User talk:MLB/Archive/2017Jul-Dec II

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Captain Future, Winter 1941

A couple comments on Captain Future, Winter 1941:

  • The pub notes have an incomplete sent sentence "Cover states that the title of this magazine is" on second line.
  • I rejected your variant of "Letter (Captain Future, Winter 1941): Unpleasantries" and instead merged it with the existing variant (based on the prior reprint) as they are identical.
  • I have your variant of "Letter (Captain Future, Winter 1941): Another Swerdlow Edorser" on hold. It is likely the prior reprint would have used the same title so I will ask Rtrace to double check the misspelling in that version.

Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 17:16, 1 January 2017 (UTC)

Rtrace confirmed the misspelling was only in the database and merged the two records. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 14:01, 2 January 2017 (UTC)

ASF Jan-Feb 2017

Hello, I've made some slight modifications to this issue. Hauck 11:03, 4 January 2017 (UTC)

rewind

hi i added one unnumbered page to the count for http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?400563 because the about the author is on a lefthand page,therefore must be 159. gzuckier 04:03, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

Okay, thanx. MLB 07:17, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

Capitalization

I have corrected the capitalization of words such as "an", "from", "with", "the" in titles of some of Ian Watson's works. This affects your verified publication Solaris Rising: The New Solaris Book of Science Fiction. In future, do you want to be notified of such capitalization regularizations? --Vasha 08:28, 10 January 2017 (UTC)

Oh no, go right ahead, anything you can do to make me look smarter than I really am. MLB 01:26, 11 January 2017 (UTC)

One more malicious little mystery

Hi! I think I have found one more item worth adding to this: Caveat Emptor by Kay Nolte Smith. It features one distinct 'M' who is none other than Mephisto(pheles), as I read it. It should be printed five stories before the two Nolan items that are listed last. Would you like to add it? Stonecreek 15:10, 19 January 2017 (UTC)

And then some: I think we consider Barry N. Malzberg as above threshold, so, wouldn't it be better to include all of his stories in this anthology? Stonecreek 20:16, 19 January 2017 (UTC)

In order:
•It will take me a couple of days or so to get a hold of the book so if you have a copy of this anthology nearby please feel free to add the Smith story.
•Yes, I feel he is above the threshold, but, when I have attempted to add above-the-threshold author's stories, including one from Malzberg, from such places as Alfred Hitchcock's and Ellery Queen's they have been rejected. So, while I might verify or re-verify somebody else's listings, I try not to list them anymore. If you want to add the Malzberg story, go ahead, I have no complaints, especially since these non-genre stories tend to end up in these author's collections. MLB 22:30, 19 January 2017 (UTC)
Thanks for the information. It seems you'd have to wait awhile anyway, as there seem to be more items of speculative contents (I'm going slowly through the book, reading 2-3 stories each evening): yesterday I read the one by Elaine Slater which is also science fiction about overpopulation. Alas, I only have a german edition, so I could only place the stories inside your verified copy without noting the beginning page. Maybe that'd be okay and you'll add the pages later? Stonecreek 05:05, 20 January 2017 (UTC)
Sure. I only skimmed the anthology which is why I put in my notes that there might be other speculative fictions here. Put the stories in as you find them. I'll put the numbers in later. MLB 06:25, 20 January 2017 (UTC)
I have added some items and will do so when I come across more. I'll post a final message when I have read the book in its entirety. Stonecreek 07:13, 21 January 2017 (UTC)
Ready, steady, go! Finally, I got through the book and included the lot. It seems, though, that The Witches in the Closet by Anne Chamberlain has no speculative content. It's more a story on a mental breakdown: the protagonist's wife believes that there are witches in a closet / wardrobe, but there's no evidence for that. What's your opinion? Stonecreek 05:05, 8 February 2017 (UTC)
Would it be okay to remove (and then delete) said story? Stonecreek 05:07, 16 February 2017 (UTC)
As I said, I only skimmed the anthology but you actually read it, so, if you feel the story should be deleted and that there is no speculative content then go right ahead and delete it. MLB 09:05, 16 February 2017 (UTC)
Thanks, Mark! I'll wait for some other answers on the topic until the weekend and then hopefully go ahead. Christian Stonecreek 09:21, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2015

I guess Getty Images as a platform should not be given as cover artist at this pub. The creative part is from CSA Images, see here. Unfortunately there is no name of a person to find. Only Pop Ink - CSA Images. --Zapp 14:46, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

I'll go with your expertise in this. MLB 09:46, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

Thomas or Timons Esaias in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May 2016"?

Would you check your verified Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May 2016 and see if the author of "Postulate 2" might be Timons Esaias instead of Thomas Esaias? Thanks. --MartyD 02:23, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

Evidently I must of typed this up using my feet instead of my hands. But it's been corrected. MLB 11:59, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

Closing Lists

When closing HTML lists, you need to use "</u>". The last couple of your pub edits have had "<u>" at the end which starts a new list and causes the pub to not display correctly. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 00:13, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

Sorry, I deserve a good slap for that mistake. MLB 00:15, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

Asimov's

I have added story lengths to the Oct-Nov 2016 issue of Asimov's. --Vasha 23:58, 2 February 2017 (UTC)

Filled in missing info for Analog issues

Hi, a few story lengths got overlooked in 2016 issues of Analog (October, November) & I added them from online sources. --Vasha 03:05, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

I can't understand how I got that wrong, but thanks for the help. MLB 06:44, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

Insomniacs chapbooks

Hi, it seems you transformed the contender NOVELs into SHORTFICTIONs, when it'd be correct to transform them to CHAPBOOKs and add the respecrive SHORTFICTIONs. Now the contender CHAPBOOKs have to be added to the individual publications. Christian Stonecreek 14:55, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

