User talk:Astral

From ISFDB
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Welcome!

Hello, Astral, and welcome to the ISFDB Wiki! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

Note: Image uploading isn't entirely automated. You're uploading the files to the wiki which will then have to be linked to the database by editing the publication record.

Please be careful in editing publications that have been primary verified by other editors. See Help:How to verify data#Making changes to verified pubs. But if you have a copy of an unverified publication, verifying it can be quite helpful. See Help:How to verify data for detailed information.

I hope you enjoy editing here! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will insert your name and the date. If you need help, check out the community portal, or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! BLongley 18:53, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

Hello!

Thank you for the nice welcome. I must confess I had been a passive user for quite a long time before deciding to join in. :) Astral 23:29, 11 August 2011 (UTC) {Astral]

So Love Returns

Thanks for adding these editions. It's usually easier if you add the earliest publication first, then can you can use "Add Publication to This Title" to save yourself some typing for later editions. BLongley 19:06, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

As to reviews: we don't put the review in the publication being reviewed, we put it in the publication that contains the review. So I'll remove the review from So Love Returns and hope that someone will eventually enter contents for Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature. Thanks for editing! BLongley 19:06, 11 August 2011 (UTC)


I'll try to remember all this. Perhaps some day I'll be be ready to enter contents of Magill's :) Thanks. Astral 22:57, 11 August 2011 (UTC)Astral

The Innocent at Large

I accepted the submission adding this publication to the database, but made a few changes according to ISFDB standards. The date was blanked, but according to your note it was published in March 1954, so I gave the book that publication date. I also removed the parenthetical title. Only the actual book title should be given in that field. I'm going to create records for the original title and then make this record into a variant title. If you have the book (and it appears from your notes that you do) please do a primary verification (see here for instructions). If you don't have the book, please record the source of your data in the note field. Thanks for contributing. Mhhutchins 21:37, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

I've added a number sign before the catalog number per ISFDB standards, and linked an image of the cover. Please check to see if this is the correct image. Mhhutchins 21:46, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

I gave the book the double title according to the title page. I am going to do the primary verification some time later because now it's very late and the instruction is a long one :) 23:23, 11 August 2011 (UTC)~ [Astral]

The Kingdom That Was

I've accepted the submission adding this new publication, but made some changes to conform to ISFDB standards. The date of publication (though unstated) appears in OCLC record 561672472 as 1939, so I've updated that field giving OCLC as the source. I moved "Cherry Tree" to the publication series field and the catalog number "40" to the publication series number field. Is the height 7 inches (18cm) or less? If it's taller the binding should be "tp" (for trade paperback). I've left it as entered. Thanks. Mhhutchins 22:03, 11 August 2011 (UTC)


I wasn't sure with Cherry Tree as publication series. I guess it's better now. Besides 1939 I saw also 1945 so didn't fill in. The height of the book equals with that of a standard American pbk. I know that the British sometimes used a trade pb format about the 40s but this is not the case. As for now, I don't know many things still. Your instructions are hideously long. I try them only because they concern bibliographic stuff. Generally I am allergic to them :) Astral Astral 23:14, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
Yes, those instructions are daunting. Try to take one field at a time. Even if you miss something or make an error, the moderators will assist you. We all know how difficult this can be at the beginning, but it usually doesn't take long before you're editing like a pro. It just takes time. Thanks for editing. Mhhutchins 23:43, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

Adam and Eve, Though He Knew Better

You added a Polish title record for this title, but it's in English. The title record should be in Polish. Also you asked about linking to an image on another server. We can only link to websites for which we have approval. You'll find the list here. You can also upload to our server. After you've created a pub record (or go to one already in the db) click on "Upload cover scan" and follow the directions. Then link the image file using the URL of the file you just uploaded. Mhhutchins 04:03, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

Forgot to add: you can create a publication record for this title record by clicking on "Add Publication to This Title" (but after you've changed the title of the title record to the Polish title). Thanks. Mhhutchins 04:12, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

