Category tags in Deals, Freebie and Author's forums?

speedtouch · 11-02-2010, 11:22 AM

Would it be possible to add prefix tags to those two forums much like we have in the Flea Market? The Market has Buy, Sell, Trade, and Ended, which are all very helpful. What about Romance, Military, Mystery, Thriller, SciFi, Fantasy, Horror, History, etc. for the books being posted in the Deals and Author's forums?

GeoffC · 11-02-2010, 01:48 PM

Why stop with just those.

DRM'd
Geographically Restricted

Worldwalker · 11-02-2010, 03:28 PM

The problem with genre tags is what do you do with books -- more prevalent, I think, among the indie books popular here than with pigeonholed commercial books -- when you've got a book that crosses multiple genres? SF horror? Modern fantasy? Historical romance?

Genre is very much a straitjacket imposed by publishers, who want to segment their audience into handy little blocks and market accordingly, but unless an author is writing for a specific market, it doesn't actually describe books all that effectively. Think about when you were a kid ... did you read only those books that fit your "preferred" genre, or did you browse through the library and grab anything that looked cool, because nobody had told you that you "weren't supposed to" like romance, or SF, or mystery? Commercial buyers want to know a book's genre, or, rather, whether it will fit into their marketing plans for that genre, but that's an artificial distinction. And it's a distinction that a lot of indie writers find either useless or unnecessarily constraining. If we make them pick one, at best the tag is only telling part of the story, and at worst, people who have been trained to believe they "like" fantasy and "don't like" romance, for example, will skip something they might actually like.

On the other hand, tags for DRM, geographical restrictions, and reader restrictions would make a lot of sense. I won't buy DRM-locked books. Someone in Australia can't buy a US-only book. Someone with a Kindle is out of luck with the Nook store. Etc. Those tags would make life a lot easier for people who want to skip over books they can't use.

dreams · 11-03-2010, 01:02 AM

Making more information available in the thread title (or adding prefixes) is something that I have been trying to figure out how to do without having to spend a few hours everyday keeping up with some parts of it.

MobileRead is very fortunate to have some very dedicated members who generously give their time to find deals and create the posts about their ebook deals. This is very appreciated by all.

Unfortunately, I have encountered the below difficulties:

Specific genre - Worldwalker has commented on this above.

Other difficulties:

How long the "deal" will last... Someone would have to check that ebook link a couple of times a day to see when availability ends.

Which other sites are offering that same "deal", then how long that deal is offered.. Again, someone would have to check all other sites a couple of times a day for availability at which sites and follow-up with checking how long that deal is offered at each of those sites. Sometimes, another site doesn't offer the same ebook right away.

Geographic restriction- other than the original link offering, someone would have to check what is available or not to other countries, when, and how long it is offered.

DRM can be checked on viewing the file for the original offering, but needs to be checked at other sites. Someone would have to run a check on files from other sites.

Offer ended? It may be ended at one site but still available at others. Someone would have to keep checking on this to keep it updated.

As you can see, it is not an easy solution to just add a prefix, as information and deals are always changing. The original member posters have tried to give what information is known in the title between [ ] when space allows. Those members will even ask for moderator help in adding or removing information in the title, when they note changed information. They just don't have the time to check every offering daily for additions or changes.

What is fantastic about the members on MR, is that when additional information is found about an ebook, they will post to that thread for the benefit of others.

The perfect solution? I haven't come up with one yet, but would love it if someone had an idea on how to solve these difficulties.

11-02-2010, 11:22 AM	#1
speedtouch eBook Newbie Posts: 373 Karma: 1724 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD	Category tags in Deals, Freebie and Author's forums? Would it be possible to add prefix tags to those two forums much like we have in the Flea Market? The Market has Buy, Sell, Trade, and Ended, which are all very helpful. What about Romance, Military, Mystery, Thriller, SciFi, Fantasy, Horror, History, etc. for the books being posted in the Deals and Author's forums?

11-03-2010, 01:02 AM	#4
dreams It's about the umbrella Posts: 25,112 Karma: 56250158 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony 505\| K Fire \| KK 3G+Wi-Fi \| iPhone 3Gs \|Vista 32-bit Hm Prem w/FF	Making more information available in the thread title (or adding prefixes) is something that I have been trying to figure out how to do without having to spend a few hours everyday keeping up with some parts of it. MobileRead is very fortunate to have some very dedicated members who generously give their time to find deals and create the posts about their ebook deals. This is very appreciated by all. Unfortunately, I have encountered the below difficulties: Specific genre - Worldwalker has commented on this above. Other difficulties: How long the "deal" will last... Someone would have to check that ebook link a couple of times a day to see when availability ends. Which other sites are offering that same "deal", then how long that deal is offered.. Again, someone would have to check all other sites a couple of times a day for availability at which sites and follow-up with checking how long that deal is offered at each of those sites. Sometimes, another site doesn't offer the same ebook right away. Geographic restriction- other than the original link offering, someone would have to check what is available or not to other countries, when, and how long it is offered. DRM can be checked on viewing the file for the original offering, but needs to be checked at other sites. Someone would have to run a check on files from other sites. Offer ended? It may be ended at one site but still available at others. Someone would have to keep checking on this to keep it updated. As you can see, it is not an easy solution to just add a prefix, as information and deals are always changing. The original member posters have tried to give what information is known in the title between [ ] when space allows. Those members will even ask for moderator help in adding or removing information in the title, when they note changed information. They just don't have the time to check every offering daily for additions or changes. What is fantastic about the members on MR, is that when additional information is found about an ebook, they will post to that thread for the benefit of others. The perfect solution? I haven't come up with one yet, but would love it if someone had an idea on how to solve these difficulties. Last edited by dreams; 11-03-2010 at 01:55 AM.

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11-02-2010, 01:48 PM	#2
GeoffC Chocolate Grasshopper ... Posts: 27,600 Karma: 20821184 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW	Why stop with just those. DRM'd Geographically Restricted

11-02-2010, 03:28 PM	#3
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	The problem with genre tags is what do you do with books -- more prevalent, I think, among the indie books popular here than with pigeonholed commercial books -- when you've got a book that crosses multiple genres? SF horror? Modern fantasy? Historical romance? Genre is very much a straitjacket imposed by publishers, who want to segment their audience into handy little blocks and market accordingly, but unless an author is writing for a specific market, it doesn't actually describe books all that effectively. Think about when you were a kid ... did you read only those books that fit your "preferred" genre, or did you browse through the library and grab anything that looked cool, because nobody had told you that you "weren't supposed to" like romance, or SF, or mystery? Commercial buyers want to know a book's genre, or, rather, whether it will fit into their marketing plans for that genre, but that's an artificial distinction. And it's a distinction that a lot of indie writers find either useless or unnecessarily constraining. If we make them pick one, at best the tag is only telling part of the story, and at worst, people who have been trained to believe they "like" fantasy and "don't like" romance, for example, will skip something they might actually like. On the other hand, tags for DRM, geographical restrictions, and reader restrictions would make a lot of sense. I won't buy DRM-locked books. Someone in Australia can't buy a US-only book. Someone with a Kindle is out of luck with the Nook store. Etc. Those tags would make life a lot easier for people who want to skip over books they can't use.

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