Chapbooks without Contents Titles

Hello, there are five CHAPBOOKS (Insomniacs series) without contents titles that you PVed and that show up on our cleanup report, please correct them (note that they also had a length and a series info which is not allowed, I've corrected that). Hauck 13:00, 23 February 2017 (UTC)

Well, let's hope I got it right this time. Then I gotta add the series data. MLB 00:02, 24 February 2017 (UTC)
All done.MLB 14:53, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

"Stragella"

If we know the "Stragella" art in your fascimile reprint is by Amos Sewell (how do we know that?), then should we change the credit on this to be the same, either on the same basis or by virtue of the fact that we've been able to identify it for the reprint? --MartyD 14:42, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

I identified the artwork by looking up the story on this site, and, even though it is reproduced badly, the piece of artwork has Sewall's scrawl on it. I didn't change the original because I don't have that issue of Weird Terror Tales, just the facsimile. I can change it and notify the primary verifiers if you wish. MLB 14:52, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Cemetery Dance, #74/75, 2016

Hi, there's a typo in one of the titles on Cemetery Dance, #74/75, 2016 which you have verified. The Joe Hill novella Snapshot, 1998 should be Snapshot, 1988 and of course the artwork titles also. Thanks. --Jorssi|talk 22:20, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

And another typo in this title. Should be 'disintegration'. --Jorssi|talk 22:46, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

Yet another typo in this title missing an 'f' in Mindfulness. --Jorssi|talk 23:12, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

Okay: Will change. MLB 23:36, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

David Scheinkofer vs David Schleinkofer

Hi, I've changed David Scheinkofer for your verified copy of The Fog Maiden into David Schleinkofer, as I encountered the cover art here.--Dirk P Broer 13:39, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

"The Snatchers" author in Analog SFF March-April 2017

Might the author's name on "The Snatchers" in Analog SFF March-April 2017 be "McDermott" (m) instead of "McDernott" (n)? --MartyD 17:54, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Yes, noticed that after entering data. Will fix. MLB 18:27, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
One more in that issue, that I missed on the original submission: Should Future-Proofing the Near Future be ESSAY instead of SHORTFICTION? I noticed it on the Editorial series insertion. --MartyD 19:08, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
Yes, getting it fixed. MLB 19:12, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Twilight Zone nonfiction

... shouldn't be considered as a part of the universe (as it should bear comments on it). I accidentally accepted a submission to make the editorials into a subseries, but I'm inclined to reverse this. I have put the other submissions on hold while waiting for an answer. Thanks, Christian Stonecreek 21:11, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Well, there's a non-fiction series for books on Star Trek, Star Wars, Space: 1999, etc. I'm sure that there are more Twilight Zone non-fiction books on this site, but I was just trying to get started to get all of these Twilight Zone series and books organized under one umbrella series title for easy reference. If you wish to reject the non-fiction book, then go ahead. MLB 21:24, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
By-the-way, the scripts are fiction, not non-fiction, which should only leave the non-fiction books open to question. MLB 21:33, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
However I can take the editorials out of the Twilight Zone universe though. MLB 22:55, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Robert Bprslo

When I entered the latest Asimov's did I mean to type Robert Borski, why yes I did, and I have promptly dislocated my knee kicking myself for this. I will fix this when my submission is accepted. MLB 05:31, 7 March 2017 (UTC)

Fifth Voyage - poem?

I have a submission on hold that wants to change the item on p. 136 of this publication to a POEM. Can you please have a look? Christian Stonecreek 16:29, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

No. Shock Totem runs a department in which every author discusses the creation of the work that was published in that issue. Sometimes they are a paragraph, and sometime they are almost a page in length. McHutchins had told me to put (afterword) after each one, and I guess I forgot this time. This item is already listed as a poem in this listing on page 45. I'll put (afterword) after all of the non-fiction in this column and that should clear that up. MLB 21:35, 11 March 2017 (UTC)
Done, I hope that this helps. MLB 21:46, 11 March 2017 (UTC)
Thank you, I'll reject the submission. Christian Stonecreek 07:51, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

"Conan the Buccaneer", by de Camp & Carter

I accepted your publication update to this publication, but restored the publication date. Although it's annoying that whoever put that in didn't explain where they got it from, there's no reason to believe it's wrong. There are many other possible sources for a date: a later printing that listed a bunch of the earlier printings; Locus commenting on a new printing that was just sent them; an advertisement; a review; etc. Chavey 08:38, 16 March 2017 (UTC)

Additions to verified "Frost Burned"

I have made some additions to your verified copy of Frost Burned. I added to Notes - more information about what is on copyright page, Canada price, notes about cover, link to archived Amazon site. I imported the Map and Author's Note from the verified hardcover edition, for consistency. OK? BungalowBarbara 22:30, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Sure, thanx. MLB 23:37, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Changes to John G. Hemry/Jack Campbell pubs

I am changing John G. Hemry's canonical name to Jack Campbell; this is affecting some of your verified publications. --Vasha 17:49, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

Dark Voices 5 (and 2) content addition

Hi. In the Dark Voices 5 update that I have on hold, your proposed addition is ESSAY. Should that be INTERIORART? For that submission and the similar submission for #2 (where Linguist is the primary verifier), why do you have "(title page)" added to the titles? There doesn't seem to be any other interiorart, much less other pieces by Carson, such that disambiguation is necessary. --MartyD 10:38, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

Yes, they are artwork. Did late at night, sorry. (title page) as added to one of the books before me, and I kept that designation when I added the artwork. If you want, I can delete that if accepted. MLB 20:50, 9 April 2017 (UTC)
Parenthetical additions are used for disambiguation, not for explanation. There is one exception: maps, where we add "(map)". Anyway, since there is no need to disambiguate, I think you should not add the "(title page)". You could record in the notes that the only interior artwork is on the title page if you wanted to. --MartyD 21:18, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