Astral 15:49, 17 August 2011 (UTC) I hope the Polish letter will be visible now. Astral 15:49, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

The Crystal City Under the Sea

Hi, and welcome to the ranks of contributors! I approved your edits to The Crystal City Under the Sea, but I made two changes to it and one further edit. I did find plenty of corroboration that it should be "under", not "and". I could not find any evidence that it was a paperback (vs. hard cover), so I removed the binding. We need some form of evidence for the various data elements, and without it we don't guess. By the way, for trade paperback, use "tp", not "tpb". I noticed while doing that you had inserted blank lines in the notes. These don't render afterward (the browsers condense all of the white space). To get blank lines you need to insert HTML: <BR> (a "break" instruction). I put those in. You can add more if the spacing isn't to your liking. Also, based on your notes, the author credit should be Andre Laurie, not A. Laurie, so I made that change as well (we use the credit as stated in the book; here you have good evidence the full name was used). Thanks, and thanks for contributing. --MartyD 10:27, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

I also approved this one and changed the binding from "tpb" to "tp", the author to Andre Laurie per your notes, and the title to use "Under", also per your notes. And I added breaks in the notes. --MartyD 10:32, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

"I could not find any evidence that it was a paperback (vs. hard cover), so I removed the binding." -- I am terrrrribly sorry I made this mess with binding - of course you couldn't find any evidence for paperback binding -- as there wasn't such (1896) - almost surely! My fault, I was tired. By the way, Reginald notes title change of the American edition of the same year ("The Crystal City"). I am going to enter (later) a Polish pirate book edition (s) of his sf novel (published about the WWI from the 1895 magazine text) - the first French book edition 2007! Notabene the Stableford effort of publishing in English the most important French sf/f/sh classics has no French counterpart as they never republished many of these important titles by themselves... Astral 14:22, 15 August 2011 (UTC)|Astral

one "gotcha" about notes

Don't use "<" and ">" in notes, use parentheses "(" and ")" instead. Some browsers will try to interpret anything between the less than and greater than signs as HTML tags, with unexpected results. I changed these where I noticed them. If you see any notes where text is missing, try editing the publication -- even though the browser hides the text in the brackets, it should still be there. --MartyD 10:46, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

Świat nura

Świat nura by Aleksander Kościów has been approved with the following changes:

  1. The ISFDB code for "trade paperback" is "tp" rather than "tpb"
  2. There is no need to specify "ISBN-10" in the ISBN field. The software accepts both ISBN-10s and ISBN-13s and then displays both forms of the ISBN.

Otherwise everything looks good, thanks for submitting the book! Ahasuerus 15:56, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

And things like "ISBN-10: 1-57478-043-3 ISBN-13: 978-1-57478-043-7" will get truncated. Please pick one or the other, and let the software do the rest. Thanks for contributing! BLongley 20:03, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

Problems with your submissions

There are several recurring problems with most your submissions, which will have to be corrected if approved.

  1. For larger paperbacks, you should use "tp", NOT "tpb". This has been pointed out several times in the messages above, so it's obvious that you haven't read them or you would have already stopped the practice.
  2. ONLY enter ONE ISBN that is actually stated in the book, and ONLY enter it as a 13-digit or 10-digit number, nothing else should be entered into the field. If BOTH ISBN-13 and ISBN-10 is in the book, enter ONLY the ISBN-13. (Again, this has been brought up before.)

