SEARCH:

 Will sets out to help Takoda and his tribe preserve some of their identity... and ends up finding his own. More...

 

People confound young, brilliant, college professor Brendon, including his boss. So when Josh, the assistant football coach, pursues him, Brendon isn’t sure what to make of him. More...

Quickstart -- up and running in twenty minutes!

BOOKSTORE | AUTHOR PAGES | FORUMS | HELP! | contact | privacy 

 

HOW DO I...

• Register

Click on the "Register" link at the very top of the page, and supply a valid email address. It's that simple! Within 24 hours, you'll receive an email from us, containing a link. Click on this, and you'll find yourself on your own, ready-made "graffiti wall." This page comes pre-loaded with instructions, tips and tricks -- how to do, and find, everything. Print out the page and then delete the pre-ploaded material. The page is yours to do with as you like.

• Why can't I register myself and then just log in immediately and begin?

Some potental members assume the "approval" step in the registration process might mean we "research" people and decide who can be a member, and who can't. Not so! The two-step registration process is a safeguard against someone (a gay-basher) who could otherwise self-register, go around and delete everyone's pages and ... vanish. They could use a bogus email address and we'd never even know who it was. If some twerp were to do this in the middle of the night, Aussie time, no one here would be awake to see what was happening. We'd wake up the next morning and discover a blank wiki ... yes, it can all be reset, but you're looking a long, hard day's work, plus a shed-load of, uh, ag.  

The two-step reggo process makes it at least a little bit harder for someone to do this to us. That's all it's about, guys -- it's nothing to do with being "approved" as if you were applying for a credit card! (If you have friends who've been uncertain about joining us on account of this, tell them to relax and enjoy.) Theoretically, ratbags who would like to hurt a community like this will be put off by not being able to strike for a few hours ... and they might also think, "Someone could be watching." All of which will slow down the idiots who would take a delight in vandalizm.

The other benefit of having the two-step reggo process is that it gives us the opportunity to make your homepage on the wiki, and send you the link to it in an email. For people who have never blogged, much less wikied, having a ready-made page pre-loaded with instructions is a definite plus.

Our apologies, if anyone is discouraged ... don't be! And please do drop us an email if you have a better idea to baffle vandals.

• Make a new page

As soon as registered members LOG IN, you will see a floating "toolbar" on the right of the screen. There are linkes for NEW and EDIT in the toolbar. A click on NEW creates a blank page which is waiting to be named. Type in a PAGE NAME ... no spaces! This is like a "filename." You could call it MyBook1, or MyBook2, or something that synopsizes the title of the book. Automatically, the page will be made, named, and the "editor" automatically opens. From there, it's exatly like blogging with Blogger, Wordpress, or the others.

 

If you've never blogged and are utterly confused, bamboozled, and in a flat spin -- START HERE!!! If there were a "Complete Dummy's Guide to GLBT Bookshelf," this would be it. How to make a page, name a page, get the URL of a picture you want to display -- it's all here, with screen shots.

 

Make a page for each of your books; make a Master Page for a series, to which all the volumes are linked. Have a page for a gallery of your covers. Have a "library" page from which readers can access all the articles, sample chapters and reviews you've contributed to the wikki. "Go to town," as the saying goes. One general rule: notice the special requirements regarding not uploading files directly to the wiki. Be sure to embed them from Fickr, PhotoBucket, Picassa, Box, YouTube and so forth. The reason for this is storage space issues. The Bookshelf can remain free so long as we don't blow out our storage and get bills for server space. To do this, we're asking that everything be embedded, not uploaded. Scroll down for more info, and ... thank you for your cooperation!

• Edit an exiting page

Open the page from the Menu (gray area at left), or from a link to it, or from the Page Index (at the top of your screen). If you're logged in, your toolbar will be showing on every page you can edit. (Remember -- don't mess with other people's pages! This is a wiki, but -- you don't want other folks messing with your pages, so please return the courtesy. Create, edit, maintain and promote your own pages.) When you're done making changes, click SAVE AND CLOSE to republish the page. Your editing changes all appear.

• Link to an exiting page

Making a link is simple. There's only one rule: the page you're linking to has to actually exist before you can link to it! So -- if it's a new page you want to linkto your Graffiti Wall, or any of your own pages, or to the communal pages like Authors A-Z, Titles A-Z, Reviws ans so on ...  create the page first. Having made the page, here's how you make the link:

Open the page you intend to link FROM in your editor. Type in some text which will become the link. Highlight it, and click on the "make link" icon. The LINK LIST appears ... scroll down till you locate the page you want to link TO. Select this, and click INSERT. You're done!