Blaze of Glory

Hi, for your verified copy of Blaze of Glory I've changed cover artist Xanaxa to Kanaxa, after reading the copyright page at Amazon.--Dirk P Broer 19:06, 11 April 2017 (UTC)


"Mrs. Midnight"

In your verified publication Ghosts: Recent Hauntings, "Mrs. Midnight" is recorded as a short story. However, the author's bibliography indicates it as a novelette, and indeed, I have counted the words as it appears in The Best Horror of the Year Vol. 2, and it is 10,000 words long. I've changed the record; please let me know if you disagree. --Vasha 18:43, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

No, I'm fine with it. MLB 00:13, 16 April 2017 (UTC)

Content page numbers in Lover Beware

Hi. I have on hold your proposed changes to Lover Beware that would add two to each of the page numbers Barbara recorded. Her numbers match what I see in the Amazon Look Inside -- although the text begins on the page numbers you've given, there's a title page for each two pages before that (the page numbers she used). The help's ...on which the content begins. is rather vague, but given the example of using the page number of a preceding illustration as the starting page number, I'd think using the title page's page number would be appropriate. Is there something somewhere that leads you to think differently? Thanks. --MartyD 12:29, 15 April 2017 (UTC)

Well, I've been running on the assumption that the story starts where the content (story, illustration) starts, and not the title page. I don't consider, and I may be wrong, that title pages are art. The formula is: title page, blank page, story. Anyway, after double checking my copy, I found mine to be a later printing, and so anything I have to add to Barbara's entry is moot. I'll delete my entry, and create a new one. Thanks for making me check my listing twice. MLB 23:42, 15 April 2017 (UTC)
Let's hope I got it right this time. MLB 00:13, 16 April 2017 (UTC)
I have quite a number of these anthologies in my collection, but until this is cleared up I can't verify or add any. I don't think title pages are art, especially when followed by one or more blank pages. MLB 01:19, 16 April 2017 (UTC)

Vampire Stories

What I changed in this publication was the date of the story "The Last Sin" to make it jibe with the date of the anthology. --Vasha 22:40, 15 April 2017 (UTC)

Or Suggested by Books?

Please see this edit I have on hold. -- JLaTondre (talk) 15:12, 16 April 2017 (UTC)

Also this one. -- JLaTondre (talk) 15:17, 16 April 2017 (UTC)

No idea. When I follow the link I get this: "Moderator privileges are required for this option". So I don't know what you're referencing. MLB 00:00, 17 April 2017 (UTC)
Sorry, thought you'd be able to see it. The first one is changing 'Or Suggested by Books?': Some Jamesian Touches in the Fiction of Ruth Rendell to 'Or Suggested by Books?' Some Jamesian Touches in the Fiction of Ruth Rendell" (removing hyphen). I assume based on the assumption was a subtitle & therefore didn't the hyphen due to the question mark. However, want to make sure it wasn't in the original pub. The second one was the "Night in the Forest" one posted below. -- JLaTondre (talk) 21:15, 17 April 2017 (UTC)
Gads, sir, that one is going to take a little detective work to find. It's been years since I did that one. I was still a snot-nosed punk of only fifty-three. So much has happened since then, so give me a little while to find it. MLB 07:08, 19 April 2017 (UTC)
No problem. I have rejected the edit for now. Once you have a chance to check, you can update if needed. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 21:48, 21 April 2017 (UTC)

"Night in the Forest"

Hi, is there a typo in this record from one of your verified publications? --Vasha 16:00, 16 April 2017 (UTC)

Yeah. Corrected. MLB 00:01, 17 April 2017 (UTC)

The Amber Witch Artwork

In your Five Victorian Ghost Novels, the The Amber Witch artwork was dated to 1843. However, the artist (Philip Burne-Jones) was born in 1861. While the omnibus may state the artwork is from the first printing, they probably mean the first printing of the Lady Duff Gordon translation (since that is the translation they used) which was 1894 and not the 1844 version. I have adjusted the dates as such. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 15:35, 30 April 2017 (UTC)

Brain Child by John Saul

I added notes to Brain Child by John Saul Susan O'Fearna 03:42, 1 May 2017 (UTC)

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May-June 2017

Linked both dangling reviews in the issue (waiting for approval), changed one EDITOR to essay (In Times to Come (Analog, May-June 2017)) and added the magazine under its yearly title record. Annie 17:35, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

Thanks. After entering Analog, and while awaiting approval my computer got sick and I had to take the poor dear in to the computer doctor to get well. Which is why I disappeared in the middle of entering the data for the latest issue of Analog. So sorry to have caused you any problems. MLB 02:17, 6 May 2017 (UTC)
Not at all :) Figured you were offline for a bit so just went ahead and fixed it :) Annie 04:05, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

'Snow-Drop"

Hi, Do you have your copy of Snow White, Blood Red handy enough that you can check the length of "Snow-Drop"? You have it down as a novelette in that publication, but the official bibliography says it is 6500 words. --Vasha 14:13, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

It went into storage, however, my listing was a guesstiment, so if you feel if it is a short story, please go ahead and change it. MLB 23:00, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Comet, May and July 1941 facsimile reprints

Hello, I wanted to check the author attribution on the editorials in these two reprints (pages 68 and 123 respectively). I'm verifying the original magazine issues and in my copies, both of these are signed only "The Editor." Are the reprints this way as well? Thanks, Ldb001 01:59, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

