Help:How to convert a novel to a "chapterbook"

A note about record type names
In this help page, terms in ALL CAPS are intended as the names of record types in the ISFDB database, and not as the names of types of literary works or publications. A "chapbook" is a type of publication, and a "novel" is a type of literary work, but a "CHAPTERBOOK" and a "NOVEL" are types of records in the ISFDB database.

Why the ISFDB "CHAPTERBOOK" type exists and what it is generally used for
In ISFDB terms (and in accord with the current standards for the Hugo and Nebula awards) a "novel" is generally defined as a work of over 40,000 words, although this definition is not always strictly applied. (See Help:Screen:EditPub.) Sometimes significantly shorter works (novellas or even novelettes) are issued as separate publications, in pamphlet, paperback, or hardcover format. The ISFDB supports the CHAPTERBOOK type (originally a misspelling of "chapbook") to deal with this situation. The CHAPTERBOOK type is generally used for a publication that contains a single work of short fiction, and possibly one or more works of nonfiction (prefaces, introductions, afterwords, etc). It may also contain interior art, and may have a cover art record.

It is often considered undesirable to have two separate fiction title records, of different record types, describing the same text in the database. This becomes a problem when a given text is recorded as a NOVEL when published separately, but as SHORTFICTION when published in an anthology or collection.

Other uses of "chapterbook" and related terms
Note that the term "Chapterbook" is used by publishers for books for quite young children. This is not the meaning of the term as used here. Books for very young children, when they are indexed in the ISFDB, are marked with the JVN (juvenile) flag, currently stored in the "storylen" field of a title record. They may be entered as NOVEL, COLLECTION or CHAPTERBOOK records, as may seem appropriate. Not all ISFDB editors choose to index such works at all.

Short collections or anthologies of poems or short fiction (particularly short-short or "flash" fiction, often under 1,000 words long per story) are sometimes marketed as "chapbooks". There is currently some disagreement among ISFDB editors as to whether such publications should use the CHAPTERBOOK type or the COLLECTION or ANTHOLOGY type. But in any case, such publications are unlikely to have been recorded as novels.

How a CHAPTERBOOK publication works
In general a CHAPTERBOOK publication will have at least three records associated with it. The first is the CHAPTERBOOK type publication record. This represents the actual publication, and includes details like the publication date, price, ISBN, publisher, page count, etc. The second is the SHORTFICTION type title record. This represents the text of the fiction, and will be associated with every publication of this text, whether in a "chapterbook", collection, anthology, or wherever. The third is the CHAPTERBOOK type title record. This stores title-level fields like series info. It will be associated with every "chapterbook" publication of the fiction, but not with other publications. If nonfiction items (prefaces, introductions, afterwords, etc) are recorded, each will have an ESSAY type title record associated with the publication. There may also be one or more INTERIORART type title records associated with the publication.

In many ways a chapterbook publication is handled very similarly to a single-item collection. A collection has a COLLECTION type publication record, a COLLECTION type title record, and one or more (usually more) SHORTFICTION type title records. It may also have ESSAY or INTERIORART title records associated with it. The analogy should be clear.

Converting a NOVEL publication to a CHAPTERBOOK
If an editor determines that an existing publication recorded as a novel is in fact a work of short fiction, and should be converted to a chapterbook record, the following changes should be made:


 * The publication record must be edited and its type changed from NOVEL to CHAPTERBOOK.
 * A CHAPTERBOOK title record must be added to the publication. This will usually have the same title and author(s) as the publication.
 * The title record for the novel must have its type changed from NOVEL to CHAPTERBOOK. If the novel has only one publication on record, this can be done from the same Publication Editor dialog where the other changes are made; otherwise the editor must click on the link from the publication record to the title record and click "Edit Title Data" to get the Title Editor dialog and make the change there.
 * Because the CHAPTERBOOK type is a container, you must also create a record for the content, usually of SHORTFICTION type with the same title as that of the chapterbook. Thus when you edit this publication record, and look at the "Contents", you should see two "story" content items there (very possibly with the same title): One as a "Chapterbook", and one as "ShortFiction". In addition, you can add content records for INTERIORART, and introductions or afterwords (as ESSAY types) if they're not already there.
 * After all of these changes have been made and approved, it is good practice to go to the author's page and run "Check for Duplicates" in case the fiction work was also recorded separately as a work of short fiction, perhaps in an anthology or collection. If so, it should probably be merged—but be careful in case the work was published in two or more significantly different versions.

Cautions about doing conversions
If a publication has been primary verified, it should normally not be converted from NOVEL to CHAPTERBOOK without consulting, or at least informing, the primary verifier.

Care should be taken in deciding to convert a publication record from NOVEL to CHAPTERBOOK. Page counts, while helpful, are not definitive. Any one of the following situations might indicate a need for conversion:
 * The same work is recorded as a work of short fiction in an anthology or collection.
 * There is a listing in the Locus Index (or Locus Magazine) as short fiction. (This is a relatively strong indication)
 * There is a review describing the work as one of short fiction (depending on the source).
 * The work was nominated for or won an award in a short fiction category. (This is often a strong indication, depending on the award and its rules and practices.)

An actual word count, when available, will often settle the matter, but there will be exceptions. Some works, although shorter than 40,000 words, are so commonly regarded as novels that it would only confuse users to list them otherwise.

Note also that some works of short fiction are later expanded into novels while keeping the same title. (For example "In the Presence of Mine Enemies" is a work of short fiction, while In the Presence of Mine Enemies is a novel.) Publications of such novels should not be converted to CHAPTERBOOK records.

If in doubt, consult with other editors, possibly on the Community Portal.