User talk:Amoeba of horror

Welcome!

Hello, Amoeba of horror, 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:

• Help pages
• Field-by-field guide to entering new publications into the database
• Help:Getting Started
• What the ISFDB Wiki is for
• FAQ
• Wiki editing help - Tips on how to use the wiki-specific features when editing wiki pages.
• Wiki Conventions - How things are usually done on this wiki.
• Help:How to upload images to the ISFDB wiki

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! Hauck 08:19, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

Apex Magazine, September 2016

Hello, I've approved your submission but made some changes to conform to our standards: 1) deleted "online" in the "number of pages" field (just left it void), 2) changed format to "ebook", 3) added currency symbol ($), 4) transformed Words for Thought: Short Fiction Review into a disambiguated ESSAY record by Wise (a REVIEW concerns only one title). I've also uploaded a scan. The result is here. Hauck 08:45, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

As we use the cover date for magazines (see the help pages), I have set the dates of the publications and their contents to 2016-08-00 and 2016-09-00, respectively. There were earlier dates of publication given for some content titles. However, if this was their first publication, the dates should be also set to 2016-08-00 or 2016-09-00: we don't group the titles to their dates of writing but to the dates of their first publication. Thanks, Stonecreek 09:48, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

I also subsumed the two recent issues under the heading / series Apex Magazine - 2016, which corresponds to the way we handle magazines (see any of the prominent examples: MFSF, Asimov's, Interzone, etc.). Stonecreek 10:18, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

Ok, thank you both, I will follow these conventions from now on. There was one issue I was confused about with Apex Magazine--they have a feature called "from the vault" where they reprint a story that was published by Apex magazine itself several years before. This was the story that was marked with a 2012 publication date in this month of Apex. It's technically a reprint, although the webpage still shows the 2012 date(I only read online and do not own the corresponding ebooks, so I don't know what the format looks like there). Amoeba of horror 10:32, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the hint, I merged the two 2012 titles into one. Stonecreek 10:38, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

Lackington's, Winter 2015

I've also approved your submission for this issue. I've made some technical changes: 1) regularized "A.C. Wise" to "A. C. Wise", 2) added currency unit, 3) regularized INTERIORART titles (the title is simply the same as the story that it illustrates), 4) added cover scan, 5) put the issue in the title series and deleted synopsis (no place to put it). The result is here. Thanks for contributing. Hauck 08:58, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

JY Yang as parent author

Hello! Good that you asked: I've rejected your submission as it should be the other way around if you think that JY Yang should be the parent author. But before that you should make J. Y. Yang (another version of the author's name) into a pseudonym of JY Yang to avoid a circular pseudonym. Thanks, Stonecreek 11:06, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

Ok, thanks, I did both!

Normally, I've straightened the whole lot. Please have a look to see if I've done things correctly. Hauck 19:03, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

Yes, this is great thank you! Amoeba of horror 19:18, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

Lackington's, Spring 2016

As the image you linked to was hosted by a site that we do not have permission to link to I had to remove it, alas. If you have another one at hand, you may want to upload it. I also moved the ISSN to the notes as this doesn't identify the publication but the magazine series as a whole. Thanks, Stonecreek 07:51, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

Strange Horizons

Hi, and welcome. I accepted your submission of the November 7 issue of Strange Horizons and made a couple of small changes to it. For including the date in the title, we use a long form. The official format is "Month Day, Year". All of the Strange Horizons issues, however, have been entered using "Day Month Year", so I followed suit and used "7 November 2016". I also added "strangehorizons.com" as the publisher, since that seems to be what we've been doing with that. After accepting it, I put it in the series and merged it into the "Strange Horizons - 2016" record to save you some follow-on edits. It should look like the other issues. See here and here. Thanks, and thank you for contributing. --MartyD 02:00, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

Joining magazines (here: Apex)

Hello! To have the issues / other titles show up in the series in this case the best way is to go to the page of Jason Sizemore, then to click on 'Show All Titles' in the Edit Tools section (left side) and to merge the appropriate titles by marking the respective boxes (and then to submit, of course). I hope that helps. Stonecreek 05:11, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

Entering reviews

Hello, I've approved your submissions for somme issues of Strange Horizons but there are usually numerous problem with the reviews that you entered: 1) please do not use author names like "--" or "N/A", if the reviewed book is not credited, just enter "uncredited" and do not try to be creative (after quite some research, I've deleted all such reviews). 2) ALL reviews must either be linked to an existing title, linked to a title that you'll have to create or transformed into ESSAYs (if you don't want to enter the title of if it's outside our scope). So please straighten the reviews in the following issues: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask here (I'll watch this page). I've also put the issues in their publication series (this allow the correct placment in the grid), standardized your titles and add some missing data. IMHO it may be better for you to concentrate on one issue after another instead of being too fast. Hauck 07:38, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Hi, sorry for causing so many problems. I will fix these, but I have a few questions. First, is there a page with policy on reviews? I didn't see this in the FAQ. In particular:

1. Are reviews of non-print media allowed? Some of these reviews for Strange Horizons are for (genre) TV shows or other media.

