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People have asked me a lot of questions about the List; here's the answers to a few of them.
If your question isn't answered here, or if you just have a comment about the
List, please do let me know! My email address is 
.
Please note that, if you email me information about books and stories and so, I assume that it's for inclusion in the List. So if you're sending something that's only intended as a comment for me, please be sure to say so.
Questions about the books on the List
Questions about the List in general
Questions about the Bookstore Browser feature
Questions about additions and changes to the List
Questions other web site owners ask
Many of the books on this List are relatively new; they should be
available (or at least readily available via special order) in just about any
bookstore. Other books on the List are out of print, sometimes long out-of-print;
they are very difficult to find. Bookstores that carry used books may have them;
your guess at to which stores have them is as good as mine. (In many cases, if I
knew where the book would be found, I'd have bought it there myself.)
In order to make the books easier to find, I have added a "Bookstore Browser"
feature. You'll see "[BB]" or "[BBT]" links next to some of the books
(eventually, next to all of them); these links take you to a screen that lets you view
various online bookstores' information on the book, and optionally order it. The Bookstore Browser includes stores that deal with both used and new books, as
well as several bookstore-search services; if you can't find a book through
the Browser, you can probably figure that it's going to be very difficult to
find.(Top) (98/04/19)
No, I can't. I really wish I could, but I can't. If I had more
information on such-and-such, it would probably be in the List (assuming that
"such-and-such" is transformation-related). I have tried to make the List as
comprehensive as possible; and I've added the search engine to allow you to
search for information on the topic you're interested in. That's about the
most that any one being can be asked to do, don't you think?
If you're looking for help, the best thing you can do is go to an appropriate Usenet group
and ask. (Top) (98/04/19)
No. Please do not ask me this question. I will not reply.
Believe it or not, I do not have a huge secret horde of transformation-related
adult stories. And if I did, and if I wanted to distribute them, they would be here.
If you're looking for the actual text of transformation stories on the net, then the Transformation Stories Archive is the place
you should be looking. There are many other story archives on the Transformation Ring.
I have nothing against adult-oriented stories. But there are already fourteen jillion
adult-oriented story sites on the Internet; there's really no need for me to
supply them as well.(Top) (99/12/20)
"Net stories" are stories that have only been published on the Internet; in some cases they were written by groups of people on a Usenet newsgroup.
For a brief while, I listed net stories. Then I reconsidered, and stopped listing them. I've now re-re-considered, and I'm listing them again. But please don't ask me to email them to you; I can't and won't do that. Each net story's entry has a link through which the story can be found.
Thomas Hassan's Transformation Stories Archive, at http://tsa.transform.to/, is a great source of transformation stories online. In addition, the Transformation Ring contains a great many story archive sites. (Top) (99/12/20)
Well, I was taking a fiction class, and one of the papers due for that class was a free write (you could write on just about any fiction-related topic your heart desired). Well, I decided to do mine on the use of the transformation theme in science fiction and fantasy. Which led to the next question: what books to write about? We weren't supposed to use books we had already read, which shot a lot of transformation-related books down for me, since I'd always been interested in them. And I quickly ran into an unanticipated problem: while there are any number of resources letting you find nonfiction books by subject, that sort of information on fiction in general, and sf/fantasy in particular, is spotty at best. At that point, I made two decisions that led directly to the founding of this List:
Well, I got email. A lot of it. Enough suggestions, in fact, that I probably wound up spending twice as much time going through them all and deciding which to use than I would have if I'd just picked a few books from the library at random and been done with it. Such is the price of knowledge. The summary of those responses wound up being the first version of the List. (Top)
Next question, please...(Top)
Well, in addition to the suggestions, I also got a lot of "Please send me a copy of whatever you get" and "That's a good idea!"-type responses--many more than I would have expected based on similar questions I'd asked in the past. After I posted the List, the response level, both submissions and requests for copies and so on, got even higher. For whatever reason, the List seemed to be a big winner. And given that level of interest, and the number of nice people I met by having them write me about the List, it seemed like a shame to let it die.
