User talk:Naut

Welcome!

Hello, Naut, 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! Mhhutchins 17:22, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Publication series vs. Title series

"D9E - Die neunte Expansion" is a title series, and not a publication series. I've moved it from the incorrect field of the publication record to the series field of the title record for all of the publications you've created. Here's the help page which explains the difference. For example: Meisterwerke der Science Fiction is a publication series and entered into that field of a publication record. The works have nothing in common other than being published as a series of similarly packaged books. The Forever War is a title series, because the works share the same characters, plot, and or setting, and would be a series regardless of who published them. Title series data can only be entered after the publication has been entered into the database, with the series data being entered into the title record of the publication. Thanks for contributing. Mhhutchins 17:39, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, I was confused by the way the books are packaged and did further research, and learned that the novels have nothing in common other than they're from the same publisher. I will move the series data back to the publication records. Again, sorry for the confusion. Mhhutchins 17:44, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

I think in this case it is even more complicated: "D9E - Die neunte Expansion" is actually both the series title and the publication series. This is because it is a series that shares a common background, just like the Star Trek novels, for example, and it is a publication series of its own; the books do not appear in Wurdack's regular SF-series. So, no reason for apologies here. Naut 19:33, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

If you feel this could also be considered a title series, due to their common setting, you can update their titles to create a title series. There's no problem with there being different types of series with the same name. Thanks. Mhhutchins 20:06, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

Disambiguating generic titles

Re this record: I disambiguated the foreword, per ISFDB standards. Mhhutchins 21:43, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Great, thanks! Naut 03:34, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

Tiefraumphasen

Hi, and thanks for adding this anthology! The stated ISBN has a bad checksum, that is: it's invalid as stated. Could you please check if it is really the one stated in or on the book? Thanks, Stonecreek 14:46, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

Looks like I mistyped the ISBN. The correct number is 978-3-95777-006-6 (that validates correctly at isbn.org). Sorry for that.

Hmm, the other editors seem to be missing in the record. I remember to have entered Armin Rößler and Frank Hebben, but they have disappeared in the final record. Why is that?

No idea. Never heard of a potential bug like that (maybe you didn't open new author fields - Author2, Author3 - for them?). I'll add them for you and change the ISBN. Stonecreek 07:17, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. More likely it's a bug in my browser. I'll keep that in mind for the next time.

S.F.X

Re this publication: According to the Amazon Look Inside, there doesn't seem to be a space between the last initial and the last letter in the title so I removed it. I also gave the ISBN-13 (when both ISBNs are present in a publication, enter the ISBN-13). I also added the date of publication according to Amazon.de. Thanks. Mhhutchins 18:56, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Thank you, too! Concerning the space in the print it looked like there should be one. Also, I remember the editors stated that the "X" is for 10, so it makes sense. However, it also makes sense to stick to the database content.

Concerning the ISBN I used the number printed on the book. I don't know if there is an ISBN-13 somewhere in the bopk, there probably is. Thanks again! Naut 20:37, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Re the "X": Perhaps it does refer to 10, but I can't see a space between the last period and the letter. If the space is apparent on your copy, please update the record and add it back.

Re the ISBN-13: The Look Inside of the Amazon.de listing shows both ISBNs on the copyright page. If your copy is different and doesn't have an ISBN-13 anywhere on the book, please change the record back. Thanks. Mhhutchins 21:43, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

I re-checked these points and you are correct in all aspects. The ISBN-13 isn't printed on the back-cover but is shown in the book. Naut 06:52, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Submission being held

I'm holding your submission to link the author summary page for Dirk van den Boom with a photo file which is hosted by Amazon. We have implicit permission to link to their cover images, but I'm not sure about these photos. I've inquired to see if their permission covers author photos. Thanks. Mhhutchins 01:24, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

I understand the problem here. We should keep in mind that the same issue should apply to my recent edit at the page of Nadine Boos. Naut 06:52, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

I guess the moderator who handled that submission didn't notice the URL. In most cases, the moderator has a big yellow warning sign. For Amazon, it doesn't. Mhhutchins 21:35, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Agenten der Hondh

Hello, I've approved your submission for this title but I've deleted your synopsis. As we're an english-communicating community, all paratext (synopsises included)should be in this language. Thanks. Hauck 13:10, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

Sure. I should have thought about that. Thanks! Naut 06:47, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

Spielzeit

Thanks for adding this novel by Norbert Stöbe! I wonder though about two things: 1) As far as I know the novel was first published in 1986; you may have a second or higher printing, but then this should be stated in the notes section. 2) We have the publication series as Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy. Thanks, Stonecreek 15:39, 23 October 2015 (UTC)

