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`
  
  
  ---
  
  