The Sword and Tome was created to provide a virtual space for discussions of Fantasy fiction with people who share our interests. Members have a variety of perspectives & backgrounds, from authors to pure enthusiasts. Authors are welcome in S&T, and we support authors in many ways, but the group is primarily geared towards readers. Authors should join and participate in the group as a reader first.
We will work hard to ensure that S&T offers a discussion and book-focused experience for our members. Moderators love the group, but we are volunteers, so response time in some threads can vary, depending on our schedules. Any pressing group issues that need addressing can be raised in the Group Related Comments, Questions or Suggestions? thread, or send a private message.
What Are Our Rules? 1) KEEP IT CIVIL. Disagreements and differences of opinion are fine and welcome, as long as they do not descend to personal attacks. All viewpoints are welcome, but no matter how strongly felt our disagreement may be, with either idea or person, it must be expressed with basic respect for the group, and for other participants. All the common-sense limitations apply: no name-calling, and no hate speech that singles out racial, religious, ethnic, sexual/gender, sexual orientation, or political groups, no insults.
2) MARK ALL SPOILERS. Please mark all spoilers in any discussion topic or post. If you are unsure whether the detail is a spoiler, err on the side of caution and post a warning.
To hide a spoiler using HTML: [spoiler] place text here [/spoiler] Replace [ ] with < >
3) DO NOT MANIPULATE NOMINATIONS OR POLLS. It is not acceptable to create fake accounts to nominate books or vote in polls. It is not acceptable to invite people to the site and/or HF for the sole purpose of nominating a book or voting for a book in a poll. It is not acceptable to ask for votes or influence the poll in any way, EXCEPT discussion in the nomination thread/poll comments. If we feel that a group read poll has been manipulated, the book in question will be disqualified, and the user(s) may be removed from the group. If we feel that the user(s) are fake accounts, these will also be reported to Goodreads for further review.
To aid in preventing poll manipulation, the group will be made private for the duration of the poll, to ensure that only current group members are able to vote. After the poll ends, the group will be made public again.
4) ADVERTISING In an effort to make these rules as clear as possible, we consider all of the following to be advertising (allowed when following the guidelines below): • Mentioning one’s books by title • Linking to one’s books, either here on Goodreads, or on other sites, either via text or image • Linking to one’s website, including blogs • Advertising for Goodreads or Blog hosted giveaways, promotions, free books, or sales -- MUST BE FANTASY GENRE
Advertising and/or Self-promotion is allowed ONLY when the following circumstances are met: - You are an active and participating member in the group. This means that you participate in group discussions or challenges, and have made posts in the group, not including advertising or self-promotion posts.
5) REVIEWING Review groups will be limited to THREE PERSONS ONLY so create your topics accordingly. There should be NO OVERLAP/TRADING/SWAPPING directly as this violates reviewing policies and is unethical. Be responsible!
The following will be considered spam (NOT allowed at any time): • Author marketing discussions, including tips & tricks • Author stats (anything from Amazon sales rank to NYT Bestseller List placement) etc • Using any banners or signatures • Phishing or other generally recognized spam (Any user caught phishing etc will be deleted and blocked immediately.) • Linking or embedding videos pertaining to one's books, including in the videos section of the group.
With three exceptions (below), ALL advertising or promotion must be posted in the "Advertising and Promotions" folder, in one of the three available threads. Choose the one that is closest to the purpose of your post: • Contests & Giveaways - Advertise blog contests or GR giveaways • Deals & Discounts - Amazon discounts, reduced rate e-books, discount codes, sales, etc. • News & Upcoming Releases - Advertise when we can expect a new book release or other news, etc.
Exceptions: 1. An initial introductory comment (for new members only) stating that you are an author or blogger, etc, is allowed.
2. If your book is specifically relevant to a member request for recommendations or a group read nomination round, you may recommend/nominate it. Otherwise, recommending your book will be considered spam and the post will be deleted. By "specifically relevant" we mean that your book must share characteristics that the asker is looking for, IN ADDITION to genre or sub-genre .
3. Discussions mentioning your own books in the Author Zone folder will not be deleted as a general rule, unless the thread or post contains spam that we do not permit in the group - see below.
How To Tell How Many Comments You've Made in The Group: 1) Find yourself in the member list (located in the menu at the top right of the group homepage). You will see how many comments you've made, which is also a link that will take you to your group comment history. 2) Find a comment you've posted in a thread in the group, and hover your mouse over your picture. You will see a popups with a link to your comment history in the group.