Yes. I think "The Editor" is more accurate, but I have been corrected numerous times, so I may have self-corrected. Please feel free to change my entries if you so wish. MLB 03:29, 19 May 2017 (UTC)
Thanks for the quick reply! I'll change these to be "The Editor" in both the original and the reprint. I've been instructed in the past to adhere to the author name as stated, so I try to do so. I've been attributing the artists in this magazine somewhat differently too (strictly by the credits given on the contents page) but so far nobody has complained about the inconsistency between magazine and reprint. I'm writing about this particular case because another moderator raised the issue about this case. Thanks again, Ldb001 03:55, 19 May 2017 (UTC)
One more question (the last, I hope) about these 5 reprint issues. The feature "The Spacean" has been entered in the reprints as fiction for three issues, but as essay for the other two. I've entered these as fiction for the original magazines, but in order to merge them we should agree on the "type" field for them. Is calling all of these fiction OK with you? Thanks, Ldb001 15:35, 19 May 2017 (UTC)
Yes. I've always considered these "non-fact" articles fiction, but there seems no hard and fast rule about this. I should have changed the other two long ago. Fun stuff ain't they? MLB 07:14, 20 May 2017 (UTC)
They're almost unreadable for me :-) But I haven't put a lot of effort into them. I think they must contain nods toward things that go completely over my head. They feel like something written in code, and if I could break the code they would make perfect sense. I'll go ahead and change the other two to fiction and merge with the magazine entries. Thanks, Ldb001 14:25, 21 May 2017 (UTC)

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May-June 2017

Hello, I've added the missing Gord Sellar's text and uploaded cover to your PVed issue.Hauck 17:04, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

Thanks. MLB 07:15, 20 May 2017 (UTC)

Ancient Voices

I have your edit to Ancient Voices on hold. Did you mean to correct the author's name to Glynn Owen Barrass instead of "Glynn Owen Burrass"? Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 00:06, 21 May 2017 (UTC)

No cut and pasting here. I had to write everything down on paper from Amazon and then type it up. I need to write clearer! Will correct. MLB 00:43, 21 May 2017 (UTC)

Flag in Exile

Replaced cover art of Flag in Exile with a scan of my copy (some of the Amazon covers have a white blob on the right hand side). --AndyjMo 20:15, 21 May 2017 (UTC)

Echoes of Honor

Replaced Amazon cover art of Echoes of Honor with a scan of my copy. --AndyjMo 15:17, 22 May 2017 (UTC)

Ashes of Victory

Replaced the Amazon Cover art of Ashes of Victory with a scan of my copy. Is there any reason why some of the contents are listed twice? --AndyjMo 15:24, 22 May 2017 (UTC)

Planet Stories, Summer 1940 (Adventure House reprint)

Hi, me again: I'm starting to verify the early issues of Planet Stories, and I notice you've verified the facsimile reprints. So I may be checking with you about some odd and ends as I work through these. In this issue I have two letters with different titles from those you list in the reprint. Ackerman's is titled "Ackerman up at Bat!" rather than "Ackerman Up!"; and Wright's second letter is "Right Is Wright" rather than "Right Is Wrong." Could you let me know if the reprint indeed titles them differently? If they are the same, I will change both with your permission. Thanks, Ldb001 04:50, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Go ahead, most, but not all, of my pulp facsimiles just went into storage, so feel free to change these until I can get to mine. And now you've discovered my secret ninja superpower, making typos where none existed before. MLB 09:17, 23 May 2017 (UTC)
Thanks, I'll make those changes. That superpower is shared by many including me. After I make edits, I wait for the moderator corrections to rain down.
One author which was unreadable in the reprint but is clear in the original: "Win Edwards" is the artist responsible for "Sphere of the Never-Dead." I've added that as well. Finally, Kummer's first name in this publication is spelled "Frederick" with a "k" at the end, so I'll change this and variant to the proper spelling. Ldb001 13:41, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Jack London's non-genre stories

In some of your verified editions, you have stories by Jack London that are actually non-genre. I hope it's OK if I mark them as such.

1. In Quickie Thrillers: 25 Mini-Mysteries, "The Leopard Man's Story." It's a story about a circus lion-tamer killed by his lion.

2. In Tellers of Tales and The Golden Argosy, "To Build a Fire." Famous story about a greenhorn's Alaskan journey to a frozen end.

I am going through a book of 46 Jack London stories and finding that a number of the ones we have in the DB actually are nongenre. London didn't write all that many speculative stories, but his suspenseful adventure stories are included in anthologies of "tales of terror". --Vasha 22:00, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Why some stories are listed on this site I don't know (and I'm looking at you Sherlock Holmes), but I usually list them if in an anthology, or verify them, if they have been previously listed on this site. You can list them as [non-genre] or delete them. Whichever feels best. MLB 22:40, 23 May 2017 (UTC)
I am going to mark them non-genre because otherwise they'll probably get re-added sometime. --Vasha 22:44, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Planet Stories, Fall 1940 (Adventure House reprint)

Requesting to change a couple of small things in the reprint (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?369518): (1) regularize the capitalization in a couple of reader letter titles, (2) on the assumption that it is in the reprint, add the letter by Charles Hidley. Thanks, Ldb001 01:11, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Oh yeah, go ahead, always feel free to regularize my capitalizations. I've listed Hidley's letters several times. I think all letters should be listed, but that's just me. MLB 01:20, 24 May 2017 (UTC)
Thanks, I hate to bother you with things this trivial, but I don't like to presume anything with verified pubs.
I can see both arguments for inclusion of letters. Cluttering of the db vs. completeness. One advantage of including all would be that the policy would be unambiguous. But I personally don't have an interest in unknowns who may only have written a letter or two.
For the next issue (Winter 1940), another couple of small things: (1) another letter to add by Hidley, and (2) two artist credits for "Don Lynch" which are listed in the reprint record as "D. L." and "Lynch." Because we have no artist credits, I'd like to change these to the canonical name (unless the reprint adds additional credits beyond those in the magazine). Thanks again, Ldb001 03:18, 24 May 2017 (UTC)
No bother. As these facsimile's were not reprinted in order, I probably entered these before I knew who Don Lynch was. Sadly, his career in sf didn't much outlast the pulps themselves. In the "too much information" department here's an example of Don Lynch's non-pulp artwork. MLB 04:03, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

