Is there a nice way to get people to stop posting deals in the other forums? I frequent a forum here that's fairly active but several people start threads posting deals and it bumps the 'good' threads farther down. Several people respong saying 'please post these in the book bazaar' or 'pls add this to your signature and post in a thread already started'...now another has bumped her thread and said 'NOT removing' because we apparently couldn't be nice about it..?? so I feel like positng 'well I'm NOT ordering' but that would be petty and keep something negative going.

I thought deals were only supposed tobe in the book bazaar and not in the other threads unless they're in the signature...don't get me wrong, I LOVE deals, esp in that genre but I don't want to open the forum and see 6 deal posts when I can go to the book bazaar for that...am I wrong or are deals supposed to be done this way?

We ask that members give thought to the appropriateness of their topic for the forum in which they post. It works best for everyone if questions are posted in Questions About PaperBackSwap, USPS issues are posted in USPS Postal Regulations, games are confined to Games, etc. Topics advertising your bookshelf should NOT be started in any forum but the Book Bazaar. Keeping "deals" and the like confined to the Book Bazaar not only unclutters the other forums, but also allows members who post deals to be sure that their deal is seen, and members who seek deals to find them. We have created enough forums to allow a place for anything our members might like to discuss.

You could try directing them to this section of the help center, though I don't know how much good it will do.  I agree with you that the advertising in the genre and other forums has gotten way out of hand.

I've tried browsing through the genre forums looking for actual discussion about books, and have been really disappointed in the number of "ads" I've found instead.

I've often seen people asking for advice on how to get their books requested more often, and there are always people suggesting they advertise in the genre and other forums.  So I don't think it's going to end anytime soon, unfortunately.

It would be great if something that reflects the discussion board policy regarding not advertising specials anywhere but the Book Bazaar forum, or your personal signature file, was up there at the top of each main forum page, along with the respect & courtesy reminder.  It might save other members from being in the difficult position of reminding other members what the rules are.  Not that there's any substitute for actually reading the rules... but policy reminders don't hurt.

Maybe we could put the following in a reply to those threads.  I am not sure how affective this would be... but at least it shouldn't be offensive, except to the small percentage of PBSers who get offended over EVERYTHING :  )

Please post deals and offers in the Book Bazaar (http://www.paperbackswap.com/forum/forum.php?f=58)

wow, I've seen posts in here that have suggested posting deals in the specific forum (such as kids books in the kids forum) etc.  no one ever said not to do it. 

I think if someone has a special book that fit a genre to offer that probably wouldn't upset anyone... but generic specials have a tendency to overrun the forums periodically

I too have seen the suggestions to increase your chances of getting orders for your deals by posting in the specific genre forum.  I did this earlier this week in the sci fi one.  OOPS- didn't realize it was against the rules :)

I think a big contributor to this is there are a whole LOT of deals in the book bazaar.  Maybe if they had sub-foums in the book bazaar that had threads for general mix of books, sci fi deals, romance deals etc then maybe that would cut down on people posting them in them in the areas meant to just discuss books of that genre.

Also like the idea of it being posted at the top with the be courteous/respectful thing as everyone would see it that way. 

I know the Chit Lit forum made a permanent post at the top for Chic Lit deals.

I offered a deal in the Romance thread one time and received a PM that I wasn't allowed to offer deals in those threads. This probably was more than a year ago.

Wow, the children's book thread looks like it is the bazaar. As many as  there are, I don't think that you are going to be able to stop them. I get PMs from people telling me I am rude if I post a club rule into a thread that is breaking it. But I think it shows others that the thread violates the rules, instead of other people seeing it done and thinking it is OK. Copy the highlighted R&R comment above into the generic deal  threads when they pop up in the wrong forums and you can educate not only the poster, but also anyone else who opens it.

No one has the right to get snotty with you so if you politely point out the rule and someone PMs you something rude, forward the PM contents to R&R. No reason you should get attacked for asking someone to follow the rules of the site.

I know the Chit Lit forum made a permanent post at the top for Chic Lit deals.

Lita, that is an EXCELLENT idea and would solve everyone's problem at once!!  :)  I'd go so far as to suggest that TPTB create a sticky thread on each forum for deals and advertising specifically relevant to that forum!!  If that is too much work or gets too long in some, then it can be replaced quarterly or something.  Such a move would benefit everyone on the site, making genre-specific books easier to find and advertise, keeping the topic boards cleaner and neater for general discussion, and probably shrink the bazaar a bit too!!  :)

I also think it is a GREAT idea.  I know I went to the Comic/Anime genre forum on purpose when I was seeking manga books to spend my points on, looking for deals on manga when the Book Bazaar was just too overwhelming to find what I wanted.  It makes sense to have genre-specific deals posted there, I didn't realize it would be against the rules for someone to post them.

