Is this spam?

http://www.librarything.com/topic/178300

It has all the marks of spam, except the actual spam.

It's got the spam now.

That was fast! All gone now!

Weird. Old profile, but the message feels spammy. Or an enthusiastic user...

http://www.librarything.com/profile/tayodujovu

I'm not sure what this new member thinks he is doing. It doesn't help that some of it is in Cyrillic.

Garbage group, garbage topic and message, garbage books and reviews.

Spam? Maybe not. Not yet? Garbage? Definitely.

So far I have flagged the reviews (blue), and the group but I'm not sure how to continue.

Translated: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 watch online in good quality for free" & "Hercules 2014 watch online". I would call those spam.

Seems fishy:

https://www.librarything.com/profile/robslp640bio
https://www.librarything.com/profile/dimuaxevn

Fishy indeed, but we can't flag until they do something.

To me, both of those profiles are spammy.

I agree.

The links make them definitely spam, I think.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/besttourismspot

I started flagging, and then thought that this might just be out of place.

Looks spammy to me - anyone else?
https://www.librarything.com/venue/93789/3d-viz

> 14

Looks that way to me, too.

Thx! I flagged the profile for spamming, too.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/179373

The person has books catalogued. Just overzealous?

I just realized this is a new group. Someone (not me) added the tag "overzealous author" and the group has been flagged.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/178435#4815830
http://www.librarything.com/profile/angelamariarandall

They posted in the "best summer reads" thread saying "you must read..." and it's the only book they've got cataloged. Seems awful fishy.

Yes. Not the first time for her.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/179311

Ah yes, so I see.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/179412

The link is to his own web site where his book can be purchased. Another over zealous author?

And not for the first time: http://www.librarything.com/search.php?search=Philosophy+of+Happiness&search...

>22 MarthaJeanne: I never occurred to me to search to see if there had been prior postings. I can now see that prior postings have been legitimate and in view of this I'm unsure if flagging is appropriate.

I think that there have been others that are gone, and that all of them are at best borderline.

Surely, the more times it happens, the less legitimate it becomes.

There are some people who try and see how near they can go to the edge without getting caught.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/179560

I just flagged this but felt a bit mean doing so. It's pretty harmless.

Plenty of author-spam is "harmless." It's still a major nuisance, and if it were allowed we would be overrun with similar messages every day. It's against the TOS, flagging is the appropriate action.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/179674

Not spam yet, perhaps, but I can't see some not appearing so I'm aliation in first ;-)

Ed. to say: Got there as I was posting!

She just joined today and the only book she has cataloged is her own which she wants you to know just happens to be available on Amazon:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/179818

>30 Taphophile13:

Just left a message on her profile.

>31 amysisson:
You stated everything so well, thank you. I noticed she has already added Hobnob with Authors, Writer's Brag and Rag Bag to her groups so perhaps she just needed to be shown the proper way to go about things here.

>32 Taphophile13:

Yes, she left me a gracious note in response as well. It's so nice when they respond positively like that!

(I keep the text of that message in a place where I can easily cut and paste it, since I use it pretty often!)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/139962#4840005
http://www.librarything.com/profile/Marcus3

Yes, but it is author spem, so we only flag the topic, not the member.

>Thanks I appreciate your guidance. You seem to have a never ending supply:)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/180490

Overzealrous author?

Is this spam or misplaced Librarything Local?

http://www.librarything.com/topic/180496

Robert

>38 Mr.Durick: It looks like a misplaced event. The link is a LT venue. Venues and events are beyond my expertise but you may want to send a comment to the poster so the event can be added.

Okay, thanks. Asocial though I am I managed a short post to his profile.

Robert

She represents the author.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/180630
http://www.librarything.com/profile/Sarahdaltrybooks

https://www.librarything.com/topic/180844

This is strange, but, I think, qualifies. The author has no books so I have flagged them as well.

just joined, no books, and has a link to kickstarter
http://www.librarything.com/topic/181867
http://www.librarything.com/profile/MidnightBlue23

>43 Taphophile13: I don't know about this one. Usually it's pretty obvious, but this may be legitimate... Hang on, I'm about to look closely at the kickstarter link.

ETA: I've looked at the site, and the game. I think someone ought to post a comment on the profile for that user (and I'm not volunteering, I lack the requisite kindness necessary), asking intentions. I'm inclined to flag the post, though.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/182034

odd place to post a sales pitch

>45 2wonderY: The thing is, any time someone prefaces a subject with "Off Topic" I usually count it as a strike against. The poster has one of those free accounts, and in this pitch, never supplies an actual name (which is normally unimportant, unless you're pushing a book, and pointing out that you belong to a group that is easily checked, such as the Texas Historical Society). I know Dallas, and the Deep Vellum area is well known there. The web site is legitimate, and has other books.