Besides, I've got ulterior motives. I've always had a very strong interest in stories of this kind, and through years of living next to used bookstores, I've managed to build up quite a collection of it. (Note to aspiring crooks: Said collection has a resale value of about 14 cents per pound, and I live on the top floor of an elevatorless building. Draw your own conclusions.) Maintaining this List is a lot like having your own book-finding service--all sorts of nice people telling you about books you've never heard of that you'll probably find very interesting. And all it costs is hours and hours of free time... (Top)
For as long as I can find an ISP to carry it. (There may be times when I'm too busy in Real Life to update the List regularly; but I'll still leave it running, and do whatever I can to maintain it.) (Top)
I love it when people ask this question. I'm not looking for financial help or anything like that; but there are some things that you could do--please read the Help Wanted page for more information. (Top)
For two reasons. First, many people are interested in one but not the other. Second, anthologies and non-anthologies are usually listed separately at bookstores, and anthologies are often shelved in a different order; so mixing books and stories together would make it more difficult to shop from a printout of the List. (Top)
Yes, at http://www.transformationlist.com/tsl/translist.text. Note that it may or may not be as current as the HTML version. If it's not, it's because I've forgotten to do it; please remind me via email and I'll bring it up to date.(Top) (99/12/20)
No; that's what makes it manageable. The text-only version is constructed automatically from the HTML version. The mainframe I use has the "lynx" Web browser; and one if its features is a "dump" mode--you can give it an HTML file, and it will output the whole thing as text just as it would be if you were browsing it. So I just use a script that does this for all the files in the document, adding some extra information before and after the List and in between each one; the script looks something like this:
cp transbeginning.text translist.text lynx -dump "translist.html" >> translist.text cat transdivider.text >> translist.text lynx -dump "transbooksa.html" >> translist.text cat transdivider.text >> translist.text lynx -dump "transbooksb.html" >> translist.text ... lynx -dump "transstoryz.html" >> translist.text cat transdivider.text >> translist.text lynx -dump "transspoil.html" >> translist.text cat transending.text >> translist.text
So when I update the HTML version, all I do is run this script to regenerate the text version. Then I quickly scan through the text version with a word processor and remove the "Where to from here?" navigation sections from the end of each part of the List, since they only apply to the text version. Even for a list this size, the whole regeneration-and- editing process only takes about five minutes. (Top)
Yes, absolutely. I do think that anyone with access to a Web reader should definitely use the HTML version; but there are plenty of people without that access, and the text version is still important to them. So the text version will stay. (Top)
I'd very much appreciate brief summaries for those works that don't currently have them (and those that do, for that matter).
Some works still don't have complete publication info; any information you can provide on these works would be most helpful. (Almost all of these works are flagged by a question mark where the publication info should be.)
For those works with
icons by the left margin (meaning that I'm not sure whether or not they
belong on the List, or that I'm missing critical information on them), I'd
greatly appreciate any additional information on these works that you can
give me.
Ideally, all the listed works should have at least a basic explanation of what is transformed into what and how. If you're familiar with any of the listed works that don't have this information given, I would very much appreciate your providing it (though be sure to let me know if it constitutes a spoiler).
I would like to make the List a bit nicer to look at. There are three limitations to this: I don't want to make the pages take longer to load; I don't want to break older browsers; and I can't draw worth beans. But I'm working on it.
And of course, new works are always more than welcome too. (Top) (98/04/19)
Just because, okay? Seriously, if there's a question that you think should
go in this list, just email it to me ()
and I'll probably include it. (Top)
Guilty as charged. I have always felt an extremely strong attachment to wolves; the prospect of physically being one is extremely appealing to me, for a wide variety of reasons. (If you've read my stories, you may have suspected this...) I have "shapeshifting dreams"--fairly often, though not as often as I'd like--and I treasure them highly, If you accept the "spiritual lycanthropy" definition of alt.horror.werewolves, then I'm a spiritual werewolf with strong coyotish leanings. If any of you are looking for beta-testers for your new Lycanthropy Serum, please feel more than free to look me up... (Top)
Let me know the particulars (the name of the store, its Web address, etc.). There are certain technical limitations on the stores I can link to; but if I can, I will. (Top)
The Bookstore Browser window will send you one cookie whenever you change
bookstores. (The bookstore you're sending to may also send you additional cookies; I have
no control over that.) This cookie is used to remember the last bookstore you used--so
that, the next time you click on a Bookstore Browser link, it will give you info from the
same store. If your browser doesn't accept cookies, the Browser will still work just fine;
you'll just have to select a bookstore manually each time.
The cookie does not contain any identifying information about you, and it's not used for
any kind of statistical tracking; it's just used to remember the default bookstore. (Top)
Please let me know, and I'll move it to the spoiler section. (Top)
Absolutely. I always welcome additions or corrections to the List; please
email them to me at . Any
work that has transformation in any form (lycanthropy, genetic engineering, some forms of
vampirism, magic spells, curses, whatever) as a theme is eligible. It doesn't matter if
the story is any good or not, though it would be nice if you tell us if it's lousy so we
don't go in with any false hopes.
There's now a prototype version of an Add New Contribution page, which will prompt you through the process.