The only way we have to communicate with you is through this wiki page, your user talk page. It is important that you read the message when you see the highlighted "MY MESSAGES" link on the db pages. Thank you for contributing. Mhhutchins 00:54, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Are you sure I had "My Messages" highlighted? I've never seen them highlighted. Is this thing activated automatically or I have to initiate it? I must check this. And I have been checking the page many times throughout yesterday and found not new ones. I think they came after I went to bed (some really were sent after that). Internet sometimes belates. Really, it was not my intent to ignore the messages. Astral 12:11, 15 August 2011 (UTC)|Astral
Once you've logged into the database, there's a menu on the left sidebar under the "Logged In As" header. The fourth item on the menu is "My Messages" which is only highlighted if you've received a new message on your user talk page between the time that you last visited it and the next time you've logged in. If you click on that link you're shown the differences between your visits to the user talk page. I personally find this view distracting, because it isn't editable. I usually click on the first item under the "Other Pages" menu ("ISFDB Wiki") and once I'm in the wiki section, I click the "My talk" link. This is your user talk page. Once you go back to the database itself you'll find that the "My Messages" link is no longer highlighted, and won't light up again until the next time someone edits your user talk page. If this isn't working for you, we have to figure out why. Thanks. Mhhutchins 15:00, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Turn of the Screw

As an example of some of the problems, I've accepted your submission adding this publication. I will point out the problems and ask that you update the record to correct them.

  1. ISBN field: Should have been entered as "0-393-09669-6" or "0393096696" (the system knows how to display it correctly and also creates an ISBN-13.
  2. Binding field: "tpb" should be "tp"
  3. Page field: "x,[2],276" is not ISFDB standard for page count field. If there are 10 Roman-numbered pages and 276 numbered pages, it should be entered "x+276". Placing brackets around a number in this field indicates unnumbered pages with text, but not blank pages. We don't count blank pages.

It is important that you read this help page, which has most information that you need to know about ISFDB standards. If you have kept a record of all of the books that you've entered, I'm going to accept all of the ones you have on hold and ask that you go back and update each record. Thanks. Mhhutchins 01:06, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

I am going to check my previous enterings. Thank you wery much. [[[User:Astral|Astral]] 11:36, 15 August 2011 (UTC)|Astral]

Mount Analogue

The submission adding this publication was accepted, but there are several major problems which must be corrected:

  1. You've typed it as a COLLECTION, yet you call it a NOVEL in the notes. A novel published with much additional material (as essays, notes, etc.) is still a novel and should by typed as one.
  2. The pieces on pages 25 and 107 should be typed as ESSAY. The NONFICTION type is used for book-length works.
  3. The piece on page 110 should also be disambiguated by adding the title of the book: "Notes and fragments (Mount Analogue)".
  4. Check the spelling of the piece on page 7. Should it be "trabslator's"?

And as above noted, "tpb" should be "tp".

Mhhutchins 01:11, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

All done. I have to be more careful. Sorry for all this. [[[User:Astral|Astral]] 09:48, 15 August 2011 (UTC)|Astral]

I've accepted the changes, and I got rid of the lingering collection title. One question about Notes and fragments: I see you have used brackets ("[" and "]") in both the content record and in the notes. Does this have brackets in the book, or do you mean something else? Thanks. --MartyD 10:52, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

You see, the whole problem is that I felt obliged to name somehow this section as it has no separate title (and is a separate part of the book!) because it is placed by the editor (or by whoever else) just after Editor's Note and it is treated as part of it on the contents page of the book. This error fortunately seems quite obvious and easy to correct bibliographically. But I don't know yet about your standards in such cases. I guess that I used "[ ]" wrongly. What is your advice? Astral 13:23, 15 August 2011 (UTC)|Astral

The Terrible Twos

This publication was accepted into the database, but there are some problems which I have resolved, just to give you an example of standard ISFDB entry procedures.

  1. The ISBN field as you entered it "ISBN-10: 0-312-79199-2 ISBN-13: 978-0-312-79199-5" should have been "0-312-79199-2" (No book in 1982 had an ISBN-13.)
  2. Page count field "12+178" was changed to "178". Unnumbered pages without pertinent text are not included in the page count.
  3. Publisher field: "St. Martin’s/Marek" was changed to "St. Martin’s / Marek", note the spaces before and after the slash, the standard for entering publishers with separate imprints.

I'm assuming you have the books in hand (for all your submissions). If so, please do a primary verification (instructions here). If you don't have the book, you should place the source of your data in the record's note field.

