I missed all of those clues. Either I'm duh! (quite likely), or they weren't as obvious as you think. Your other readers would be a better judge.

3,727

(342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I found that I am unable to search for the author amy s using the find feature on the menu at the top (the magnifiying glass icon). I tried Amy, amy, Amy S, amy s, and s. No luck. Makes me wonder who else is not being found in searches. My own username works.

amy s wrote:

What is it about the heat that makes people shoot shit? I mean, come on guys!

Are we talking diarrhea or gunfire here? :-)

3,729

(520 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

KHippolite wrote:

Oi... the guy destroys the entire universe. It's very hard to beat that kind of death tally. Unfortunately, he takes out the Guiness Book of World records in the process, so there's no way to record his merits

The whole universe? Yeah, I don't think I'm going to be able to top that. I kneel before Chancellor Palpatine Blue. A Namika if ever I saw one.

3,730

(342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

There is still something not right about the way the Visit Your Groups control works on the home page. Sol, you said the links to topics go away when it's been read. I'm not seeing that at all. It behaves as if there is a timeout on the links, but without a predictable amount of time. I added comments to several threads in the medieval group today, and they showed up in the control right after that, but then disappeared only a few hours later. Other times, I've seen thread links displayed in the control for much longer periods of time.

Is it that the links go away when the *originator* of the thread has read it? That might explain the unpredictable behavior I'm seeing.

Thanks.
Dirk

EDIT: Case in point, this post. After I left it, I saw the link appear on the home page. I went in, read it, and then came back to the home page. It's still there. I'm fine with that, as long as it's there long enough for regular (daily) visitors on the site to read them.

3,731

(342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I found another bug in the x-lines. If you leave a review and then want to go back in to add something (e.g., if you thought of something else to add), if you click on x-lines, the edit box at the bottom of the review is incorrect. It's showing what appears to be the unformatted database text (e.g., with <p> paragraph markers and so on), instead of a proper text box. The bug is reproducable.

3,732

(520 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic &amp; Sci-Fi)

Kajo. Kajo. Kajo. I'm sick to death of Kajo.

Oops. Sorry. That was Amy projecting. I hear voices, too, you see.
Dirk

3,733

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Basic)

You've probably already googled for tutorials on dialogue. If not, they're out there, as are cheap e-books on the same subject (e.g., Dynamic Dialogue by William Bernhardt for $4 on Amazon). The other way is just to start reading/posting. Comment in your book content summary and chapter notes that you're looking for help writing dialogue. Eventually, you'll find reviewers who do it well and can help you with it.

3,734

(342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I had the same thing happen to me, Tom, except with the site's own messaging system. I think I was trying to message the same person twice. I'll try refreshing if it happens again.

3,735

(342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Sol, time permitting, can you please delete the orphan review reply in my account. My home page shows that I have one review reply waiting for me. It's from Don Chambers. He took the chapter down before I could read his reply to my review, and now I'm unable to read the reply and clear the reply count on my home page. The date on his reply is March 17, 2015.

Thanks.
Dirk

3,736

(28 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Janet Taylor-Perry wrote:

I did do Kindle select in the beginning for the higher royalties. However, you can opt not to have auto renewal. Then, you can upload to Nook and other electronic sources.
...
And as for Createspace, they do market your books to other vendors. Hey, B & N can order my stuff for you.

Janet, does this mean Createspace won't market/distribute your book to other vendors as long as you're a member of Kindle select?

Thanks
Dirk

3,737

(28 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I thought y'all might find this interesting: http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2013/05/ … s-for.html

3,738

(28 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Check out CreateSpace. It's owned by Amazon. Several authors here use it. Contact Janet Taylor-Perry for details. Also, google for information about such sites to find reviews about them.

3,739

(342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

For the foreign character problem, I found that the word processor here on the site handles the characters just fine. It's only when you save and display the chapter in the posting view that the characters are converted to ?

EDIT: It appears to be a problem with the way the information is stored in the database. Once I open the chapter back up in the word processor here, the character is also a ?  So, it displays it correctly the first time I paste it into the word processor. It then saves it as a ?

3,740

(23 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Not everyone posts to Premium, Janet. I currently review the work of an author who posts in a private group.

3,741

(23 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

JL Mo wrote:
Adrian Lankford wrote:

The Endurance Points thread got me thinking.

Would anyone support author give Bonus Points... Thoughts?


I just posted this on the Endurance Points thread. Since it's relevant to your suggestion, I'm adding it here, as well.


