Spreadsheets (change book settings in bulk)

If you'd like to add or edit multiple books at a time, consider using spreadsheets. You can download a spreadsheet that's pre-filled with all the information you've already entered in the Partner Center, adjust the settings and bibliographic information for your titles on your own computer, then upload your edited spreadsheet to apply those changes.

On this page:

Download a spreadsheet

Visit the Book Catalog in your Partner Center account and click the Export books button. Check the box labeled Show metadata columns to include bibliographic information and basic settings for your books. By default, your spreadsheet will contain information for all the books in your catalog. If you want to generate a spreadsheet of a subset of your books, you should first filter your catalog. The downloaded spreadsheet will only include the search results.

Download prices

If your books can be sold on Google Play, you can download prices along with the rest of your book data. To do so, check the box labeled Show price columns.

Note: At the moment, you can only download and edit prices that weren't automatically converted from another currency. However, prices added via spreadsheet can override converted prices.

You can also add prices. For example, you may wish to provide list prices in a new currency. Click the box labeled Add new prices to these books and specify the price type for the new price.

The price type is everything about the price except for the list price itself:

  • Currency
  • Price type
    • Fixed: Is the price used in a country where you are subject to fixed price law?
    • Includes tax: Does the price include tax?

If you want to add multiple new prices, click Add another price.

View and edit a spreadsheet

Open the file you downloaded in a spreadsheet program (e.g., Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice Calc, or LibreOffice Calc). If the spreadsheet looks strange, be sure to specify that you're opening a tab-delimited file using UTF-16 encoding.

You can edit the spreadsheet by adding or replacing values according to Google's formatting guidelines below. New books can be added by providing information in new rows.

You can also delete any columns that you won't be working on, and any data in those columns will be unchanged when you upload the spreadsheet. (Exceptions include the Identifier column, which is always required, and the Title column, which is required for new books being added via the spreadsheet.) Some columns only apply to books which can be sold on Google Play.

Columns in the spreadsheet (click to expand/collapse)
Spreadsheets must be formatted according to our specifications in order to be successfully processed.
  • Some columns accept only a set of specific values. Check below to see the list of acceptable values for each column.
  • If the column name includes additional information inside square brackets, format your data the same way, with the specified details in square brackets.
  • Column headers and acceptable values may change. (For example, our system used to require headers and some values to be in English. They should now be provided in the local language.) We recommend using a newly downloaded version of your spreadsheet to ensure compatibility.
Identifier The primary ISBN or other identifier for the book. Required. Changing the value in this column will make any information in the row apply to a different book (and may create a new book record); the book with the old identifier will not be deleted from your account.
Status (Do Not Modify) Whether the book is available for preview and for sale and whether any actions are needed. This column is informational only. Any changes made in this column will be ignored when you upload the spreadsheet.
Label (Do Not Modify) The name of the template the book was created with. Note that any changes made in this column will not be reflected in your account when you upload the spreadsheet. There is no way to change labels for an existing book.
Play Store Link (Do Not Modify) The URL for the book's page on Google Play (if the book is live on Google Play). Any changes made in this column will be ignored when you upload the spreadsheet.
Enable for Sale? Whether the book will be sold on Google Play. (Note that additional information, such as prices, is also required before a book becomes available for sale.)

Acceptable values:
  • Enabled for sale: Yes, Y, or +
  • Not enabled for sale: No, N, or -
Title The title of the book. Required if this book is being added to your account.
Subtitle The subtitle of the book, if any.
Book Format The format of the book. Acceptable values:
  • Digital (digital format)
  • Hardback (hardcover format)
  • Paperback (paperback format)
Related Identifier [Format, Relationship], Semicolon-Separated The ISBN or identifier of other books related to this one. For example, if the electronic and print editions of a title have different ISBNs, you can specify the other edition in this column. Include the format of the related book, a comma, then its relationship to the current book, all within square brackets after the identifier. Separate multiple related identifiers with semicolons. Examples:
  • If the ISBN in the first column is for the electronic edition, then you can provide the print ISBN equivalent as follows. This allows readers to search for the book on Google Play using either ISBN.

