Have a question about the Library? Ask it here.

[ChunkyC]

This thread is reserved for questions and commentary on the library and its contents. As mentioned in the guidelines, we ask folks to only post listings in the various categories.

We felt in light of that, we would need a spot where we could talk about the library. This thread is that place.

We want the Absolute Write Library to be a great place to find works by your fellow members, so go ahead; ask us anything, tell us what you think about this project, and feel free to offer up any suggestions you may have.

[Richard White]

Is there going to be a spot for comics (whether paper or web-based)?

[SeanDSchaffer]

....But here goes:

What kind of books are allowed in the Library?

What I mean is, would a book published by P(cough, cough)a be allowed? If so, would there be any special guidelines those of us printed through that company would have to follow?


I was thinking that if someone were doing research on that company's practices, having a copy available through the Library might be advantageous. That's why I'm asking.

[Hannah]

This is a cool idea, and I'm reading new books all the time. :D

I'm always looking for a good memoir.

[underthecity]

I have three books published. Do I create three threads, or place all three books into one thread?

My books are history/nonfiction. Should I place them in nonfiction or in the history forum?

allen

[ChunkyC]

Heya gang.

Question: Is there going to be a place for comics?

Why not? We want the Library to be as inclusive as possible. We'll get a category up shortly.

Question: What kind of books are allowed in the Library?

Anything a visitor to the Library could get a hold of out in the real world, or online. As I mentioned above, we want the Library to be inclusive. Therefore self pubbed/vanity press etc. books qualify because they are something a person could purchase if they knew where to find them. Remember, the Library is intended to be a place for us to discover what our fellow members have written, not to make any judgements on how it was published.

Question: I have three books published. Do I create three threads, or place all three books into one thread? My books are history/nonfiction. Should I place them in nonfiction or in the history forum?

You should post by genre/type. If all three of your books are historical, I would put them in the Historical category. Create a single thread and put a post for each book in that thread. When your next book in that category comes out, you can add a new post for it, which will bump your thread up to the top in that category.

We deliberately didn't define separate fiction and non-fiction categories (other than General Non-fic which we put up to be a place for something that doesn't fit anywhere else). We did this because the number of categories would have been enormous otherwise. Plus, we believe folks will come by looking for books by a fellow member, rather than browsing for a particular type of book, and so separating out fiction and non-fiction in a given genre didn't seem that important for our purposes.

Hope that helps.

[ChunkyC]

A quick reminder: be sure to title your thread in Lastname, Firstname format, as in:

King, Steven

And there's no need to include your AW nick in the title since it's there in your post. We did that a couple of times ourselves while practicing. http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif

Mind you, none of this stuff is the end of the world. If you did make a little formatting boo-boo in your thread title, a mod will drop by and make the adjustment.

[KimJo]

I'm a little confused about where my phonics-based reading program fits... Should it be under educational or children's?

[ChunkyC]

Question: I'm a little confused about where my phonics-based reading program fits... Should it be under educational or children's?

I would place it according to the primary focus of the work. Since the primary focus of yours seems to be educational, that's where I'd put it. Stuff that's more entertainment or editorial could go in the Children's/YA category.

[KimJo]

Thanks! :)

[Inspiewriter]

Question: I have three books published. Do I create three threads, or place all three books into one thread? My books are history/nonfiction. Should I place them in nonfiction or in the history forum?

You should post by genre/type. If all three of your books are historical, I would put them in the Historical category. Create a single thread and put a post for each book in that thread. When your next book in that category comes out, you can add a new post for it, which will bump your thread up to the top in that category.
.

I think I did my romance entries wrong. I will go merge all my books into one thread--would you please then delete the extra threads? Thanks!

[skylarburris]

What if you have a book that fits equally well in two categories? A Christian romance? A collection of (mostly) spirtual poetry? Do you have to choose, say, Romance or Spirtual Writing, or can you place a link in one of the categories to the book in the other category? These books may have overlapping audiences.

Also, if I publish poetry in magazines, should that go in the poetry category or the magazine category?

Thank you!

[Sarita]

Also, if I publish poetry in magazines, should that go in the poetry category or the magazine category? I would put it under poetry... but that's just me.

What if you have a book that fits equally well in two categories?Maybe instead of posting in both places, chose the one that fits your book best with a note in the description saying "This is a Christian Romance novel" or something of the sort.

[ChunkyC]

To add a thought on multiple categories ... if you do place books in more than one category (say you write fantasy novels and have a monthly column in a knitting magazine), feel free to place a link(s) in your posts that will take browsers directly to your other Library entries. I've done that in mine to link my Stories of Strength entry directly to my movie review column entry and vice versa.

[Betty W01]

I have stories in a number of anthologies - where would those credits go?

