Greetings!

Welcome to the site, Betsie. I'd suggest joining the Writing Tips & Site Help group as well, where you can ask whatever questions you may have as you try to familiarize yourself with the site, and someone is sure to answer. If your request is urgent, or you want to maximize the number of eyes that see it, feel free to post directly to the Premium forum. That's one of its common uses, and is generally the fastest way to get help.

Since you're probably still in your trial phase, trying to see if the site is worthwhile, here are a few tips for you:

- Be sure to post your chapters to Premium in addition to any other groups that you think are appropriate for the written piece (you must be a member of a group to post your writing to it). The Premium group requires points to post in, but that ensures everyone on the site will see it on their home page. Also, it's where the most experienced writers usually look for posted new work to review. Those are the folks whose eyes you really want on your writing.

- The best way to get reviews is to give reviews. Go to your home page and dive in. The longer the piece, the more points it pays.

- Be sure to thank those who review your work in a timely manner, and reciprocate by reviewing their work in return, unless you really just can't stand their stories. It happens, but then let them know it's not something you normally read. However, trading reviews is how to build your network of reciprocating writers (and friends) and gather points to post your own work. Even if points weren't required, you would still need to reciprocate to get other writers to continue to review your work (they need feedback too). And reading their work, even if outside your favorite genres, generally makes you a better writer by having you study the writings of other authors, a number of whom on this site are already published and very experienced.

- The site forums tend to be fairly quiet, although I personally use the Fantasy/Magic & Sci-fi forum for brainstorming with other writers about my works in progress. You may notice that there aren't a lot of posts after 2019. That was the result of a major server crash (the backup disks went down with it), which required our site admin to restore the site all the way back to 2019. Everything (posted works and forum discussions) dated from late 2023 onward is new. Our admin says he put new procedures in place to avoid a repeat.

- Some of the site's veterans have been here over a decade, myself included. While it's a small site, the caliber of the reviewers ranges from quite good to excellent. If, after the trial period, you're still unsure of whether to set up shop here, I'd suggest trying the monthly plan until you're certain one way or another.

- The Quickee communication feature on this site is rather confusing (new members almost always send themselves Quickees at least once, rather than to the person they intended). Still, it's the only way to communicate with someone until you've sent them a connection request (and they've accepted), or they've sent you one. Most members use connection requests and the private messaging feature. Quickees are public, by the way, so anyone can see what's written there. You can delete Quickees sent to you.

That's all I can think of for now.

Welcome and please let us know if you have any questions.
Dirk