I can't figure out why someone would post such a thing in the Folio Society group, though. It implies very little effort went into looking for an appropriate group. Someone ought to (at the very least) leave a comment on the profile, although it strikes me that this was a hit and run sort of post, and that the author may not be back to read it.

Weird.

>46 Lyndatrue:

I think OT is actually a point in favor - I've never yet seen a spammer do that. This poster has been posting to that group at least since January (https://www.librarything.com/topic/163836 ) so my guess is that they view that group as their 'home community'. It may be edging on author self-promo, but it surely isn't spam.

Having a free account and not choosing to use your real name on LT are not spam indicators.

>47 lorax: Not choosing to use your real name is fine, normally, but stating that you're a member of the historical society without pointing out which one, or in what position, just struck me as odd. I don't think this is spam, though (which I probably should have stated more clearly).

I was almost tempted to comment on the thread, encouraging the poster to place that in a more reasonable group, to be truthful. It's an interesting website (the Deep Vellum one).

Edited to add: I also note that there are three flags on the post, now (none of them mine), and I think that it would be nice if someone posted a comment on the profile, since it looks like it'll be flagged out of existence.

>48 Lyndatrue:

Well, the poster in question says "I am on the board of the Texas Historical Foundation". Isn't that naming it? Or was there something more subtle that I missed?

http://texashistoricalfoundation.org/about-us/thf-board-and-staff/ lists board members including a Jonathan Allred. Given that the poster's username is "jallred2000" I think it's reasonable to assume that's him.

He's now wondering why the thread disappeared, and evidently it's not spam or self-promotion:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/182043#4889565

My take is it's posted in Folio because limited run and fine press editions are generally of interest to the group.

>50 elenchus:

For what it's worth, I've been posting in the Folio group for two or three years, and I'm always interested when someone posts about non-Folio fine books.

I'm tempted to just ignore any spam no matter how blatant in the Folio Society group after an attempt at a polite explanation was met with an astonishingly rude "Go away".

>52 lorax: Sadly, in this day and age, the offensive message seems sweetness and light compared with 'normal' comment on the internet ;-(

And give him* his due, he did say "Please go away"

*gender selected after looking at the list of groups on the profile (Baseball, Whiskey, etc.) but I know I shouldn't jump to conclusions ;-)

I'm not going to join the Folio Society group just to suggest a way to deal with this particular question, but if I post here, it's available for other groups too.

I see that the Hobnob with Authors group has come up with a continuing thread titled "Author Promotions! Your Announcements Go Here!"
http://www.librarything.com/topic/174401

This makes a lot of sense. It allows for self promotion without cluttering up the group page with willy-nilly individual posts, and allows members to just ignore the thread if they would be annoyed by that sort of posting.

If we Spam Fighters see that the group allows such postings, we can keep our flags to ourselves.

I think those that complain don't realize how much we actually do. I don't know how much spam gets posted every day, but it's a lot. If we weren't here to keep it under control, it would be hard to find legitimate posts under the mass of spam.

If certain groups want to monitor themselves without our help or allow certain types of posts, that's fine. I don't think that will prevent us from making the site a pleasant place to talk about books.

>55 JackieCarroll:

Yeah.

They never even see the real spam, because we're on it immediately. But one false positive and they're howling for blood. And then attack people who didn't even flag the post in question when we attempt to explain the misunderstanding.

Last time I try to explain a misunderstanding like that.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/182231

Self-promotion, sure, but OK in the context of the Writer/Reader group? Maybe. I haven't flagged it, leaving it to group members to do so should they wish.

ETA OTOH I have flagged the same poster here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/182229 In the FantasyFans group ;-(

He has added a second message to the topic in Fantasy Fans.

In both contexts, yes, this is spam.

Writer/Reader does not permit self promotion. That's only for Writer Rag and Grab Bag or Hobnob with Authors. (Though Hobnob wants to get rid of it...)

I thought that was the reason Hobnob was created - to give the authors a place to spam without pestering the rest of us.

The participants are saying it was not, but who knows. I barely pay attention to the group.

Did anyone leave the poster a profile comment about self promotion?

>61 gilroy: Not me.

>60 MarthaJeanne:

The original purpose of Hobnob, IIRC, was a place where authors could freely discuss their books without worrying about being accused of spam. Since promotion was acceptable, it quickly drowned out other discussion. (The group went through a period of outright hostility toward readers who didn't grovel at the altar of self-publishing a couple years ago, which is when I left and which surely didn't help; I understand it's gotten better since then, but don't know for certain.)

>64 MsMaryAnn: I left a profile note.

I need someone with more time and savy than me to do some research.

http://www.librarything.com/profile/dimkafasty
http://www.librarything.com/profile/SweetieBerlin
http://www.librarything.com/profile/bsaric

Now I understand that we are allowed to catalog anything. But each of these three have a copy of the same item up for spam vote. At least one profile looks legit, maybe two. But one of the primary tags on the item in question: SEO. So I'm wondering if one of them is a sockpuppet of another, or what. Perhaps I'm just having a suspicious mind.

