[ale] cvs problems

[j.t. holmes]

In a directory with 10 files I execute the following

export CVSROOT=$(pwd)/alacvs

cvs init

then

cvs add Work.list   (Work.list is a file in the current directory)

cvs add gives this error
cvs add: in directory `.':
cvs [add aborted]: there is no version here; do `cvs checkout' first

I know it doesnt like something but what is that something, did a
skip a step, i did not perform import because I only want selected
files from the current directory in the cvs  repository.

thanks in advance for any help
jt