User talk:Kapotun
Welcome!
Hello, Kapotun, 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:
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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! -- JLaTondre (talk) 09:20, 1 January 2021 (EST)
- Appreciate the warm welcome and all the help, thank you. --Kapotun 14:36, 1 January 2021 (EST)Kapotun
The Magician's Nephew
For this submission, can you please double check the ISBN? It is showing up as invalid. Please post here whether there is a typo or that is the number on the book. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 09:20, 1 January 2021 (EST)
- Yes, that is a typo, only realized after I hit submit. The ISBN should be 0-06-447110-1, without the extra 0. Let me know if I can fix it somehow or if it's something you can do, thanks! --Kapotun 14:26, 1 January 2021 (EST)Kapotun
The Horse and His Boy
For this submission, what is your source for these changes? You did not verify the pub. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 09:42, 1 January 2021 (EST)
- I own the physical copy of this one (along with the other 4 changes/new publications I submitted), I just hesitated because I read this help page beforehand: Help:Screen:Verify and the line "Although Verification is useful, we'd appreciate you making the effort to add any other information you have about the publication, so Editing the publication might be more appropriate" indicated to me editing might be more useful than verifying. If that's not the case though, I can add a primary verification as well. --Kapotun 14:35, 1 January 2021 (EST)Kapotun
- I approved the edit. We actually like both. :-) Verification lets us know that the data is from the book. If there is any additional data that is not from the book, it should provide a source (for example, using Amazon for a publication date when the pub only has a year). We weren't too good about this in our earlier years, but we're trying to be better. I will tweak the help text. Thanks for pointing that out! -- JLaTondre (talk) 14:57, 1 January 2021 (EST)
- Got it, thank you! --Kapotun 15:42, 1 January 2021 (EST)Kapotun
- I approved the edit. We actually like both. :-) Verification lets us know that the data is from the book. If there is any additional data that is not from the book, it should provide a source (for example, using Amazon for a publication date when the pub only has a year). We weren't too good about this in our earlier years, but we're trying to be better. I will tweak the help text. Thanks for pointing that out! -- JLaTondre (talk) 14:57, 1 January 2021 (EST)
Prices and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Hi, and welcome! I accepted your submission of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, with one very minor change: I modified the price field to include a '$' (I assume that's what it should be). We often have publications priced in multiple currencies or where the only obvious distinction between geographic editions is what currency the price is in, so we capture currency symbols as part of price information. As I said, minor -- just something to keep in mind for the future. Thanks, and thank you for contributing. --MartyD 11:38, 1 January 2021 (EST)
- Thank you! Will make sure the currency sign is there next time, I think I just assumed at the time all prices were in USD by default. --Kapotun 14:27, 1 January 2021 (EST)Kapotun
Price and The Magician's Nephew
HI, I have a same issue for The Magician's Nephew here: US dollar, or Pound Sterling? As we are an international database, there is no currency default..--Dirk P Broer 10:28, 2 January 2021 (EST)
- Hi, it is USD, sorry for not adding that initially. I think I maybe did in a more recent edit (at least it is showing there now). Let me know if it's something I need to edit, thanks. --Kapotun 13:24, 2 January 2021 (EST)Kapotun
The Once and Future King
Hello,
Thanks for adding this one. A few things:
- It is too early for ISBN13 so we would use ISBN10 for books before 2005 even if a current website only uses ISBN13. In addition this one is even before ISBN10 so I added a note on the provenance of the ISBN.
- We standardize the names of the publishers a bit so their lists of books stay together. For Putnam, that means using a space between the two initials (as we do for all authors per policy).
- Added the source link to the pub record.