Authors in the Group Authors in the group have a folder for their use, the Goodreads Author Zone. This was previously the only "approved" place for authors to advertise, but we are changing the focus of this folder in order to allow a place for authors to discuss their work, writing, research, etc.
This folder is available for any topic of discussion, EXCEPT marketing, how to improve sales, or author stats, etc. This folder should not be used for requesting reviews, or for review swapping.
When and How Do I Start a New Discussion Thread? We welcome any discussion topic that is relevant to Historical or Period Fiction.
First, search for the topic to determine whether a similar thread already exists. There are two ways to search: 1 - Use the search function on the homepage to search for the term entered in any thread in the group. Narrow down your results on the results page by toggling between searching all posts or searching only thread topics. 2- Click on the Folder Names on the group homepage to see additional topics. Only the first 5 topics in a folder will show, so older threads may be hidden.
• If you cannot find a thread devoted to the topic of interest to you, then create a new one, either by clicking on the "new" link, at the top right of the Discussion Board section, on the group homepage, or on the new topic link, at the top right of any given folder's page (accessible by clicking on the folder name)
• Give your new topic a name - something that will indicate to other group members, at a glance, what it contains - and assign it to the appropriate folder, using the folder descriptions above. Use the "This topic is about" feature if your thread is addressing a specific title or author.
• Post your comment!
Remember that a new discussion thread is only needed if one does not already exist. Also, please be aware that threads that are placed in the wrong folder - in one of the book-club folders, for instance - will be moved by moderators.
How Do Polls Work? Polls are used to determine the Group Read selection for the group, as well as any miscellaneous group business as needed. When moderators create a poll, we will send out a broadcast message to group members via private message. It is then up to you to vote within the polling period. You can change your vote at any time during the poll by clicking the "Change your vote" link.
Only one poll displays on the group homepage at a time, so if there is more than one poll running, and you are trying to find the others, you will need to click on the Polls link, at the top right of the group homepage. Please be aware that polls are used for official group business only, and should only be set up by group moderators.
Again, if you have any questions that are not answered here, you can post them in the Group Related Comments, Questions or Suggestions? thread, or send them to any mod via private message.
The Sword and Tome was created to provide a virtual space for discussions of Fantasy fiction with people who share our interests. Members have a variety of perspectives & backgrounds, from authors to pure enthusiasts. Authors are welcome in S&T, and we support authors in many ways, but the group is primarily geared towards readers. Authors should join and participate in the group as a reader first.
We will work hard to ensure that S&T offers a discussion and book-focused experience for our members. Moderators love the group, but we are volunteers, so response time in some threads can vary, depending on our schedules. Any pressing group issues that need addressing can be raised in the Group Related Comments, Questions or Suggestions? thread, or send a private message.
What Are Our Rules?
1) KEEP IT CIVIL.
Disagreements and differences of opinion are fine and welcome, as long as they do not descend to personal attacks. All viewpoints are welcome, but no matter how strongly felt our disagreement may be, with either idea or person, it must be expressed with basic respect for the group, and for other participants. All the common-sense limitations apply: no name-calling, and no hate speech that singles out racial, religious, ethnic, sexual/gender, sexual orientation, or political groups, no insults.
2) MARK ALL SPOILERS.
Please mark all spoilers in any discussion topic or post. If you are unsure whether the detail is a spoiler, err on the side of caution and post a warning.
To hide a spoiler using HTML:
[spoiler] place text here [/spoiler]
Replace [ ] with < >
3) DO NOT MANIPULATE NOMINATIONS OR POLLS.
It is not acceptable to create fake accounts to nominate books or vote in polls. It is not acceptable to invite people to the site and/or HF for the sole purpose of nominating a book or voting for a book in a poll. It is not acceptable to ask for votes or influence the poll in any way, EXCEPT discussion in the nomination thread/poll comments. If we feel that a group read poll has been manipulated, the book in question will be disqualified, and the user(s) may be removed from the group. If we feel that the user(s) are fake accounts, these will also be reported to Goodreads for further review.
To aid in preventing poll manipulation, the group will be made private for the duration of the poll, to ensure that only current group members are able to vote. After the poll ends, the group will be made public again.
