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Here are a few quick tips to help you navigate our site, you may want to print this out so you can easily follow the step-by-step instructions.
1. How do I add my book cover?
2. How do I link to my profile?
3. How do I add my photo to make it look like the others?
4. Can I make changes to my listing?
5. What is PDB Fast Blast and why should I sign up for it?
6. How do I update my Profile?
7. What tabs are available to me and what are they for?
8. How do I add images to the Photo Gallery?
9. How do I post in the Forum?
1. How do I upload my book cover?
Follow the information below to Login and to enter the "My PDB
Profile" area. From the square "edit" menu, choose "Update Your Image."
A new page will come up.
From this menu, use the "choose file" button to navigate your
computer and locate your cover (front only) file. Then click the
"upload" button. This is the image that will be shown in all searches
and in the forum.
This image should be 250 pixels tall and 72 dpi (low resolution). If
you use an image that is too large, the system will reject it. If you
use an image that is too small, it will not show up well on the page.
Try what you have, if that doesn't work, contact us for help.
2. How do I link to my profile?
Would you like to add a link from your personal website or other site direct to your profile on the Polka Dot Banner? If so, the easiest way is to obtain that link is as follows. Under the menu item "Our Books" choose "Search Books/Authors." From the menu that comes up, type in your name. Click the small magnifying glass to begin the search. Your book cover and short description should appear. Click on your book cover or name and that will take you direct to your profile. Copy the link from your browser's path window. This is the URL you need. You can also add a banner logo to your personal web page. Once you have logged in, click the "Links" menu item, then "Banners/Logos." Follow the directions on the page to add a logo.
3. How do I add my author photo to make it look like the others?
Contact us to add your photo for you. We add these from the backend to keep them looking great. This is only available to Star Authors.
4. Can I make changes to my listing?
Yes! Feel free to change out links, update reviews, add new information. See a typo? Feel free to correct it. Just remember to save your changes before clicking off of that page.
5. What is PDB Fast Blast and why should I sign up for it?
The PDB Fast Blast is our means of alerting our authors about coming promotions, updates to the site, and traffic to our pages, and most importantly, it's where we share whose profile had the most hits. If you are new to the site and are not yet receiving them, please do sign up for it by filling in the box at the top right of this page. Just enter your name and email. You'll begin receiving our notes almost right away. You will be asked to click a confirmation link in your email. If you do not receive this confirmation, please let us know. We cannot send you our newsletter without this confirmation due to spam laws.
6. How do I update my Author Profile listing?
Follow the steps:
a) Login at the top of the main PDB page.
b) Enter your user name and password that you set up during the registration process, and then click the "login button".
c) When you login, you are taken to the Member's Help page where you will find a personalize menu at the right-hand side of the page. From this menu, you can access your profile and subscription details.
d) To update your profile, click "My PDB Profile" link. Your
profile should appear.
e) At the top left of your profile just above your name are two grey button boxes. Point to the one that says "edit" and a drop down box will appear. Click the "Update My Profile" menu item.
f) A new group of tabbed menus will appear. There are quite a few bits of information to add, the most important are the contact information (what the PDB sees); the short book description (viewable in our searches); your book cover (see below for more on that); and other standard book info (ISBN, pricing, publisher, etc.) There are additional tabs that you can fill in to enhance your profile. If you leave them blank, they will not show up on your profile.
IMPORTANT! There is a time limit before the server locks you out, so you may want to save (click "update") after completing a larger field or several tabs. Make sure to click the "Update" button when you are done, or it will forget anything you changed.
NOTE: Look for the little blue circles next to the fill-in fields, if you
point to them, they give you information about what that field is
for or how to use it.
Check these other details:
• From the Contact Info tab, make sure you have
the JCE_Editor. That is the best (and easiest) one to use.
• From the Contact Me tab (the one the public sees) check (or
uncheck) the boxes that correspond with anything you're willing to
do as an author (sign books, online chat, etc.) You can also choose
to add your email or address here. That's up to you. This
information will be visible in this tab.
• From the "My Book" tab, scroll all the way down and
check whatever categories you would like your book to be listed under.
Note that we use the book cover as the profile image
so that it shows up in the searches.
7. What tabs are available to me and what are they for?
Short Book Description: (available to all)
Author Photo: (Star Authors (SA) (we place your photo on the site for you). (Note that we may be placing advertisements in this position in the future on no-cost listings.)
My Books: (SA) Includes Book Title and SubTitle, Publisher, ISBN, pricing, and Book Categories. This tab also has a long book description that is straight text, and an "Additional Book Info" field that offers the full use of a word processor allowing for fancy titles, images, and HTML.
