Writer's Thread

**Shasta** · July 13th, 2009

I know there's no spam and advertising allowed but is there a way a thread can be opened where people who write can inform others about their books? Like, I wrote a book about..... you can get it......

This way people wouldn't HAVE to be bothered with it but they can go look at what is out there by other members. I would be very interested in reading SK boar member's stuff....

**Moderator** · July 14th, 2009

This would set a precedent that I would rather not do on the public side of the Board and create more work for me in having to make constant judgment calls as to what should go through as well as having to explain to new members why their link may not have been approved. This may not seem like a big deal because most posts that have fallen into the "prohibited" category are never seen but there are a lot more than you might think from people who are not Stephen King fans but are merely trying to capitalize on the exposure his site would give them.

It does sound like it would be a good fit for a Social Group, though. At least on that side those who would be posting would have had enough experience with the Board to know the rules and the same would go for those who would be able to read the thread.

**michal** · July 14th, 2009

Ms. Mod is very right. Being a content writer for the internet myself I can assure you that any sign of weakness in this matter will lead to the message bored turning into a playground for spammers and "Traffic Seekers". Plus, adding this many outgoing links will have a negative affect on the site as far as search engines are concerned.

**Mr Nobody** · July 14th, 2009

Might be wrong but there'd be no way for 'outsiders' to know about/advertise on the Social Groups section. Right?
Maybe just join the Writers' Group over there and plug away?!

**Moderator** · July 14th, 2009

That's correct that Social Groups aren't visible to Guests. Unless someone has joined the Message Board and made the required number of posts to allow them access to the Social Groups, they would not be able to post any messages with links. If they went through that process and then started spamming, we would be able to ban them once we were made aware of the situation.

**Shasta** · July 14th, 2009

Originally Posted by Moderator

It does sound like it would be a good fit for a Social Group, though. At least on that side those who would be posting would have had enough experience with the Board to know the rules and the same would go for those who would be able to read the thread.

A social group! Ingenious! I knew you would know what's best!