Note: When any new page is finished and saved, it automatically appears in the menu (the gray area) at the left of the screen ... but it obviously can't stay there! To keep this menu under control, all new pages can't sit on the menu. We'd soon have a meu with 2000 items on it, and no one would find anything. So, when you've made a new page...

• 1) Open your personal "graffiti wall page" or any of your pages that you want to link FROM;
• 2) Type some text which will become the link to your new page;
• 3) Highlight the text and click on the "make link" incon.
• 4) A LINK LIST appears. Scroll down, find the page you just created, and select this. Click INSERT.
• 5) Save and Close. You're done! (An Administrator will be along later, will delete the page from the menu, and index it elsewhere, where it belongs.)

Actually, there are two golden rules, and here's the second one: When you make a link point to someplace OFF this site, make sure it opens in a new window. This is easy to do. When you see the LINK LIST, look about halfway down the dialog box. You'll see a field called TARGET. You get a list of options to set how the new page opens. Select OPEN IN NEW WINDOW (_blank), and you're done. What this does is leave the Bookshelf open, and launch your new page in another window ... which leaves the user on the site, rather than kidnapping them!

It's a very simple process. One run-through, and you'll have it down pat.

 

• Create a redirect page, without "doing a naked hijack"

What in the world is a naked hijack?! One imagines four or five athletic young terrorists with strategically placed machine pistols, racing around a 747...! In fact, a "naked hikack" is a more or less blank page with a redirect added. The page essentially "hijacks" the visitor to an external website, and closes the Bookshelf behind it. Nobody minds you linking out to an external page -- please do! But please don't do it with a redirect pasted to a blank page! This isn't fair to the many other contributors who've worked long and hard to make this into a wiki, not a "link farm." If you want to link out, at least add some content here (however slight), and then use a proper link, with the correct targeting code to make your outbound link open in a new window (see above). This leaves the Bookshelf open behind you. The only outbhound link we have a problem with is a "naked hijack," which added no value to the wiki, and made off with the user! Thanks in advance for your cooperation!

The simple redirect page also has numerous problems. The page you just made contains transparent code which means that it will automatically redirect to your own website upon loading. This is quite okay, but if you have haven't linked this page to anything tangible, it's going to be invisible -- there's no way for visitors to click *into* your redirect page, and from there to your external site. Here's more on this topic...

• Get myself onto the Authors A-Z index page

The Authors A-Z page is a "master index" page which, unfortunately, only Admin can edit. (The reason for this is, alas, quite a number of new members were linking to wiki pages where the complete contents was a line saying, "Here's the link to my website." A couple even made their listing in the A-Z wiki contents link directly to their websites and shopping carts ...! This contributed nothing to the wiki (in fact, at one point we were well on the way to turning into a "link farm," which Google despises with a passion), and in the interests of all we made the -- tough -- decision to make the Authors master index an "admin only" page. As soon as your pages "go live," drop us an email and we'll be delighted to have you on the main index, inside 24 hours!

• Add my book to the Titles A-Z index page

On the menu to your left, click the link to open the page. If you're logged in, you'll see your toolbar: click EDIT. The page opens in an editing window. Type your novel into the list! If your novel is called "THE [something]" don't list it under "T" ... use the format of, SWORDSMAN, THE or DECEIVERS, THE -- and so on. Then, highlight the title you just added and click on the "make link" icon. From the Link List which appears, select the page with your book's title as its file name and click INSERT. Done!

• Post an image

The only thing we ask you NOT do do is to upload images direct to the Bookshelf. This is due to storage space issues. The Bookshelf can be a free service -- so long as we don't have to start paying for more storage! So -- embed your pictures here using links provided by Flickr.com,  Picasaweb.com, PhotoBucket.com, and others. Most bloggers and web users know exactly how to do this, but if you're new, without much of a clue, click here and we'll walk you through all three. They're FREE accounts. You pay nothing -- and if members use these services, the Bookshelf can also continue to be free! Thanks for your cooperation. Here's some hep if you need to embed items from ... Flicker.com ... and ... Photobucket.com ... and Picasaweb.com ... and YouTube.com

• Post sample chapters of my books

It's the same story as with images: the only thing we ask you NOT to do is upload direct to the Bookshelf ... because we'll very soon run out of storage space, and we'll have to hit up members for fees. This doesn't have to happen. You can embed files (PDFs, RFT, whatever) as easily as youo can embed images -- using a FREE account with a service like Box.net. Open an account, log on, use the world's simplest upload interface, copy the "embed" code to your clipboard ... return to the page at the Bookshelf where you want to offer yor free chapters ... paste in the link. You're done -- without using up members' storage space, and without spending a dime! 