Contact Info: (All) This is mostly private information not visible to anyone but you and the PDB. For the field "User Editor" select JCE_Editor (this is the easiest and best editor to use. PDB paid for the use of this editor versus other free editors.)
About Me: (SA) Is a text field where you can add in your bio.
Testimonials: (SA) Offers six boxes for testimonials about your book(s) and a box for Awards. Leave a box blank if you don't want it to show on your listing. If you have more than six testimonials, you are welcome to double them up.
My Links: (SA) Fields to add links to your website, blog, POD casts, reviews, and more.
Buy Now: (All) Link to your book on your favorite sales sites. Leave a box blank if you don't want it to show on your listing.
Contact Me: (All) These fields become public information, so leave any blank you don't want to share. This also includes checkboxes for your availability if you'd like to be invited to book signings, speaking engagements, or if you offer coaching or other services. Just check whichever ones you want to show up on your listing.
Forum Preferences: (All) These fields are for setting up how the forum will appear when you view it. In the signature box, feel free to add the same signature you might list at the bottom of an email and it will show in your forum posts. The forum is a great way to add links to page one of the site and to grab more views on your profile listing.
Lesson Plans: (SA) Teachers say they love finding lessons plans they can use in class. If your book lends to classroom use, you will find creating lesson plan gives you additional hits on your profile. If you need ideas on how to create one, do a Google search or ask a teacher for help. This field offers the full use of a word processor allowing for fancy titles, images, and HTML.
Book Clubs: (SA) Librarians say they love finding discussions for Book Clubs that they can use. Novels are particularly good for Book Club discussions. You will find creating Book Club discussion gives you additional hits on your profile. If you need ideas on how to create one, do a Google search or ask a librarian for help. This field offers the full use of a word processor allowing for fancy titles, images, and HTML.
Events: (SA) This tab is for listing your forthcoming events, signings, and other special offerings. Keep it up to date! This field offers the full use of a word processor allowing for fancy titles, images, and HTML.
Newsletters: (All) We are currently using aWeber to deliver our stats newsletter as aWeber mail is more reliable and less likely to end up in your spam file. However, watch this tab for forthcoming newsletters and for changes in the future.
Guestbook: (All) This tab allows you to set up your Guestbook so that friends and fans can leave you messages. Best Settings: all to yes - however if you want to monitor what people say before they appear on your listing, set Auto Publish to "no". Whenever anyone leaves you a message, you will need to approve it before it shows up.
Photo Gallery: (All) These settings refer to your images in your photo gallery. You can leave a short greeting, check your storage limits, choose how your images are viewed, and who can see them (we recommend you allow public access.
8. How do I add images to the Photo Gallery?
a) Login
b) Click the login tab on the menubar and then on "view my profile."
c) Scroll down below your profile and book description to where the additional information about you is located.
d) Click on the Photo Gallery tab
e) Click the red link that says "Submit New Gallery Entry"
f) Give your image a short title (longer ones will be cut off). Use the description field to elaborate.
g) Search for the image on your desktop by clicking "Browse."
h) Click the "Submit Gallery Entry" button
i) Review your entry.
j) Once it appears, you will see three edit images below it when you are logged in. A trash can to delete it, a folder/globe to unpublish it (keeps it in your folder but it is no longer visible to the public), and a paper/pencil to edit it.
Note, you are allowed 10 images. Images may require approval. If they do not show up right away, it may be they are awaiting approval. If so, just be patient and a PDB member will approve them as soon as possible, usually within a few hours.
9. How do I post in the Forum?
a) Login
b) Click "Forum" on the main menu bar (unless you are already there.)
c) Make sure the page is fully loaded and scroll down noting the topics available.
d) Click on the topic you want and that will open to other posts or click "new thread" to start a new discussion on that topic.
e) For a new thread, a word processor like page will open up. Type a subject, then write your post. You can also select an image to attach, such as your book cover.
Note: The "Boardcode" buttons are similar to a word processor representing things such as bold, italics, and underlining.
"Code" is for inserting actual web coding (popular for geek sites).
Check the "subscribe button to be notified when someone replies to the post.
"URL" is to add a link, (hint, post your link between the two [URL] symbols.
f) Click preview to view your post (which is far easier than trying to edit it afterwards when you find the typo). After, you are then given some choices including to view your post or visit others.
g) For replying to a post, click to view the post you want to reply to. Scroll down to the bottom of the post. You can choose between "quick reply" and "reply." Quick reply opens a text box directly below the post, while "reply" opens up a new page with the same word processor as above.
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