An Opinion Piece on Why Your Favorite Author's Book Does Not Get An Entry at Wikipedia.

DISCLAIMER:

Some people love artificial intelligence (AI). Some people hate it. Others don't care. I have made the determination that to survive the AI Apocalypse, it is imperative that I make a good faith effort to understand and work with this rapidly developing technology. If you don't like AI, feel free to skip this blog post, go about your life, and do your own research. AI is notorious for hallucinating and making errors. I do not attest to the accuracy of the information in this OPINION piece. Feel free to correct any errors.

Back in the day, like 20 or more years ago, I created the entry at Wikipedia for "Red Rover," the children's game. I did not cite any sources, include any images, or any of that. I just described the game in simple terms. Since that time, many diverse hands have revised the entry for Red Rover at Wikipedia, such that probably not a single word of my original entry remains. That's kind of the point of Wikipedia, where anyone can make edits, and what begins as a very imperfect entry improves over time. However, since that time, Wikipedia has become very rigid in what qualifies as "noteworthy" enough for a new entry.

I own all of the published books and graphic novels in the An Ember in the Ashes series by author Sabaa Tahir, All My Rage, and HEIR. I read the first book many years ago, and the first graphic novel a couple years later. By the time I read A Thief Among the Trees I was fuzzy on the details of An Ember in the Ashes, and so was not so familiar with the characters and so on. Since then, I had not made any further progress in the series, but I just re-read An Ember in the Ashes and A Thief Among the Trees.

Paraphrasing author J. Michael Straczynski, An Ember in the Ashes is not Game of Thrones with the serial numbers filed off. Where Game of Thrones draws inspiration from The War of the Roses and other medieval history, An Ember in the Ashes draws on Roman civilization. Game of Thrones: dragons, wights, and other magical beasties. An Ember in the Ashes: efrits, jinn, and other "Middle Eastern" folklore. Where Game of Thrones is decidedly adult content in my opinion, An Ember in the Ashes is classified as for Young Adults.

After re-reading An Ember in the Ashes, I had questions, such as how the Middle Eastern folklore plays into the story. For example, the character Helene, best friend of Elias Veturius, at some point gains the ability to heal by singing. Using this ability, she saves the lives of both Elias and Laia of Serra. Helene heals Laia's wounds, but does not heal the letter "K" carved in her chest. I visited Wikipedia hoping to find out more about how this ability of Helene's worked, while trying to avoid spoilers for the later books in the series. I was disappointed not to find the information, but also that the "plot summary" provided at Wikipedia was little more than a "plot tease" that essentially regurgitated the book jacket blurb for the novel.

In addition, I found that not only was there no entry for book 4 of this New York Times best-selling series in the bibliography section, but also there were no entries for the graphic novels. I was in the middle of reading A Thief Among the Trees, so I took notes and created a plot summary for this graphic novel, and attempted to create an entry at Wikipedia, with the expectation that once the entry was created, other hands could improve upon my initial efforts. For example, one could argue that my plot summary is too long and detailed, but I tried to be as thorough and accurate as I could, again expecting that someone else could condense the plot summary if that was appropriate. Even if my plot summary sucks, at the very least I didn't just paraphrase the book jacket blurb!

As it turns out, Wikipedia today has RULES! Lots of rules! For example, you are not supposed to just paraphrase the book jacket blurb and call that a plot summary. However, as you can see by looking at the image above of the plot summary at Wikipedia versus the book jacket blurb at the author's website, this is not a rule that Wikipedia strictly enforces. In fact, I was informed that the quality of the plot summary doesn't matter.

However, the rule that DOES matter, and the reason my entry for A Thief Among the Trees was declined, is because to submit a new entry for a book or graphic novel, you must absolutely provide 3 references from trusted sources that pay writers and fact checkers to demonstrate via detailed commentary and criticism that the book is "noteworthy." My position is that A Thief Among the Trees is self-evidently noteworthy, as its story is from a New York Times Best Selling author in one of the most popular and well reviewed series of the past 10 years.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH. WORTHINESS is not inherited!

As of early May 2025, Sabaa Tahir has 8 novels and graphic novels listed in the bibliography section at Wikipedia, with 2 more untitled books announced as being in the pipeline. Only 4 of her books are apparently "noteworthy" enough to receive entries, none since 2020 but All My Rage (more on that later). Now look at the bibliographies of Stephen King and George R.R. Martin. The vast preponderance of their novels have entries. Stephen King and George R.R. Martin are white men. Sabaa Tahir is a brown woman. When I pointed out that this smacks of racism and sexism, I was warned that I was being hostile and that if I kept it up, I would be banned from editing at Wikipedia.

Okay, obviously, racism and sexism have nothing to do with it. What else could account for the thoroughness of the coverage for Stephen King and George R.R. Martin versus the barrenness of the coverage for Sabaa Tahir at Wikipedia?

Well, Stephen King and George R.R. Martin have lots of produced movies and TV shows. It was reported that Sabaa Tahir's first novel was optioned back in 2015 before the first book in the series came out, but here we are 10 years later and there have been no substantial updates about the progression of the book from page to screen.