[veinglory]

I listed an anthology I had a story in with all the authors mentioned in the usual order and my name underlined. I put it under the genre (erotica in my case).

[ChunkyC]

Yep, I'd put it in whichever category best reflects the overall content of the anthology; or if there's enough variety in the anthology to cover more than one, put it in the category that best reflects your story.

[Fern]

I take it it's okay to post single articles under the magazines/newspapers heading. Does this also include online publications?

Under "Publisher". . .do you want the actual publisher's name or are you asking for the name of the magazine or publication itself?

[ChunkyC]

Question: I take it it's okay to post single articles under the magazines/newspapers heading. Does this also include online publications?

Sure. The idea is for you to let folks know where they can find what you've had published. The method of publication is not an issue, so long as the work is available for someone to read / purchase.

Question: Under "Publisher". . .do you want the actual publisher's name or are you asking for the name of the magazine or publication itself?

In the case of a magazine or newspaper article, the name of the publication itself is fine. You are more than welcome to include the actual publisher if you wish.

[Susie]

Chunky, I have a poem in Stories of Strength and would love to post about it in the super library. Do I need to ask you first, or can I just post it. Thanks much.

[ChunkyC]

Chunky, I have a poem in Stories of Strength and would love to post about it in the super library. Do I need to ask you first, or can I just post it. Thanks much.
Sure. I did the same thing for my story. If you like, take a look at my entry in the Mainstream category. You can go there directly from the link in my sig.

[AceTachyon]

Is this area specifically for books or can we list stories we've published online?

[ChunkyC]

Is this area specifically for books or can we list stories we've published online?
Books, stories, articles ... anything you've published either in print or online that is available to be read or purchased qualifies for inclusion in the Library.

To use myself as an example again, I write a weekly movie review column for my local newspaper. I put an entry for it in the Magazines/Newspapers category, with a link to where archived copies of the column can be read online.

[BardSkye]

I have an anthology coming out in September but I'm the publisher, not one of the writers. Would that be considered appropriate for the library or not?

[ChunkyC]

Hi, Bard!

Now that's an interesting one. As stated, we want the library to be as inclusive as possible, so yeah, having a publisher that's an AW member list what they publish would be pretty cool. It could well lead to one of our members submitting and being published by you, and that would be a Good Thing. :)

Do you mind using your entry as a test case for making any useful tweaks to the post format to accommodate publishers? We would want to make sure those browsing the Library could easily tell the entry is for a publisher and not an author. For now, perhaps just put "various" in the author line. Then, in the subject line where everyone is putting their author name, put the name of the publication. We'll see how that looks and go from there.

Sound okay to you? Let me know once you have it up and I'll have a peek. You can either PM me, or just respond in this thread, I have it subscribed.

[BardSkye]

Okay, it's up in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section. Would you be so kind as to check and make sure everything is good? Especially the cover thumbnail; I'm having some problems getting file sizes right and it may be too big.

Many thanks!

[ChunkyC]

Looks good! The cover's a bit large, but not overly so. It can stay that way. I'll let Roger know (mod of that room in the library) so that he knows you asked about putting it up, and so that he can add your listing to the index.

[BardSkye]

Thank you, darlin'. Much obliged.

[OneTeam OneDream]

Sports??...what about Sports?? Where would they go? Non-Fiction perhaps?

[ChunkyC]

Yeah, I'd put it in non-fiction, Chris. :)

[AdamH]

Hi Charlie,

I was wondering if there's a place for stories published in e-zines. Should these just be placed in the Magazines section?

-Adam

[ChunkyC]

If it's fiction, I'd put it under the appropriate genre.

[JeanneTGC]

I have a couple questions, relating to humor.

First, are humorous shorts that have been published okay to put up?

Next, if they are, and are online, is putting up the link to the humor short acceptable? I think I would run into problems if I posted the pieces anywhere but where they were published, since they own the first internet rights.

[Rich]

I got a book overdue two months. I've recently heard that it can affect my credit rating. Since I would shoot any librarian who would report it, what would my sentence be?

[ChunkyC]

I have a couple questions, relating to humor.

First, are humorous shorts that have been published okay to put up?

Next, if they are, and are online, is putting up the link to the humor short acceptable? I think I would run into problems if I posted the pieces anywhere but where they were published, since they own the first internet rights.
Putting a link to them is fine. We don't want the actual work posted here anyway, the Library is just meant to be a catalogue.

[Thekherham]

I have some questions:

Would books printed by lulu.com be allowed to be listed? I currently have one on that site and I may have another later this year (after I've done the editing etc.)

Do I have to use my real name when posting the books? I have written these books under pseudonyms, so would it be these pseudonyms that I use? (They are two very different types of books, and the name I use for the one would not fit the other)

Thank you for your replies.