    9781234567890 [Paperback, Epublication based on]
  • If the ISBN in the first column is for a print edition, then you can provide the EISBN equivalent as follows. This helps Google display a link for buying your book on Google Play from the preview page on Google Books when appropriate.

    9781234567891 [Digital, Electronic version available as]
  • If the ISBN in the first column is related to multiple other ISBNs, use a semicolon between the bracketed items.

    9781234567890 [Digital, Electronic version available as]; 9781234567891 [Paperback, Is other-language version of]
Acceptable values for the format:
  • Digital (digital format)
  • Hardback (hardcover format)
  • Paperback (paperback format)
  • Unknown (unknown format)
Acceptable values for the relationship:
  • Is part of (the book is also available as part of the related book)
  • Includes (the book includes the related book)
  • Alternative format (the book is available in an alternative format as the related book)
  • Is other-language version of (the book is a version of the related book in another language)
  • Epublication based on (the book is an epublication based on the printed related book)
  • Electronic version available as (the book is a printed product with an electronic version as the related book)
  • Replaces (the book replaces, or is a new edition of, the related book)
  • Replaced by (the book is replaced by, or is an old edition of, the related book)
Contributor [Role], Semicolon-Separated Contributors to the book, such as the author, editor, or illustrator. You must specify the role of each contributor in square brackets after the name. List multiple contributors by separating them with semicolons. Example:
John Smith [Author]; Mary Jones [Editor]

Acceptable values for the role:

  • Author
  • Editor
  • Created by
  • Photographer
  • Photo text
  • Translator
  • Compiler
  • Illustrator
  • Other
  • Potential writer
  • Additional writer
  • Ghost writer
  • Foreword writer
  • Introduction writer
  • Preface writer
  • Afterword writer
  • Notes writer
  • Prologue writer
  • Commentary writer
  • Original writer
  • Series editor
  • Volume editor
  • Chief editor
  • Consultant editor
  • Adaptor editor
  • Printer
  • Publisher
  • Prior owner
Biographical Note Biographical details about the contributors. Basic HTML is acceptable (but no hyperlinks).
Language The primary language of the book. Use three-letter ISO 639-2/B codes. For example, enter eng for English.
Subject Code [Schema], Semicolon-Separated The subject of the book. This should either be a code specified by one of our accepted subject schemas, or the exact text description as described by the schema. The schema should be specified after each subject in square brackets. Subject codes may be provided for multiple schemas, separated by semicolons. Example:
Gardening / Flowers / General [BISAC]; Gardening: flowers [BIC]

Alternatively:

GAR004000 [BISAC]; WMPC [BIC]

Acceptable schemas:

  • BISAC [2014 Edition] (North America)
  • BIC (UK and Australia)
  • WGSneu (Germany)
  • C-Code (Japan)
  • CLIL (France)
  • UDC (Russia)
  • GKSS (South Korea)
  • Manga (Japan and South Korea)
Age Group, Comma-Separated The age group of the audience this book is intended for. List multiple age groups with commas. To specify adult audiences, enter 18+. Example:
13-17, 18+
Some spreadsheet programs may try treat age groups as calculations (e.g., "13-17" as "13 minus 17"). To prevent this, you can include a comma at the end ("13-17,").
Description A description of the book, such as might be found in the back cover copy. Basic HTML is acceptable (but no hyperlinks).
Publication Date The date of publication for the book in D:YYYY-MM-DD format, with YYYY-MM-DD representing the date. (The D: prefix is optional.)
Some spreadsheet programs will reformat dates. Please make sure when you upload your spreadsheet that any information in this column follows the correct format.
Page Count The number of pages in the book.
Series Name The name of the series the book belongs to, if any.
Volume in Series If the book belongs to a series, the volume number of the book.
Preview Type How much of the book can be previewed on Google Books. (This is different from the amount previewed in the Google Play Store.) A minimum of 20% should be set, with acceptable values incrementing by 10% (e.g., 30%, 40%, etc.).
Preview Territories The countries where this book can be previewed on Google Books as comma-separated two-letter ISO 3166-1 codes. This list should include any countries where this book is enabled for sale.

