Nah, Nah! I've got more points than you do! (Page 1 of 2)

Two months ago, I had 1200 points, but then started posting two novels. I'm down to 840 or so.

Bill

My compulsive disorder would drive me to shoot for 4000. :-)

Jeepers.  I have about 2. something.  Used them all to post my work.  So how come I never see you all reviewing my stuff? lol  I am thinking of not posting for a while and just accumulate points.  I have one novel that passed the first cut for a publisher and one that may or may not be on another's  slush pile (they say they're looking at it.)  A third I've preliminarily published (first 100 copies free and then they decide, based on reviews and readership whether they will publish it, market it, and you actually get royalties from it).  And then there is the fourth volume in the series and the murder mystery with the characters from the series. It may be time to just be a reviewer for a while.  (Oh, and once published, I will take my novels down.)  Wow.  3,896.82. And me with less than 3.  Oh, and bitcoins is better.  You can buy real stuff with bitcoins. lol  Actually, even lindens, the "money" of Second Life is better.  You can cash that in for real money.  One guy I know earned enough djing in Second Life to pay his internet bill--which he needed to do in order to keep djing in Second Life. But you can post.  A lot.  Keep on trucking.

Norm,
I never pay attention to the point count. Until this post came up, I don't remember the last time I even glanced at it. I racked that number up the first year I was a member here while reading more than writing. I've gone down a lot in the number of novels I read. And, I've gotten in the habit of reading just a lot of first chapters. Without the pressure of remaining on the top ten reviewer list, I can relax and just read when I feel like it! If Sol ever decides to put that list back in place, I'll be burning the midnight oil again to stay on it!
Now days, I only read about 6-8 novels. But when I started here, I only had one book. Currently, I'm working on my 12th, so I don't have the time to read much anymore.

I'm new here so counting is easy. In a month and a half I've posted 10 stories gotten a total of 68 reviews and I have given 97 reviews.
But reviewing in hopes of a return is tricky.  You may have a reader faithfully following your stories but their writing is in a genre that holds no interest for you and it's not fair for you to comment. All I can do is offer them thanks.
John Matthews

I'm thrilled right now to have just around 150 stored up. I don't know how you do it. It takes me a while to read (and reread) a chapter/ short story, and I have to think about the writer's style and voice. I try not to make suggestions that would compromise either. I do this because I have, once or twice, received reviews that suggested so many changes that, if I had made them, I would have been writing someone else's story, not mine. (I think once I even told the reviewer to go write their own version.)
What I'm trying to say is that I work on my reviews. I don't turn them out fast. And I don't pile up the points.
More power to those who have the stamina to keep going. You must work a lot faster than I do.

The points system could use tweaking. I have no use for 900 points, but they keep accumulating because I read more than I'm reviewed. I do that on purpose because my reviewers are better at it than I am, so what my reviews lack in depth/quality, I try to make up for in quantity (e.g., I'm currently reading about four chapters from someone who reads one of mine). It's my way of trying to keep good reviewers.

The main tweak to the points system that I think would be fair would be to award points based on the number of comments left. Right now, you get all of the points for a posted chapter regardless of whether you leave five comments or fifty. The person who leaves fifty deserves more points, in my opinion.

Alice, I did it by reviewing whole novels. Some I reviewed twice. If you're really serious about posting your novel you're going to have to read and review. Find you a novel you like, there's lots of every genre on here, and you'll rack up a bunch of points before you know it.

I yield to the lady with 2013 points.

So many interesting comments:

Ann: Wow! Then again, I'm not surprised you went big with those points, and not just because of the Texas thing. There's an expression in medical training -- "see one, do one, teach one" -- and that applies to writing too. It's no coincidence the strongest writers on this site are also the ones who contribute the most toward helping others improve their craft. Thanks to you, I'll always try to lead and end each chapter with a hook, and I've learned to hate the word "that" and treat it like verbal kudzu.

Dagnee: I also miss the Top Reviewers list, and wish Sol would bring it back. Unlike the "vanity prize" of Top Story of the week/month/etc..., the Top Reviewer ranking gave useful information about who was most active on the site and most generous with their time. It would also be great if Sol could sweeten the pot by offering either bonus points or small membership discounts (e.g. $10 off for top reviewer of the month) to encourage those who are especially generous with their time. Super-active reviewers like Ann, JP, Jack the Knife, Seabrass, and others (sorry I can't mention everyone) are the engines that drive this site.

And finally, Alice: Welcome! I think most people start here wondering how they'll accrue enough points to post their material. It's harder when a writer posts but isn't ready for this kind of forum because their writing is too riddled with typos, grammatical errors, lack of focus, or other fundamentals; that's certainly not the case with you, so you should have an easy time getting your reviews reciprocated. When I read something new, I'll comment when the material engages me, but first, I'll always check the author's responses to other reviews. Authors who are defensive, dismissive of reasonable comments, or close-minded about their writing are harder to engage, so I'll pass on those. Again, clearly not an issue for you

That said, if you don't have the time to invest in the kind of "reciprocity capital" that this site runs on, you can still get invaluable feedback by consulting with a professional editor. Anita Mumm ("Mumm's the Word" website), for instance, gave me a brilliant analysis of my WIP at what I'd consider a reasonable rate. I only found out about her through the "Strongest Start" competition, since she offered to review the first three chapters of the winning manuscript as one of the grand prizes. Sometimes, it's worth the investment to get an experienced beta reader to go through your entire manuscript, then point out what works and what still needs revision. Hope that helps... Gray

I would love that. It would be an easy/ideal way to use up the spare points. But several people on the site are opposed to allowing this. Not sure why.

OK, I understand.  It's like those companies that ask you to rate their service and get upset if you give them less than excellent.  I guess you've hashed it out already