This doesn't mean they weren't hacked.

Could someone investigate this and tell me I'm bonkers? Please?

>66 gilroy:

I'm not sure what to think about those, either.

The item in question, the Montana shirt, is a tricky one that might sound like spam but doesn't have the normal characteristics. I wonder if that product specifically is a problem of clashing ISBN numbers and perhaps what was meant to be added to the libraries was a different product.

For instance, I've seen this many times before, such as a search for Airbrushed License, where there are/were many of them which were sharing the same ISBN with other products. One example: Airbrushed License Plates - Dogs had the following combined (before I separated them):

Airbrushed License Plates - Dogs (ISBN 0000000442) (3 copies; 1.1.1 separate)
Ca 2-Part 6 Rome / Gallery, Saatchi (ISBN 0000000442) (2 copies; 1.1.1 separate)
Papers on Species of Corynespora / Ellis, M.B. (ISBN 0000000442) (1 copy; 1.1.1 separate)

The Montana Shirt listing has 3 editions with 3 similar but different ISBNs used. Usually, the spam listings I've found do not have any ISBN. It is highly likely that someone automatically added listings to LT and the lookup found this on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Montana-T-Shirt-Natural-Xl/dp/0000018694.

That to me says this is unlikely to be spam in the normal sense, though clearly there are many issues with that Amazon listing for the product. (Pic doesn't match the item, listed as Hardcover, etc)

So, again, not sure about the three users, but I personally would give them the benefit of the doubt until shown otherwise.

>67 IslandDave:

No, it's definitely not spam.

It's almost certainly not a clashing ISBN, either. It's what we colloquially refer to as "litter" - random crap listed in people's catalog and cluttering up searches. People are allowed to enter anything, including T-shirts. I may not like it, but there's nothing wrong with it.

> 69

Placed there by the author?

It appears to have been, but it's still a description.

I'm fine with the author putting in a description of the book. I often suggest they do so rather than reviewing the book themselves. But I think I want to edit some of the other CK. What do you think? It smacks of hubris to claim those movies are related to the book. That's not what is meant by the question. Perhaps 'Ace' drew inspiration from those films. Big deal. Also take a look at the characters. Blood type? Preferred weaponry?
Clever, but a mis-use of the page perhaps.

I agree. That should be removed.

This user:

http://www.librarything.com/profile/InstantSeries

and this group:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/theinstantsolutions

are clearly spam. I'm less sure about the books. They were clearly added with spammish intent but also do appear to be books that could conceivably be added by someone else in the future. I haven't flagged them for now, but would do so with great pleasure if I could.

The user is not "clearly spam". It's a publisher, and has an organizational account.

>75 abbottthomas: Could be, but I thought it was just a new but uninformed member. The book mentioned does seem to be popular with Indian readers.

InstantSeries is probably an overzealous author.

Is this a joke?

I asked that as well, but if so, it is not funny. I flagged it.

Ditto

I think that was a stupid joke. Really beautifulbluebird?

I flagged as well

Beautifulbluebird deserved her fate.

>82 neopian334: Not a very good idea? ;-(
Smaller, perhaps?

That person has also done that somewhere else.

What's not a very good idea?

>86 MarthaJeanne: MarthaJeanne: I don't remember putting that comment anywhere else.

>87 neopian334: I believe that folks are talking about your ascii "art" above. It would probably be kinder for you to consider that this is a group discussing whether or not something is spam, and that it might not be as appreciated here as in a group devoted to gaming or comic books or whatever that's from.

HTH

I apologize.

Ok, I deleted the comment. :)

There is an easy way not to be flagged. Don't post spam.

>96 Yamanekotei: The poster is a bona fide LT member who already has provided a link to her bookmark site on her profile. A quick glance at the site didn't reveal any commercial interests. I don't think this is spam

>97 abbottthomas:

I was afraid to open the site so I didn't know until now. I confirm that her site was to show her collection. I apologize...

>98 Yamanekotei: I was afraid to open the site...

Very wise! I wouldn't have done but for seeing the same link on her profile ;-)

Aw... I missed the whole beautifulbluebird shenanigans...

>100 gilroy: I have a feeling there could be a third incarnation of beautifulbluebird. She had a strange phoenix aura about her.

A spammer left a comment on a venue, then closed it before his/her profile was removed. I've restored the venue, but can't remove the spammy comment.

http://www.librarything.com/venue/69808/

I don't know German, so can't tell, but is it a legitimate venue? I'm wondering, because I see that it was added by the spammer.

Not really.

This is a private library belonging to three people, and a few of the books might be able to be borrowed, but its main purpose is to support the studies of one of them in Library Science. The comment isn't really spam either, simply a request for books that would otherwise be thrown away.