Here's a link to the most common tasks done and instructions for doing them. Thanks. Mhhutchins 01:28, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Apologies if I sound suspicious, but does the book actually have the ISBN-13 printed on it? If so, you have a later edition/printing (as Michael says, 1982 books didn't have ISBN-13s). There's nothing wrong with entering data based on later printings, but those sources should be noted and only the physical book you're entering should have all the details and be verified. If you're working from the first publication and extrapolating the ISBN-13, don't bother - the software will do that for you. But we do need to know which printing/edition you're working from, we want them ALL. BLongley 04:04, 15 August 2011 (UTC)


I've got the first edition. And of course it has no ISBN-13... Yes, the whole thing is SO complicated and detailed that I see I am to learn much more... the verification procedure especially... "Unnumbered pages without pertinent text are not included in the page count." I see. But if the publisher includes them into the whole page numbering... then I should not interfere with it. Hm, this also must be somewhere in the instructions... And yes, I have almost all editions I entered. In case of not having a copy, I will remember to put in the source in all cases. My apologies for all the troubles... [[[User:Astral|Astral]] 09:32, 15 August 2011 (UTC)|Astral]

Asking questions

There are several ways to ask for help when entering and updating publication records. The first place to start is the Help Desk. The "Note to the Moderator" field in new book submissions should not be used to ask questions. It's there to give the moderator extra information that helps him decide whether to accept the submission. Nothing should be placed in this field that you wish to be visible on the book's database record. In reverse, if you want certain information to be part of the database record, you should record that data in the "Note Field". I have many of your submissions on hold and other than the problems I've pointed out above, many of them could be accepted. We really want to encourage new editors, especially one as enthusiastic as you in your submissions. But I think the biggest problem is that you've jumped into the deep-end without first learning how to swim. I will be going over each of the submissions with you over the next week or so, and ask that you not enter any new books until you've become more familiar with how the database works, and the various entry standards, most of which are stated on this help page. Thank you. Mhhutchins 01:40, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Now I can see clearly how much troubles I've done... I am so sorry for all this. And yes, of course - learn, learn, learn. The instructions must be carefully read and congested... and remembered... Thank you very much for your assistance. Astral 09:57, 15 August 2011 (UTC)|Astral
I think I may have come down too hard on you and want to apologize. You're not going through anything that all editors have when they're first encountering the db. The help pages contain some good guidance but can't substitute for the education you receive from just submitting and learning from the mistakes (which I admit we all make.) I'm going to start accepting the submissions and will be going over each of them individually. This may take a few days. Again, thanks for contributing. We need all the editors we can get and your contributions are really appreciated. Some of the titles that you've entered are surprising because I'd never heard of them and are happy to see them in the db. Mhhutchins 14:51, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

How nice of you - I really get sick with instructions (I have had this since very long, especially concerning radio, tv, etc.)... And I really appreciate your concern. I have been working with bibliographies, collecting books (and publishing - books and editoring sf/f magazines) for many, many years. Being crazy about fantastic literature I have, in effect, a big library and some (perhaps vast) genre knowledge. But this field is so rich that I am sure I still do not know about many interesting and curious things. Surfing the Net I almost every day find infos about new (and old) books potentially worth buying and reading and other books, interesting from other points of view. I think ISFDB is the largest (and most detailed) genre data source in the world. So I am happy I can contribute to it - with the friendly help. Astral|Astral 17:06, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Glad to hear you like us, and that we're not scaring you off. You do seem to have some interesting additions to make so I hope you'll stick around. BLongley 18:10, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

