diff --git a/_pipeline/ci/run.sh b/_pipeline/ci/run.sh
index d46d05d..24aa434 100755
--- a/_pipeline/ci/run.sh
+++ b/_pipeline/ci/run.sh
@@ -54,12 +54,14 @@ for pdf in "${pdfs[@]}"; do
   echo "book folder: $rel"
   e="$(esc "$rel")"
   if git cat-file -e "HEAD:$rel" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "this book already exists in the repo"
     if [ "$DRY_RUN" = "true" ]; then   # dry run compares text only: skip audio
       sparse_add "/$e/book.json" "/$e/warnings.log" "/$e/LICENSE_STATUS.md" "/$e/text/" "/$e/script/" "/$e/figures/"
     else                               # a real run needs the existing audio so it can skip it
       sparse_add "/$e/"
     fi
-    echo "this book already exists in the repo; existing files fetched"
+  elif [ "$DRY_RUN" != "true" ]; then
+    sparse_add "/$e/"                  # new book: its files must be inside the sparse checkout or git add ignores them
   fi
   if [ "$DRY_RUN" = "true" ]; then
     export AUDIOBOOK_BOOKS_DIR="/tmp/audiobook-dry/books"; rm -rf /tmp/audiobook-dry
@@ -79,15 +81,19 @@ for pdf in "${pdfs[@]}"; do
   [ "$DRY_RUN" = "true" ] && continue
 
   bookdir="$(python3 -c "import json,sys; print(json.load(open(sys.argv[1]))['book_dir'])" "$result")"
+  rel="${bookdir#"$PWD"/}"
+  git add -A -- "$bookdir" || { echo "FAILED: git add failed for $rel. Nothing was committed."; failed=1; continue; }
+  # Safety net: the book must really be staged, or the PDF must not be removed from _incoming/.
+  if ! git ls-files --error-unmatch -- "$rel/book.json" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "FAILED: $rel/book.json is not tracked after git add. Nothing was committed."; failed=1; continue
+  fi
   case "$pdf" in
     _incoming/*)
       git rm -q -- "$pdf"
       side="${pdf%.[pP][dD][fF]}.json"; [ -f "$side" ] && git rm -q -- "$side"
       ;;
   esac
-  git add -A -- "$bookdir"
   if git diff --cached --quiet; then echo "No changes to commit for $pdf"; continue; fi
-  rel="${bookdir#"$PWD"/}"
   git commit -q -m "Audiobook: $rel (from $pdf, Actions run ${GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER:-?}) [skip ci]"
   git --no-pager show --stat --format='commit %H' HEAD | head -40
   if push_with_retry; then echo "PUSHED to $BRANCH: $rel"; else echo "FAILED: could not push to $BRANCH"; failed=1; fi