I suspect that the whole thing is a misunderstanding about what venues are for.

THIS again?! Seriously?!?!

That car sale site has GoDaddy as a registrar (sadly, because they suck for stopping abusers). The site itself appears to be in Sioux Falls, SD. Here's some interesting info (I can't be the only geek here):

IP Address 198.185.165.50 - 5,024 other sites hosted on this server

IP Location United States - South Dakota - Sioux Falls - Carsforsale.com
ASN United States AS15299 CFS-AS01 - CarsForSale.com,US (registered Nov 30, 2012)

Yes, kids, this spammer has their own ASN. Ugh. I'm still thinking about how to approach this.

Interesting. This might actually be physically located in Ohio.

Beautifulbluebird you went too far with your pranks.

Beautifulbluebird is a hard-core spammer or a loony on the loose harassing the peaceful status of this website.

>114 razzamajazz: More likely a sockpuppet that has been posting a prank in the SPAM group.

Looks like promotional spam to me.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/183254#

Not necessarily intelligent promotion either - As if NON-fiction readers are primarily interested in fictional worlds...

>mmedeiros

A sock puppet in the internet term, a new word to me.

I know what is a sock puppet.

What was his/her real motive to be a sock puppet, nothing to do with the spare time available wisely? The spammer must be a young person.

The spammer did seem quite young.

http://www.librarything.com/profile/Grea_Alexander has created two spam venues and his/her comments area is loaded with spam.

> 119

Over-exuberant author, so I wouldn't flag the profile. Honestly, I don't know what such people think they're accomplishing when they post ads to themselves!

What are the spam venues?

> 120

The spam venues weren't venues but just links to her site that sells her book. She also created spam faux events as well, reams of self promotion and sales notices, plus even more links to her sales site. I got rid of it all last night, but when she recreated all the same mess this morning, I dropped a note to lorannen.

> 121

Ugh.

I don't know what to think of these reviews:
http://www.librarything.com/work/15537468
http://www.librarything.com/work/15537463
http://www.librarything.com/work/15537425
http://www.librarything.com/work/15537411

They don't seem quite spam but reviewing a website? What do you think?

Someone not clear on the concept. I suppose you can review anything you catalogue, but it seems weird to catalogue websites. On the other hand, we know that people catalogue all kinds of weird things!

Two threads just started by Elliot L. Shifman and Shifman Elliot L. In one he is a personal trainer and in the other he is a handyman. No books in either library. Any idea what this is about?

>125 JackieCarroll: I found one of the topics/posts you refer to http://www.librarything.com/topic/183997#4947331

I don't see any SPAM in connection with this thread.
No harm, no foul.

I didn't think it was spam, really, but perhaps someone is setting up accounts for nefarious purposes. And maybe that isn't this group's concern. When I saw the second thread under a different account but the same name, and introducing himself in the same language but giving a different occupation, I became suspicious.

>127 JackieCarroll:

Yeah, "nefarious purposes" of driving traffic to a blog or twitter account don't count as spam for LT's purposes - LT's definition of spam is one of the narrowest I've seen.

>125 JackieCarroll: This person has at least one more account now and is beginning to comment on existing threads.
http://www.librarything.com/profile/ElliottLShifman

I'm a bit creeped out as profiles are still completely blank.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with blank profiles. Are the comments reasonably on topic and not obviously self-promotional?

(Edited because we aren't supposed to use even ludicrously off-topic comments as an indication of anything negative on the part of the poster. Assume Good Faith Of Newbies and all that.)

Well, I welcomed him on one of the original threads and he found his way to one of my obscure groups. The comment was not inappropriate, but it just seems to ring slightly false. I'll keep an eye out.

I welcomed him, too. At best, he's a liar because he stated different occupations on his different threads. I guess a lot of people lie online, so I'm not going to worry about it.

>132 JackieCarroll: The person also is using the name of someone who was charged with investment fraud. I doubt it's that person, so perhaps it's a bored teenager or a reddit troll.

Anyway, there's nothing that can be flagged at the moment.

author/publisher? giveaway:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/184089#

The poster seems to be commercial but has been around for several years and has a library of 300+. I don't see harm in this, although I might if they were asking for money. I won't flag it.

>134 Taphophile13: >135 abbottthomas: I agree. I think it's best to let the Romance Group flag if they deem it inappropriate.

>135 abbottthomas:, >136 MsMaryAnn:
Thanks. I didn't flag (wanted to be cautious). I appreciate the second opinions.

http://www.librarything.com/profile/bennettsyu

About fifty threads in Book Talk

>138 southernbooklady: YES! This is major spam. It's an attack of at least 40 threads and happens every couple weeks or so. It appears to be Korean and might be advertising sports or porn.

Whew! Gone.

And back. It seems to me that there's a new exploit happening. I've been flagging members but I can't keep up. LT is being bombed.