The Sacred Fount by Henry James

Is this a novel or a collection of stories? Your synopsis makes it appear to be a novel, but the submission types it as COLLECTION. Thanks. Mhhutchins 18:04, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Also, in the Note field you state: First published 1901 by Charles Scribners First published as New Directions Paperbook 790 in 1995 [This Publication Record] Published simultaneously in Canada by Penguin Books Canada Ltd. Second Printing [This Publication Record]. The second use of [This Publication Record] contradicts the first use. If the book were first published in 1995 and this is a second printing then this publication record can't be the "First published...". I personally feel that "[This Publication Record]" can be misread, so I record the statement exactly as stated in the book itself by placing quotes around them and recording where the statement appears, i.e.: "First published 1901 by Charles Scribners" (over) "First published as New Directions Paperbook 790 in 1995" (over) "Second Printing" stated on the copyright page. This method lacks ambiguity. "[This Publication Record]" was used by one editor for several hundred records in the db to mean that the statement refers to the publication that the record represents, but I personally feel its meaning could confuse the average database user. Mhhutchins 18:23, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
One more thing: if you want to start a new line for additional data in the note field, you have to enter the HTML code <BR>. Otherwise it becomes one run-on line of data. Thanks. Mhhutchins 18:29, 15 August 2011 (UTC)


"The Sacred Fount" is a novel, of course. I have to be more careful... And yes, the note should be as you precisely wrote it: "First published in 1901 by Charles Scribners" "First published as New Directions Paperbook 790 in 1995" "Second Printing" stated on the copyright page. I think it would be better if I enter less entries and be more careful... Thank you wery much for your patience. [[[User:Astral|Astral]] 19:57, 15 August 2011 (UTC)|Astral]

or rather like that: <BR>"First published in 1901 by Charles Scribners" <BR>"First published as New Directions Paperbook 790 in 1995" <BR>"Second Printing" stated on the copyright page. Astral 20:02, 15 August 2011 (UTC)|Astral

Hm, not here it works... :) Astral 20:03, 15 August 2011 (UTC)|Astral

In order to display HTML without it actually working in the Wiki environment, I had to turn it off by adding the "nowiki" commands. What was actually displayed is how it should be entered: without the nowiki commands.
I've accept the submission so you can look at the results as displayed. Here is the current record as you submitted it. I corrected the binding to "tp" and the type to NOVEL (of both the pub record and the title record). Looking at the pub record, you see how the information that you entered in the note field runs on. Let me know that you've seen this, and I'll correct it so you can see the difference in how it's displayed. Mhhutchins 21:09, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Kallocain

The record for this record was accepted, but you've encountered another eccentricity of the database. If you choose the "Add New Novel" function, you creating both a new publication record and a new title record. You should have gone to the title record already in the database here and chosen "Add Publication to This Title". You also created a content record for the novel so that now there are two title records associated with this novel. You don't have to add a content record when creating a new pub record because the system automatically creates a new title record. It's going to take several submission to get this pub back into shape. Again, I'm going to ask you to refrain from making new submissions until I can catch up with the ones you've already submitted. For this one go to the pub record and choose "Remove Titles from This Pub". You'll see there are two title records for the novel. Check the first one under "Container Titles" and then "Submit Data". (Ordinarily you wouldn't remove the container title, but this one has two and one of them can be removed.) After you've done that, I'll give you the next instruction. Thanks. Mhhutchins 21:19, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

The Note to the Moderator that you gave in this submission ("Originally published in Sweden in 1940 by Albert Bonniers Förlag AB, Stockholm.") is important data and should not have gone into this field. As I stated above, the Note to the Moderator does not become part of the record. It's only there to give the moderator additional information about the submission, not about the book itself. Thanks. Mhhutchins 21:21, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
Thank you for the message--I will see to it tomorrow, sorry. I have to end my business as for today... AstralAstral 22:07, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
The extra title record has been removed. Now you should go to Karin Boye. You'll see three titles of the same novel. Click on "Show All Titles" under the Editing Tools menus. On the next page, check all three boxes and submit (you're merging these three records into one.) The next page is to reconcile the differences between the three records. Choose the bullets to keep the synopsis, the correct date (1966), English, the Wikipedia article, and the title note. Then submit. Thanks. Mhhutchins 13:30, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Prices

US prices should be entered in this format: $00.00 (with 0 being the numbers). They should always have the decimal point followed by two digits representing the cents, regardless of how it's stated on the book itself. So I changed a few records that you'd submitted: from $15 to $15.00 for example here. Mhhutchins 22:27, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Mr. Zowie's Soul