If you prefer good old-fashioned email, that's more than fine with me; just email me at the address above. For each story you want to add, please give as much of the following information as possible:
For a while, I had the excuse of incompetence--I couldn't put together a mail filter that would reliably do the job of sorting incoming mail without eating it. Now I no longer have that excuse. So I have to rely on a more basic one; I have about 10 hours' too much stuff to do every week...
I have a job which I greatly enjoy, and which pays very well, and which takes up large chunks of my time. I also have a few things besides transformation stories that I like to do in my spare time. As a result, work on the List sometimes gets delayed, and I build up big backlogs of mail. I am truly sorry about that. I am trying to get better at managing things. But experience has shown that I can't promise to answer mail within a set time frame; if you get the auto-acknowledgement when you send me mail, that means I did get it, and it will be added to the List as soon as I make it through the backlog. (Top)
I'll take what I can get; the beauty of it is that someone else will probably provide the missing information later. (Top)
Well, long enough to say what you want to say, and not too much longer. It's good if you at least describe what gets transformed into what and how; it doesn't hurt to at least briefly mention whether or not the book is any good (but try not to dwell on this aspect; this isn't a book reviews list). More than ten lines of text describing a single book is probably excessive, though I'm flexible with this rule when what's being said is good. When in doubt, say too much; I'll edit your entry down to size if I have to. (Within reason; if you send me eighteen pages, I'm likely to just chuck it. If I had time to read and condense a huge entry, I'd have time to read the 450 books in my "to do" pile.) (Top)
Yes, that's more than fine. However, please read the previous question. Since you're a published author, I'm sure you're familiar with the virtues of writing within the guidelines of the publisher you're submitting to; the guidelines here are "no more than ten lines or so, reasonably objective". And if sufficiently provoked, I do send back rejection slips...
If you send me your publisher's press release about a book complete with glowing cover jacket quotes, there's often not a whole lot I can do with that; press releases are often pretty vague about the actual plot of the book they're plugging, and the cover jacket quotes just aren't appropriate here. If you can't come up with a ten-line summary of the book you just wrote, how do you expect me to do it?
Of course, if you give a URL to another site with more information, I'll include that in the Web version. (Top)
Just tell me this, and I'll list it in the Spoiler Section anyway; better safe than sorry. (Top)
I'm very sorry; in a list this size, it's bound to happen. Just let me know and I'll fix it. (Top)
You don't have to; that's my job. Just send in the information as plain text, and I'll add all the necessary HTML stuff. (Top)
You're welcome to use the HTML formatting tags; <EM> for emphasis, <cite> for book titles, and so on. You're also welcome to use links. I would ask that you not get carried away with formatting, though, and that you not use lists and headings and so on; a consistent look is important for making the List readable and manageable. Inline graphics will not be allowed. If necessary, I'll edit the HTML part of your entry to make it work with the List. (Top)
If you think something should be listed, send it in; I'll try to find room for it somewhere. (I just added sections for movies and TV; they're still waiting for content, of course...)
Please be at least somewhat discriminating; list only things where transformation plays a significant role in the work, not just a special effect that's glossed over quickly. (For example, a comic book hero with a secret identity does not constitute a "transformation story"...) (Top)
I list contributors' names, but not email addresses or any other information (unless they specifically request it). I do not privately give out any information that does not appear in the List, even if I know it, which I usually don't. (Top)
Well, I prefer to give contributors' names here; I'd like to think that this topic is not so weird that people feel a need to hide their interest in it. ("Hi; my name is Phaedrus, and I'm a transformaholic. It started small--a Werewolf by Night comic here, an Amber novel there. The next thing I knew, I was freebasing Jack Chalker...") But if you feel that you don't want your name here, I can work with that; just pick a nickname that's not unbearably corny, and I'll use that instead. (Top) (98/04/19)
Absolutely. All I ask is that, if you mention my name, spell it correctly.
If you link to the List, I encourage you to link to the main page-- <http://www.transformationlist.com/tsl/translist.html>. Or, if your site revolves around something I cover in one of the Focus sections (like lycanthropy), feel free to link to that Focus page instead.
You can link to other parts of the site as well; but bear in mind that I reserve the right to rearrange the other pages if necessary. If you link to a different part of the site, I encourage you to check it every so often to make sure I haven't moved it out from under you. (Or use the URL-minder service to do that.) (Top)
In most cases, absolutely.
I'll link to any site that I think that the readers of this site will find value in. Just email me and ask me. (Of course, if the readers of my site will find value in yours, the users of your site will probably find value in mine... hint, hint...)
There are just a few lines that I draw:
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