I need someone to review my manuscript Solstice Sacrifices.
To get people to review your work, you need to review other writers. Either use the point system or spend some time reading and reviewing. The members on the site aren't going to read your writing if you don't show you will reciprocate.
It also seems that publishing a chapter when several chapters already exist requires adding up all points for every chapter (rather than those points only for that one chapter) to publish.
If you are moving a book from a non-point group into a point group, then you must have the points to do it. The other way to do it is to start a new, point version of the book.
You can enter as many as you want. No problem on the report.
Our ISP had a problem this morning that brought the site down for about one hour. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Sol
We have a contest for the book writers in the Group but we didn't want to leave out the poets. So, here's announcing the 7-line Poetry Contest.
http://www.thenextbigwriter.com/contest … +Contest-6
Good luck!
"You further agree not to utilize the Site for the purpose of advertising or solicitation without the express prior written consent of theNextBigWriter,..."
Using Kickstarter or some other crowd-funding site has become a legitimate way to raise money for various projects. I assumed the group's members could discuss and determine if they wanted to contribute or not. I have often seen requests on the forum soliciting support for a newly launched book, or asking for a review on Amazon or some other effort to help a member's book project.
I gave permission for Mikira to post something about her campaign on the site so this did not violate the site's terms and conditions. The clause in the member agreement really refers more to soliciting an unrelated business or a competitive business and not actual writing produced on the site.
Sol
Mikira/Karen,
Anyone who contributes to this group is welcome to solicit the support of it. We are here to help writers bring their dreams to fruition and that's more than just getting feedback.
I wish you luck with your kickstarter campaign.
Sol
Are you joking?
Then maybe this site is not the right place for you.
I see no problem at all with someone who has developed their book on the site and spent the time to help others (as Mikira has done) putting out a call for some help promoting their book. In fact, I encourage it.
Let's worry about 1000s of promo threads if that happens. We can always find a solution.
Sol
Hi Tonya,
Yes, you may edit up until the end. We will pull the last version on the 31st and that is what will be judged.
Best,
Sol
Dirk is correct. You just post the revision as a new chapter and increment the version number. For example, say you want to put a up a new version of Chapter 3. You might already have Chapter 3, v1. Just post a new version of Chapter 3 with the changes and make it Chapter 3, v2.
You will not change the old chapter. Instead, you will post a new copy with the changes and increase the version number.
This allows you to preserve the older version and create a new one that reviewers can earn points for and that also goes to the top of the queue. Once you do this, you can decide to keep the old version live or deactivate it.
Sol
I think our disagreement is somewhere near this point: that the format of a forum would allow an extended exchange that the review format does not. The ability to add multiple reviews and to comment on other reviewers' inline comments moves us in this direction, but does not take us there.
What I'm hearing is that something in the current review process could be improved. There is not enough opportunity for back and forth feedback. Creating a forum link is one potential solution to this problem.
But another solution is to enhance the review process so that it does allow for a more extended exchange. Others have mentioned organizational issues. The best way to organize reviews is around the actual work, wouldn't everyone agree? So, I would submit, the solution might not be sending people over to a forum, but rather continuing to enhance the review process we have now.
What part of that process limits you from having a real exchange? Do you want threaded replies? Alerts when someone posts a new comment? Let me know.
I want to thank everyone for their feedback. I may sound a bit testy at times but I really do appreciate all of the deep thinking you are doing about this.
Thanks,
Sol
Sol. Something changed a couple of days ago. Now, when I begin an in-line review I cannot change the font size. The mouse turns into a 'hand', but nothing happens when I click it. I can change backgrounds and reverse the text, but sizing the font is unavailable.
Are you able to resize any in-line reviews? I've noticed that some content, depending on how it is posted, does not resize well.
Sol
Is there a way to send all of your connections the same message at the same time? Am I not seeing it? And if there isn't a way is that something we can look at?
Not currently but I do know it's a feature that has been worked on. I'll have to check and see where it stands.