I've accepted the submission adding this publication and have made the following changes:

  1. Changed the title from "Mr Zowie's Soul" to "Mr. Zowie's Soul" (added a period)
  2. Changed the page count field from "6+58" to "58"
  3. Changed the binding format field from "tpb" to "tp"
  4. Changed the ISBN field from "ISBN-10: 1-86900-762-X ISBN-13: 978-1-86900-762-1" to "1-86900-762-X"
  5. Removed the note "Fantasy from Republic of South Africa." This refers to the title, not the publication (meaning this would not change even if it were reprinted by another publisher.) This should be added to the title record, once the submission has been accepted.
  6. Added a shortfiction record for the contents. This is required for CHAPTERBOOK records (99% of the time).

And since I was editing, I linked the cover image from Amazon.com. This isn't mandatory. Mhhutchins 22:45, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Wellman's The Devil's Asteroid

The submission was accepted but some changes had to be made to the record:

  1. Date was changed from "2008-00-00" to "2009-04-09", based on the Amazon listing. According to the Amazon look-inside, the book was copyright 2008. The year of copyright should not be used to determine the date of pub, and should be the last resort if no other source can be found.
  2. "tpb" was changed to "tp"
  3. "ISBN-10: 1-60459-667-8 ISBN-13: 978-1-60459-667-0" was changed to "978-1-60459-667-0"
  4. Price was added, based on Amazon's listing.
  5. The note ("This novelette is a part of a series concerning relations between Earth and Mars in the future: war-cooperation-politics.") was removed as it refers to the title and not to the publication. I've moved it to the title record's synopsis field.
  6. A note was added giving the source for data.
  7. A content record was added for the short fiction. This is required for most publications entered as CHAPTERBOOK types.
  8. A link to the Amazon image was added.

If any of these changes don't match your copy of the book, please let me know. Thanks. Mhhutchins 02:20, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Yes, in my copy there are both ISBNs - on the title page, which happens to be giving also the copyright and the postal address of "Wilder Publications, LLC" - is LLC obligatory or not? (as it was added the Thrilling Wonder publisher in the entry of Between Worlds Worlds from 2009). Otherwise, all is OK. Astral 14:30, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
We try to use the simplest and most common name of the publisher, and try to be as consistent as possible. But sometimes that's hard. In the first case Wilder Publications is the most common form, so we drop the "LLC". In the later case, it's just the opposite. Sorry for being unable to give a more definitive answer. BTW, when responding to comments, it's a good idea to add a colon at the start of your response. And with each additional response to the same subject add another colon. This automatically indents the separate responses and makes it easier to read. (Note how this looks in the editing window and then how it looks when saved.) Thanks. Mhhutchins 15:04, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Przeproś: przewodnik gracza by Aleksander Kościów

This book was accepted into the database (correcting the binding and ISBN), and I have a question: you've given the cover artist as "Vavoq (Wojciech Wawoczny)". Is this how the book is actually credited, parechesis and all? Thanks. Mhhutchins 02:25, 17 August 2011 (UTC) Yes, the artist line on the Copyright page is just as that: Vavoq (Wojciech Wawoczny). First the pseudonim as I assume, and after that, parentheses with his actual name. Astral 14:13, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

The Midnight Tree: A Fairy Tale of Terror by Charles Higham

This book is now in the db, but I had to make the usual corrections in the binding and ISBN. I also removed the note "First edition 1979" as this might confuse some users in believing this record is for the first edition. Do you think this book is the same as this Amazon listing? It gives a date of 2007-04-03, but it also gives the publisher as Backinprint.com which you've given as the publication series. Based on the Look-Inside, I'm more inclined to believe in your original data: iUniverse is the publisher and Backinprint.com is the series. I would personally expand the series name to "Authors Guild Backinprint.com Edition". Thanks for checking. Mhhutchins 02:34, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Yes, my book and the one in Amazon are from the same edition of 2007 (so April 3, according to Amazon). On the cover, on the title page and on Copyright page is: "An Authors Guild Backinprint.com Edition" and on the Copyright page also: "Published by iUniverse, Inc." Is it worth mentioning in Notes that it is a POD edition, or it is obvious? And another question: Should I always, in front of the text of synopis, give: "From the back cover", or it is also obvious, because other texts (not from publishers), are copyrighted and cannot be used? Astral 14:52, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
I've accepted your submission to add a date to the record. It would be a good idea to mention that the book is a POD. And yes, you should always note the source of the synopsis if you didn't write it. Mhhutchins 15:06, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Entering non-English language publications

