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I don't think the problem is certain authors getting out of hand. I think the mods do a good job of finding & coping with those.
The problem is random drop-ins, who notice that this is An Ebook Place, and they have recently released their new ebook for sale, so they want to post a notice about it. Sometimes, they seem to think this should inspire hundreds of readers to rush to Smashwords or Amazon to download their amazing novel; more often, they hope to get one or two sales, and maybe a bit of commentary.
And these aren't bad posts, per se, it's just troublesome to have them scattered all over the forums, cluttering up the place so it's hard to find the one-week-20%-off-at-bookstore announcements*, and the "best mystery ebooks published in the last 6 years" discussions.
I'd like a forum for "advertise your ebook HERE," which won't stop determined spammers, but should nicely collect the *polite* drop-by authors in one place. After that, when someone's looking for a new author to try out, s/he can check out that forum instead of skipping around all over Mobileread trying to remember the name of that fantasy epic involving airships that showed up a few days ago.
As ebooks grow, and as self-published ebooks get more trendy & popular, I expect we'll see a lot more first-time posters advertising their books. I'd like to give them an obvious place to do so.
If we're getting *really* ambitious, we can talk about a standard preferred format for the posts. (Title of "New Ebook: Title, at [amazon/smashwords/whatever]," content to contain link, author name, & a description.) Not that I'd expect them all to use it, or to punish the ones who don't, but some of them *will* check to see if there's a protocol, and try to follow it.
*All examples are hypothetical.
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