diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_single.py b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_single.py
index dfe4c106d9..a9e9ef825c 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_single.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/dialogs/metadata_single.py
@@ -551,6 +551,25 @@ class MetadataSingleDialog(ResizableDialog, Ui_MetadataSingleDialog):
                 self.sync_formats()
             title = unicode(self.title.text())
             self.db.set_title(self.id, title, notify=False)
+            au = unicode(self.authors.text())
+            if au:
+                self.db.set_authors(self.id, string_to_authors(au), notify=False)
+            aus = unicode(self.author_sort.text())
+            if aus:
+                self.db.set_author_sort(self.id, aus, notify=False)
+            self.db.set_isbn(self.id,
+                    re.sub(r'[^0-9a-zA-Z]', '', unicode(self.isbn.text())), notify=False)
+            self.db.set_rating(self.id, 2*self.rating.value(), notify=False)
+            self.db.set_publisher(self.id, qstring_to_unicode(self.publisher.currentText()), notify=False)
+            self.db.set_tags(self.id, qstring_to_unicode(self.tags.text()).split(','), notify=False)
+            self.db.set_series(self.id, qstring_to_unicode(self.series.currentText()), notify=False)
+            self.db.set_series_index(self.id, self.series_index.value(), notify=False)
+            self.db.set_comment(self.id, qstring_to_unicode(self.comments.toPlainText()), notify=False)
+            d = self.pubdate.date()
+            self.db.set_pubdate(self.id, datetime(d.year(), d.month(), d.day()))
+
+            if self.cover_changed and self.cover_data is not None:
+                self.db.set_cover(self.id, self.cover_data)
         except IOError, err:
             if err.errno == 13: # Permission denied
                 fname = err.filename if err.filename else 'file'
@@ -558,25 +577,7 @@ class MetadataSingleDialog(ResizableDialog, Ui_MetadataSingleDialog):
                         _('Could not open %s. Is it being used by another'
                         ' program?')%fname, show=True)
             raise
-        au = unicode(self.authors.text())
-        if au:
-            self.db.set_authors(self.id, string_to_authors(au), notify=False)
-        aus = qstring_to_unicode(self.author_sort.text())
-        if aus:
-            self.db.set_author_sort(self.id, aus, notify=False)
-        self.db.set_isbn(self.id,
-                 re.sub(r'[^0-9a-zA-Z]', '', unicode(self.isbn.text())), notify=False)
-        self.db.set_rating(self.id, 2*self.rating.value(), notify=False)
-        self.db.set_publisher(self.id, qstring_to_unicode(self.publisher.currentText()), notify=False)
-        self.db.set_tags(self.id, qstring_to_unicode(self.tags.text()).split(','), notify=False)
-        self.db.set_series(self.id, qstring_to_unicode(self.series.currentText()), notify=False)
-        self.db.set_series_index(self.id, self.series_index.value(), notify=False)
-        self.db.set_comment(self.id, qstring_to_unicode(self.comments.toPlainText()), notify=False)
-        d = self.pubdate.date()
-        self.db.set_pubdate(self.id, datetime(d.year(), d.month(), d.day()))
 
-        if self.cover_changed and self.cover_data is not None:
-            self.db.set_cover(self.id, self.cover_data)
         QDialog.accept(self)
         if callable(self.accepted_callback):
             self.accepted_callback(self.id)
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/server.py b/src/calibre/library/server.py
index 8e31ff8b37..f615827cde 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/server.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/server.py
@@ -366,6 +366,21 @@ class LibraryServer(object):
         return base.intersection(epub.union(pdb))
 
     def stanza_sortby_subcategory(self, updated, sortby, offset):
+        pat = re.compile(r'\(.*\)')
+
+        def clean_author(x):
+            return pat.sub('', x).strip()
+
+        def author_cmp(x, y):
+            x = x if ',' in x else clean_author(x).rpartition(' ')[-1]
+            y = y if ',' in y else clean_author(y).rpartition(' ')[-1]
+            return cmp(x.lower(), y.lower())
+
+        def get_author(x):
+            pref, ___, suff = clean_author(x).rpartition(' ')
+            return suff + (', '+pref) if pref else suff
+
+
         what, subtitle = sortby[2:], ''
         if sortby == 'byseries':
             data = self.db.all_series()
@@ -379,13 +394,15 @@ class LibraryServer(object):
             data = self.db.all_tags2()
             data = [(x[0], x[1], len(self.get_matches('tags', x[1]))) for x in data]
             subtitle = 'Books by tag'
+        fcmp = author_cmp if sortby == 'byauthor' else cmp
         data = [x for x in data if x[2] > 0]
-        data.sort(cmp=lambda x, y: cmp(x[1], y[1]))
+        data.sort(cmp=lambda x, y: fcmp(x[1], y[1]))
         next_offset = offset + self.max_stanza_items
         rdata = data[offset:next_offset]
         if next_offset >= len(data):
             next_offset = -1
-        entries = [self.STANZA_SUBCATALOG_ENTRY.generate(title=title, id=id,
+        gt = get_author if sortby == 'byauthor' else lambda x: x
+        entries = [self.STANZA_SUBCATALOG_ENTRY.generate(title=gt(title), id=id,
             what=what, updated=updated, count=c).render('xml').decode('utf-8') for id,
             title, c in rdata]
         next_link = ''