Until recently, all non-English language publications of originally published English language works were entered under the English language title record. Because of recent updates, we have begun tentatively to accept these non-English language translations under their own titles and then making these titles variants of the original. Unfortunately, the Help section hasn't been updated to indicate these changes.

I'm holding several submissions of these translated works because they've been entered under the English language title record, including Nowy potop (S. Fowler Wright's Deluge), Lilith, Ewa i... (John Erskine's Adam and Eve, Though He Knew Better) (two different submissions which appear to be duplicates), and Matka chrzestna Noc (Rachel Pollack's Godmother Night) I'm going to accept those submissions, but I'll have to unmerge them from the title you've entered them under, and set them up as variant titles. I will need to know the language each of them have been translated into in order to set up the new title records. Thanks. Mhhutchins 02:45, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

I've determined that the language is Polish, so I've accepted the submissions, unmerged them from the English title records, changed the language of the new title records to Polish and then made them variants of the English title records. Thanks. Mhhutchins 08:10, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
Now it looks wonderful - to see these translations treated exactly as they should be treated. Fine decision. I can also entry Czech, French, German books (they are but a small part of my collection). I have also many Russian books... Astral 15:07, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
Before you start entering the non-English language books, there are a few more submissions of yours that I'm holding in the queue, some of which deal with issues specific to the entry of non-English language publications. Once we've cleared the queue, you can start entering those submissions. Thanks. Mhhutchins 15:10, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Answering a question posed in a note to the moderator

You asked "Cover art by four people - should they all be listed? Often by two - art and design - are the two equally important for ISFDB? By the way, what is Storylen?"

  1. We usually only credit the artist in the Artist1 field. If there are two artists which have collaborated on the same piece of art then click the "Add Artist" button to reveal an additional field (Artist2) and record the second artist's name. If there is no artist credited because the jacket is more design than artwork, record the jacket designer's name in the Artist1 field. If both artist and designer are credited, credit the artist in the Artist1 field and the designer in the Note field.
  2. Storylen field is a designation in the title record of SHORTFICTION which gives the length (in words, approximately) of the story: novella (more than 17500 words, enter as "nv"), novelette (more than 7500 and less than 17500 words, enter as "nt"), and short story (less than 7500 words, enter as "ss"). You have the option of adding these lengths also whenever you create contents in some publication records (like collections and anthologies). Explained in detail on this help page (which I've linked to several times in previous messages.)

Mhhutchins 05:07, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Astral 15:08, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Another question asked in the note to the moderator

You asked: "Should short author bios (from half to two pages) be included into Content? (they are often uncredited)". It's up to the individual editor. If you find it to be substantial in either quality or length, please enter it and give the author as "uncredited" in the author field.

It would be better to ask these questions on the Help Desk page. The "Note to the Moderator" field is for the editor to give additional information about the submission that will help the moderator in determining whether the submission should be accepted. It should not be used to ask questions or to add information about the publication itself. Thanks. Mhhutchins 08:17, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Kraina Dymów

