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Up until now, we have had one board (The Book Corner) for book discussions, and as a result this board has attracted both reader discussions and author promotional posts.
Our moderator team has decided it is time to try separating the "reader" book discussions from the author book promo posts - - and we plan to do it in a way that still gives a good audience to our authors and their works.
I know that this an issue that many of our members (including author members) feel strongly about. Thank you for bearing with me and the mods as we work through this. And thank you in advance for viewing this change for what it is: our best attempt to do what is best for the health and growth of this forum, and governed by our resolve to address this issue fairly for everyone involved.
Here's an outline of the changes that will go into place this weekend:
1 - We are creating a new board, called the Book Bazaar, at the same level as the Book Corner (i.e., directly accessible from the site's main index). The tagline for the board: "Share announcements of free and bargain books, and interact with our authors"
2 - In that new board, we have:
- a sticky for Free Books (we'll move the sticky that is now in the Book Corner)
- a sticky for Bargain Books (again moving the sticky that is now in Book Corner)
- a sticky for Authors Here at KindleBoards (this is the thread that Leslie maintains, basically an index of KindleBoards members who are authors)
- and, promo threads from authors.
The Book Bazaar is thus not just a place for author promo threads, it's also a place to find free and bargain books.
3 - The resulting board structure will look like this:
- Book Corner
- sticky: I want this book on Kindle
- sticky: Books recommended by our members
- sticky: Book lovers' links
- followed by reader discussion threads about books
- Book Bazaar - sticky: Free books May 2009
- sticky: Bargain books May 2009
- sticky: Authors here at KindleBoards
- followed by author promo threads
4 - We will apply the same guidelines (i.e. one thread per book, no gratuitous bumps, etc.) to author promotional posts as we do now. We will move or delete promotional threads and posts from other boards when people forget the above guideline. We will also move or delete posts that in our sole opinion are "sock puppet" posts - i.e. threads or posts made by an author under an assumed name or by someone else on behalf of the author. The preceding rules are here because we care about our authors, and we don't want any of them to be hurt or unfairly overshadowed by overzealous authors.
5 - We will showcase authors, by having a rotating series of blogs where we point people to specific authors/books in the new board. We're thinking that interviews with authors about themselves and their books would be a fun and interesting addition to our blog.
6 - We are thinking about having a scheduled author "tea" in the chat room. Details on that will be forthcoming, and we welcome your feedback on that idea.
7 - Naturally, authors are free to post non-promotional posts anywhere in the boards, just like any other member.
8 - Authors may have links to their books in their signatures. These appear, of course, throughout the board wherever the author posts.
Let's try this out. Thanks, everyone. With your support, these boards will continue to improve and to be the premiere online destination for anyone who owns or has an interest in Kindle.
- Your mod team
Our moderator team has decided it is time to try separating the "reader" book discussions from the author book promo posts - - and we plan to do it in a way that still gives a good audience to our authors and their works.
I know that this an issue that many of our members (including author members) feel strongly about. Thank you for bearing with me and the mods as we work through this. And thank you in advance for viewing this change for what it is: our best attempt to do what is best for the health and growth of this forum, and governed by our resolve to address this issue fairly for everyone involved.
Here's an outline of the changes that will go into place this weekend:
1 - We are creating a new board, called the Book Bazaar, at the same level as the Book Corner (i.e., directly accessible from the site's main index). The tagline for the board: "Share announcements of free and bargain books, and interact with our authors"
2 - In that new board, we have:
- a sticky for Free Books (we'll move the sticky that is now in the Book Corner)
- a sticky for Bargain Books (again moving the sticky that is now in Book Corner)
- a sticky for Authors Here at KindleBoards (this is the thread that Leslie maintains, basically an index of KindleBoards members who are authors)
- and, promo threads from authors.
The Book Bazaar is thus not just a place for author promo threads, it's also a place to find free and bargain books.
3 - The resulting board structure will look like this:
- Book Corner
- sticky: I want this book on Kindle
- sticky: Books recommended by our members
- sticky: Book lovers' links
- followed by reader discussion threads about books
- Book Bazaar - sticky: Free books May 2009
- sticky: Bargain books May 2009
- sticky: Authors here at KindleBoards
- followed by author promo threads
4 - We will apply the same guidelines (i.e. one thread per book, no gratuitous bumps, etc.) to author promotional posts as we do now. We will move or delete promotional threads and posts from other boards when people forget the above guideline. We will also move or delete posts that in our sole opinion are "sock puppet" posts - i.e. threads or posts made by an author under an assumed name or by someone else on behalf of the author. The preceding rules are here because we care about our authors, and we don't want any of them to be hurt or unfairly overshadowed by overzealous authors.
5 - We will showcase authors, by having a rotating series of blogs where we point people to specific authors/books in the new board. We're thinking that interviews with authors about themselves and their books would be a fun and interesting addition to our blog.
6 - We are thinking about having a scheduled author "tea" in the chat room. Details on that will be forthcoming, and we welcome your feedback on that idea.
7 - Naturally, authors are free to post non-promotional posts anywhere in the boards, just like any other member.
8 - Authors may have links to their books in their signatures. These appear, of course, throughout the board wherever the author posts.
Let's try this out. Thanks, everyone. With your support, these boards will continue to improve and to be the premiere online destination for anyone who owns or has an interest in Kindle.
- Your mod team
