). We do not allow AI-written bios. We owe it to authors to use human-vetted information, not algorithmic guesses.
2. Wikipedia. Even though Wikipedia entries are convenient, we avoid copy-pasting from them.
3. Competitor databases (Goodreads, The StoryGraph, etc.). We aim to build Hardcover’s data ourselves or from primary sources, not by copying others. Using these may also introduce licensing issues.

Citing sources

Until we support a distinct field for bio sources, please credit your source at the end of the bio text in parentheses. For example, you might add: (Source: Author’s official website) at the very end of the bio. This lets users know the information’s provenance. Do not use HTML or Markdown for this note, as those won’t render properly in the app, just plain text is fine.

Preferred file type for author photos

PNG and JPEG work the best. WebP files are not currently supported. The cover shouldn’t have any transparency to it. The image is converted to a WebP file before we show it regardless of what you upload.

Preferred file size

The larger the photo the better! If you want to upload a 15mb file, go for it. We’ll resize it for optimal display around the site.

Author photos on Hardcover (as of July 27, 2025) are displayed at a maximum size of 178px by 178px. Uploading images smaller than this may result in blurriness when enlarged. For best results, we recommend uploading photos that are at least 300px wide and 300px high. Images do not need to be square.

Image quality scores

We show three different quality scores for photos today. This is calculated using height x width.

0 - 32,999: Bad Quality (ex 133 x 200)

33,000 - 99,999: Ok Quality (ex: 200 x 300)

100,000 +: Good Quality (ex: 300 x 450)

Personal Name

This field is intended only for cases where an author’s full name differs from the name they publish under and is publicly known in that context (e.g., in publishing credits or legal attributions).

Do not use this field to list a birth name that an author has changed, such as after a gender transition. Avoid deadnaming, even if the information is publicly available. When in doubt, prioritize the author’s privacy and self-identification over completeness. For more on this topic, see Supporting Trans & Non-binary Authors.

Do not use this field for pseudonyms, pen names, or stage names; on Hardcover these belong in Aliases. Enter a personal or legal name only when the author has publicly and reliably linked it to their published identity (for example, in credits, copyright or rights statements, or via self-disclosure) and when it serves a clear cataloging need such as disambiguation. If the author publishes exclusively under a pseudonym, leave this field blank unless these conditions are met. Do not infer or reveal a non-public name.

Notable Examples:

• Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain)
• Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)
• Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot)
• Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell)

Aliases

In our current implementation, we allow for a single alias per author. For authors that exist as a pseudonym, pen name, or stage name, this is the field to use to denote the primary author on Hardcover.

Examples:

• Stephen King is the primary author, but he has written under the alias Richard Bachman.
• Isaac Asimov is the primary author, but he has written under the alias Paul French.
• Nora Roberts is the primary author, but she has written under the alias J.D. Robb.

In any of these cases, add the primary author under the “Alias of” field on the alias page.

Demographic information

For authors, we collect the following demographic information:

• Self-identified gender
• BIPOC status
• LGBTQ+ status

These fields are optional, and we encourage librarians to only fill them out if the author has self-identified in their bio or on their website. If the author has not provided this information, please leave these fields blank.

Location

Location information for authors is not always readily available. If the author has a location listed on their website, or in their bio, please use that information. If not, you can leave the location field blank.

For deceased authors, we recommend using the location of their birth or where they spent most of their life. If this information is not available, you can leave the location field blank.

Dates of birth and death

If exact dates are not publicly and readily available, please use the year only in the appropriate field.

Supporting Trans & Non-binary Authors

Note: This section is currently under review and will be updated in the future.

Merging Authors

Sometimes an author might have multiple entries in the database (for example, due to variant spellings or a data import). When you discover duplicate author entries, they should be merged to one canonical entry. The general rule is: keep the entry with the author’s name in its most standard or canonical form (in English), and merge the other duplicate(s) into that.

For example, if you see both “J. R. R. Tolkien” and “J.R.R. Tolkien” as separate authors, we’d keep one and merge the other into it (whichever reflects our formatting guidelines best). If an author has an English name and a non-English name entry, keep the English name as primary (per our guidelines above).

For a detailed guide on merging authors, visit our Merging Standards page.

Author Outreach

We want authors to feel welcome on Hardcover, and Librarians are some of the best ambassadors to make that happen. Thoughtful outreach shows authors we care about how they’re represented and want their profiles to shine.

We welcome librarians to contact authors on their own behalf, with the support of Hardcover. To keep things respectful and coordinated, please follow these steps:

1. Check before contacting: Review the Contacted Authors List to be sure the author hasn’t already been reached.
   • Multiple unsolicited contacts can come across as spam and reflect poorly on Hardcover.
2. Log the contact: If they’re not listed, add them via the Author Outreach Form.
3. Send the outreach: Use the Outreach Email Template from your own email or an author’s contact form.

By following these steps, each author gets a single, friendly introduction to Hardcover—never spam. If they respond, wonderful! If not, we’ve still shown care without overwhelming them.

Tip: Librarians discussing outreach in the Discord #librarians channel is a good way to coordinate. If you’re thinking of reaching out to a notable author, it doesn’t hurt to mention it to other librarians so everyone stays in the loop.