Not sure about this:

http://www.librarything.com/profile/InstantSeries
and the works
http://www.librarything.com/author/instantseriesthe

>142 MsMaryAnn: I think that has been pointed out before. It's stupid, boring, and pointless, but it isn't being dropped anywhere else. I point out that the linkage between account and author is there, and I'm pretty sure that requires human intervention, so it's not as though staff is unaware of it.

Hey, people catalog some crazy things. I have some rare antique clothes patterns in my "library" and I'm sure there are people who think I'm a bit odd.

I'm pretty sure there's not a single thing in the InstantSeries library that I'll ever want, but you never know...

> 142, 143

It's a publisher, and that's allowed.

>143 Lyndatrue: I'm pretty sure there's not a single thing in the InstantSeries library that I'll ever want, but you never know...

Are you quite sure? What about Instant Goals: How to Set Goals and Achieve Them Instantly!. Imagine it - think up a goal and then it's done - none of that boring, hard slog in between. The world's been waiting for that for millennia ...

>145 alaudacorax:

Ah, see, it will also tell you how to set goals. If you can't achieve a goal immediately, your problem is that you're setting the wrong goal.

For instance, I will now set a goal of drinking another sip of coffee. And now it's achieved! And I didn't even need the book.

Someone owes me a keyboard. I'm not naming names, here, but you *know* who you are.

Video of the spit take or it didn't happen. :)

https://www.librarything.com/topic/184953

I can't think what else you'd call it.

I flagged it and the poster.

Robert

Not clear enough yet to determine, but this may be author promotion:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/184994

Just keeping an eye on it. The book and author referenced are not yet found on the site.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/185016

author promo?

Certainly author spam.

Another author who can't proofread!

All gone now.

Is https://www.librarything.com/profile/DreetaSharma a sock puppet for our friend https://www.librarything.com/profile/heinessight-007?

>155 MarthaJeanne: Sure looks like it. Notice the match:
Members with DreetaSharma's books
weighted | raw | recent
Angel2nc (4/4), heinessight-007 (4/4),
and Angel has been removed.

>155 MarthaJeanne: and >156 Taphophile13: Not only is DreetaSharma a sock puppet, but there's a book listed which is actually a film from the silent era:

The scarlet woman, An ecclesiastical melodrama (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878711/), and I'm astonished to see the claim that this was entered via LOC data (although it is indeed entered there). It's an English film, from 1925. What a genuinely odd thing to enter.

Hopefully Tim will show up and lock all the accounts.

Am I the only one that wants to read the title of one of those books as "Decepticons of the Ages?"

http://www.librarything.com/topic/1445#4967514
http://www.librarything.com/topic/185096
http://www.librarything.com/topic/185095

How about those? A sock puppet also?

>158 Yamanekotei: I'd say yes, especially considering that there's a link on each of those posts that goes elsewhere. It's well written, and all, but it's not genuine (in my opinion).

ETA: I note also that it's from the same self-publisher that we've seen with others. I'm beginning to hate that createspace publisher.

Gone now, anyway, and the account is now locked.

The same message/review on three different groups. The writer, a member of LT since 2011, has just one book in his/her library, the subject of the messages. Is this spam?

12.47 today http://www.librarything.com/topic/185113
12.51 today http://www.librarything.com/topic/185115
12.58 today http://www.librarything.com/topic/185116

Oh, and the same review has been added as a member's review to the book itself, the reviewer being the only owner of a copy, added last week.

It needed combining. It really was an early reviewers book.

http://www.librarything.com/work/15460854/reviews

https://www.librarything.com/profile/heinessight-007
https://www.librarything.com/topic/184951
https://www.librarything.com/topic/185022#

OMG. How annoying and bone-headed and arrogant can a person possibly be!? I didn't flag him or his posts (yet), because I hope he might see the TOS-light, but to be honest, I doubt he ever will. :-(

I think he is getting much more attantion than he deserves. (And yes, I do realise that I'm contributing by posting this.)

>162 Ennas: I'm tempted to read and rate his books.

Wow, entertaining as all get out. The threads, that is.

>163 2wonderY: I'm afraid he wouldn't like that. You might -accidentally, of course!- spoil his 5-star rating!

He might send the FBI after you.

But yes, the temptation is enormous.

Dreeta Sharma is probably a sock puppet. The acct. was established today, and lists our friend Matthew as its favorite author. Of 9 books in the person's library, 4 are by M.H. What's more, they use some of the same obscure tags M.H. uses on his books.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/185243

author pointing to an offsite promo of his book.

>167 2wonderY: I'd say that is spam, I flagged it.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/185646#

It may not meet the definition, but this guy is promoting the only book in his library.

ETA: This appears to be a self-published ebook. the only review at amazon is nearly identical to this post.

Well, unless he's the author or publicist, I don't see that it's spam. It may be, but I'd like to see more evidence of that before I flag it. The fact that the Amazon review is identical means nothing. Many people, including myself, put the same reviews on multiple sites.

