Oh Great PTB:
In March or April of next year, my book titled “Bad Astronomy” comes out. As you may or may not know, I am a longtime and loyal Doper, having posted helpful and humble (heh) astronomy advice many times. When my book comes out, would it be kosher for me to announce it here at SDMB, or is that against the rules? I have mentioned it in threads where appropriate, but would a thread started by me about it be okay? If so, where could I do such a thing?
This is a touchy subject, because we want to avoid people getting into the habit of advertising at the Straight Dope Message Board. On the other hand, we do encourage people to share information about good books that they have read, especially those that reflect the proper Straight Dope spirit (skepticism and scientific inquiry.)
A moderator of one of the relevant fora, or an administrator, can give you the final answer, but IMHO such an announcement could be made either in MPSIMS or Cafe Society, with the caveat that your post should say something like “I’ve written a new book and I’m proud of it”, but not include a link to any site where people can purchase it. In that way the Teeming Millions can learn of your magnum opus but it’s not so crassly commercial as including an advertisment in your post.
But like I said, I’m sure other moderators/administrators will be here to give the final word.
It would, of course, be completely inappropriate for The Bad Astronmer to start a thread about his book.
Polkadyne will have to start an IMHO thread about whether TBA is better than Carl Sagan. Fenris will have to start an MPSIMS thread about astro-groupies attacking TBA at a book signing. Tamerlane will have to start a GD thread about . . .
Of course, every GQ thread vaugely connected with astronomy will also have to be answered with a link to TBA’s book. 
Hey, BA, you post the announcement and I’ll be more than happy to post the link. Hell, I’ll be happy to buy that sucker and discuss it ad nauseum if it makes things kosher with the CS or MPSIMS mods. I found your site long before I found the SDMB, and it’s fought much astronomical ignorance among my friends.
The Bad Astronomer,
When your book comes out, would you be so kind as to send a link to the GQ mods?
Thanks.
DrMatrix - General Questions Moderator
Well now, thanks everyone. I’ll be sure to be discrete (buymybook) whenever I have to post something (buymybook) on the SDMB (BUYMYBOOK).
Yeah, it’s kind of a thin line.
On the one hand, we don’t want to ever be a site where people just dump off posts on whatever they’re flogging. If you wanted to deal with that sort of thing, this could be USENET.
OTOH, we’re all for the eradication of ignorance wherever it may be and certainly the publication of such a book dispells a ton of it. So it’s worthwhile to us to mention such a book.
At the same time we are very thrilled for you and want to be supportive of you as we wish to be for all our friends in the Teeming Millions.
So we’ll allow some notice and some discreet mention and certainly whatever’s in the book is up for discussion and debate and etc.
If any of you are in doubt about some project of your own that you wish to share with us here at the Straight Dope, the smart thing to do is to send us information on it ahead of time, Ask Us First. The worst thing we can say is no and we really try hard not to.
Congratulations, my dear, this is wonderful news. May you sell a zillion copies.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
PS Is there any advertising coming with this? Perhaps your publisher would like to buy some banner ads? Then you could flog it to your heart’s content and we’d all be happy.
Hey, *The Bad Astronomer, send me a review copy and I’ll be sure to cite the hell out of it every chance I get. That’s what the good folks at American Heritage did, and look at what I do for them!
TBA… congratulations!!! I too, like minty green, discovered your site independent of SDMB. I was at first shocked when I saw your username, thinking that someone had ripped off The Bad Astronomer, but then quickly realized you were one and the same.
I for one will happily purchase a copy, for I have been long impressed with your knowledge and ability to express yourself… to shamelessly paraphrase Sagan, “may you sell billions and billions of copies.”
Okay, I’ll bite: what did you do for them?