Help:How to convert a novel to a chapbook

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This page is a work in progress, and has not yet obtained a solid consensus. It was first created (or significantly revised) on 23 October 2009. Do not take the information on this page as firmly established ISFDB policy or guidelines. Feel free to discuss any issues with the content on this page on its talk page. If in doubt, before accepting the guidelines on this page, feel free to discuss the matter elsewhere, perhaps on the Community Portal. This notice will be removed when the page obtains a reasonable consensus on its contents.

In ISFDB terms (and in accord with the current standards for the Hugo and Nebula awards) a "novel" is generally defined as a work of over 40,000 words, although this definition is not always strictly applied. Sometimes significantly shorter works (novellas or even novelettes) are issued as separate publications, in pamphlet, paperback, or hardcover format. The ISFDB supports the CHAPTERBOOK type (originally a misspelling of "chapbook") to deal with this situation. The CHAPTERBOOK type is generally used for a publication that contains a single work of short fiction, and possibly one or more works of nonfiction (prefaces, introductions, afterwords, etc). It may also contain interior art, and may have a cover art record.

In general a CHAPTERBOOK publication will have at least three records associated with it. The first is the CHAPTERBOOK type publication record. This represents the actual publication, and includes details like the publication date, price, ISBN, publisher, page count, etc. The second is the SHORTFICTION type title record. This represents the text of the fiction, and will be associated with every publication of this text, whether in a "chapterbook", collection, anthology, or wherever. The third is the CHAPTERBOOK type title record. This stores title-level fields like series info. It will be associated with every "chapterbook" publication of the fiction, but not with other publications. If nonfiction items (prefaces, introductions, afterwords, etc) are recorded, each will have an ESSAY type title record associated with the publication. There may also be one or more INTERIORART type title records associated with the publication.

If an editor determines that an existing publication recorded as a novel is in fact a work of short fiction, and should be converted to a chapterbook record, the following changes should be made:

• The publication record must be edited and its type changed from NOVEL to CHAPTERBOOK.
• A CHAPTERBOOK title record must be added to the publication. This will usually have the same title and author(s) as the publication.
• The title record for the novel must have its type changed from NOVEL to CHAPTERBOOK. If the novel has only one publication on record, this can be done from the same Publication Editor dialog where the other changes are made; otherwise the editor must click on the link from the publication record to the title record and click "Edit Title Data" to get the Title Editor dialog and make the change there.
• After all of these changes have been made and approved, it is good practice to go to the author's page and run "Check for Duplicates" in case the fiction work was also recorded separately as a work of short fiction, perhaps in an anthology or collection. If so, it should probably be merged -- but be careful in case the work was published in two or more significantly different versions.

If a publication has been primary verified, it should normally not be converted from NOVEL to CHAPTERBOOK without consulting, or at least informing, the primary verifier.

Care should be taken in deciding to convert a publication record from NOVEL to CHAPTERBOOK. Page counts, while helpful, are not definitive. If the same work of fiction has been included in anthologies or collections and is there listed as a work of short fiction, that is an indication that conversion might be appropriate. A listing in the Locus Index (or Locus Magazine) as short fiction is also a good indication. A review describing the work as one of short fiction may be a good indication, depending on the source. If a work was nominated for or won an award in a short fiction category, that would be strongly indicative. An actual word count, when available, will often settle the mater, but there will be exceptions. Some works, although shorter than 40,000 words, are so commonly regarded as novels that it would only confuse users to list them otherwise. if in doubt, consult with other editors, possibly on the Community Portal. e