In fact no (we're a written fiction database at heart), this is coherent with the fact that a review must be linked to a title in the db and that other media are not allowed in the db. In a nutshell, either you consider the reviews as ESSAYs worth entering because of their own merits or you just skip them (that usually what I do except when it's an in-deep analysis).

2. What is the default policy if I am not sure whether a book reviewed in a genre publication is genre or not? E.g. the review of "The Border of Paradise" contains the sentence: "The Border of Paradise is not speculative fiction so much as gothic fiction, a grand narrative of decline and fall, of the sins of the fathers, of a family tragedy of almost preternatural dimensions." I haven't read the book myself. Should I err on the generous side and add it to the database, or make it an essay? Amoeba of horror 08:51, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

In order to avoid cluttering the db, I'm in favor of limiting inclusions. Same as above, if you deem the text worthwhile, transform it into an ESSAY like those. In this case, I would just skip the review.Hauck 09:06, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Ok, thank you. I think I will enter them as essays for this magazine because they are all fairly in depth, and to avoid confusion since Strange Horizons always publishes 3 reviews (by their definition), and otherwise entries will look incomplete to non-editing users(i.e. me two weeks ago) Amoeba of horror 09:47, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

Note that, after changing the title to match ISFDB's, the linking process is not automatic, you'll have to manually link the review (via the "Link Review to Tile" link at Review's title level). I've done this for you. Hauck 11:15, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

My 2 cents worth: If you don't want to enter non-spec reviews as essays, you could always leave a note something like "Reviews of non-speculative titles not indexed" in the Notes section. Doug / Vornoff 01:06, 15 November 2016 (UTC)

They are all reviews of speculative media, just not speculative novels or short story collections--e.g reviews of science fiction films or a number of speculative short stories not published together. The book referenced above seems to be a victim of the "is it speculative if it is slipstream by a mainstream author" debate. I wouldn't object if an editor here who has read it wants to remove it for not being speculative enough, but someone must have thought it was specfic for the review to begin with this type of comment. Amoeba of horror 05:33, 21 November 2016 (UTC)

I have added the two reviews on Naomi Foyle's works to Strange Horizons, 14 November 2016: this way they also show up on the respective titles pages, and it's quite usual to have the title of a review column entered alongside the respective reviews. Thanks for contributing! Stonecreek 05:21, 21 November 2016 (UTC)

So this is the format I should follow even though it is only one essay that discusses two novels from a series? Amoeba of horror 05:33, 21 November 2016 (UTC)

Clarkesworld

Hello, I've approved your edits for this magazine but had to make some changes: 1) we have regularized the title to Clarkesworld Magazine (not simply Clarkesworld), 2) I've put the magazine in its proper title series "Clarkesworld Magazine" (mandatory for an EDITOR record) that will also insert it into the grid, 3) I've uploaded the cover scans as we're not allowed to deeplink to the specified website. I've also merged the reprints that were already in the db. Hauck 07:27, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

I've also straighten the display by year for 2016 (there was quite a lot of work to do) and harmonized the lot. It may be better to enter the issues one by one and only later group them in one yearly title than to try to do this in one pass. Hauck 07:39, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

The Female Man

Hello, I've rejected your submission. As per your data, you're in possession (albeit temporary) of a different publication (the number line shows an 8th printing). In this case, you'll have to clone the publication (via the "Clone This Pub" link) and adjust the required data: 1) as you're going to PV the book, you can delete all the references to amazon's Look-inside; 2) the page count should be set to 214, 3) the pub date (except if you have other sources) should be set to "0000-00-00", 4) for the price, I do not give the amazon price (which is variable) and left the field blank with a line in the notes ("No price on book" or something similar) as the help evokes the "cover price" to be given in this field. Hope this helps. Hauck 11:41, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

Yes, this is helpful, thank you. Amoeba of horror 01:07, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales

Please see this :) Story lengths submitted (moderators approval pending) to your verified. Annie 23:50, 22 December 2016 (UTC)

