Answers.Body: <p>The comma (<code>,</code>) can be part of the name  (e.g. in names having the suffix <code>, Jr</code>), but also when they are in reverse order: <code>Mack, David</code>.
  So you cannot use that to separate names and because of the second use, if a comma is already there the name doesn't get split and reordered, as Calibre thinks that has already been done.</p>
  
  <p>I use the word <code>and</code> between names, but IIRC you can also use the ampersand (<code>&amp;</code>), to separate the names:</p>
  
  <pre><code> David Mack and Marco Palmieri and Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>If you put that in Calibre's <code>Authors</code> field and click the right arrow next to it the resulting <code>Author sort</code> field will be:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Mack, David &amp; Palmieri, Marco &amp; Ward, Dayton &amp; Dilmore, Kevin
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>and your book will be under <code>M</code></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-05-10T05:16:18.177Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-05-12T08:59:25.443Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2019-05-12T08:59:25.443Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Anthon
Body: <p>Somehow I have managed to have several 'authors' that are an amalgamation of different names. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get them split up to how they are supposed to be.</p>
  
  <p>When I browse the Authors, it will just have a couple of entries like:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>David Mack, Keith R. A. Decandido</p>
    
    <p>David Mack, Marco Palmieri, Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>listed under the D, whereas I obviously expect the former to be two separate authors, and four authors for the latter.</p>
  
  <p>I have tried removing second author completely from the books that had the former author, but the moment I re-add them it becomes its own unique category yet again. I have tried this through grid editing and the individual metadata screen with no result.</p>
  
  <p>How do I convince Calibre to treat these authors right?</p>
  
  <p>Note that I use the default author split settings, which should be capable of splitting those author strings just fine.</p>
  
Tags: <calibre>
Title: How to fix Calibre Author amalgamations?
UserDisplayName: Stigma
ThreadText: # How to fix Calibre Author amalgamations?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2019-05-10)
  
  Somehow I have managed to have several 'authors' that are an amalgamation of different names. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get them split up to how they are supposed to be.
  
  When I browse the Authors, it will just have a couple of entries like:
  
  > David Mack, Keith R. A. Decandido
  >
  > David Mack, Marco Palmieri, Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore
  
  listed under the D, whereas I obviously expect the former to be two separate authors, and four authors for the latter.
  
  I have tried removing second author completely from the books that had the former author, but the moment I re-add them it becomes its own unique category yet again. I have tried this through grid editing and the individual metadata screen with no result.
  
  How do I convince Calibre to treat these authors right?
  
  Note that I use the default author split settings, which should be capable of splitting those author strings just fine.
  
  **Tags:** calibre
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2019-05-10. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
  
  The comma (,) can be part of the name  (e.g. in names having the suffix , Jr), but also when they are in reverse order: Mack, David.
  So you cannot use that to separate names and because of the second use, if a comma is already there the name doesn't get split and reordered, as Calibre thinks that has already been done.
  I use the word and between names, but IIRC you can also use the ampersand (&), to separate the names:
   David Mack and Marco Palmieri and Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore
  
  If you put that in Calibre's Authors field and click the right arrow next to it the resulting Author sort field will be:
  Mack, David & Palmieri, Marco & Ward, Dayton & Dilmore, Kevin
  
  and your book will be under M
  
  
  ---
  
  