Changes to Maupassant pubs

I am once again working on sorting out translations of "The Horla", so if you are notified of changes to any publications that involve Guy de Maupassant, that is what it is in regard to. I believe I haven't made any alterations that go beyond the information you provided the last time I queried you about these publications, but if you notice I've made a mistake, please do let me know. The only major thing I did was to separate out the translations revised by Dora Knowlton Ranous from the general uncredited translations. Otherwise, I just changed notes and dates. --Vasha 08:38, 24 May 2017 (UTC)

I guess this is where I ask if the translations have caused any significant changes in the story over the years, and which translator has done the best job. I've read various translations of this story over my life, but have not done any significant studying of the text, being more of a casual reader. Who's done the best, or worst, jobs at these translations? MLB 14:50, 24 May 2017 (UTC)
Well, I haven't read the more recent ones (those first paragraphs are gleaned from previews and such). But of the older ones, numbers 1-8 in the list, all of which I've looked into except Laurie... Believe it or not, I think the anonymous 1903 is quite decent. (Ranous's "improvement" makes the text less wordy in places, but not really to its benefit. Maybe she didn't consult the French.)
I wish that some anthology editors had done a comparison. For example, the Everyman's Pocket Library book of ghost stories is beautifully designed and printed, acid free paper and the whole nine yards... but for whatever eccentric reason the editor chose to use the execrable Jamison/Boyd translation. --Vasha 16:51, 24 May 2017 (UTC)
Okay, now I know what look-out for. Fred Pohl did an experiment. One of his stories was translated (into Chinese, I think) and he had the story re-translated into English and ended up with a completely different story. So, I guess that translations are often undependable, but for most of us, that's all we can get to read. Or watch if it's on film, but that's a completely different matter. MLB 20:16, 24 May 2017 (UTC)
Yeah, there have been translations where you wonder if the translator was reading the same book. I suppose you heard about the minor stir that the rediscovered Icelandic Dracula caused last year. None of these differences in "The Horla" are nearly that extreme. I should add that I think the Brian Rhys translation in the older Everyman editions, 1930s to 1970s, is also good. --Vasha 14:42, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

Planet Stories, Spring, Summer, Fall 1941 (Adventure House reprints)

More requests for minor changes on the next three issues of the facsimile reprints. Most are tedious little nits but one or two might be interesting. Let me know if there are issues with any. I'll make the changes if you approve.

Spring 1941 (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?346342): 1)Add letters by Hidley and Lynn Bridges. 2)Author's name for "Satellite of Fear" is given as "Frederick Arnold Kummer, Jr." (first name ending in "k"). Should be entered thus and varianted to canonical name.

Summer 1941 (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?375108): 1)Kummer's story is credited to "Frederick A. Kummer, Jr." on both story and contents page. 2)"Mutiny Aboard the 'Terra'" art is signed "Leon Rosenthal" (very small, perhaps unreadable in the reprint) so need to add artist's name to record to replace "uncredited." 3)The letter response by Reiss is just credited to "The Editor" so should be listed thus and variant to Reiss. 4) Lesser's letter should have "Boulders" rather than "Boulder" in the title. 5) Ed Smalle. He has three illustrations in Planet that are documented so far, and in all three cases his signature is clearly "Ed Smalle" rather than "Smalley." I think the editor's statement that his name was Ed Smalley was just a boo-boo. A Google of Ed Smalle gets a couple of hits for a comic book artist from that period who must be the same person. I'd like to change all occurrences of his name to "Ed Smalle." (added: I found en editorial reference to "Smalle" in the Fall 1940 issue, so I think this confirms things).

Fall 1941 (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?346350): 1) The Raiders of Saturn's Rings: artwork title in the reprint record omits "The" and has "Ring" for "Rings." Both should be corrected. 2) Regularize case in letters. 3) Reiss's responses should be as "The Editor" and varianted. 4) Add Hidley letter.

Winter 1941-42 (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?346355): 1) Change all artist names to those credited (last name only). 2) "Zurk" should be by Richard O. Lewis, not Robert O. Lewis.

Final one: Spring 1940 (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?369515) 1)Letter-writer Olon F. Wiggins is spelled thus and so needs no variant. 2) Case correction ("the") in last letter title.

