Listing book sites that don't sell directly

If an author or company publishes a book and posts content about the book and does not sell it directly but has a link to Amazon or another shopping site where the book can be purchased, is there an appropriate category in ODP to submit the site that contains info about the book or the section of the site that contains info about the book?

There are categories for specific titles such as:

http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Publications/Books/Business/Specific_Titles/

but they state that only sites that sell books can be listed. At least some sites in these categories fit the scenario above (provide info and seem to be the official site for the book but sell via affiliate link to Amazon).

The description on the category says inappropriate submisions may be excluded from the directory. According to the description, some of the submissions that have been listed could result in the site being excluded from Dmoz. What exactly merits a listing in this category? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

In order for a site to be listed in Shopping it must sell something from the site. If the only way to buy the product is through an affiliate link the site does not qualify for shopping and will not be listed. Basically, you need your OWN shopping cart to get a listing in Shopping.

Sites for information about books or authors go somewhere in

http://dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/

You are going to need quality unique content to get a listing in Arts - any affiliate links are going to count against you so make sure that you concentrate on your unique content and not on the affiliate links.

Hope this helps -

We see a lot of such sites submitted. But for most such sites that I have seen, the answer is, "no."

It's definitely not "Literature" -- it's "book promotion (advertising)."
It's definitely not "Shopping" -- there isn't unique sales content. (The book is available from Amazon.)

Other content typically included is the blurb from the book jacket, a promo bio from the author's publisher, and excerpts from glowing reviews (if any) from newspapers, etc. (Think of a full-page ad in the NYTRB, cut up and pasted onto several webpages. But no matter how you cut it, it's still just an ad.)

Thanks for the info hutcheson
and thehelper. So if someone or some company publishes a business book and creates a website about it but does not have the backend system to sell it directly from their website, the site should not be submitted to ODP because it would not fit in shopping. Arts/ would be an inappropriate place to list a business book.

It would be more correct to say that such a site could be listed, but not as a shopping site, and not in the guise of being a literature site. It either needs to sell the book directly, so as to qualify for shopping, or provide sufficient unique content that it stands on its own without regard to the link to Amazon.

Do you mean to describe sites which would have affiliate links to Amazon? Or are you speaking of authors and publishers who wish to disseminate information about their books, but are happy with their profit margins or royalties without trying to also generate affiliate revenue?

I believe arlarson has said it very well.

arlarson,

lots of small independent authors market their books through amazon - there's a special program for that. Then they set up a site and link to their own book on amazon.

They aren't publicizing other people's books, just their own.

If someone pubishes a book (a real book, not some e-book affiliate type scam) that it would make sense to submit a site about it to ODP. The bulk of the content might be info from the jacket. It might have some reviews, it might have some sample pages, excerpts, or even a chapter. In either case, it's content that is probably not listed elsewhere in the directory, though it might be similar to that contained on Amazon or B&N. Lots of times such a site will provide a means to contact the author which may be very important to the author as well as someone who likes the book.

A site like http://www.jeffcox.com/ that provides information about a bunch of business books but doesn't sell wouldn't be apropriate for shopping cause it doesn't sell but since its business, its not a match for arts either.

On the other hand, a page like this:

http://www.goldratt.com/cgi-bin/cp/exec/cp-app.cgi?usr=7845113&rnd=9166907&pg=store&sub_pg=main_cat&ref=8

with substantially less content could get accepted in shopping because it sells books directly.

Can't remeber for sure, but I think I stumbled across this one http://www.nickusborne.com/networds.htm in the Google directory originally when looking for books about writing website copy.

It's a great idea to have categories for books in ODP. It's nice to actually be able to get in contact with authors and learn more about them and find the official book sites. Even if the main difference between the site the author puts together and the info on Amazon is an email address it is added content and is nice to be able to find in the directory.