Huh?

http://www.librarything.com/topic/185792#
http://www.librarything.com/profile/shepherdldwain

joined yesterday.

Okay, this looks kind of like the random text that spammers often insert in emails, but...

http://www.librarything.com/topic/186237#

Account was just created today, no books. I'm at least going to watch it, to see if links get added in a minute or so...

ETA: Well, that was quick. Went right from random text to spam links. Already gone, nothing to see here...

Is reviewing your own books spam? https://www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=RustyNugent

>173 sparemethecensor: It's more stupidity than spam. He's not the first self-published "author" to do that, here, and I'm sure he won't be the last. I see someone has flagged it as an abuse of the terms of service. To anyone considering doing that, please don't. It's not an abuse, it's just stupid. Flag it as "Not a review" (which it isn't), instead.

He has also started a group to push his books https://www.librarything.com/groups/readersofthesupernat

In principle there is nothing wrong with the group except his mention of his books.

>175 MarthaJeanne: Nothing wrong, except that the group "description" has changed, multiple times (perhaps in an effort to keep it from being flagged into non-existence), and he's posted a couple of very spammy topics in it (touting his book, naturally).

Calling Ron White... (as in, you can't fix stupid).

>176 Lyndatrue: An now there are no topics but only a minute ago there was. Maybe he's getting the point.

The latest topic is gone now. Glad he has changed the description. I hadn't noticed that. Well, I'm still not removing my flag.

> 174

It is a review, and it is not a TOS violation. Authors are specifically permitted to review their own books.

I think it's tacky for authors to review their own books. It's tackier when people who should know better use flags improperly.

>177 Taphophile13: I don't think he is getting the point. I think his topics are being flagged away as spam.

If he had deleted it, it would say so.

>179 lilithcat: Reads more like a summary to me. "It is about...".

> 181

On LT, summaries are reviews.

>182 lilithcat:. I knew "No" was a review, now I know summaries are reviews too ;)

Regarding review/non review entry...

I saw a review with only link to an outside book site or blog, but the link is not connected any longer. Should I had it flagged? If so, blue or red?

>184 Yamanekotei:

I don't think I've ever seen an official staff answer as to whether blue flagging is appropriate in that case. It certainly should be, but people can be sensitive about blue flagging. I'd go ahead.

There is certainly no review there. The only thing is, it will probably be counter flagged by someone who doesn't check the link.

>185 lorax:
>186 MarthaJeanne:

It was both flagged with red and blue ...

> 184

If the reviewer is someone who appears to be still around, I would leave a polite comment letting her know the link isn't working. It might be fixable. I know that if I included a link in a review and it went dead for some reason, I'd want to know.

>188 lilithcat:

Ah, I would do that! Will PM.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/competitiveexamprepa

Books for some kind of exam... Is it promoting a book selling site?

>190 Yamanekotei:

I am flagging the post and the group. I did not flag the new member, to be on the safe side. But the group was clearly created to put in a post that is publisher advertising.

>190 Yamanekotei: and >191 amysisson: I'm strongly considering flagging that member, the book, the review, and everything concerned with it. It seems VERY close to spam. I did flag the group, of course. I just flagged the post, and it vanished (hooray!). The group's still around, but it should also vanish soon. Just in case the group vanishes, and I'm still of the flagging opinion in the morning, here's the profile:

http://www.librarything.com/profile/surabooks

>190 Yamanekotei: >191 amysisson: >192 Lyndatrue:
The 'new member' is a publisher - Sura books - aren't they safe from flagging?

> 190, 191, 192, 193

I do not think the profile should be flagged. Publishers and bookstores are permitted to have organizational accounts and list their books.

See How Publishers Can Use LibraryThing ("As a publisher, you can now create a profile page for each of your imprints on LibraryThing, offering a way to highlight current titles, link visitors back to your website, and see which LibraryThing members have your titles in their libraries.")

I don't see why we should flag Sura Books, and not, say, HarperCollins Children's Books or Beacon Press.

>194 lilithcat: I'd said I wasn't flagging it last night, but apparently others did (or perhaps someone from staff wandered through). Often, I agree with your approach, and prefer to be conservative in applying the spam label, but in this case...

Still, they are indeed a publisher, and I wouldn't have flagged them myself.

http://www.surabooks.com/

It's a tough call, really. No one would have noticed them, if they'd just shown up and started listing their books. Making the group, and posts within it, made them noticeable and a target. I won't weep over their being flagged into suspension land, though.

Keeping an eye on this new group, as it could be an entry for spam

http://www.librarything.com/groups/leiturasdeingls
new member with no books catalogued yet.
http://www.librarything.com/profile/Jay7jay

I'm just trying to understand whether this is something that belongs in Book Talk, and if there was another, better place to post it instead. No, I don't think it's spam, but it does seem an unproductive place to announce this.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/186568

(Illumination Book Awards)

To further elucidate, there's so much that gets posted in Book Talk, and if this is an announcement meant to let like-minded people know about the awards, it seems like it would just be lost in the noise.