I would love to see a sticky at the top of each genre forum like the one in Chick Lit, where deals could be posted for genre-related deals only and agree it definitely could cut down on the clutter on both Book Bazaar and in the other forums as well.

Catt said "I sent a polite PM to one frequent mis-poster this week, offering to answer any questions they might have, welcoming them since they was new, etc, and was promptly and rudely told off. 

Hey me too, and we were just trying to be helpful. 

As for the sticky threads in the genres, it might be worth suggesting to R&R.  I personally find the Book Bazaar overwhelming in terms of the sheer number of deals posted on a daily basis, so I hardly ever go in there. 

Maybe it's just that people get told what to do enough in life, that they tend to get really offended when one more person comes along and says you can't do that.  The knee-jerk reaction is "who is this person and why are they telling me what to do?".   I've done this myself.  I think sticky threads are a great idea; I suggested as much in the Love & Romance forum where this came up over the last couple of days.  As long as everyone takes the time to open those threads & read what's there.  The issue with this is mostly that people who are violating the forum rules, probably haven't read them.  And to be fair, some of them aren't all that highly visible.  I only started using that forum within the last couple of months, and had I not taken the time to look up the discussion board rules and policies, I might have violated some myself - which is exactly why I took the time to read them:P  I definitely think this particular policy could be more visible.  As I suggested: at the top of each forum with the respect & courtesy reminder.  It saves me, or anyone else who uses a specific forum, the potential headache of trying to be a diplomat  - which I frankly suck at - and trying to find the most gentle way possible to remind someone that what they're doing is against the rules.  I don't want to be rude.  I don't think anyone else who feels compelled to say something does either.  Anyone who actually enjoys discussion board conflicts probably shouldn't be using them anyway.  A thing gets out of hand because so many people will NOT say something, even though they'd like to, just because they'd rather not get into a conflict or be accused of rudeness.  And really, it could be said that it's equally rude and inconsiderate toward other forum users to use a forum, and not bother to read the policies governing its use beforehand. 

I am also surprised, because I thought the genre forum was for anything involving that genre, including book deals. I know that's where I go for a deal in a particular genre.

it's clear in  some, like Hidden Gems, PBS. USPS and games, that deals should not be made in those.

The problem with the book bazaar is that people don't adhere to the "rules" there either.  There are specific posts for "unpostables", "post arc's here", etc etc.  But people do their own thread instead and this overly crowds the whole bazaar thread.  It drives me nuts that people can't follow along  It is so clogged over there because of it...the idea of stickies is nice or if everyone could post where they are suppsosed to is appealing too!

Yes, I'm another one who wishes there were a sticky at the top for book deals in the Mystery forum, where I do a lot of my reading and posting, and where the deals being offered are again bumping discussion threads down.

Les

In addition to a sticky thread you need one (or both) of two things:

1) People to completely refuse to order/take advantage of deals from anyone who posts their own thread anyway

2) Moderators who can remove deal posts that aren't in those threads.  (And can clean out the pinned thread so it doesn't get 30 pages long.)

There used to be a pinned deal thread in the Book Bazaar (it really used to have other topics, once upon a time).  But people who posted their own thread had more people respond because it was more in your face.  Since they got answers, more and more folks posted their own threads, and eventually the pinned thread was completely irrelevant and removed.

Has anybody asked R$R for stickies in each genre yet? I think that's a great idea!!!

I don't even step in the Bazaar because of how out of control it has become. Makes me claustrophobic!!

"In addition to a sticky thread you need one (or both) of two things:

1) People to completely refuse to order/take advantage of deals from anyone who posts their own thread anyway

2) Moderators who can remove deal posts that aren't in those threads.  (And can clean out the pinned thread so it doesn't get 30 pages long.)"

Yes, yes, YES!  Exactly.

but the sticky threads would get long and so hard to know what is available and what isn't.  sort of like the ARC thread, it is so long that unless you keep up with it daily it is almost impossible to know what is still out there

I did send the suggestion to R&R about a stickied thread in the Love & Romance forum and I also asked if there was a moderator in that forum.  I suggest others do the same if you'd like a stickied thread in another forum.  I haven't heard back from them but it's only been a few hours.

I do say something on the deal threads and direct members to the BB forum or invite them to add their deal to their signature and then join in the discussions.  I did get a PM once from someone telling me I'd been too harsh in posting to one of those threads.