Authors Round the South

FAQS for Authors

Who's picture is that?
Why can't I enter my upcoming events?
What is "home city" and "home state"?
What happens when I post a new trip?
Do I have to include a city when I post a trip? Or can I just list a state?
Can I change my name?

Who is this guy?
One of the most common questions from authors setting up profiles has to do with poor Mr. Rainer Maria Rilke. His is the photo that appears by default in as your image when you create a STARS account. We were using him in the very early days of testing, when we were still trying to iron out the niceties of image uploads and thumbnail generators.  We left him as our default author image, though, because we thought it would be excellent incentive for authors to upload a better image as fast as they possibly could. That seems to have been the case, since there are hardly any Rilke images left on the STARS list.

Why can't I enter my upcoming events?
This is the other most common question we receive from STARS authors, and requires a bit of explanation: 

To put it most simply, authors can't enter events, they can only enter "trips" -places they are planning to visit and the dates they plan to be there.  Scheduled events-author readings, book signings, etc-can only be entered by SIBA bookstores, and the only events that are entered are those that takes place at, or are sponsored by a SIBA bookstore. Naturally, since the STARS list is run by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, we couldn't have a situation where we would suddenly be promoting author events at other places-like a Barnes & Noble or other chain.

The STARS system, however, is designed to match authors against the events in the ARTS calendar. (See Melissa Delbridge's profile for an example) It does this by looking at your name, and the titles of any books you have, and comparing them to the name of the author featured in the event listing, and the book title being promoted.  If the system finds a potential match, then when you log in, you will see in your "upcoming events" section of your profile, a prompt that the system as found an event that may be featuring you. It will ask you to confirm or deny this. If you confirm, then the event will appear on your profile page as an upcoming event. 

If you have an event scheduled at a SIBA store and it does not appear on the ARTS calendar, or does not prompt you on your own page, please email SIBA the details of the event and we will make sure it is listing properly.

What is “home city” and “home state”?
This is the city and state you actually live in. It appears on your profile page as the locale you “travel from.”

Why do we have this, and how do we use it on STARS?  For one thing, listing the city and state that is your “home base” helps SIBA to develop a comprehensive map of authors by state. Have you ever asked yourself “where can I find a list of all North Carolina authors?” Believe us, booksellers in North Carolina are asked this kind of question all the time. So are librarians and educators.  But believe it or not, it isn’t an easy question to answer—until now.  With the support of publishers and southern booksellers, and of you, the STARS author, SIBA is in an excellent position to create a database of contemporary authors by state and generate a kind of literary map of the South. 

By listing your homecity and home state, you also make it possible for stores and groups in your immediate area to find you for possible events, even if you don’t happen to be traveling or have any trips listed.  In a soon-to-be-released update, SIBA has created an extensive “search” which will allow people to look for STARS authors who might be coming to the area, and who already live in the area, as well as other criteria like topics, book titles and book subjects, etc.

What happens when I post a new trip?
The moment you create a new trip a notice is sent to SIBA with the trip details, and SIBA then forwards the notice on to booksellers in the area.  You can send a “reminder” notice of your upcoming trips by clicking on the “notify booksellers” link on your profile page.  But the first notification is automatic and immediate.  Your trip is also entered into the lengthy report used by SIBA and bookstores as a general reference of all upcoming author trips.  This report is promoted in links on SIBA’s website, in the Lady Banks’ Commonplace Book newsletter, and on the weekly SIBA bestseller list, so it receives a fair amoung of attention.

Do I have to include a city when I post a trip? Or can I just list a state?
You should enter a city for every trip. Since the purpose of STARS is to bring authors and bookstores together in a specific area, it is important that we know what city or town you are visiting. If you leave the “city” field blank, and attempt, for example, to list only “North Carolina” as a trip destination, your trip may still appear on your profile page, but it will be left out of all the search and report outputs on the site. Nor will the trip information be forwarded to SIBA bookstores since there is no way to say where, exactly, you will be traveling within a state. SIBA territory covers the entire lower quarter of the United States, so we need to pinpoint as precisely as possible when authors will be within a certain area.

FAQS for Bookstores

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