Let me say this again (because sometimes people seem very quick to flag). I don't think it's spam, but I *do* think I'm going to get better answers from the people who tend to answer (and who usually provide very good, well-reasoned answers) by asking this here.

They might have meant to post to their group: Spiritist books

but if so, they'd only be talking to themselves.

At first glance, it looks pretty spammy to me, though I haven't flagged either. Would take some further looking and tracing.

It's pretty easy to accidentally post to Book Talk, so it's almost impossible to say whether it's intentional or not. I'd just ignore the post - if it was intentionally spam-like (not, I hasten to add, flaggable spam by LT standards, but an attempt to drive traffic to their site rather than an honest attempt to engage in discussion or inform interested parties) then replying will just give them the attention they seek. If not, they'll probably re-post when they realize their error.

Googled the award name and promptly found the Jenkins Group.
Guess how a book gets nominated.

"The 2015 Illumination Awards are open to all books written in English and published since January 1, 2013. Entry fees start at an early-bird fee of $75, and the deadline for entry is November 15, 2014. Entering the Illumination Awards is fast and convenient, and winning an award brings attention to the book and leads to publicity, reviews, and higher sales."

They have five other catagories:
Axiom Business Book Awards
eLit Book Awards
Illumination Book Awards
Independent Publisher Book Awards
Living Now Book Awards
Moonbeam Children's Book Awards

It looks like a hokey self-promotion set-up.

Oh, and SSNB appears to be making copies of books to sell. Check out their one "review."

Still not strictly spam unless the poster is the Jenkins Group, but they appear not to be.

It seemed a bit tacky (and I'd already noticed the "review"), but you never know. Sometimes it's an honest mistake (and Book Talk is the likeliest place for such), and other times it's deliberate. Yes, I noticed that their library consists of multiple copies of books, which they seem to be selling.

Thank you lorax and 2wonderY, I appreciate the extra sets of eyes.

I can't tell if this is legitimately a teacher recommending things to students, and using the review field to do it, or if it's just spam for the ILC Digital Library site: http://www.librarything.com/profile/SHS_ILC The ILC Digital Library has no "About" section, so I'm not super-clear on what it even is.

Unrelatedly, lately my "in your library and reviewed by others" queue is suddenly inundated with reviews that consist of "I just registered a book at BookCrossing" and a link. (Like this: http://www.librarything.com/work/3203356/reviews/114995591 ) They're from multiple users, and the text is consistent enough that I have to imagine it's auto-generated. I am unsure of how to deal with these. I find them irritating, but my suspicion is that, at worst, they are "not a review" and not actually spam, correct? (Sometimes what's at the other end of the link does seem review-like, although I don't know how you'd know for sure it's by the same person who posted the link here.)

Any advice on either point is much appreciated!

> 202

I Googled "ILC Digital Library" and it seems to be a high school library. So I wouldn't think it's spam, but the entries are not reviews (just links to the books at the library), so they can be blue-flagged as "not a review", though they aren't a TOS violation, so don't red-flag them.

I've seen the BookCrossing issue before. I think it may be an import problem. The links are to journal entries at BC, and are sometimes reviews or summaries, and sometimes not. In any case, they're not spam, though some (but not all) could be legitimately flagged as "not a review".

>202 upstairsgirl: Those aren't reviews. Maybe someone can message the profile, and explain that other fields (such as the Comment field) could be used for that purpose. It seems as though those links are for other people to check out. The fact that the account is recent, and that it's free, and all...

I note that the reviews are flagged for both not a review and TOS violations. I'd just flag them (and am about to do so myself) as the former, and move on.

I hesitate to call them spam, but they're certainly not reviews.

I have no information or opinion on the Book Crossing issue.

I wouldn't call either spam or TOS violations, but they are not reviews either.

In the case of the teacher, I would guess that the reviews will be removed once students point the flags out.

Okay, thanks. I will also flag them as not reviews. I appreciate the second opinions!

Is this fellow's profile spam?

http://www.librarything.com/profile/Wagner1

He wants to be my friend.

Robert

http://www.librarything.com/topic/187166
http://www.librarything.com/topic/187165

I flagged his posts, but not his profile.
But then I remember... it's not the first time he posted these site addresses.

>207 Mr.Durick: and >208 Yamanekotei: I would say that he was pretty spammy looking to me. Note that ALL his books are written by him (including the one he's currently "reading"). I flagged the first topic. The second one had already been deleted. The reviews on his books that I looked at were all flagged out os visibility for violations of the TOS.

I'm considering pointing out the profile to Tim or perhaps Lorannen, and see if they'll have further comments (or perhaps just take action). He's a paid up member, but he's (to me) nothing but a parasite.