Hmmm... Why could that be?

Demographics of Novel Authors Behind U.S. Film Adaptations (1950–Present)

But of course, we've already established 100% that racism and sexism have nothing whatsoever to do with it, so how very DARE YOU bring that up -- AGAIN?!

Okay, so what else happened in 2020 that could account for the fact that 5 YEARS after its publication, A Sky Beyond the Storm, the FINAL CHAPTER in a best-selling New York Times series with wide critical acclaim, is not considered noteworthy enough to receive an entry at Wikipedia? It has 4.29 stars out of 5 at Good Reads with over 70,000 ratings and over 10,000 reviews! Unfortunately, Wikipedia considers Good Reads an unreliable source and it cannot be used to establish noteworthiness. So, again, what else happened in 2020? I mean, besides the worst pandemic in over 100 years that is still ongoing today?

Evolving Landscape of Literary Criticism Outlets (2020–2025)

The reality is that the world has changed since 2020, and web outlets that used to provide detailed critiques of books have either gone out of business or changed their focus. While you can find plenty of reviews for movies and TV shows, books get much less coverage, with the existing coverage being briefer and far less comprehensive than it used to be.

Impact of Declining Web Ad Revenue on Media Coverage (2020–2025)

The world has changed; Wikipedia has not adjusted to the new reality. My position is this:

Wikipedia should be ashamed that the plot summary for An Ember in the Ashes is just a regurgitation of the book jacket blurb. Someone should step up and correct the many many deficiencies in this entry. Wikipedia should be ashamed that so many of Sabaa Tahir's books have not received entries and they should recognize that the issue is not that these books and graphic novels are not noteworthy, it's that many of the organizations that would generally have taken note are defunct or have changed their focus toward briefer, less in-depth coverage, especially of books and graphic novels.

Now I don't imagine that if Wikipedia adds entries to Sabaa Tahir's bibliography that will make a difference in her book sales. For all I know, she might not care one way or another. As an end user of Wikipedia and someone who expects an encyclopedia to provide information, I personally am not happy with this state of affairs. If I want more information as I make my way through this series, I know that I cannot rely on Wikipedia, and so will turn to other sources instead. This makes Wikipedia less useful and less relevant going forward.

A knock-on effect of no entries for A Thief Among the Trees and A Spark Within the Forge is that Nicole Andelfinger, who wrote the scripts, and Sonia Liao, who drew the pictures, also do not have entries at Wikipedia, so you have no opportunity to review THEIR bibliographies or learn more about them. The same is true for other people who worked on the graphic novels.

The fact that an already established author does not receive this courtesy is not good for other up and coming writers. Wikipedia's rigid inflexible rules relying on references that are no longer available put up barriers for new authors. Now apart from gaining entries at Wikipedia, which again I would expect to have negligible effect on sales, the broader issue is that it is harder for new authors to gain recognition for their work, to achieve general "noteworthiness."

I don't have the patience to deal with the people at Wikipedia. They either get it or they don't.

My call to action for you is this: please recognize that the ecosystem for literary criticism is pretty much dead. New trustworthy organizations must rise to the occasion and provide substantive coverage, especially for new authors whose works have not (yet) been made into movies or TV shows.

Maybe you can rise to the challenge and become a Wikipedia editor who recognizes that the world has changed, that the 3 trustworthy references rules is unrealistic, and find ways to work around it.

If you are a "people person" (which I'm confident by now you can tell I most definitely am not), maybe you can lovingly and patiently explain to the folks at Wikipedia that their stupid rules are unfair to new authors, to women authors, and especially to authors of color.

If they respond, "Suck it, loser! New entries at Wikipedia require 3 references from no longer existing trustworthy sources that pay professional writers and fact checkers to provide detailed comprehensive evidence of 'noteworthiness,'" you can rest secure in the knowledge that racism and sexism have nothing to do with it, ESPECIALLY if the author is a white man. (Otherwise, you could lose your editing privileges at Wikipedia.)

UPDATE: If you are an author, should you care whether your book has a Wikipedia entry?

By the way, I am not an aspiring author, but I do write song lyrics. My SUNO (AI) generated albums are available at blaisefaint.gumroad.com and I have a couple of videos on my YouTube channel, Songs For The End.

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Plot Synopsis for A Thief Among the Trees by Sabaa Tahir

Spoilers!

Following is a link to a preview at Comics Beat.

A Thief Among the Trees by Sabaa Tahir with Nicole Andelfinger & Sonia Liao, published July 2020 by Archaia, is a young adult fantasy graphic novel by United States author Sabaa Tahir with Nicole Andelfinger & Sonia Liao. The story is attributed to Sabaa Tahir, the script to Nicole Andelfinger, and the art to Sonia Liao. It was published by Archaia (Boom Studios) in July 2020. It is a standalone prequel story in the An Ember in the Ashes series|. The story focuses on Elias Veturius, one of the point-of-view characters in An Ember in the Ashes, and two other members of his team of "Fivers," or fifth-year students at Blackcliff Academy: Helene Aquilla, his best friend in An Ember in the Ashes, and Octavius "Tavi" Fortus, another classmate who wears a beaded band for luck, as they work to obtain vials of poison from Isle South, which is an isle in the South.