Thanks, Ldb001 02:04, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

Let me answer some of these requests for changes.
1) When I first started editing on this site I was told not to use "The Editor" unless the editor was unknown, otherwise use the editor's name. Ditto for initials. Usually "The Editor" was used by editors before me. Some facsimile's were here before I came to this site (in 2012), and I just added to them or imported the basic contents from the various magazines.
Be reassured, I've enforced exactly this rule (and used it myself for british magazines) as I don't see the value of interposing another level of data by using "The Editor" then varianting to the correct person. But It's just one of many moderator's advice, that's the ISFDB. Hauck 07:52, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
2) There is a very mundane reason as to why Hidley's letters started getting added to this site. When somebody started reprinting the Captain Future novels they also reprinted the columns from the self-titled magazine. Suddenly, and he was active into the sixties, his letters became eligible for listing here when before they weren't as they were now being reprinted in these anthologies. So, there are probably other letters out there waiting to be listed in already verified magazines. When you come across them, just feel free to add them.
3) I was also told when I first started editing here that unless the artist is credited, on the title page, full is to be used in the listing, i.e., Leo Morey for Morey. Which is what I try to do. See below.
4) As I'm handicapped and can't just pop over to my storage shed and look these older facsimile's up, I will take your word for most of these changes and correct what I can. MLB 06:57, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
Yes, I think we all have gotten conflicting advice many times from different moderators. What I try to do is read the written policy and follow it. Sadly there is still much unwritten! For instance we're instructed to record authors exactly as they are credited, and I've also explicitly been told by a moderator to credit to "The Editor" when written. But like so many subjects each of us has received different instructions. I was reading the other day several discussions on whether to credit a letters column to "various" or to "The Editor." I saw a lot of discussion but as far as I could see it never resulted in a new policy. One of these discussions arose because some time ago I read a policy to use "N/A" for this purpose. Although it was the only written policy on the topic, I was told not to use it! So it goes.
It sounds like we are in consonance about author credits: use the credited form, or if uncredited use the canonical form of the name.
Generally I would not care much about these things: each editor to some degree chooses a preferred path. Policy should prevent that, but that's the reality. But I wanted the original and facsimile to agree as much as possible rather than unmerging one set of titles from the other and having the publications go in two different directions. In fact I was told by a moderator not to take that path. Thus making changes in the original required some coordination with the verifier of the facsimile. I apprecicate your addressing these questions and spologize for having to take your time with what are trivial mechanical details. All the best, Ldb001 14:38, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
Apart from moderators having deliberate differing agendas (which is quite rare), the main problem is of coordination. With about twenty active moderators (but with very widely different levels of effective moderating -from nearly none to a few hundreds per day-) and an unknown number of contributors, this proves to be a near impossible task. As not every case can be thought about, debated and have a course of action decided, we (the moderators) usually have to do our best and try to keep a certain constancy. Depending on what is moderated (e.g. self-moderating only), this constancy is more or less wide-ranging. You're also victim of the extreme weakness of our decision-making process which is not formalized and so left many issues unresolved because of quite equally split opinions. Add to this the fact that some moderators (alas including me sometimes) on diverse grounds flatly refuse to acknowledge some written rules (based on their ambiguity or fuzziness or the fact that the exact reverse of the rules is also written elsewhere) and you'll have the main reasons for such differences of interpretation. But the main point is that we all try to do our best to offer the more accurate data as is possible. Hauck 15:03, 28 May 2017 (UTC)

A batch of nongenre stories - if you disagree please comment

Currently there are numerous non-genre horror stories that are in the database because it's natural to just enter a book of horror or "tales of terror" without figuring out which stories are supernatural. I don't intend to systematically hunt for them, but when I spot one, I like to mark it nongenre. (In the case of classic stories, marking is better than removing it from the database because it'll just get re-added with some new anthology.) At the moment, I've spotted the following stories that I think need such a change, and I'm consulting people who have them in their verified pubs.

Firstly, there's Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural (verified copies: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7)), which contains "A Terribly Strange Bed," "The Three Strangers," "The Most Dangerous Game," "Leiningen Versus the Ants," "A Rose for Emily," "Taboo," and undoubtedly other non-supernatural ones that I'm not noticing at the moment. Here are verified publications for those and some other stories:

Are there any of those stories you think ARE genre? Vasha 15:33, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

My goodness, you have been busy. Like other editors, I haven't had the time to read everything, try as I might. So to comment on some of these:
1) I read The Cone by H. G. Wells as a child, but I can remember nothing about it. If you say it is not speculative, then I'll take your word for it. Being a Wells story, may the tag [non-genre] would be appropriate.
2) The Lodger is an influential suspense story. Influential on both the horror and suspense genres, but I have not read it, yet. Someday, someday. Again, perhaps the [non-genre] tag, with a note explaining it's influence on both genres.
3) Ditto for Two Bottles of Relish, a story that I never liked to begin with, although that's neither here nor there.
4) Ditto again for The Most Dangerous Game. The basis for a hundred speculative stories, graphic stories, and movies. See "2" and "3".
5) A Rose for Emily, a non-supernatural gothic horror story? Perfect for Alfred Hitchcock, but I'm on the fence about this one.
6) Leiningen Versus the Ants is also borderline, and the basis for hundreds of other man-against-nature stories, including the whole nature-goes-into-revolt, or nature-goes-berserk genres. I'm for keeping this one, with maybe a note stating how influential it is.
I haven't read the rest, and I'll take your word for them. Perhaps you should take your work, substantial as it is, and start a discussion about these stories. All were here before I even started editing for this site. There are exceptions for "non-supernatural" horror stories. MLB 19:12, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
I agree that these very famous suspense/adventure/gothic/etc. stories have influenced a thousand speculative stories, but they're not genre themselves -- it's not as if SFF writers never read anything but SFF! What sort of note would you suggest adding? (I'm on the fence about "Leiningen", too.)
As for "exceptions for non-supernatural horror stories", the Project Scope Policy doesn't mention any, only "supernatural horror, ghost stories, gothic fiction with supernatural elements..." and it states that "[p]urely psychological horror works that feature no supernatural or fantastical elements" are excluded. --Vasha 19:33, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
Examples of non-supernatural horror fiction on this site would be Psycho by Robert Bloch, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, and The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. Bloch, Doyle, and Poe’s stories are crime stories, and Bierce’s is a war story. All four authors do a lot of genre blending in their fiction. And, quite frankly, I’m not even going to touch poetry. I also don’t count dreams, fugue states, and hallucinations as fantasy elements, but others do, and I’m not gonna argue with them. This is why so much literary fiction is listed here.
I’ve yet to read too many horror anthologies that don’t have at least one borderline, or non-supernatural horror story. A lotta crime fictions, modern and pulp, have borderline elements. This is why all of those shudder pulps are listed on this site. I’ve had more than my fair share of stories rejected for being too borderline.
Again, I think a lot of this is wasted on me, as other editors and moderators should be chiming in with their opinions . Although I do agree with you on several stories. As an editor I don’t make policy, and the stories that you point out are long standing contributions to this site. I think stories may have to be taken on a story-by-story basis. I suggest that you lift your research and paste it on one of the moderator boards. Just ask if these stories should be listed as non-genre with a note stating their influence on the genre. State your case, others do it, why not you? This might be a reason as to why the Sherlock Holmes stories are listed here. MLB 23:00, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
Yeah, this should be a general discussion rather than divided into separate pages, I guess. --Vasha 23:18, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
Well, these questions come up periodically, and should be asked. They keep everybody on their toes. MLB 23:36, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
See Community Portal; the list of suggested stories is already longer there. --Vasha 00:45, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