The result is here. Let me know if you have any questions. Annie 14:22, 3 March 2022 (EST)
- Hi, thank you for fixing that for me. From the earliest editions I've found of Putnam's Once and Future King on secondhand sites the interior doesn't have any number except a Library of Congress Catalog Card Number, but I'm not sure if this is useful. Kapotun 22:24, 3 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
- We even have a special place for it - edit the book and under External IDs, select LCCN and put it there. :)
- It is indeed too early for an SBN or ISBN number - I think the publisher site has it as later reprint carried it - so I am considering pulling it out from the record - but then we need a later book to carry it - so I left it in for now. Will let you know when I work again on that ISBN situation. :) Annie 22:53, 3 March 2022 (EST)
- Thanks for the info! I will edit in the LCCN and remove the ISBN then after I clone and add my 57th printing, which will then have the ISBN. Let me know if you can think of a better way otherwise all good. Kapotun 23:01, 3 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
- Yup - that is the best way :) Edit my note about the ISBN while removing the ISBN mentioning that the source lists an ISBN but it cannot belong to a book from that year and only belongs to some later reprints (or words to that effect). Annie 23:23, 3 March 2022 (EST)
- I cleaned up the older book. Is the ISBN10 printed in your copy of the 57th printing or the ISBN13? If both are there, the preferred one is the 13 variant (which dates the book to after 2005 if nothing else) :) Annie 03:16, 4 March 2022 (EST)
- Thank you, apologies for not getting to it last night. I have submitted the change now to the ISBN13 for my 57th edition, as the jacket has the 13 like you suggest. I think that plus the price will date it more recently for sure. Kapotun 09:50, 4 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
- I cleaned up the older book. Is the ISBN10 printed in your copy of the 57th printing or the ISBN13? If both are there, the preferred one is the 13 variant (which dates the book to after 2005 if nothing else) :) Annie 03:16, 4 March 2022 (EST)
- Yup - that is the best way :) Edit my note about the ISBN while removing the ISBN mentioning that the source lists an ISBN but it cannot belong to a book from that year and only belongs to some later reprints (or words to that effect). Annie 23:23, 3 March 2022 (EST)
- Thanks for the info! I will edit in the LCCN and remove the ISBN then after I clone and add my 57th printing, which will then have the ISBN. Let me know if you can think of a better way otherwise all good. Kapotun 23:01, 3 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
(unindent) Just heads up - when we already have a record for the cover, you can just import it instead of recreating it with a PublicationEdit. Otherwise, a merge is required later on -- I merged them here. :) Annie 13:03, 4 March 2022 (EST)
- Oh thanks again, wasn't aware of that feature, I will use it next time. :) Kapotun 18:46, 4 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
- It's not very obvious - you get to it from the Publication page. Now... technically it won't help much here because you cannot change the notes during an import - so you always would have needed 2 edits: import+edit or edit+merge. But in some cases it does make a difference. And no worries - the DB has a lot of interesting corners - it takes awhile to get to all of them. Annie 21:02, 4 March 2022 (EST)
- Yeah, understood - import+edit is probably easier though because I think only a mod can merge unless I'm mistaken. Easier to just avoid having to request that probably and do it the slightly easier way in the first place. Kapotun 00:23, 5 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
- Anyone can merge - either via Duplicate check or Show All Titles for an author or advanced search for titles (that last method can put any two titles in mergeable position). But you will need to wait for the approval of the edit - while import and edit can go in parallel. :) Annie 00:43, 5 March 2022 (EST)
- Ah whoops! Even more good to know thank you! Kapotun 14:41, 5 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
- Anyone can merge - either via Duplicate check or Show All Titles for an author or advanced search for titles (that last method can put any two titles in mergeable position). But you will need to wait for the approval of the edit - while import and edit can go in parallel. :) Annie 00:43, 5 March 2022 (EST)
- Yeah, understood - import+edit is probably easier though because I think only a mod can merge unless I'm mistaken. Easier to just avoid having to request that probably and do it the slightly easier way in the first place. Kapotun 00:23, 5 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
- It's not very obvious - you get to it from the Publication page. Now... technically it won't help much here because you cannot change the notes during an import - so you always would have needed 2 edits: import+edit or edit+merge. But in some cases it does make a difference. And no worries - the DB has a lot of interesting corners - it takes awhile to get to all of them. Annie 21:02, 4 March 2022 (EST)
Paperback sizes and all that
Hello,
I saw your comment here on the sizing of a paperback and posted a bit of additional information so just heads up in case you miss my update there. If you have any questions on that, let me know. The short version if this is: "tp" is used for any paperback UNLESS it is a very small one (mass market paperback size or smaller). The governing text is: "For books as tall as 7.25" (19 cm) or as wide/deep as 4.5" (11.5 cm) use "tp"." Annie 11:09, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- Hi, thank you! I don't think I knew that 7.25" rule so good to know. Let me reply over there as well. Kapotun 20:01, 8 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
- You may want to read the help page for the formats: here and to look at the rest of the help pages for the various fields (click on the question marks in the New or Edit forms) - even the ones that appear to be obvious. We have a lot of standards and rules which may catch you unaware (about how we count pages for example) and even though we expect people to make mistakes occasionally, we do have help pages. I know that reading help pages can be boring but... it is useful - especially if you plan to edit - which I hope you do. :) Annie 20:05, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- Oh definitely, very useful and not boring at all - and I did read the page you linked (among others) when I first joined isfdb but must have skipped over the exact measurements on that particular reading. Hopefully you don't have to fix any more mistakes of mine - or keeping it to a minimum at least :) Kapotun 20:36, 8 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