• Post a video

Same story as with images and documents! Upload them to YouTube, get the code from the YouTube page and embed the video here. See above to learn why we ask you not to just upload directly to the wiki. Here's how to embed a YouTube video!

• Include my "buy now" buttons and links

If your books are available at Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, Diesel Ebooks, Payloadz -- wherever! -- you ought to have affiliate accounts with these retailers. Set up an affiliate account, if you don't already have one. Diesel Ebooks will want to see your website, or what pages you're selling from, so make sure you have some really good pages set up here at the Bookshelf, and when you fill in the Diesel form, when they ask for the URL of your site/page, go ahead and give them your pages right here. After this, it's a question of logging in and clicking the button for "get code," or "generate code," or "link to this," and following the company's instructions. Each is slightly different, but they're all very, very similar ... and dead easy. 

 

CAN I...

• Comment on posts

Yes. All registered members can comment, and post. No flaming, please! Try and stay on topic. There are blogs and pages all over the web where you can ramble off at a tangent, while this site is intended for writers, artists, publishers, booksellers...!

• Post to your forums

Yes. All registered users can post. If you'd like a new forum, leave a commen on the Forums page, and we'll open one!

• Blog here

Yes ... and no. You can post whatever you like -- in other words, blog! -- on your personal graffiti wall. But it doesn't have the blogging "functionality" of something like Blogger. Remember, GLBT Bookshelf is a wiki, not a blogging engine.

• Review books here

Please do! Create a page called BookTitleReview (for instance, DangerousMoonlighReview. Add "review" to the book title, to make sure the page isn't confused with another similar page. If there's already a review of this book online, call your page BookTitleReviw2, or 3, and so on. Notice, use no spaces: you're setting the file name here. You can title the page anything at all, once you get it named and created). See above, "Make a new page" for instructions on how to create a page. Enter or paste in whatever text you like. Embed a picture with a link provided by Picassa or PhotoBucket or Flickr (see above). Click "save and close" to finish the page. (You can reopen it and edit to your heart's content later.) Then, link the review into the Reviews page:

Open the Review page from the menu (gray area to the left). Add your title to the alphabetical list. Highlight the title you just typed in and click the "make link" icon. A "link list" appears -- scroll down to your new page and select it. Click INSERT, and then Save and Close to finish. Done!

• Sell my books here

Please do! Create a promotional page for your book(s), using images embedded from PhotoBucket or Flickr etc. (see above), and paste your afiliate code or links right in. Learn more about selling your books as an affiliate bookseller..

DO YOU...

• Make pages for me

Sorry -- no. GLBT Bookshelf is a Wiki. It's easy to use, and if all members simply abide by the rules (TOS), it'll be clockwork. If you can blog with Blogger or Wordpress or Live Journal, you can make pages here. Try it ... sheer simplicity. See "Make a new page," above, and for the "Rules" -- see below. In fact, there are only four 

• Promote my books

Infact -- yes! The whole Community will be promoting your books, because you'll be promoting the Community -- this is the gist of how the collective ought to work. Everyone promotes the whole ... everyone benefits. On the other hand, no, the Bookshelf won't be specifically promoting your books, or anyone's books, specifically! The object is for everyone, (from Mel Keegan on down!) to bring readers here and then "show 'em your best stuff.'

• Sell my books for me

Yes and no. Yes: the pages and resources for promoting your books will be here, but when your customer reaches the "buy now" point, s/he will be clicking on a button or link provided by Amazon, B&N, Diesel Ebooks, Payloadz, Smashwords, Mobipocket -- or wherever your books are stocked. You'll sell your own books on these pages, using resources available from, and to, the Community.

• Publish books

No, we don't publish. However, having said that, you'll be rubbing shoulders with writers who have found publishers and/or decided to "fly solo." Everything you need to know, to make the decision about whether to hunt for a contract or publish yourself, should be available via these pages, or easily linked-to.

• Guarantee sales

No one can guarantee sales. The whole Community will be working to get readers in here, and after that what you have is a crowd of potential customers browsing through a gay bookstore. They'll buy what tickles their fancy, at a price that attracts them.