Added contents from another edition

I am working on the Cleanup Report that complains about collections and anthologies that have no contents. Right now I'm importing contents for such works when we have another printing of the same book (by the same publisher) that includes the contents. A book verified by you for which I've done this is: Foundation and Empire. I haven't included page numbers, so this book is still missing that detail. If you have the time, I encourage you to verify this against your own copy. Chavey 20:44, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

Serial Vigilantes of Paperback Fiction

Image URL found for this pub. --Zapp 08:46, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

Thanks. MLB 18:02, 5 June 2017 (UTC)

Horror Stories

Hi Mark. I've got some questions on who to enter as editor of the 1930s pulp Horror Stories. You've verified the Oct-Nov 1937 issue and you've got the editor as Rogers Terrill, citing info from philsp.com. The citation you mentioned comes from here, I guess, and shows editors as being 1935 – 1939: Rogers Terrill; 1939: Loring Dorst (Dowst); 1940 – 1941: Steve Farrell (Farrelly). This is from the (about) link. Another link, the (Pub Info) link takes you to here, which shows the editor as being Steve Farrelly - Editor: Horror Stories, Jan 1935 – Apr 1941. Obviously a conflict. All other existing Horror Stories entries in ISFDB show Farrelly as editor, rightly or wrongly. I contacted Bill Contento with this and he replied "The entry on Horror Stories in SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, AND WEIRD FICTION MAGAZINES by Marshall Tymn and Mike Ashley lists Rogers Terrill as overall editor, no mention of Dorst or Farrelly. Bob Jones's essay "Popular's Weird Menace Pulps" in THE WEIRD MENACE pamphlet from OPAR Press 1972, says Rogers Terrell became Editorial Director of some 14 Popular pulps. Steve Farrelly is mentioned as an editor of Horror Stories, and that he died in 1940. Loring Dowst is listed as serving on Horror Stories in 1938. Unfortunately there are no exact dates. I have photocopies of the table of contents for Horror Stories but there's no mention of editors there. I don't know where the dates on Galactic Central came from, and Phil who runs the site just left for a month's vacation. This has likely raised more questions than answers!". So...we're left with questions. Do you think any of the existing editor info on Horror Stories should be changed, possibly with addition of notes? (Yours is the only prime verified issue). I was going to enter some of the missing issues and wanted to get some other input on it before going ahead. Also, I'll ask Ron to join the conversation since he's secondarily verified some of these issues. Thanks, Doug / Vornoff 18:05, 7 June 2017 (UTC)

Both FictionMags and Miller/Contento list only Steve Farrelly as the editor. Tuck states "Editor: Steve Farrelly with Rogers Terrill as Editorial Director" I'd defer to what is printed in the magazine, though I suspect the editor is not credited. Tuck's characterization may explain why Tymn/Ashley lists Terrill. We generally stick with the main editor, but Terrill could certainly be mentioned in the notes. --Ron ~ RtraceTalk 23:44, 7 June 2017 (UTC)
My copy is one of those I picked up second-hand at a flea market, as I wasn't born until twenty-four years later, and my Dad, who claimed to have read some of these pulps was only five. So, this horribly mangled, non-inherited, second-hand edition only contains the body of the pulp; no contents or indicia page. Even the cover image comes from a deck of shudder pulp non-sports trading cards. I'm pretty sure that Terrill wouldn't have read the contents of all fourteen pulps, so I can change the editor to Steve Farrelly if you feel that this is the proper thing to do. MLB 02:54, 8 June 2017 (UTC)
Thanks to both for responding. Looks like the real answers are lost in time. I'm going to go with what seems to be the preponderence of evidence with Farrelly as editor with a note about Terrill. Maybe Phil of Galactic will have some insight for us when he returns from vacation but the odds are against it. Mark, if you changed yours it would at least clean up the EDITOR records a bit, but do as you see fit. Doug / Vornoff 05:23, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

Monstrosity ebook

Hi. Your Monstrosity submission that I have on hold would change the existing entry for the paperback into an ebook and lose the paperback's information. Did you perhaps mean to clone instead and accidentally edited in place? --MartyD 11:20, 17 June 2017 (UTC)

Yeah, I meant to clone. I'll do it over. Thanks for catching that. MLB 20:10, 17 June 2017 (UTC)

Cloning Backwards in time

Hello, you submitted the cloning of the 2016 publication of this title with a 2014 date. In such cases, don't forget to adjust the 2016 dates in the record, lest it leads to a lot of cleaning up afterward. It's usually better to change all the dates in the existing publication in one go before submitting the cloning. Thanks. Hauck 02:18, 21 June 2017 (EDT)

Another polite reminder to be careful when your new clone is a previous publication than the one you are cloning from - while it is a single publication, it is easy to fix the dates but once the titles are in multiple publications, it needs to be done one by one - the last two clonings you had were like that. If you would like to submit the cloning without waiting for the re-dating to go through, add a moderator note in the clone request to tell the moderators to make sure the date change you also submitted had gone through :) Thanks! Annie 02:41, 30 June 2017 (EDT)

Horror Stories / Costanza masthead art

Hi Mark. Another question on Horror Stories, which relates to your verified issue, Oct-Nov 1937, and specifically the artwork by Costanza on p. 120 for the "Chamber of Horrors" column. This appears to be masthead art and I'll bet it's the same as the art I entered on the March and May 1940 issues. I went ahead and varianted the latter to the earlier but Hervé has brought up some questions on my talk page about entering masthead art. If you want to check the art against your copy, it can be found here. Any input you have would be appreciated. Thanks, Doug / Vornoff 10:55, 21 June 2017 (EDT)