- If you are mainly working with US and UK books, then the rule is actually easier than with most other countries: mass market paperback (the standard ones) is pb; anything bigger, including the new tall/premium mass market paperbacks is tp. Or if you see 8 or 9 inches on one dimension, it is always a tp. It is the 7 somethings and the ones that are 7 or less but a bit too wide (usually children books and art books but there are some exceptions) where the exact sizes need comparison. Hope that helps. :) Annie 20:53, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- Thanks - for sure 99% of my books do fall into the standard sizes - it's just my Xenogenesis series which they chose to make strange sizes for whatever reason! Always a bit annoying when not standard. :) Kapotun 22:02, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- 8 inches had been quite standard lately - I see as many of them as I see 9 inches and 8.5 inches in the new books. So there is that :) Annie 22:31, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- Could certainly be that I am out of touch haha. The 8 inches you're seeing, is it in the UK or the US/NA? US in my experience is defaulting to standard trade paperback 9ish" high, while UK B-format has always been around 8ish inches. Kapotun 23:05, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- USA mostly. The Tor.com novellas line uses 8x5 for example. Some of the other major publishers also go for the smaller format when they are not producing a mass market paperback as their second format. And a lot of self-published books and the non-major publishers and PODs use 8x5 - it probably depends on the printer all of them can use sometimes. UK had always had their own rules. I don't have stats but the 8x5, 9x6 and 8.5x5.5 show up regularly. Which makes them a pain to shelf sometimes... :) But while 8x5 was relatively rare 20 years ago, these days it is competing with the good old 9x6. Annie 23:35, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- Could certainly be that I am out of touch haha. The 8 inches you're seeing, is it in the UK or the US/NA? US in my experience is defaulting to standard trade paperback 9ish" high, while UK B-format has always been around 8ish inches. Kapotun 23:05, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- 8 inches had been quite standard lately - I see as many of them as I see 9 inches and 8.5 inches in the new books. So there is that :) Annie 22:31, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- Thanks - for sure 99% of my books do fall into the standard sizes - it's just my Xenogenesis series which they chose to make strange sizes for whatever reason! Always a bit annoying when not standard. :) Kapotun 22:02, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- If you are mainly working with US and UK books, then the rule is actually easier than with most other countries: mass market paperback (the standard ones) is pb; anything bigger, including the new tall/premium mass market paperbacks is tp. Or if you see 8 or 9 inches on one dimension, it is always a tp. It is the 7 somethings and the ones that are 7 or less but a bit too wide (usually children books and art books but there are some exceptions) where the exact sizes need comparison. Hope that helps. :) Annie 20:53, 8 March 2022 (EST)
- Oh definitely, very useful and not boring at all - and I did read the page you linked (among others) when I first joined isfdb but must have skipped over the exact measurements on that particular reading. Hopefully you don't have to fix any more mistakes of mine - or keeping it to a minimum at least :) Kapotun 20:36, 8 March 2022 (EST)Kapotun
- You may want to read the help page for the formats: here and to look at the rest of the help pages for the various fields (click on the question marks in the New or Edit forms) - even the ones that appear to be obvious. We have a lot of standards and rules which may catch you unaware (about how we count pages for example) and even though we expect people to make mistakes occasionally, we do have help pages. I know that reading help pages can be boring but... it is useful - especially if you plan to edit - which I hope you do. :) Annie 20:05, 8 March 2022 (EST)
(unindent) Gotcha - yes one of my self-published books is 8ish" as well now that you mention it. Definitely a pain to shelve in a uniform way :) Kapotun 01:35, 9 March 2022 (EST)
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
When adding new printings, make sure the numbering is added to the Notes. Please feel free to add more notes if you want to. I also removed the LCCN as it does not belong to the 9th printing (it goes with the first unless for some reason they have a separate record for a record). The result is here. Let me know if you have any questions. Annie (talk) 19:27, 6 December 2022 (EST)
- Thanks for the guidance! I submitted some additions to the notes. Kapotun (talk) 22:27, 9 December 2022 (EST)
Chapel Perilous
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?5677473; Cover artist and better cover added to your transient PV. --Username (talk) 21:47, 28 May 2023 (EDT)
- Thanks - much better cover. Glad you found that one, I searched for a while for one when I verified it but no luck. Kapotun (talk) 23:51, 18 June 2023 (EDT)
The Once and Future King (again)
Hi Kapotun, I think that your verified 2013 pub as being part of the Voyager Classics series is in error. This was a tp series from HarperCollins/Voyager in 2001-2002 that all had uniformly dark blue covers. If it does state somewhere in the pub that it's part of a series named Voyager Classics it might be worth creating a new series, such as "Voyager Classics (2013)", as there are other unverified publications from that year also credited to this series. What do you think? Cheers. PeteYoung (talk) 18:55, 6 July 2023 (EDT)
- Hi PeteYoung - thanks for asking about this. I dug deeper - my book itself doesn't say anything about Voyager Classics actually now that you bring it up, but most of the references online to others in the series (Harper Voyager page for "I, Robot", Amazon Link for Neuromancer, Amazon Link 2 for "I, Robot") refer to it as that, so maybe it's worth creating a Voyager Classics (2013) as you suggest? Or SF&F Voyager Classics or something as all of them as scifi/fantasy and I see other online references with similar wording. What do you think? Kapotun (talk) 12:18, 22 July 2023 (EDT)
- Thanks for pointing me to this reply on my page – I'm checking in barely once a week at the moment so I may indeed miss stuff. I'd stick with "Voyager Classics (2013)" or perhaps even "Voyager Classics (clothbound)", as it's clearly a different series with a different physical appearance but with the same name. Your PV, your call. :) PeteYoung (talk) 08:49, 3 August 2023 (EDT)
Dark Horse
Regarding this submission: When there is a difference between the pub and one of our secondary verification sources, we list the delta in the pub notes. I accepted your edit as having the printing statement from the pub is a plus, but I restored the Locus1 comment. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 07:40, 23 December 2023 (EST)