Help:How to convert a novel to a chapbook

This page is a help or manual page for the ISFDB database. It describes standards or methods for entering or maintaining data in the ISFDB database, or otherwise working with the database. Other help pages may be found via the category below. To discuss what should go on this page, use the talk page. If, after exploring the Help system, you still have a question, please visit the Help desk and let us know. We probably know the answer, but we need your help to know what we left out of the help pages. If you are new to editing the ISFDB, please see Help:Getting Started. For more on this and other header templates, see Header templates.

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.

A note about record type names

In this help page, terms in ALL CAPS are intended as the names of record types in the ISFDB database, and not as the names of types of literary works or publications. A "chapbook" is a type of publication, and a "novel" is a type of literary work, but a "CHAPBOOK" and a "NOVEL" are types of records in the ISFDB database.

Why the ISFDB "CHAPBOOK" type exists and what it is generally used for

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. (See Help:Screen:EditPub#EntryType.) Novels are displayed in the "novel" sections of author-specific bibliography pages. Conversely, works that contain fewer than 40,000 words are generally classified as "short fiction" and appear in the "short fiction" sections of bibliography pages.

Sometimes short fiction works are issued as separate publications, either as paper books or as e-books. Many reference sources note these separate publications of short fiction and ISFDB follows suit. The ISFDB uses the CHAPBOOK type to record and display standalone appearances of a single work of short fiction or a poem. In addition, CHAPBOOKs may contain one or more essays (prefaces, introductions, afterwords, etc.), one or more interior art records and a cover art record.

Other uses of "chapbook" and related terms

Note that the term "Chapbook" as used by publishers describes small pamphlets. The ISFDB uses this terms more broadly to describe any standalone appearance of short fiction works or poems. In addition, note that "chapbook" should not be confused with the publishing term "chapterbook", which describes books for young children.

Short collections or anthologies of poems or short fiction (particularly short-short or "flash" fiction, often under 1,000 words long per story) are sometimes marketed as "chapbooks". There is currently some disagreement among ISFDB editors as to whether such publications should use the CHAPBOOK type or the COLLECTION or ANTHOLOGY type.

How a CHAPBOOK publication works

In general a CHAPBOOK publication will have at least three records associated with it. The first is the CHAPBOOK 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 "chapbook", collection, anthology, or wherever. The third is the CHAPBOOK type title record, which will be associated with every "chapbook" publication of the fiction, but not with other publications. If additional essays (prefaces, introductions, afterwords, etc) are recorded, then each will have an ESSAY type title record entered for them. There may also be one or more INTERIORART type title records and a COVEART record associated with the publication.

In many ways a chapbook publication is handled very similarly to a single-item collection. A collection has a COLLECTION type publication record, a COLLECTION type title record, and multiple SHORTFICTION type title records. It may also include ESSAY or INTERIORART title records. The analogy should be clear.

Converting a NOVEL publication to a CHAPBOOK

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 chapbook record, the following changes should be made:

• The publication record must be edited and its type changed from NOVEL to CHAPBOOK.
• A CHAPBOOK 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 CHAPBOOK. 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.
• Because the CHAPBOOK type is a container, you must also create a record for the content, usually of SHORTFICTION type with the same title as that of the chapbook. Thus when you edit this publication record, and look at the "Contents", you should see two "story" content items there (very possibly with the same title): One as a "Chapbook", and one as "ShortFiction". In addition, you can add content records for INTERIORART, and introductions or afterwords (as ESSAY types) if they're not already 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.

Cautions about doing conversions

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

Care should be taken in deciding to convert a publication record from NOVEL to CHAPBOOK. Page counts, while helpful, are not definitive. Any one of the following situations might indicate a need for conversion:

• The same work is recorded as a work of short fiction in an anthology or collection.
• There is a listing in the Locus Index (or Locus Magazine) as short fiction. (This is a relatively strong indication)
• There is a review describing the work as one of short fiction (depending on the source).
• The work was nominated for or won an award in a short fiction category. (This is often a strong indication, depending on the award and its rules and practices.)

An actual word count, when available, will often settle the matter, 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.

Note also that some works of short fiction are later expanded into novels while keeping the same title. (For example "In the Presence of Mine Enemies" is a work of short fiction, while In the Presence of Mine Enemies is a novel.) Publications of such novels should not be converted to CHAPBOOK records.

If in doubt, consult with other editors on the Help desk or the Community Portal.