So I should turn down his friend request?

Robert

>210 Mr.Durick: I certainly would. Look how many friends he has. Do you see any interaction, or friendliness, with any of them? Up to you, of course.

ETA: I'd just be polite, and say no thanks. I usually just say that I am not friends here on LT with anyone I don't actually know in life. I accepted a couple of requests when I was newer, but quietly severed them after a couple of weeks.

I was pretty much joking. I'll probably just ignore him.

Robert

>212 Mr.Durick: Oops. It was past my bedtime, and I was doing a dozen other things. Apparently my sense of humor was damaged by distraction. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Publisher
http://www.librarything.com/topic/187281

>214 MsMaryAnn: Looks like the vote was an emphatic yes. I was one of the flaggers, and it was well deserved. Whether or not it was even useful information, it certainly didn't belong where it had been posted.

Is there a way of politely reminding some teachers who set up groups for their class about the age restriction.
4th grade seems a little young for LT participants.

I agree, and had considered sending the TOS link as a PM.

Maybe with a few other links to pages that the kids might find when exploring LT.

Overenthousiastic author, already warned by someone else. Should we flag this post or not?

https://www.librarything.com/topic/187500#

>218 Ennas: I often wonder if some posts are spam. When I do, I usually check here. I would not flag that post. The member who replied to the post tactfully pointed the original poster in the right direction. Hopefully, the advice will be taken.

> 218

Not spam, just the wrong forum.

I *think* she's trying to sell this book. I am not even sure what to say to her.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/187775#5050054

She's not the author. She seems to be here just to sell the book. I have flagged her profile and the second message.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/188132

???

I didn't think it was as is, but I thought it could develop into something adverse.

Robert

I think this might be placeholding for spam:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/188135

>225 amysisson: Possibly. Even more possible given that the poster is a "big reader" but has no books cataloged.

Rather stupid new member, was my thought.

Not sure why someone would think that someone else would just send him books, especially given the high mailing costs, but you can always try it on.

Well, some people join LT without reading anything about what it is about (irony!) and so are disappointed when it doesn't do what it never was designed to do. Maybe they thought they were signing up to a site that gives books away?

Does anyone else remember the author who thought that LT was misleading the public by selling editions of their book on the site that were no longer for sale?

>228 RidgewayGirl: Yes and yes! LOL He sure made a fool of himself!

> 228

That was so bizarre! Threatening to call the FBI, of all things.

What I find astonishing is that people like that, people who think they can download books from LT, etc., are all claiming to be readers. Yet they obviously can't or won't read what the site is about. Weird.

And yet they all seem to expect us to read what they write.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/188192
new member, only one book which s/he is recommending
doesn't appear to be the author but ends with link to amazon

>223 Yamanekotei: I flagged the post. I don't think it's just a recommendation, more like a hard sell.

>233 Taphophile13: Oops, I meant you!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/188221

Op post didn't draw my attention, but post #4 does look like a spam...

I have to agree that the whole thread is tainted. There are two posts that are legit (the middle two), but the first and fourth look like a set up to me. Personally, I'd flag them both. Perhaps someone would like to leave a friendly message on those two profiles?

> 237

As am I.

I really have to watch what I say, since I know that sometimes people flag with seemingly small encouragement. I didn't flag those two posts, but now see that others have flagged post #4 out of existence. It was a first offense, and deserved a strongly worded (and yet kind) message on their profile. I counter-flagged on that post. I hope others will too.

>237 Collectorator: Yeah, garage doors and fourth grade text books are a far larger concern.

I don't consider that one spam at all. It is a legitimate, useful, free service, that is relevant to the site, and has been around long enough not to need to send out shills to drum up followers.

>239 Lyndatrue:

I also counter-flagged post #4 as I thought it was a nice thank you note.

I am glad that I didn't jump to the conclusion :-)

But the second poster is now removed... she is not suspended, is she? She just quit on her own, right?
I don't want anyone to be offended by this serie of posts.

>239 Lyndatrue:

I consider it a forgiveable first offense only if those two accounts are separate people. If it's the same person, the intent is to deceive. But since I have no proof, I didn't flag either.

It sounds like someone ought to drop a line to staff, or at least send email to the info@librarything.com account and point them to the thread here, and the thread about booksalefinder as well.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/188221 (for ease of finding)

I do sometimes wonder if people see this thread and assume it's another thread like our Spam Reporting thread and automatically flag based on being posted here.

> 245

Perhaps when we continue the thread, the person who does so should include a statement of the purpose of this thread in the initial post, as we do in the Spam Reporting thread.

In fact, at 246 posts, I think I'll do that now.

(By my count, this is the 5th thread on this topic, so I'll give mine a subject line reflecting that it's the 6th.)

Edited because I can't spell. Thanks, TheoClarke!