If you have worldwide rights, enter WORLD. You can exclude countries by listing them after WORLD, separated by commas and individually preceded by a minus sign (-). Examples:

To indicate all territories except the U.S. and Canada:
WORLD,-CA,-US

To indicate Germany, Spain, France, and Italy:

DE,ES,FR,IT
Buy Link Text The text of the link that points to your specified purchase page for this book. Usually this will be your company name or website name, such as "Example Publishing" or "Example Publisher Online."
Buy Link The URL of the specified purchase page for this book on your ecommerce site. Note that Google Books automatically links to popular book retailer sites; this link is to encourage visitors to your own page for this book. If you provided "Example Publisher Online" as the Buy Link Text above, and a Buy Link of http://www.examplepublishing.com/book/12345.html for this book, then a user clicking "Example Publisher Online" would land on that particular webpage.
Publisher Name The name you want displayed as the person, imprint, or publisher who submitted this book to Google Books.
Publisher Website The URL of your website, which viewers can reach by clicking on your publisher name.
Show Photos in Preview? Whether to display photographs or illustrations in the preview of your book. Disable this option if you don't have the appropriate rights. If a book contains a significant number of images, we can sell it only if you indicate we can show photos or if we receive an EPUB file. Acceptable values:
  • Show photos: Yes, Y, or +
  • Don't show photos: No, N, or -
PDF Download Allowed? Whether to allow Google Books users to download a full copy of your book as a PDF file. Acceptable values:
  • Allow downloading: Yes, Y, or +
  • Don't allow downloading: No, N, or -
On Sale Date The date the book should become available for sale in D:YYYY-MM-DD format, with YYYY-MM-DD representing the date. (The D: prefix is optional.) If this is a future date and your book is enabled for sale, it will not be available for sale before this date.
Some spreadsheet programs will reformat dates. Please make sure when you upload your spreadsheet that any information in this column follows the correct format.
DRM Enabled? Whether to apply Digital Rights Management (DRM) software to the book when it's sold on Google Play. Acceptable values:
  • Enable DRM: Yes, Y, or +
  • Don't enable DRM: No, N, or -
Show Photos in eBook? Whether to display photographs or illustrations in the book when it's sold on Google Play. Disable this option if you don't have the appropriate rights. If a book contains a significant number of images, we can sell it only if this option is enabled or if we receive an EPUB file. Acceptable values:
  • Show photos: Yes, Y, or +
  • Don't show photos: No, N, or -
Include Scanned Pages? Whether to allow people who purchase the book on Google Play to view the PDF version, which includes the original layout. Acceptable values:
  • Include scanned pages: Yes, Y, or +
  • Don't include scanned pages: No, N, or -
For Mature Audiences? Whether this book contains mature content and is intended to be read by adults only.
Copy-Paste Percentage How much of the book a buyer can copy and paste. Enter a number from 0 to 100 in increments of 10, or 5 (e.g., 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, etc.).
Additional columns will be present in the spreadsheet if you chose to download prices as well. See below for more details.

Edit prices in a spreadsheet

If your books can be sold on Google Play, you can change, add, or remove prices for your books in bulk using spreadsheets. To make sure that you're only supplying prices for books on Google Play (instead of preview-only books), filter your spreadsheet by checking for a value of Yes (or Y or +) in the Enable for Sale? column before modifying prices.

Decimal marks for prices should follow convention for the language that the spreadsheet headers are in. For example, if the header is in German, our system will expect comma decimal marks (e.g., 3,00), while we'll expect period decimal marks for spreadsheets with English headers (e.g., 3.00).