Extra editor record

Hello, please do not add a second EDITOR record when adding a magazine like you did with 2016 Tor.com. It's may be quite complicated to straighten out afterwards. In order to group by year, simply enter the issue, then change its title (the publication data will stay the same) for one existing issue or merge it with preexisting issues. I've done this for you. Also remember to put it in a title series. Hauck 08:54, 12 January 2017 (UTC)

Ok, thank you, will do Amoeba of horror 09:02, 12 January 2017 (UTC)

Varianting List of Items in Leather Valise Found on Welby Crescent

In your submission there doesn't seem to be a difference, so I've put it on hold. Stonecreek 07:51, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

I seem to have confused myself since the title in listed differently on the Table of Contents of Shimmer 2014, as I noted in the publication notes, although it is the same on the page of the actual story in both instances. You can reject the edit. Amoeba of horror 10:43, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

Ah the confusion came from this record: 1795659, which has a slightly different title, but isn't listed as published anywhere(???) and isn't the title in the webzine of Shimmer magazine. I could have sworn this was listed as the title in Shimmer magazine when I made the variant, but I guess not. Amoeba of horror 10:46, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

And, I'm not losing touch with reality, someone else checked the magazine and fixed the magazine issue of the title. This edit was approved after I submitted the variant: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/view_submission.cgi?3296085 Amoeba of horror 10:57, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for the information input. I have merged the two titles under the longer version. Stonecreek 11:01, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016

Hello, I've approved your submission but some points are to be addresed:

• Is Forward really spelt like this (note that it may be interesting to disambiguate it)?
• No page is given for the review of When the Killing's Done and the poem.
• I've merged two items.
• I've linked some the reviews but the rest (the unlinked ones that are still in italics) will have either changed to ESSAY or the corresponding titles be entered in the db (only if they're spec-fic!) and the reviews then linked to them. Hauck 07:44, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

1. That's a typo, thanks for the catch!

2. First one is already fixed(I saw it once I hit submit). The poem has no page number, and comes before the pages with Roman numerals. She's used her own poem as an epigraph, which I thought was significant enough to include(open to persuasion otherwise)

4. Yes, she mixes reviews of genre and nongenre fiction, but as far as I can tell all of those unlinked ones are genre(mostly slipstream). I haven't read them, so if someone has read any particular one and thinks it is not genre, I have no problem with editing accordingly. I will do this, although it may take me a few days.

Also, I have to fix the original publication dates of many of these essays and put publication notes about where they were originally published(mostly the Guardian, which doesn't seem to be indexed.)

And once the whole thing is cleaned up, I'll be verifying it. Amoeba of horror 07:52, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

After some research I've changed the dangling reviews to essays (a tip: as per the present state of the db if an book in english is not already in it, it's quite surely not genre and not even likely to be borderline). Hauck 08:24, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

Ok, thank you for checking and for the tip. Amoeba of horror 05:53, 23 April 2017 (UTC)

Escape from Baghdad!

Hello, I've rejected your submission as, per amazon look inside, the cover is "Designed by Scott Arany" and we do not credit designars, only artists. I've updated the number of pages to 302. Hauck 02:18, 12 February 2018 (EST)

Ok, thank you for the correction. My library copy says "designed" as well.Amoeba of horror 01:48, 13 February 2018 (EST)

Lightspeed, Issue 119, April 2020

I accepted your addition of Lightspeed, Issue 119, April 2020, but made some changes:

• You did not provide a source for the information so I based it on Amazon. If you have the ebook, please consider primary verifying it and remove the current pub note that states the information is from Amazon.
• I added the price.
• I added the cover image from Amazon.
• I added sort to the page numbers to match the order to the ToC. If you have the ebook, please ensure the order is correct.

Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 18:04, 20 April 2020 (EDT)

I do have the ebook. I had entered the table of contents in the order in the ebook. I will check this is correct. I did plan to primary verify this, once everything is done. Thank you for adding the cover! I haven’t learned how to do that yet. Amoeba of horror 15:53, 21 April 2020 (EDT)

Lightspeed, Issue 114, November 2019

Hello, I've accepted your submission, but had to make the following changes:

• Series title is just 'Lightspeed', not 'Lightspeed - 2019'
• Changed the format from webzine to ebook
• Updated the Contents title order by prepending the piping symbol (ie do not type '1', but type '|1' - this way the page numbers will be empty, while at the same time preserving the the order of the titles as they appear in the pub)
• 'Editorial', 'Media Review' and 'Book Reviews' - these titles should be disambiguated per the standard, ie with pub title in brackets appended, for example: Editorial (Lightspeed, Issue 114, November 2019), instead of just Editorial, November 2019

Regards, MagicUnk 14:00, 31 August 2020 (EDT)

Thanks! Will follow this in future edits 15:19, 18 November 2020 (EST)