• Have a physical bookstore

No. The bookstore is completely internet driven, with books shipped (and sometimes even manufactured) by such third party companies as Barnes & Noble, Lulu, CreateSpace, Lightning Source, Smashwords, Payloadz, Mobipocket, and many more. All transactions are electronic, all "hard" goods are delivered. 

• Offer editorial services

No. Having said that -- if writers would like a forum, or series of forums, about writing and editing, let's do it! There's no better way to learn than to pick the brains of professionals!

 

The Rules: what you can't do here:

No spam, please! That includes flyers for things and services that aren't books, audio books, or book-related. (For instance, we don't want "squeeze pages" for the latest get-rich-quick scheme posted here.) "Spam" also means, no outbound links without relevant, meaningful content contribution. (Example: a tiny comment saying, "Nice post," and a link to another site. This could categorize as spam.)

No flame wars, please! You can butcher each other anywhere on the web, there's no need to do it here. Flame wars will get whacked with an extinguisher at the first sign of smoke and/or fire.

No dynamiting the hub pages, please! What in the name of Jove is Keegan on about now?! Simple: the contents pages (or index pages) are the hubs around which the whole wiki revolves. It's a database taking the form of a list of lists of lists ... dead easy to navigate, to add things into, and to be found in. However, the whole point of a "contents list" is that it lists contents, right? So, please: no outbound links in the hub pages, and that includes affiliate code which links direct to a shopping cart ir checkout pag. Hub pages are intended to point visitors "inwards," so that they browse and stumble over new writers, new books. Want to make an outbound link? Make a page for your title, link to it from the Book Category (hub) page, and put the outbound link onto your own page. Here's a lot more on this topic, including why we're trying desperately NOT to turn into a "link farm." (Short version: if we become a glorified links page, Google will zero out our page ranking, and the wiki will vanish off the face of the internet! Read more... )

No freeloading, please! By uploading to this site, you agree that you've joined the Community. When we all put up a $1 or $2 contribution to float an advertising campaign to send several boat-loads of visitors to these pages, you're expected to throw your loose change in the hat as it comes around to you! Remember, visitors (possibly numbering in six figures, if we put the advertising buck into just the right ads, in just the right places!) will be seeing your books here, as well as everyone else's. It's up to the customer to decide what to buy, but everyone in the Community is responsible for their share of the visitor traffic. It's only a buck or two, so -- when the hat comes 'round, let's see your loose change!

No "naked hijacks," please! What in the world is a naked hijack? The imagery...! In fact, a "naked hikack" is a more or less blank page with a redirect added. The page essentially "hijacks" the visitor to an external website, and closes the Bookshelf behind it. Nobody minds you linking out to an external page -- please do! But please don't do it with a redirect pasted to a blank page! This isn't fair to the many other contributors who've worked long and hard to make this into a wiki, not a "link farm." If you want to link out, at least add some content here (however slight), and then use a proper link, with the correct targeting code to make your outbound link open in a new window. This leaves the Bookshelf open behind you. The only outbhound link we have a problem with is a "naked hijack," which added no value to the wiki, and made off with the user! Thanks in advance for your cooperation! Click here for more on this...

No editorial buccaneering, please! This means, make, edit and maintain your own pages ... leave other people's pages alone. This is a Wiki. You could -- if you were a real SOB -- get in there and make a mess of other users' pages. Please don't -- because a) this is a rotten thing to do, and b) you'll get caught at once. We have logs of who did what, to which page. We know exactly who edited what they shouldn't have, and when! We also have prior versions which can be reinstated at a click. And transgressors will be delisted with another click. In other words, do the decent thing here: edit to your heart's content -- on your own pages. Leave other users' pages alone. Thanks!

No direct uploading, please! Always embed your images, documents and videos, using links generated by such services as Fickr, YouTube and Box. This is due to storage space issues. The Bookshelf can be a free service -- so long as we don't have to start paying for more storage! So -- embed your pictures here using links provided by Flickr.com,  Picassa.com, PhotoBucket.com, and others. Most bloggers and web users know exactly how to do this, but if you're new, without much of a clue, click here and we'll walk you through all three. They're FREE accounts. You pay nothing -- and if members use these services, the Bookshelf can also continue to be free! Thanks for your cooperation.

For more information see the Terms of Service.

 

Did we miss something?

Add a comment right here, tell us what you think ought to be here, and we'll get right to it!

 

 

 KEYWORDS: gay book, gay bookstore, gay fiction, gay literature, gay writers, gay book reviews, m/m, manlove, gay romance