4) ADVERTISING
In an effort to make these rules as clear as possible, we consider all of the following to be advertising (allowed when following the guidelines below):
• Mentioning one’s books by title
• Linking to one’s books, either here on Goodreads, or on other sites, either via text or image
• Linking to one’s website, including blogs
• Advertising for Goodreads or Blog hosted giveaways, promotions, free books, or sales -- MUST BE FANTASY GENRE
Advertising and/or Self-promotion is allowed ONLY when the following circumstances are met:
- You are an active and participating member in the group. This means that you participate in group discussions or challenges, and have made posts in the group, not including advertising or self-promotion posts.
5) REVIEWING
Review groups will be limited to THREE PERSONS ONLY so create your topics accordingly. There should be NO OVERLAP/TRADING/SWAPPING directly as this violates reviewing policies and is unethical. Be responsible!
The following will be considered spam (NOT allowed at any time):
• Author marketing discussions, including tips & tricks
• Author stats (anything from Amazon sales rank to NYT Bestseller List placement) etc
• Using any banners or signatures
• Phishing or other generally recognized spam (Any user caught phishing etc will be deleted and blocked immediately.)
• Linking or embedding videos pertaining to one's books, including in the videos section of the group.
With three exceptions (below), ALL advertising or promotion must be posted in the "Advertising and Promotions" folder, in one of the three available threads. Choose the one that is closest to the purpose of your post:
• Contests & Giveaways - Advertise blog contests or GR giveaways
• Deals & Discounts - Amazon discounts, reduced rate e-books, discount codes, sales, etc.
• News & Upcoming Releases - Advertise when we can expect a new book release or other news, etc.
Exceptions:
1. An initial introductory comment (for new members only) stating that you are an author or blogger, etc, is allowed.
2. If your book is specifically relevant to a member request for recommendations or a group read nomination round, you may recommend/nominate it. Otherwise, recommending your book will be considered spam and the post will be deleted. By "specifically relevant" we mean that your book must share characteristics that the asker is looking for, IN ADDITION to genre or sub-genre .
3. Discussions mentioning your own books in the Author Zone folder will not be deleted as a general rule, unless the thread or post contains spam that we do not permit in the group - see below.
How To Tell How Many Comments You've Made in The Group:
1) Find yourself in the member list (located in the menu at the top right of the group homepage). You will see how many comments you've made, which is also a link that will take you to your group comment history.
2) Find a comment you've posted in a thread in the group, and hover your mouse over your picture. You will see a popups with a link to your comment history in the group.
Authors in the Group
Authors in the group have a folder for their use, the Goodreads Author Zone. This was previously the only "approved" place for authors to advertise, but we are changing the focus of this folder in order to allow a place for authors to discuss their work, writing, research, etc.
This folder is available for any topic of discussion, EXCEPT marketing, how to improve sales, or author stats, etc. This folder should not be used for requesting reviews, or for review swapping.
When and How Do I Start a New Discussion Thread?
We welcome any discussion topic that is relevant to Historical or Period Fiction.
First, search for the topic to determine whether a similar thread already exists. There are two ways to search:
1 - Use the search function on the homepage to search for the term entered in any thread in the group. Narrow down your results on the results page by toggling between searching all posts or searching only thread topics.
2- Click on the Folder Names on the group homepage to see additional topics. Only the first 5 topics in a folder will show, so older threads may be hidden.
• If you cannot find a thread devoted to the topic of interest to you, then create a new one, either by clicking on the "new" link, at the top right of the Discussion Board section, on the group homepage, or on the new topic link, at the top right of any given folder's page (accessible by clicking on the folder name)
• Give your new topic a name - something that will indicate to other group members, at a glance, what it contains - and assign it to the appropriate folder, using the folder descriptions above. Use the "This topic is about" feature if your thread is addressing a specific title or author.
• Post your comment!
Remember that a new discussion thread is only needed if one does not already exist. Also, please be aware that threads that are placed in the wrong folder - in one of the book-club folders, for instance - will be moved by moderators.
How Do Polls Work?
Polls are used to determine the Group Read selection for the group, as well as any miscellaneous group business as needed. When moderators create a poll, we will send out a broadcast message to group members via private message. It is then up to you to vote within the polling period. You can change your vote at any time during the poll by clicking the "Change your vote" link.
Only one poll displays on the group homepage at a time, so if there is more than one poll running, and you are trying to find the others, you will need to click on the Polls link, at the top right of the group homepage. Please be aware that polls are used for official group business only, and should only be set up by group moderators.
Again, if you have any questions that are not answered here, you can post them in the Group Related Comments, Questions or Suggestions? thread, or send them to any mod via private message.