"...Let's say I have 1000+ points in my account. I can afford to pay reviewers. But, poor John Doe, who just joined the site, doesn't have two points to rub together. He couldn't pay for reviewers, so he's screwed out of those reviewers who won't get extra bonus points for reviewing his stuff. They will come to me, instead..."



So, that would be the inherent problem with author given Bonus Points.

When I came onboard, I got a few courtesy reviews from people that I quickly realized could really help me improve my writing. I knew they were "in demand" so I applied myself, learned how to do good reviews, and read more of their work than they did mine, out of fairness. The problem with that was I finish their book long before they finish mine and, if I'm not interested in their next book, I either have to force myself to keep reading them, or risk losing them altogether, which is a virtual certainty if you don't recip. In that event, I'd rather read stuff I'm interested in and use the "money" to reward a great reviewer for continuing to read my stuff. If a new person doesn't have two points to rub together, then they need to read more so they can eventually afford the best reviewers. In real life, if I can't afford a great editor, I can either use one that is run-of-the-mill, or I can work more to earn money to get the very best.

3,742

(32 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Sending an occasional gift of points to someone isn't likely to run out of control, since it takes a lot of time to build them up. But I recently received two extraordinarily detailed reviews where the reviewers put in hours of effort. I would gladly read extra works to build up enough points to reward them from time to time, just as I read to get enough points to publish. If I know someone is new and trying their best to give a good review or trying to stay with me, I'd probably give them an occasional gift as well.

There are people who read more than they write (me included), so we've built up quite a horde. Once those are spent, however, the system equalizes for everyone and you have to read even more to get the points to give away. If someone is a prolific writer and puts up stories at five times my pace, and they're getting lousy reviews or people don't stick with them, then they need to slow down and read more.

There are other reviewers who give barely any feedback and they're getting the same points as someone who goes out of their way to give better reviews. The current system doesn't reward the quality of reviews. It's a communist economy, where everyone gets an equal share no matter how much or little effort they make. Let the cream rise to the top.

As for giving incremental credit for later chapters, the points can come from the system, just as the system currently gives extra points for reviewing new members.

3,743

(23 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

That's mentioned as a poosible addition/alternative in the endurance points thread. I think it's great idea. I think it would have to come out of your own points, though, otherwise it becomes like a ratings system, which didn't work on the old site. Everyone got top ratings so the author wouldn't offend anyone. If the points don't come from you, then authors will be inclined to give them to everyone. I would gladly pay my own points for excellent reviews.

3,744

(32 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I've learned to stick to books I want to read, or where I want to keep the reviewer. Usually both. As a result, I'm down to about half a dozen readers. That also makes it easier to keep up with reciprocating while also writing.

I do think, though, that being able to give reviewers an occasional boost of points in return for great reviews would be terrific, as well as incremental points provided by the system for later reviews.

3,745

(32 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

The way I deal with great reviewers currently is to try to read more of their work than they read mine. The only downside to that is I usually finish their book before they do mine, so I may lose them later in my story, unless they've got another book online that I also want to read.

If I don't want to deal with someone in real life, I avoid them. Same principle when it comes to blocking. If someone offends me and I want to block them, that should be my decision. I'm paying to be here after all. Why put up with trolls?

3,747

(32 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Adrian Lankford wrote:

I don't even have a book to post and I love this idea.

LOL.

I really like the idea of increasing points as the number of chapters reviewed grows higher. At least that gives us some way to reward long-term reviewers.

I'm not sure about rating reviews. That used to be the case on the old site and most people are too polite to give any less than five stars to avoid insulting/losing reviewers.

3,748

(32 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

What I would love is the ability to give some of my points to reviewers that I most want to hang on to. I don't mind if some of my readers drop off. Usually the ones that drop off have become disinterested in my story and aren't really providing great reviews anymore. I have, however, received tremendous feedback from a couple of my regular reviewers, but can't reciprocate equally because their writing is so much better than mine.

dagnee wrote:

Charles,

If I write a poem on growing old, I don't see how a reviewer's opinion of growing old would improve my writing. As for Hitler, that example further proves my theory if you have a good plot writing style does not matter.

big_smile

Perhaps they might say something about growing old that makes you rethink how to write your poem. Or perhaps you build a relationship that leads to better and ongoing feedback. ... Now you're going to block me, aren't you? tongue

As for Mein Kampf, it's heartening to know even psychopaths can write bestsellers. There's hope for me yet!

3,750

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I'm not an artist, but my favorite image that comes to mind is someone sitting hunched in front a computer, with a clock that says 2 AM, eyes bugging out of the face, and with frazzeled hair. Perhaps a pencil/pen behind the ear. Papers and books lying/stacked everywhere. One book could say dictionary, another thesaurus, and another grammar on the spines.