CreateSpace

I may be telling you something you already know... but according to discussions here and here, CreateSpace isn't a publisher, but rather a printing and production service (a subsidiary of Amazon, which is probably why they insist on naming it in the "publisher" space on their pages). So we don't list it as a publisher here, instead leaving a blank space (currently -- even though the help says to put the author name; I believe that the help will be updated, but -- as with every other discussion! -- the discussion is still ongoing.) Therefore, I'd like to change all of your verified publications that list CreateSpace -- Astounding Stories of Super-Science: Vol. 1 No. 2 February, 1930, and maybe others I haven't found yet. Thanks! --Vasha 18:06, 23 June 2017 (EDT)

If the copyright page that I can view actually says published by (listed any author) then I list the author as publisher. CreateSpace is has always been a default setting for me, but I'm more than willing to list anything else. Why not "uncredited"? MLB 01:47, 24 June 2017 (EDT)

Galaxy's Edge #1

Hi. I submitted an edit to re-order the first page of the Book Review on your verified above to put the column name first. Also I noticed on my copy that the title of that column is called "Book Reviews", not "Books". I don't know if that's the same in your copy. Doug / Vornoff 20:18, 24 June 2017 (EDT)

Extracted

Hello,

I have your addition of Extracted on hold because it seems like we already have it: over here. Am I missing something that makes it different? Annie 02:48, 25 June 2017 (EDT)

Nope, looks like I wasted both of our times. MLB 03:21, 25 June 2017 (EDT)
Now I see what went wrong. The author is listed on this site as RR Haywood instead as R. R. Haywood as per ISFDB protocol. Permission to change his name on this site. MLB 03:34, 25 June 2017 (EDT)
I just changed it - no reason to make you wait for all the edits to get approved. I cannot find a reason why he/she needs to be one of the exceptions :) If someone insist it needs to be RR, they will need to write a note explaining why and leave it on the account :) Feel free to copy all the new data your submission had into the existing publication and submit it again. By the way - for ISBN-less books that have ASIN, the new Advanced search for external IDs is very helpful.Annie 03:50, 25 June 2017 (EDT)

Cordwell Turnbull

Or is it Cadwell Turnbull in the new Asimov's? Mine is still somewhere in the USPS system so cannot check so can you double-check? :)Annie 17:54, 25 June 2017 (EDT)

***Blush*** ***Blush*** I'm so embarrassed. I created a ham-fisted typo. Will correct. MLB 19:31, 25 June 2017 (EDT)
"a" looks a lot like "or" when the letters are not that big (that's my story and I am sticking to it:)) Thanks for the quick check! Annie 19:37, 25 June 2017 (EDT)
Just a notification that I fixed issues with 2 of the reviews in the issue: the name of Michael Miller was misspelled as Michel (if it is indeed Michel in the book, you may want to add a note in the review record) and I added the hardcover of "A Hundred Thousand Worlds" so I can link the review :) Annie 01:18, 26 June 2017 (EDT)

Who Is Willing?

Hi,

Approved Who Is Willing? but shouldn't the format be "digital audio download"? Audible are downloadable so it matches. Annie 21:14, 25 June 2017 (EDT)

I don't know. The Amazon listing only states that this is an audiobook. It could be a digital audio download, or on a CD. I know nothing about Audible. If you say it's a digital audio download then I'll change it. MLB 21:19, 25 June 2017 (EDT)
Actually it says "Audible Book", not just AudioBook in the title and then in the details ("Audible Audio Edition"). Audible is an audio download only company so if you see Audible, it means downloads. They have audiobooks, dramas and radio-programs though - thus the type saying audiobook in the details. (sorry if you know that already). :) Or are we looking at different pages in Amazon. The ASIN leads here. Annie 21:25, 25 June 2017 (EDT)
No, it's the same one. **Sigh** I knew nothing about Audible, but now I know. Will change. MLB 00:21, 26 June 2017 (EDT)

Mort

Hello,

I had to hard-reject 3 of your variants because one of the titles is not there anymore so it cannot variant into it (or from it). I found 2 that seemed to be what you were trying to do (the result is here but can you check the entries and resubmit any that I missed? Thanks! Annie 19:35, 27 June 2017 (EDT)

Everything looks fine, although there is still one trade paperback to add to this entry. Self-published books are fun to enter ain't they? I have since found out that Amazon is giving the wrong publishing dates for Duncan's ebooks! Sadly, very few people seem to be interested in listing these indie fantasy/horror books, or updating these authors. MLB 20:05, 27 June 2017 (EDT)
Oh, yes. They are a riot. Part of the reason for some of the cleanup, the whole ASIN moving to new field thing and so on, is to allow some of these to be added automatically when they do not have ISBNs. That should help somewhat. If you get bored, some help here won't harm :) Other from that - it comes down to priorities I guess - too many books, too little people to add them. I tend to work through an author when I stumble on one that needs it but it does not happen too often. Or whole small publishers. Thanks for working on these. :) Annie 20:16, 27 June 2017 (EDT)
I still have a ton of my own books to list on this site, but my main interests are pulp fiction, horror/indie horror, juveniles from before 2000, detective fiction, pre 2000 sf, fanzines (along with Biomass Bob), and media tie-ins. F'r instance this and this are all mine. Unfortunately, I live on a disability, so I can only do so much, so your job is still safe. :-) MLB 20:42, 27 June 2017 (EDT)

The Oldest Living Vampire Saga: Volumes I, II & III

Hello,

I wondered if I should reject that one and just do it manually but figured I can fix it after the approval. You had misspelled Joseph Duncan as James Duncan in the contents (autocomplete from your browser maybe? James Duncan seems to be someone that wrote back during the pulp times and you are working on those...). I fixed it and did some merging to get the publication and author back on track. And I added the content to the title record while I was around. The result is here and the content is visible in the series list :) Annie 00:29, 28 June 2017 (EDT)

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