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Minor request. Can we have Reading List as one of the options on the READ menu on the home page. I know it's on the main menu on the right, but I frequently look for it under the READ menu. Not a big deal. Just a nice to have, especially for people still getting used to the site.

Thanks
Dirk

Jemma, are you a premium (paying) member? The reason I ask is because I'm not sure if the process is the same for free members. You can try it.

For premium members, go to your home page and click on the large Post Your Writing button at the top of the screen. That takes you to your portfolio view. If the chapter is the first in a new book, click on the big red Add New Content button and it will walk you through the steps to post new writing.

If the chapter is for a book you already have up on the site, you should see the book listed at the bottom of the portfolio view. Click on the Action Menu next to the particular book you want to add to, and select Add Chapter. That takes you to a screen to add your chapter. You can publish to any group that you're a member of (e.g., Premium). You'll need points to publish, which you can earn by reading and reviewing the chapters of other authors on the site.

If you're trying to *replace* an existing chapter with an updated version of the same chapter, follow the Add Chapter workflow. Select the chapter number you want to replace and increment the version number. You'll need points for this process as well. Once the new chapter is published, you can decide if you want to hide the previous version of that chapter, or leave it visible so reviewers can compare the old and new, if they want to. Don't delete the old chapter until you're done with the reviews, since any chapter you delete also deletes the reviews associated with it.

There is also a way to edit existing chapters and replace the content without points. For that, go to your portfolio view as described above, and click on the aforementioned Action Menu. Select Edit instead of Add Chapter, and it will allow you to edit the existing content. That won't cost additional points, but it also won't pay additional points to anyone who has already read the chapter you're editing. It will pay points to anyone who has not yet read the chapter.

I hope that helps.
Dirk

Actually, dagnee, I think we're talking about the same bug. On the Send a Message tab, there is a scrollable list that cuts off too soon and you can't see all of your connections. When you click on the list to see the names, right above the first name, a text field appears that you can type into. If you type in the first few letters of the connection name, it automatically filters the list as you type. It's a workaround, but it should make it manageable.

Dirk

Greg, your book is currently posted to groups and connections, but the group(s) you published to don't seem to include Premium. Whatever the cause, I can't open your book. Most people publish to Premium in addition to appropriate genre groups (e.g., sci-fi, thrillers, etc.), which gives them the widest possible exposure on the site without explicitly exposing it to the Internet. If you add it to Premium and then read/recip with others, you'll probably get a lot of the feedback you're looking for (from big picture down to individual nits). If you haven't already published your work to a points group, it will cost you points to add it to Premium. Publishing on the site with points also means site readers will earn points for reading it.

You can also connect with Janet Taylor-Perry here on the site. She's an English teacher, self-published author, mother of five, and still finds free time to work as an editor. She's been invaluable to me.

Welcome back.
Dirk

It looks like everything is published correctly, and you have one regular review already on chapter two. I suggest you start a conversation thread in one or more appropriate group forums (e.g. the genre group for your work and/or Premium) introducing yourself, the novel, and asking for reviews. You can then either wait a few more days to see if anyone reads more, or begin reading other people's work so that they will, hopefully, reciprocate on an ongoing basis. You'll almost certainly need to begin reading other people's work to get them to read three of your chapters. It's very time consuming to review three chapters, espercially if there's no reciprocal relationship.

Dirk

SquarePeg, this is the first I've ever heard of virtual book tours, although it sounds great. Besides the advertising and blogger reviews, are there live Q&A chat sessions or some kind of forum like this one where we pop in and out? I followed your link and looked around, but I wasn't sure about that aspect.

Thanks.
Dirk

Hi Dunecan. I don't understand item 1. Are you saying that longer chapters aren't broken up into as many paragraphs as short ones? I must be interpreting that wrong, since the way you break up a story into paragraphs shouldn't really be related to chapter length.