Currency conversion

If currency conversion is enabled, you can configure which books and prices you'd like to convert in order to sell in other countries. In the spreadsheet you'll see two columns for each price: the first column contains the price as a numeric value and the second column lists the countries where that price will be applied. If any of the listed countries uses a different currency from the currency specified for the price, the currency conversion tool will allow you to automatically convert your provided price into the target country's currency. See the section on changing the countries where a price applies for detailed instructions.

Add a price

To add a price that your books don't currently have, first you need to download that price type in the spreadsheet so that you have the right price header to work with. After selecting Export books, check the box labeled Add a price and specify the details of the price type you want to add.

Download and open the spreadsheet, fill in the values for that new price, and then return to upload the spreadsheet.

Delete a price

Download the prices you want to delete following the instructions for downloading prices and open the spreadsheet. Wherever you see a value for the price, replace that value with two asterisks (**). The prices that have ** will be deleted when you upload the spreadsheet. Books without prices for a given territory cannot be sold there.

Change a price

To change a price, simply edit the numerical value in the appropriate column for the book.

Change the countries where a price applies

You may want to change the countries where your price applies for various reasons. You might have experienced a change in the rights for the book, or you might want to use an existing price for all worldwide sales once you've enabled currency conversion, as the below example illustrates. To change the countries where a price applies, follow these steps:

  1. Download the price you want to change following the instructions for downloading prices and open the spreadsheet. There'll be two columns for each list price: the price, then the countries where that price applies.

    Identifier ... USD [Recommended Retail Price, Excluding Tax] Price Countries for USD [Recommended Retail Price, Excluding Tax] Price
    012345678 ... 9.99 US

    Explanation of column headers in the example:

    • Identifier: The identifier.
    • USD [Recommended Retail Price, Excluding Tax] Price: The recommended retail price, tax-exclusive, in U.S. dollars.
    • Countries for USD [Recommended Retail Price, Excluding Tax] Price: The countries where the aforementioned price should be applied. For countries where the specified currency is not the local currency, currency conversion must be enabled for the price to apply there.
  2. Edit the list of countries using our formatting guidelines.

    Identifier ... USD [Recommended Retail Price, Excluding Tax] Price Countries for USD [Recommended Retail Price, Excluding Tax] Price
    012345678 ... 9.99 WORLD
  3. Save the spreadsheet, then return the Partner Center to submit it according to our uploading instructions.

Add books using a spreadsheet

You can add additional books to your account by entering their information in blank rows. (If you're not making any edits to existing books, you can delete those rows entirely.) Although we recommend you provide as much information as possible, the minimum required columns include:

When you upload your spreadsheet, these books will be added using the settings for your default template. You'll need to upload the book cover and content files separately. Learn more.

Upload a spreadsheet

  1. Once you've finished making changes to your spreadsheet, save it in one of our accepted formats:

    Accepted formats Accepted encodings* Accepted filename extensions
    • comma-separated
    • tab-separated
    • UTF-16
    • UTF-8
    • .csv
    • .txt
    * Our system will attempt to process other encodings, but using one of the listed encodings is strongly recommended.
  2. Return to the Partner Center. While viewing the Book Catalog, click the Advanced button, then Upload CSV.

  3. Click the Choose file button and select your edited spreadsheet file from your computer and click Upload.

  4. After the file has been uploaded, your changes may take some time before they're reflected in your account. You won't be directly notified of any errors in your spreadsheet. To determine whether your spreadsheet submission was successful, check your spreadsheet upload history.

View spreadsheet upload history

To check the status of your spreadsheet submission, visit the Book Catalog in your Partner Center account and click the Advanced button. Select View CSV upload history. You'll see a list of your past uploads with timestamps and the number of rows processed for each file. If no rows were successfully processed, the status for that file will be Invalid. Otherwise, the status will be Completed. (Errors may still be present in completed uploads.)

To view details on any errors, click the number of rows with errors. You'll be prompted to download a spreadsheet which will contain the specific error messages for your upload. The first column will contain the identifier of the row with the error, and the second column will contain the specific value that caused the error, along with an error message. Use this information to make corrections to your spreadsheet and upload it again.

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