Hi. I have your proposed edit to Kraina Dymów on hold. Would you please explain the note "published under the author's legal name, Frederick Faust"? I see you left the author credit as Max Brand, so I am not sure if you mean that credit is a mistake or if you mean that credit is accurate but a copyright or other citation in the book uses Frederick Faust. I found this reference, which makes me think the author credit should be Frederick Faust, not Max Brand. If that is true, what we would do is change the credit on this publication (and its title) to Frederick Faust, then make Frederick Faust a pseudonym of Max Brand (even though Max Brand is actually the pseudonym, we use the most common/familiar name as the main entry and treat all other names as pseudoynms of that), and make a variant title credited to Max Brand. I am happy to do those things if you confirm the credit should be Frederick Faust, or you are welcome to try to do them on your own. Thanks. --MartyD 10:54, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

The book is published as by Frederick Faust. And I think it is a very rare case - I guess that only his collections of poetry were published under the Faust byline. I proposed the most obvious corrections. The rest is too difficult to me as yet, I am afraid. Astral 15:32, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

That's ok, you're doing fine. I will make the author credit change and set up the pseudonym and variant. Thanks. --MartyD 00:35, 18 August 2011 (UTC)
I see you did the publication edit. Just so you know, the title shown in the lower, Contents, section is a view of the same database record you get to by clicking on the title when you view the publication or the author's bibliography. If you can change the information about the title in that section when you edit the publication, you do not need to go edit the title separately, too -- you have just edited it. If the title were shared by more than one publication, it would be gray in the Contents section, and you would not be able to edit it there; you would have to go to it and edit it separately. Does that make sense? It can be a little confusing until you get used to it. --MartyD 00:43, 18 August 2011 (UTC)
Thank you very much for the explanations. If I get it right, I might have credited this way "Frederick Faust" instead of Max Brand. Astral 09:52, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

The Haunting of Suzanna Blackwell by Setlowe

I'm working on the submission adding a book club edition of this title, but I'm having a hard time finding any evidence that this was an offering of the Science Fiction Book Club. Neither the Locus Database nor the rec.arts.sf.written lists provided by SFBC editor Andrew Wheeler shows that this title was a selection. I believe your copy was printed by Doubleday for its other books clubs, perhaps the Literary Guild, or the Doubleday Book Club, most likely both. I'm going to accept the submission, but change the publisher from "SFBC/Holt, Rinehart, & Winston" to "Holt, Rinehart, & Winston / BCE". This is the ISFDB standard for entering book club editions from Doubleday that weren't offered to SFBC members. Note that the BCE designation comes after the publisher (just as SFBC would have if it were a SFBC selection). I'm deleting the publication series that you gave and moving the number up to the catalog field, prefixing it with a number sign (#), also ISFDB standards for entering SFBC and BCE editions. Thanks. Here's a link to the record. Mhhutchins 17:39, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

BTW, can you check to see if there is a gutter code in your copy of the book? It should be a letter and two-digit code that is printed in the gutter or bottom of the last or near to the last page of text. It can help us determine the print date of the book. Thanks for checking. Mhhutchins 17:43, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
You are absolutely right, it is the BCE, and not SFBC (blush). Hm, I found sth like that and it looks like three digits: "018" (not "O"). Is this of any help? Astral 21:26, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
Yes, it's the letter O and the number 18, meaning the book was printed in May, 1984. (Add colons (:) before the responses, not tildes (~). Thanks.) Mhhutchins 22:32, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
Like these? No problem. And I've got another edition of this book, a pb. Astral 00:28, 18 August 2011 (UTC)
You got it right. Mhhutchins 00:31, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

The Gap in the Curtain

You added a synopsis to this title record that mentions a 1962 edition. Tuck doesn't reference such an edition, so I'm assuming you're working from it and will be adding it to the database. Thanks. Mhhutchins 17:46, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

You are right. H&S mentions also "seventh impression March 1942" (of 1932 edition) and a "new edition 1951"... I don't know if it was hc or not. Perhaps pb? Astral 21:33, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Submissions

All but one of your submissions have been accepted. (It involves a recent change in the way we handle translated works.) Please go back and do a primary verification of the publication records that you added to the db. Once that's done you can proceed to make new submissions. Thanks for contributing. Mhhutchins 00:41, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Retrieved from "https://isfdb.org/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:Astral&oldid=241813"