51 Reply by Don Chambers

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I agree. I'm not sure what the shelf is intended to be. I shelved all the works in progress I'm currently reading, assuming it would make it easier for me to find them to review on my home-page, but that doesn't seem to happen. I also notice that the only shelved books that appear on the crawl are published books available on Amazon, many not workshopped on the site.

I guess it's just a free-for-all at the moment and it means different things to different people. I probably won't bother using it anymore, frankly.

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52 Reply by Don Chambers

(33 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

njc wrote:

If you're going to offer downloads, how about an open document format?

That would be really useful.

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53 Reply by Don Chambers

(14 replies, posted in Cop Shop)

jack the knife wrote:

Speaking of Tommy Lee Jones, how about, "U.S. Marshals"? Same theme, actually, as with "The Fugitive." But I'd put "Bullitt" and "Heat" above it. "The French Connection" deserves a nod as well. And how can we forget "Dirty Harry"?

I'm with you. "Dirty Harry" and "Bullitt" are at the top of my list. Neither was very realistic, but who cares? smile

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54 Reply by Don Chambers

(10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

If you don't care about having a hard-copy of the book, you can just go the e-book route and publish on Amazon for the Kindle. It's easy, fast, and completely free. There are lots of online tutorials to tell you how to start.

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55 Reply by Don Chambers

(217 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hi Sol,

I haven't seen a response on a couple of bugs I've reported previously. So, I'm following up. They still are occurring.

1. When I've writing a review or answering one, hitting <return> takes me to the top of the text box. I can only go to the next line by clicking on the start of it. I don't have that problem in the Forum text boxes. I'm running Safari 7.1 on a Max (OS 10.9.5).

2. I'm still getting lower review credits than is stated on the chapters, even if I have one of the first 3 reviewers. I think njc has it right, the 25% credit isn't being added - or the amount stated on the chapter is wrong.

Cheers,
Don

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56 Reply by Don Chambers

(14 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Basic)

njc wrote:

Oh, quite right.  I forgot they added that.  Shows how long it's been.

Did they ever get rid of the blockdata statement?  That was one of my interview questions for people who claimed to be Fortran aces.   I don't recall one candidate who even came close.

Yes and no. Starting in Fortran90, they use "modules" which duplicate a lot of the functionality of common blocks. But most compilers still recognize F77 code and blockdata statements with the right options.  I still like common blocks and use them all the time - once you understand them, they work very well.

I never expected to be discussing Fortran in a writing newsgroup. smile

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57 Reply by Don Chambers

(30 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

SolN wrote:

We're going to remove the feature that recalculates points. I want to simplify the system, not make it more complex. If the site doesn't mind having people add tons of content and not paying more points to review, I don't have a problem with it.

Hi Sol,

I think this is a good solution. I never noticed anyone adding tons of content after an initial publish. If this did occur, I suspect it was only a few individuals. Occasionally, I added a few paragraphs or so, but I think this is fair as the process of workshopping evolves. I think most of us are members to give and get feedback of stories in progress. Letting us make minor edits as we go to avoid duplicated reviews is extremely helpful.

Cheers,
Don

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58 Reply by Don Chambers

(14 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Basic)

njc wrote:

Yes, unless you're working in Fortran.  (Or did they fix that?  I haven't looked in eons, but it would seem to go against the spirit of the language.)

In Fortran, the array generally starts at 1, unless you define it differently (i.e., in the dimension statement, saying array(0:100), or even array(-100:100)). At least that's true since Fortran '77.

Don
(aka, a Fortran defender who still regularly programs in it)

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59 Reply by Don Chambers

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Yes, I've had the exact same problem and reported it yesterday in another forum post. I haven't heard any reply yet as to the cause, whether the site value is too high, or the review points are too low. I'm glad to see it's not just me.

Don

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60 Topic by Don Chambers

(2 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I just noticed a small problem with the points assigned for the reviews I've done recently. All are less than the amount indicated at the top of the chapter, by about 0.5 to 0.7.

Examples:

Into the Mind of God, Chapter 21 - stated: 2.94, awarded: 2.35
Into the Mind of God, Chapter 22 - stated: 2.015, awarded: 1.64

Fringers, Chapter 2 - stated: 2.43, awarded: 1.94
Fringers, Chapter 3 - stated: 2.425, awarded: 1.94

Seems like there is a glitch in the system somewhere.

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61 Reply by Don Chambers

(259 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

graymartin wrote:

What's up with the limit of 5 groups you can join with Premium membership? Seems like a small number, especially given the fact that 2 of these are taken up with "TNBW free" and "TNBW Premium." Am I the only one wondering about this? Gray

Agreed. Seem to me it should be 5 in addition to the "Premium" and "Free", at a minimum, and perhaps more than that for Premium members.

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62 Reply by Don Chambers

(30 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

SolN wrote:

That's not what happened when I made two minor changes to two of my chapters. In one, I deleted two words. I was charged 0.22 points. In another, I shortened the Chapter Title by two words. For that, I was charged 0.07 points. Not a big deal in the scheme of things, but it appears we are being charged for ANY edit, regardless if it makes the content shorter or longer, or if we even replace a word with another one.

I just tested, adding and removing content. I was charged when I added extra content but was not charged for deleting content. Please point me to the content where you were charged for deleting content.

Hi Sol,

Here are the two chapters I changed, and what I did:

1. Chapter 3 of Translate Slowly. The original sentence read: "It would be many years before John would give up the Mustang his father had purchased new in 1969." I deleted "in 1969" so it now reads: "It would be many years before John would give up the Mustang his father had purchased new."
under the points tab, it now shows:
11/15/2014    Post    Translate Slowly (a John and Liz Collier mystery)    TheNextBigWriter Premium    -0.22    88.22

2. Ghost War, Chapter 1. Original title of chapter was "Ghost of a Chance (Ghost Dance sequel)". I deleted all of that and replaced with "Ghost War"
under the points tab, it now shows:
11/15/2014    Post    Ghost War (Ghost Dance vol. 2)    TheNextBigWriter Premium    -0.07    88.15

In both cases, I hit "Update and Submit" after making the changes.

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63 Reply by Don Chambers

(30 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

SolN wrote:

What happens if you shorten a chapter in the process of editing, and then add the text back?  Are you charged for the addback, or does it work on the basis of the max you've ever reached?

Post work and then delete, no change in cost points or review points. Then you add back, you will be charged for the add back.


That's not what happened when I made two minor changes to two of my chapters. In one, I deleted two words. I was charged 0.22 points. In another, I shortened the Chapter Title by two words. For that, I was charged 0.07 points. Not a big deal in the scheme of things, but it appears we are being charged for ANY edit, regardless if it makes the content shorter or longer, or if we even replace a word with another one.

I used to update typos and revise sentences in response to reviews so new reviewers wouldn't comment on the same problem. Now, because it appears to cost points for any edit, I'll just leave and update in my version off-line.

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64 Reply by Don Chambers

(5 replies, posted in Thriller/Mystery/Suspense)

It will, according to Sol, although he's mentioned he might grandfather those of us who have works in progress to post to a new group without points. Until the groups get more established, I'm continuing to post my stuff in the Premium group. I may post future work in the subject groups, but I'm waiting to see how they are utilized.

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