Sol
I was trying to use my android phone with the default browser to respond to someone else's entry on the Wish List thread. I was able to read their part of the thread, but when I was typing my reply in the Write Message box at the bottom of the screen, after a few paragraphs, the view kept jumping up to display what I was responding to, rather than where I had been typing. I had to abandon the reply. This may be because my reply was too long for the android screen and things got confused. That's just a guess though.
Hmm. Not sure. I'll try testing it a bit. We did have an android problem with the forums earlier today. Try it now and see if it's better. Let me know.
Thanks,
Sol
Thanks Dirk. There are a lot of great ideas here. One sentence struck me a bit and I want to explore it a bit more.
Also, how would others who are not reading the book potentially participate in discussions if they have to search the bottom of each chapter for activity.
Why would others who are not reading the book want to participate in a discussion about the book? What this suggests is that every conversation, discussion, etc. about every book be made visible to every member regardless of whether they have read the material or not. Even Amazon does not do this. This to me this indicates that the forum discussion has become elevated in importance over the actual work being discussed.
I guess this is my main disagreement with those advocating for more forums. I don't see this site's primary mission to foment forum discussions, but rather to help authors fine-tune their writing. In the process, discussions will occur, friendships will be made, but it is all done under the framework of helping one another become better writers.
Thanks,
Sol
Okay! It's working again. Thank you.
Noticed the problem the same time you did. It's fixed.
The short story class is $120. Most of the money goes to pay the instructor. If you can find instructors who will work for free let me know.
Okay, I got it all. Some we'll do, some we won't. Bickering in the forum isn't going to change things. Let's move on.
I have some questions about military veterans that I need some help with. If anyone is a veteran of the US military or is presently serving in the military, let me know. I'd be interested in speaking with you. Email me at snasisi (at) thenextbigwriter.com. Thanks!
Thanks,
Sol
As I understand it (and trust me when I say my understanding is still wobbly), changing version numbers does not generate a for points 'new' content listing. Therefore, unless you make announcements and send private messages to everyone, it will never be seen as an edited version and they won't earn points for reviewing the rewrite. In order to generate a new content listing that offers points, you need to create an entirely new project--even if it's just an edited version of an already existing project. He's done this to replace the old 'republish' feature. While I like the fact that he did away with the exorbitant point sucker, I don't like being forced to turn a single project into endless multiples in order to continue getting valuable rewrite feedback.
This is incorrect. To publish a new version of a chapter, publish the new version like a new chapter but mark it as V2 or V3 or whatever the right number is. Then you can either deactivate the old version or even keep it up if you want your reviewers to be able to compare the two. The newly published chapter will appear everywhere and everyone will know.
If authors really want more feedback, then pray tell why don't they offer some opinion on all the comments left in the inline review instead of only a few words in the final comment section. You can agree or disagree with what was said or even offer a totally different interpretation. You can question why the reviewer sees things that weren't intended at all or show why you chose to do something a particular way and start a conversation in which others could offer various points of view. In other words, you've got a forum built into the review process just as Sol envisioned and implemented.
This is the purpose of in-lines but I don't think we are fully there yet. The problem is that there is no notification when someone posts a comments so the author and others have no reason to go back to the in-line. We're working on a new version of the in-line review system that will address this and hopefully move more towards the vision I have for the tool. I do believe this is the place to focus the site's resources as opposed to building out the forum system.
I am a member on another website, and the way it gets around this problem is that the dialogue box for the inlines contains two sections. The top 75% contains the entry text for your critique comments (it also scrolls as the text gets larger than the space). The bottom 25% shows the text you selected to edit. This section can be collapsed or expanded to be larger, and also scrolls. The inline box is also larger overall, so it doesn't feel so cramped. With this feature, the text you have selected to comment on is ALWAYS just below your comments. It's very convenient.
We can do this. I'll add it to the list for the second version of inlines we are working on.
When giving an in-line review, I highlight text, release the mouse, and almost always start to type. The GOTCHA is that the focus is NOT in the text box for the review - it is still 'out there, somewhere" on the web page and my browser receives the entered keys. Sometimes it just ignores them, but sometimes it can really mess up a web page or even take me completely OFF the site entirely.
Would it be possible to have the focus shift to the box opened for text?
Yes, we will look to add this to the new version of in-line reviews we are working on.
