abctales on wikipedia

It's really, really difficult to get those guys to approve an article. It took me weeks of arguing, discussion and editing before they were finally satisfied with mine and 'allowed' it to stay. Even then yet another ed decided he didn't approve of something a year later (!) and I had yet another battle on my hands :-) One thing you could do, for a start, is to link some stuff through to other WIKI pages, such as 'poetry' 'arts' and 'music' I'll have a go for you if you like, it's good fun. Anyway, I wish you luck - you'll need it... Oh, and if I were you, I'd delete this: 'As of August 24th 2008, there were 52281 stories from 15877 users on the site.' - to them it will smack of advertising. http://www.ukauthors.com

Oh well, okay, I offered. No skin off my nose... Even someone without a WIKI account can edit. http://www.ukauthors.com

Okay, sorry, easy to do on-screen - apologies Yes, should def a collaboration, but I can give you some tips if you like - I'm hesitant to alter without consultation, though. One tip: save code, so if page should be vandalised, you have back-up to replace. Email me if you like http://www.ukauthors.com

thankyou Martin - it should be up there. I should probably avoid it though - as I'm bound to make it sound like an advert. Best of luck!

Now had a look at it. I think we can do better! I'll try and write something reasonable about the history of ABC and email it to you.

You need to make the blurb more altruistic, Martin. Focus more on the tale-catching and the reason why ABC was set-up in the first place - i.e. to give the disadvantaged and homeless a voice, a place to tell their stories. Remove any refs to member numbers and number of pieces on site. They don't like direct links, either, advertising (as they see it) the site. One directed to ABC would be deemed more than sufficient. If I were you, I'd remove that 'ABC Tales' block on right, and concentrate on a compelling blurb instead. You could have an external link for Emily, for example, but go easy on the awards :-) And they're hot on grammar and punct, too... http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

And it would be good to list, with bullets, some of the members who have gone on to print publish, like Drew and others, with links through to notable (they're hot on 'notable') reviews (or other WIKI pages, if possible/applicable) http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

Look, forgive me, but doesn't it get somewhat up your collective noses, that after spending rather a lot of time 'improving' and 'updating' this article, the Powers That Be on WIKI still saw fit to delete a lot of (what I, and Martin considered to be legitimate) stuff, without explaining why on the 'discussion' page here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Abctales I had (amongst other things) added what I considered to be perfectly legitimate external links (booktribes, etc) which have now been removed and/or altered (see 'History Page' by 'smackbot' http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abctales&action=history). I see this as a challenge, and it would be hugely good for ABC if an article could be brought 'up to standard' so any positive input would be appreciated. No insults and/or negative edits, as this would result in deletion immediately. Or are we wasting our time here? http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

just make sure you mention me and how awesome a part of the site I am. that'll be fine :)

I've been working on it again (I know, I know, but it's great fun) and I reckon it's looking pretty good now, although there's loads more that can be added of course: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abctales Thing is, they're requesting a 'citation' for Emily Dubberley (remember her?) even though she has her own WIKI page (which I've linked through to), but I've never done a citation on WIKI before - can anyone help? The good news is, it's still there, so maybe we're getting there... Mike, I don't think that'd go down too well - they might see it as a ...er...none-too-neutral pov :-) http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

One of the 'observations' from the WIKI eds, is that the ABC article is 'orphaned' and had few, if any, other articles linked to them, as all are external thus far. I discovered that Koumis had a (sparse) 'stub' about his title 'The Cypriot' which someone had started, so I've been expanding on that and managed to link through to ABC from it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cypriot I highlighted his name but there is currently no content on an 'Andreas Koumis' - is anyone in contact with him, or is willing to help build the page? http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andreas_Koumi&action=edit&redl... Similarly, the 'Cypriot' page could do with some 'Content' (I have made the block) re 'Reviews' 'External Links' etc. Furthermore, I can make Joe and Drew WIKI pages to link through to if they are interested in adding content? (Bios, reviews, links, etc) (Joe Dunthorne's 'Submarine') (Drew Gummerson's 'Me and Mickie James') These could then all be interlinked in WIKI, making the case for 'keeping' so much stronger. Honestly, it's great fun making, upgrading and editing WIKI pages (quite addictive actually, as you can see) - why not give it a go and help ABC (and its published authors) at the same time? http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