[Sarita]

Do I have to use my real name when posting the books? I have written these books under pseudonyms, so would it be these pseudonyms that I use? (They are two very different types of books, and the name I use for the one would not fit the other)You can have the MOD of the genre post them for you if you A) don't want it associated with your user name or B) Don't want 2 books with different names associated with each other.

Would books printed by lulu.com be allowed to be listed?Yes, self-pubs are allowed per CC, here:
Question: What kind of books are allowed in the Library?

Anything a visitor to the Library could get a hold of out in the real world, or online. As I mentioned above, we want the Library to be inclusive. Therefore self pubbed/vanity press etc. books qualify because they are something a person could purchase if they knew where to find them. Remember, the Library is intended to be a place for us to discover what our fellow members have written, not to make any judgements on how it was published.

[williemeikle]

Any chance of starting a Film library section?

I've written a couple of shorts that are getting made, and have a feature coming later in the year, and it would be cool to have other screenwriters here be able to cataloge our film creadits in a similar way to the way we do our books....

Willie

[ChunkyC]

Great idea, Willie. I'll get it up at some point today (dratted day job keeps interfering with important stuff like this....)

[spywriter]

Hello,

I want to list my book here, but there is rule that says you must have 50 or more posts. I have 34 under the new webpage, but when you guys ran it in the old system a few years ago, I had over 100 posts. When you moved, everyone started from 0 again. Do my previous posts count, or not?

Thanks!

[ChunkyC]

I think we can bend the rule for you, spy. The restriction was just to prevent spammers and the like from doing drive-bys, and the 50 post thing reflects the level you need to reach for the system to automatically move you from being a Registered User, to a Super Member, so it was the easiest way for us to set it up.

What I'll do is manually add you to the Super Member group, since you're nearly there anyway (and coz you asked real nice-like :) ). Lemme know if you run into any problems making your library post.

[spywriter]

Thanks a lot! I appreciate the time it will take you to do that. I will give it a go this week and I will let you know if I have any problems!

[Toothpaste]

Hey, my book isn't out until August, but is available to pre-order online, is it okay to put it up anyway?

[badducky]

I'd like to second Toothpaste's question...

[ChunkyC]

Hey, my book isn't out until August, but is available to pre-order online, is it okay to put it up anyway?
Sure! Just note the release date in your entry, and that it's available for preorder. You can go back and tweak the post after it's released.

:)

[scrivener]

I'd like to list a couple of my books in the library but I am confused about starting a new thread or what?

[ChunkyC]

Full instructions on posting to the Library are here (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24863). :)

[wayndom]

Never mind... made it work.

[Cassidy]

Hi,
I just posted my new book in the library (under children's/YA) but am having trouble with formatting... my list looks ok on my screen but when I post it all just runs together. I just cut and pasted the template from the instructions page so I'm not sure what the problem is. Any suggestions for how I can fix it? Also, what is the insert image function and how do find it? Thanks!

[ChunkyC]

Hi Cassidy!

Sorry it took a while to get here. I see you have the formatting squared away. As for the insert image thingy, it's the yellow box with tiny mountains, you'll see it in the tools when making a post. It looks like this: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/editor/insertimage.gif When you click it, you get a box where you can enter a url, such as a link to photobucket.

Hope that helps. Feel free to drop me a PM if you are still having trouble making it work. :)

[talkwrite]

I am the series editor of three books that are academic. Would that be acceptable for your library?

[Roger J Carlson]

I am the series editor of three books that are academic. Would that be acceptable for your library?Sorry for the delay.

Yes, it would be perfectly acceptable to list your books here.

[Brenda Hill]

I just posted my short story in horror, which is entirely wrong. How I managed to do that, I'll never know, but I must be half asleep. I reposted it in the right section, but would the mod please delete the one in the horror section? The title is, Am I Wife or Daughter? So sorry.

Thanks!

[dpaterso]

Done! No problem, only took a second.

-Derek

[Brenda Hill]

Thanks, Derek. Sure appreciate it.

[Roger J Carlson]

Hi library mods - I just posted my book in the literary category and tried to submit a book cover image link from Amazon but that didn't seem to work (it's just showing up as an x). Can you help with that?
Thanks!
-Sarah Felix BurnsI got it.

[helga]

My book is about (first) autism and (second) animals, but it's written from the point of view of a cat. Should it be under Animals' or General NF?

[Roger J Carlson]

My book is about (first) autism and (second) animals, but it's written from the point of view of a cat. Should it be under Animals' or General NF?Nothing says you can't put it in both.

[euclid]

Hi Derek, Roger,

Is there no category for books of short stories?