And one other thing: the ISBN should have only 10 digits, the 13 digit ISBN / EAN was only introduced round 2006. (And isn't any cover artist stated? Usually Heyne does that in the copyright section.) Thanks, Stonecreek 15:42, 23 October 2015 (UTC)

I have corrected that. Pub year was a typo, I should not post when in hurry... Naut 10:00, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

I have added some notes, the month of publication and a cover scan. (I also tend to make more errors when entering data in a hurry.) Stonecreek 11:58, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

That's great! Your cover scan looks way better than the image from Amazon. I think Norbert Stöbe is one of the many underestimated authors from German SF. Naut 07:52, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

Yes, he is! And I think he keeps getting better. I'm not in to ebooks right now, but his 2014 novel can become one of the reasons to change that. Stonecreek 08:05, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

I have just ordered his collected shorts "Der Durst der Stadt", and I'll add it as soon as it arrives. "Morgenröte" is also on my wish list, though I still hope for a printed edition ... Naut 08:34, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

I added und andere SF-Geschichten to the title of the collection, as it appears that way on the title page. Stonecreek 20:51, 30 October 2016 (UTC)

Thanks! Naut 08:26, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Erinnerungen einer ausserirdischen Grossmutter

Hello, I'm sorry but had to reject your submission. The reason is that we are a publication based data resource, so that we usually don't allow titles without a publication: they will get deleted in the next clean-up run, when there's no associated publication. Please add only known publications with all the data you have: publisher, catalog ID / ISBN, pub. format, pub. series, price etc. Also, additional information on the edition, the printing etc. would be highly welcome in the notes for the publication. It's best to start with publications you have at hand. Hauck 11:04, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

Actually, the edition was published. But obviously I picked the wrong method to add it.

This help states that it should be added as a variant title, that's what I did (although I wondered why there were most fields missing).

What would be the appropriate way to add a translated novel? Thanks in advance! Naut 14:51, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

The process explained for a new editor is described here. To begin with a novel use the link on the left navigation bar that says "Add New Novel" and click on it. Then follow the instructions in the link. The varianting is another phase that can be tackled later.Hauck 16:49, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

Schatten an Bord

Hello, I've approved your submission and set the format to tp (as per amazon's given size of 19,8 x 13,4 x 1,8 cm). I've also uploaded a scan. The result is here. As you own the book, can you check if everything is OK (and perhaps add a price if there's one). Thanks. Hauck 06:23, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, Hauck! I forgot to enter the format, actually these are all hc. I have changed that. Everything else looks correct. Thanks for the cover scan, I could not find a proper image at Amazon. Naut 09:21, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

I've approved your change of formant and your creation of three pseudonymistic links. In order to "finish" the task (as a pseudonym, the Hollburg page must be void), can you indicate if this book is written by all three authors, by a specific one or by an unknown one among those? Thanks. Hauck 09:53, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

"Schatten an Bord" was written by Eisele. Where can I make that change? Naut 11:47, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Step by step: 1) go there (title level of the pseudonymistic publication), 2) use the "Make This Title a Variant Title or Pseudonymous Work" link on the left, 3) use the "Option 2" part of the screen (bottom one) and replace author's name (here the pseudonym) by the "real" author (here Martin Eisele), 4) submit. After approval, the title will "disappear" from Hollburg's page (in fact it just will be hidden and be still visible via the "Show All Titles by This Pseudonym" link) and will appear in Eisele's page (with the mention "only as by Martin Hollburg"). Do you want to try? Hauck 13:06, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Okay, all done. Seems a little not-so-intuitive but with this instructions here I think I can handle the rest of the series. Thanks again! Naut 19:35, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Sternenschiff der Abenteuer

Hello, I rejected your submission for adding vol. 1 to this series, as this at a length of 126 pages most likely is only a CHAPBOOK, and I entered it as such. I'd also think that this holds for vol. 2! Can you do word count estimates for these volumes? Thanks, Christian Stonecreek

A quick estimation yields: 44*35=1540 characters per page. This would be 194040 characters for 126 pages, giving 38808 words (at an average of 5 char/word) for the entire volume.

Since a chapbook is defined to be a single publication of a SHORTSTORY (or POEM) and since 38808 word qualify the book at least as a novella (A work whose length is greater than 17,500 words and less than or equal to 40,000 words. Roughly 50 to 100 pages in a book.) I would say that it should not be a chapbook. Naut 05:27, 17 January 2018 (EST)

Also, the publication is not grouped into the series if it's entered as a chapbook, which is terrible in my view. But you know that problem. Naut 05:34, 17 January 2018 (EST)

Yes, I also regret that CHAPBOOKs can't be part of a title series (but the enclosed shotfictions can).