I see also the following comment: This article or section is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view. For blatant advertising that would require a fundamental rewrite to become encyclopedic, use {{db-spam}} to mark for speedy deletion. (August 2008)

Yeah, I know, they slapped that on there within hours (if not less) of Martin posting the stub. I've done an awful lot of re-writing and editing to try to make it less like an ad and written from a npov. I reckon I've almost succeeded (you can view the original version in 'history'). I can remove those blocks, but think I'll wait a few days, see if an admin ed comes along and either edits or adds to the discussion. Then I'll remove it dah dah! and see what happens...(they're not keen on you removing those blocks until the entire universe and his dog is satisfied with the article) Anyway, I'm starting a new article today, about another author, so might not have much more time for the ABC one, but poor old Andreas Koumi could do with a link-through page if anyone feels like having a go. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andreas_Koumi&action=edit&redl... http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

Wasn't Fisher (Roger Morris) an ABCTaler - he had a book published by Macmillan. Just remembered because I thought Macmillan New Writing was such a great idea and he was one of the first to be taken on. ~ www.fabulousmother.co.uk

Dunno, why don't you find out and, if so, add him to the article with relevant sources and links? It's not hard (see how I did it in 'edit this page'), anyone can do it (that's the point of WIKI) and you don't need any html skills... http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

Yes, that’s what I was trying to find out. I knew he announced the publication of his book on here, but I didn’t know if he used the site to write or was just passing through. Does anyone remember? ~ www.fabulousmother.co.uk

Well, it says here: http://www.abctales.com/more-books-abctales-authors 'more books by ABC Tales authors', so I guess so. Looks like you're in biz :-) http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

I think Roger did use this site for workshopping a few things. He has a novel out with Macmillan New Writing called Taking Comfort and two detective novels with Faber and Faber called A Gentle Axe and A Vengeful Longing. The detective books feature Porfiry Petrovich the detective in Crime and Punishment.

Hallo Tom, nice to see you. Thanks for info - perhaps you, or another ABC'er would like to add that to the WIKI article then? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abctales I feel I've done my bit and am busy with other articles now. http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

Thanks so much for your time and energy. I have written to Andy and asked him to update his page/s on Wiki. Sorry for my slow response - I've been away!

Andy? Who's Andy? http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

Right, realised later you meant Andreas. Well, the 'Andreas Koumi' page was one I created and, as yet, has nothing on it. His 'The Cypriot' page I seriously edited and updated, adding reviews, links etc. Even so, the 'About the author' section is sadly lacking. So it's not so much a matter of updating, but him (or others) getting in there and bringing the article up to scratch before it's deleted. This goes for not only his 'Koumis' page (which they will probably insist is integrated with the 'Cypriot' one) but also the 'ABCtales' page itself, which will also probably be deleted if not attended to further. However, since I have already spent many, many hours on this, and no-one else has shown the slightest inclination to help, I don't feel inclined to spend any more time on it. Good luck. http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

Hi Tom Thanks for the Roger info. I've added him to the authors' section. I've put him on the 'other abc authors' list for now as, although he has three books with mainstream publishers, I wasn't sure which if any of them 'started out' on ABC Tales. Don't want to make that claim for the site if it's not so. If anyone remembers for sure, I could bump him up to the other list. Cheers Lou ~ www.fabulousmother.co.uk

Tad harsh there, Andrea. It's only been four days since Tom posted the information I was after - and I've been on a deadline. ~ www.fabulousmother.co.uk

No, didn't mean that at all, Lou (re Tom). It's just that Martin started the article on 24th Aug (I think it was, so almost 3 weeks ago, and those eds on WIKI won't let an article stay for long if some effort isn't made to improve it sharpish) and ever since, I've been trying to encourage people to add to it. There's still loads that can be done and my time is v limited as well. Still, delighted to see you adding to it - I reckon they'll let it stay now, anyway. Well done to all concerned Off to start a new article... http://www.ukauthors.com http://www.ukapress.com

Again - my eternal thanks to you all. And others - please join in!