[Roger J Carlson]

Hi Derek, Roger,

Is there no category for books of short stories?No separate forum for that. But you can list a book of short stories in whatever genre the stories belong. I suggest you look at James D. Macdonald in the Science Fiction Library to see how. He has several books of short stories listed.

[Chris P]

I'm assuming technical/scholarly non-fic would go under "General Nonfiction." Some are very technical ("Mobility of fipronil in soil columns at the termiticidal rate" blah blah) that are of interest to maybe 50 people in the world, none of them AW members.

Should I only include more general non-fic articles that non-specialists might want to read, or include as much as I want?

[artemis31386]

I noticed that there is no category for interstices? What about those of us who write urban fantasy, where should it be listed?

[Bartholomew]

Is there an advantage to listing my work here? Honest question. I want to, but the amount of work seems like it'd be better directed toward social network marketing.

[Kevans]

Lots of short fiction, published in an E magazine, available from Baen Webscriptions, Alt history.

Better under SF and F?

Regards,
Kevin

[Roger J Carlson]

Lots of short fiction, published in an E magazine, available from Baen Webscriptions, Alt history.

Better under SF and F?

Regards,
KevinThere are no hard and fast rules regarding location. It's really up to you as long as you don't post in forums that are obviously unrelated. You can also post in several forums if they're appropriate. No reason you couldn't have a thread in both SF&F and Short Fiction.

Just make sure you create a thread for you and list each story as a separate post within the thread.

[spacejock2]

Hiya

I was just about to add my new book to my library page (under Science Fiction), except this one is Middle Grade/Chidren's fic.

Would it be possible to have a listing for my name under that category too, or is that a bit tricky?

Cheers
Simon Haynes

[CaoPaux]

If your questions hasn't already been answered: feel free to create a new listing for a new genre.

[Medievalist]

Hiya

I was just about to add my new book to my library page (under Science Fiction), except this one is Middle Grade/Chidren's fic.

Would it be possible to have a listing for my name under that category too, or is that a bit tricky?

Cheers
Simon Haynes

Go right ahead; just create a new Author thread for each genre in which you list your book.

[Steve Coate]

Nevermind. Just reread the thread and found the answer to my question.

[Siri Kirpal]

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I've just posted a thread with two books in the Religion/Spirituality section. I'm not seeing how to pm the moderator. Could someone please put me in the index for that section? And could someone please insert the Amazon thumbnails of the book for me? I'm flummoxed on that last item.

Thanks and God bless.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal Kaur Khalsa

[harriet47]

If my novel crosses genres, is it possible to list it in two different library forums or must I close my eyes and just choose one?

[dpaterso]

If my novel crosses genres, is it possible to list it in two different library forums or must I close my eyes and just choose one?
I'd post in both forums, if you haven't already.

-Derek

[dpaterso]

I've just posted a thread with two books in the Religion/Spirituality section. I'm not seeing how to pm the moderator. Could someone please put me in the index for that section?
Done! (Had to figure it out first! :))

And could someone please insert the Amazon thumbnails of the book for me? I'm flummoxed on that last item.
Done. You already had these thumbnails as your user avatar and in your sigline, all I did was right-click on the mini-images on Amazon, select Copy Image Location, then paste the URLs of each image into your posts, between and tags. If you Edit your own posts (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227436), you'll see the code, for future reference.

-Derek

[harriet47]

I'd post in both forums, if you haven't already.

-Derek

Thanks for the info. I wanted to check so that I wouldn't violate some rule. Will do ASAP.

[MumblingSage]

I would like to change the title of my thread in the Romance/Women's Lit genre (currently T.C. Mill) to include my second byline (T.L.K. Arkenberg) used for a book coming out in January. Is there a particular mod I should PM about that?

[Medievalist]

I would like to change the title of my thread in the Romance/Women's Lit genre (currently T.C. Mill) to include my second byline (T.L.K. Arkenberg) used for a book coming out in January. Is there a particular mod I should PM about that?

If you can't change it yourself, PM me with what you want it to say, and I'll take care of it.

That said, I think you'd be better served to have two threads, one for each name and a note near the top of the first post that says "Also writes as —" with a link.

And if you do want to do that, I'll help you with that, too.

Just think about what you'd like, and let me know.

[MumblingSage]

If you can't change it yourself, PM me with what you want it to say, and I'll take care of it.

That said, I think you'd be better served to have two threads, one for each name and a note near the top of the first post that says "Also writes as —" with a link.

And if you do want to do that, I'll help you with that, too.

Just think about what you'd like, and let me know.

I'm willing to do that, but I wasn't sure if I should clutter up the fora with my posts (this will be the 3rd byline I'll have a thread for). But I know how to create new threads and link between them, so I can do that. Thanks for the advice.