Long chapters do make for a more difficult read. It requires setting aside larger chunks of time to do a single review, whereas short chapters can usually be reviewed in perhaps fifteen minutes. I like short breaks from other parts of my life, so I'm glad the site encourages short chapters. I would think that's true for eventual readers of the complete book as well.

For item 2, are you talking about putting the whole book up on the site for beta readers? I've seen other published authors here take down their content once the book is published, leaving only a few chapters behind to whet someone's appetite. If you don't want to review all of the chapters of someone's book starting with chapter 1, you could simply read 1-10 without leaving reviews, then start reviewing chapter 11.

For 2a, why would you want to deactivate chapters from receiving reviews. It gives you more feedback and encourages readers to review your stuff so they can get points to publish their own work.

My biggest problem with the second draft of my book is that I consider the first half of that draft to be of very poor quality, and I'm getting repetitive feedback about those chapters while I work on finishing the second draft. However, I keep it up, because I occasionally pick up a new long-term reviewer, which I couldn't get if I made them read ten chapters before they could start earning points.

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding your questions.

Dirk

Stephen, I really like your story. You have an almost poetic writing style.

As others have suggested, earn some points and post it and you'll probably get a lot of useful feedback. There are some terrific reviewers on the site. If you don't get enough feedback after you post, feel free to join some of the genre-specific groups and drop a thread there introducing yourself and asking for reviewers. However, you'll probably pick up most of your reviewers by reading their stuff first, and they then reciprocate. In addition to the feedback they give, you can also learn a lot about writing from reading their stuff. Since writing time is precious, I whittled my list down to about eight great reviewers, and I learn as much by reading their work as I do from them reading mine.

Also, read the reviews left by others for stories that you yourself also review. It will make you a better reviewer and give you great writing tips about any weaknesses that may apply to your own stories. Reading the reviews left by others may also help you identify which authors on the site make a real effort and leave the best reviews. You can then read their stuff and, hopefully, pick up excellent reviewers that way too.

Welcome to the site.
Dirk

I'm wondering if the best way to handle this would be to have a "global" page of all topics/threads, grouped by group name. In other words, one place to go to see all threads in the system, grouped by Sci-fi, Fantasy, Premium, Writing Tips, etc. The content for the global page would be the topics/threads from those actual groups, simply presented as a global page. Posting a new topic on the global page under a certain group would automatically place the new topic in the appropriate group's forum, as well as show it on the global page. This would be a nice way to show all threads for the whole site in a single place where we could quickly scan/scroll through the lists of topics. in one place. Obviously, it would need search and filter capabilities to narrow the result set.

The global page would have to have a function that allows a user to join "open" groups immediately, without leaving the global page. Groups with restricted membership would probably need limits on what can done from the global view (read-only, read-write, or completely unavailable to others outside the group).

This approach could also eliminate the need for resurrecting the old forums, since all posts would remain attached to a group, but shown in a way that the old site's users are used to. It's just a different view of the same database.

Dirk

Any time you "publish" to Premium it will cost points. That can be if you publish a chapter for the first time, or if you decide to publish a different version of the same chapter for people to review again.

You can also "edit" existing chapters, without it costing points.

Click on the menu at the top right of the home page and select Portfolio. It will provide a list of your works on the site. On the right hand side, click the Action menu for the work you want to update. You can choose Add Chapter or Edit, depending on what you want to do. Either choice takes you to a 5-step workflow to add or change your work.

Editing work allows you to incorporate changes for future reviewers to see, and they'll get points for the reviews. Those who have already reviewed the work will not get points for reviewing it again, unless you publish it as a new chapter, using the Add Chapter workflow. Add Chapter will cost you points.

If you want to publish a chapter to replace an existing one, follow the Add Chapter workflow, but give the new chapter a different version number (e.g., chapter 2, v2 instead of chapter 2, v1). You can then decide whether you want to leave the old version of the chapter visible for readers to compare before/after, or simply hide the old one. Be careful about deleting old chapters, since I believe the reviews on the old chapter disappear with it.

Hope that helps.
Dirk