Plot Summary

Elias, Helene, and Tavi are assigned a mission from Blackcliff Academy, understanding that if they fail they will die. Sailing toward Isle South, they debate the best way to approach the camp where the poison, extracted from the skin of salamanders, is to be obtained. Ultimately they decide to approach from the North, expecting the landing site to be deserted and to get in and out in one night. This is a mistake, as six Martial soldiers ambush them. Zak and Marcus, competing Blackcliff students, arrive shortly after, taking advantage of the ambush to enter the forest unscathed. Team Elias swims out to sea to escape the ambush and are separated. The following morning, Elias revives on the West Shore.

Before re-uniting with Helene and Tavi, Elias discovers a Martial prison camp and learns that the Martial soldiers on the Island are testing the poison on young Scholar children. The team makes camp for the night and Helene leads them to a supply outpost based on intelligence she received from Rallius, an "Older soldier who has a soft spot for upstarts."

Elias and Tavi have a discussion about the evil of the Martial Empire and the humanity of the Scholar children. Tavi suggests that they help the Scholar children but Elias vetoes the idea, giving priority to the success of their mission. Tavi hypothesizes that the supply for the poison is dwindling, so the Empire is trying to dilute the poison to make it last longer, based on his father's experience as an apothecary diluting various mixtures when supplies are scarce.

Helene rejoins Elias and Tavi, and they are ambushed by fellow classmates Dex, Demetrius, and Faris, who tie them with rope, Elias and Tavi to a tree and Helene to a large boulder. That night, Helene frees herself and her teammates and argues for murdering Dex, Demetrius, and Faris in their sleep, but Elias and Tavi overrule her and they instead negotiate with their classmates to team up to obtain the poison.

Tavi again tries to persuade Elias to help the Scholar children, pointing out that Elias is a leader that the others will follow. Elias again refuses, and the group travels to South End. They attack the camp but Elias, Tavi, and Faris are captured. Titus Sisellius offers Elias two vials of poison and a boat to leave the island if he kills one of his friends, but Elias refuses.

Sisellius tortures Tavi, breaking his band of beads, beating him, and cutting him on his left forearm. Helene, Dex, and Demetrius burst in and the two teams gain the upper hand. Tavi destroys the remaining supply of poison, surreptitiously pocketing six vials. Elias incapacitates Sisellius but Tavi persuades him not to kill him.

The two teams return to the dock and Dex, Demetrius, and Faris leave. Marcus and Zak ambush Elias, Helene, and Tavi, taking one of their vials of poison and leaving in the remaining boat.

Tavi proposes further distilling more poison to make a third vial. Tavi spends the night distilling the poison while Helene spends some time alone and Elias scouts the camp, learning that it is vulnerable to attack. Elias agrees to help Tavi attempt to rescue the Scholar children. Tavi examines the scratch on his left forearm, realizing that he has been poisoned and is dying, but keeps this information to himself.

Sisellius and his forces use dogs to track Elias, Helene, and Tavi. Tavi refuses to run, revealing his condition and announcing his intention to help the Scholar children. Tavi gives Elias the 3 vials of poison and the broken beaded band, asking that Elias tell his father what he did.

The Martial soldiers attack Elias and Helene at the beach, but Elias again defeats Sisellius, again not killing him, and just as Martial reinforcements arrive to overwhelm Elias and Helene, the fires started by Tavi draw the Martial soldiers away, allowing Elias and Helene to escape.

Upon their return to Navium Garrison, learning that the facilities on Isle South are being at least temporarily shut down, Elias and Helene debate whether the Martial Empire is responsible for Tavi's death, or whether they are. Knowing he will be severely punished, Elias returns the broken beaded band to Tavi's father in Montium, outside Navium, telling him that Tavi spent  his last moments saving lives. Tavi's father reminds reminds Elias, "don't let them destroy your spirit." They hug, and Elias begins the return journey, saying to himself, "My spirit is the one thing they cannot touch..."

Characters

Elias Veturius -- The future "finest soldier at Blackcliff Military Academy," still growing into his role. His pastimes include saving damsels in distress and betraying his best friend every chance he gets.

Helene Aquilla -- the only female in the same class as Elias at Blackcliff Military Academy and his best friend.

Octavius "Tavi" Fortus -- the third member of the team with Elias and Helene.

Fortus -- Tavi's father, first name not given. An apothecary living in Montium, outside Navium.

Marcus -- an arrogant bully destined to become the next Emperor of the Martial Empire.

Zak or Zacharias -- twin brother of Marcus, who tries to be a moderating influence on his brother.

Dex -- Blackcliff Academy Fiver working with Demetrius and Faris.

Demetrius -- Blackcliff Academy Fiver working with Dex and Faris.

Faris -- Blackcliff Academy Fiver working with Dex and Demetrius. He obtains a blow gun from one of the Martial soldiers on Isle South.

Titus Sisellius -- top Martial soldier on Isle South. His pastimes including poisoning little Scholar kids and blackmailing Blackcliff students into murdering other Blackcliff students.