For your estimate: 1) A novella is a shortfiction and as such this publication is in fact a CHAPBOOK.

2) We do estimate per word count, not per characters: many (surely more than the half) publications don't reach 300 words per page, and that is even more rare with juveniles (of course one has to take into account end of chapters, illustrations, blank pages, etc.). Can you do an estimate for vol. 2? Christian Stonecreek 08:13, 17 January 2018 (EST)

Counting the words of the first page I get an estimate of 51,120 words for "Schatten an Bord". This makes it more inconsistent since now vol2 would count as a novel but not vol1. This goes on for the rest of the series: "Der Sonnenfresser" and "Die Tiger von Vaultron" have more than 140 pages, while "Das Kristallhirn" and "Die eisige Welt" are below 130. In my opinion it would not be nice to Count half of the series as chapbooks and the other half as novels. Naut 08:25, 17 January 2018 (EST)

Counting again, it might be more around 39,000 words. Maybe the entire series is below novel count. Naut 08:31, 17 January 2018 (EST)

That's quite usual for juvenile books of this length (page count). Shall I transform the other volume to a CHAPBOOK? Christian Stonecreek 08:38, 17 January 2018 (EST)

I would prefer to keep the series info with the books, i.e., keep it as a novel. But I don't have a choice, do I? (In case I'll enter more titles I will declare them as chapbboks.) Naut 09:37, 17 January 2018 (EST)

Sorry, but no, there's no choice. It can come hard on everyone: here is one that I thought a long time as of a novel. I'll make the adjustments. Christian Stonecreek 09:47, 17 January 2018 (EST)

Fool on the hill

I accepted your addition of Fool on the Hill. Since this is a reprint of an edition already in the database, it would have been better to clone the original version (using the "Clone This Pub" option). This would have simplified your data entry as well as avoiding having to merge the records together. Also, as you didn't specify the format, I set it to pb like the original. If this is not correct, please update. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 21:16, 22 January 2018 (EST)

The Format is 19x12 cm, so I think it should be "tp". I have corrected that and uploaded a cover scan. Also, I suspect that this issue applies to at least some of the previous editions, but I cannot check this since I do not own them. Thanks for your help. Naut 04:23, 31 January 2018 (EST)

Hi, I approved your change to "Fool on the Hill". Please note that changing a title record (which you did) is often not sufficient and may require similar changes to the publication record(s) which contain the title. This is the case here, because otherwise the publication records would all stay as "Fool on the hill". I just did the changes for all these publication records, which also include your primary verified copy. I also

• removed the space in the price (see Help:Screen:NewPub#Price)
• changed "20th edition" to "20th printing"

in your publication record.

Jens Hitspacebar 07:24, 31 January 2018 (EST)

Great work, thanks for that. Just for clarification: I entered the correct title in my original record, but this was removed/reverted to the false title when the record was merged with the publication. Naut 08:47, 31 January 2018 (EST)

Ah, I see. Thanks. Jens Hitspacebar 09:00, 31 January 2018 (EST)

Der Drachengott

Hello, I've put your submission hold. Just to be sure, you gave one of the author as Rosemary Timperly, can you check if it's not this author that has one story in Armada 3? (Back to Earth being very likely translated as Zurück zur Erde). Note also that the content of this publication may help you. Thanks. Hauck 08:25, 8 February 2018 (EST)

Sure, that's the right author. Why hasn't the system detected that? I can't see my typo. (Or am I just too blind?) Naut 09:19, 8 February 2018 (EST)

Ah, okay. The "e" is missing. Sometimes it's just... Naut 09:20, 8 February 2018 (EST)

Aproved and corrected. Hauck 09:43, 8 February 2018 (EST)

Great, thanks! Naut 09:44, 8 February 2018 (EST)

Just a note of correction(s): DM prices should be entered in the format DM X.XX (with a space; whereas Euro prices are in fact entered as €X.XX). Could you please change your recently verified publications accordingly when updating? Christian Stonecreek 13:41, 8 February 2018 (EST)

Die Jenseitsapotheke

Thanks for adding this anthology, I just changed the publisher to the short EDFC, which is the canonical form we had already established (similar to SFCD). Christian Stonecreek 04:32, 9 February 2018 (EST)

Thanks! I have four more of these anthologies, I will keep this in mind when adding them. Naut 05:52, 9 February 2018 (EST)

Zwischenfall in Luna City

Hi. I made a few changes and finalizations regarding the Zwischenfall in Luna City anthology, which you verified recently:

