Ckovacs

Re: Novelette or novella

Whoops - my mistake. Cheers. Sebastian Garth (talk) 01:48, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

No problem. The story is about 12,500 words long and right in the middle of novelette length. Strictly speaking it was called a novelet when it was published; the spelling "novelette" came in later.Ckovacs (talk) 01:51, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

I see. Well, sorry 'bout that. Sebastian Garth (talk) 01:53, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Publication history Doorways in the Sand

I must confess that I am confused when it comes to what an edition is.

With regard to the 1991 edition there are three different imprints (if that is the correct term): HarperPaperbacks, HarperCollins, and HarperPrism. They all have the same ISBN numbers so shouldn’t the proper listing be “(1991) HarperPaperbacks/HarperCollins/HarperPrism. Paperback. English. isbn: 006100328X, 9780061003288”?

The 1976 Ultramarine Publishing Company edition appears to be real since it has different ISBN numbers than any of the other editions (0893661406). You can look it up at various places, but I looked it up at bookfinder.com.

As far as the 1977 Avon editions, they have separate ISBN numbers. The distinction might be between a trade and a mass market paperback (see Wikipedia’s article on paperbacks). I don’t know, but I think they should be included as separate entries since they have different ISBN numbers.

If you agree, would you make the changes? I am new to Wikipedia so I don't know the protocol.

Rhennius (talk) 00:16, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

No, these aren't real. You are repeating erroneous information from Amazon, bookfinder, and other places. These are not accurate sources of information. The bibliography IDES OF OCTEMBER has the most up-to-date and verified information about Zelazny's bibliography.

There was only one 1991 edition from Harper, a paperback, ISBN 0-06-100328-X. There weren't three different imprints. The paperback indicates Harper Science Fiction on the spine, and both Harper Paperbacks and Harper Collins on the inside. Individual sellers on places like Amazon or bookfinder will arbitrarily call it HarperPrism but that didn't appear on the book. It's one edition by one publisher.

Ultramarine never published this book. An error in an earlier Zelazny bibliography keeps getting repeated. I confirmed this with the publisher himself, and the bibliography IDES OF OCTEMBER has this corrected information. The first edition hardcover was from Harper & Row in 1976; a Science Fiction Book Club edition came out the same year (Harper & Row on the spine), and the UK first edition hardcover from W. H. Allen came out the following year. No other hardcovers.

There was only one 1977 Avon paperback with a single ISBN of 0-380-00949-8. It was reprinted 5 more times with the same cover, then with a different cover in 1987 for the 7th printing. All had the same ISBN. Trade paperbacks did not exist in 1977; there were only mass market paperbacks.

The ISBNs are sometimes converted in databases into the modern format which begins with 978 and this may be adding to your impression of multiple ISBNs when there was only one. Looking back on what you'd had, indeed you had both the standard 10-digit ISBN (which was on the book) and the modern 14-digit converted ISBN (which was never on the book). Plus booksellers can make a false entry that the next bookseller simply copies without checking the information on the actual book.

Ckovacs (talk) 21:09, 11 November 2011 (UTC)