• Changed the author of "Die Pflicht" from "Edward E. Ludwig" to "Edward W. Ludwig"
• Varianted the German titles to their English record to make them a "translation" of the English title (if you don't know why this has to be done see Help:How_to_enter_translations)
• Set the story lengths of the titles to novelette and short story (based on the value of the record for the English title, which have to be set redundantly on the record of the translation)
• Added the translator to each of the titles (see the respective title record)

The publication record of "Zwischenfall in Luna City" itself is unchanged, but you may want to check if the translators I entered are correct (I took them from chpr.at). Jens Hitspacebar 13:42, 19 February 2018 (EST)

Thanks, Jens. I checked the translators and they are all correct. I forgot about the variants - I have done this several times before, but this time somehow got over it. Thanks again for this. Naut 02:52, 20 February 2018 (EST)

Kinder des Nebels

Hi, I did an update for this: removing the now spurious 'Data from DNB ...' and bringing the date of publication into sync with the stated one, the official month of publication'. Christian Stonecreek 05:23, 12 March 2018 (EDT)

Good idea. Anything else I could add? Naut 03:23, 13 March 2018 (EDT)

Your verified publication of Das Parfum

Hello! To determine if we own by any chance the same printing of this Süskind novel: could you check the copyright page for the code stated there? It should be in the form typical for Diogenes. Thanks, Christian Stonecreek 10:58, 16 April 2018 (EDT)

Mine reads 500/92/24/28. (Sorry for the late reply, have been away for a few days.) Naut 01:27, 22 April 2018 (EDT)

Douglas Coupland novels

Hello! I had to fumble with "Generation X", which can't be the publication from 1995 (other price). Also, I've put your submission for "Life After God" on hold. What are the publisher's statements regarding edition, printing rank & date of publication for this one? Stonecreek 03:55, 9 May 2018 (EDT)

You are right about "Generation X". However, the cover image is identical, so it must be a later printing. There is a sequence of numbers printed in the book: "13 15 17 19 20 18 16 14 12". Does that indicate the 9th printing?

Regarding "Life After God": The only statement in the book is "Genehmigte Taschenbuchausgabe 4/97". The numbers sequence is "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2". Nothing else, Goldmann is really not that informative when it comes to publication dates and editions. Naut 04:27, 9 May 2018 (EDT)

They were so from the end of the 1970s ut to the beginning / middle of the 1990s, then they dropped it again.

Regarding the printing of "Generation X": I guess this would mean the 12th printing? Stonecreek 10:10, 9 May 2018 (EDT)

I would have guessed it means "9th printing, 12000 prints", but I could be wrong. Naut 11:17, 9 May 2018 (EDT)

Usually the print run is not coded in this way, the no. line is only for showing the printing rank, using the lowest number. I'll add a note. Christian Stonecreek 11:34, 9 May 2018 (EDT)

Great, thanks! Naut 11:39, 9 May 2018 (EDT)

Das vielfarbene Land

Hello,

A few small changes had to be made to your newly added.

• You set the language to English which was obviously a technical mistake. I set it to German both for the novel and for the coverart
• When adding a translator to a title, can you please use the template: {{Tr|name}} which will produce "Translated by name". This is done in preparation for building a translators system one day. I changed it in this one. Thanks in advance.

Annie 02:12, 26 May 2018 (EDT)

Hey Annie! I saw the language mistake after submitting. Too bad, there is no intermediate step for correcting - this kind of errors happen quite often, especially for the language and format options. Thanks for pointing out the translation tag, that one was new to me. Naut 04:39, 26 May 2018 (EDT)

Actually, you can try the "Back" button in your browser and depending on the browser, you may have the full submission back again. Then fix, resubmit and cancel the wrongly submitted one. Does not work very well for me if I am adding a lot of titles (my browser hides them when I go back) but for smaller ones, it sometimes helps :) So try that some time - even if you do not make a mistake - just to see if it will work for you :) Annie 04:55, 26 May 2018 (EDT)

For the Tr - figured - thus me mentioning it :) Annie 04:55, 26 May 2018 (EDT)

Actually I have tried the back button thing (this week, just after the db was offline). The result was a multiple submission, each time you press "submit" a new ticket number is generated. Naut 11:23, 26 May 2018 (EDT)

Thus the cancelling part of my explanation. Yes - it will add a new submission but you can cancel the old one. Annie 12:59, 26 May 2018 (EDT)

PS: The template does not require any equal signs - so it is just {{Tr|Rosemarie Hundertmarck}}. You can always click on edit on the title I fixed to see it. :) Annie 01:27, 27 May 2018 (EDT)