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I responded to the survey. I haven't been posting here or on Goonreads much because I haven't written any more fiction. I'm grateful for your hard work and I wish I could contribute, but my website takes up most of my time at this point in my life.
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Mar 4, 2013 03:16
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Received the survey and will be responding. I really do want to be more involved in the communtiy, I just have a major time crunch with currently writing two novels at once, buidling an online retailer, and a day job. This is the kick in the rear end I need, though.
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Mar 4, 2013 04:49
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Yeah, I hear everyone. I didn't really do much with the site for nearly a month due to running a business, working full-time, and being involved in a couple projects and just fun past-times, including writing. However, I still check about once or twice a day and am on top of approving any books and new registrants. Survey results are very helpful, and everyone seems to be on the same boat on everything. There's a little differing opinion about erotica and whether it should be all in its own section (mostly because it would be easier to find and highlighted for people looking for just that, but also because about 15% of the survey respondents so far would rather it be separate for other reasons). I don't really have an opinion on it, but could think of some ways to organize things differently if goons want that.
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Mar 4, 2013 05:34
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I responded to the survey. To reiterate, I think Goonreads' author focus is the wrong approach. What makes Goonreads attractive is the site's relationship with the SA community. You need to do everything you can to cultivate that connection. You need to model Goonreads after Goodreads, bring in readers from the overall SA community, and give readers features (e.g., bookshelves, reader reviews, book groups.) When you keep readers happy, you keep authors happy because with happy readers comes sales, traffic, and visibility.
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Mar 4, 2013 06:43
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Adraeus posted:I responded to the survey. To reiterate, I think Goonreads' author focus is the wrong approach. What makes Goonreads attractive is the site's relationship with the SA community. You need to do everything you can to cultivate that connection. You need to model Goonreads after Goodreads, bring in readers from the overall SA community, and give readers features (e.g., bookshelves, reader reviews, book groups.) When you keep readers happy, you keep authors happy because with happy readers comes sales, traffic, and visibility. I'm still focused on authors because the project to me still seems to be in its early stages. It launched in October, and after about two and a half months of some pretty active posting of books, the thread died for a month and no new books have been posted since January. It still feels like a beta site to me where I'm trying to gauge interest from the original contributors to see what they want at the site since lack of participation has been odd after such initial interest. Also, I think the "you need"s above should be changed to "we need" (outside of my particular role of implementing site features). It's not my sole project; it's ours. I just offered to buy the domain and build the site. Let's take care of basic participation and thread life and promoting around SA first (all of which I've done as best as I can with PMs to mods and authors, buying an ad, mentioning in other threads) and build a community willing to be active before expecting boosted book sales and/or some really nice features you brought up--though I will begin to look into these things too. They are all great ideas.
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Mar 4, 2013 09:08
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Just finished up the survey. I'm willing to do what I can to help. Time is an issue for me, but having some sort of "marching orders" to build my time around can be a major help. I'd also be more than happy to promote goonreads on my blog. I like the idea of eventually building the site out for readers, so that SA readers can associate that as sort of the official author hub for goons. Still a long way to go for that, but I think there's a lot of potential here.
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Mar 4, 2013 15:07
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I think, upon reading more surveys, that there are some excellent suggestions. Again, I'm just going to reiterate some previous requests here since the thread has been a little more active: -We need another volunteer to program some new features. Squibbles has helped in the past but is limited by time and experience. Maybe someone who could figure out how to add bookshelves? -Going by survey response, it seems people want someone to market the site in order to drum up SA and other traffic. I've been doing what I can, but feel that building the site and continuing to add to it takes up a lot of time. I'm not the marketing type. Maybe we need a volunteer for that too. There was a suggestion that we make this like Goodreads, but they have an actual staff, which we don't. Realistically, we just need a group of people who can volunteer their time; otherwise, I predict a sort of cool but stagnant site. -For writing reviews, it is currently done in the comments section of each book post. Hardly anyone has utilized comments, and some have suggested that they prefer that reviews on their books would hopefully be written at Amazon or a bigger place. We could still copy them at Goonreads, however. Is the comments section okay for reviews? If not, how else would you see that being implemented? -Someone in the survey mentioned doing podcast interviews and featuring a book each week that would drum up some interest on the site. I think this is a great idea, but it would involve the participation of consistently willing authors too. Currently there is a big promotional slider for books, but only four people have ever sent in a banner for that area. There are two other used promo areas (and one unused, which we could put into effect), and some instructions for submitting books to those areas, but nobody has ever requested their books be added there. I have chosen books kind of randomly for these sections. I think this is an example of why I'm still pushing for further participation before spending more time adding features to the site. -There was a section for writing contests (which would involve a bigger audience at SA), but I recently took it down due to no comment or interests in that section. It was, and can still be, one way to involve others at SA in visiting the site. I think once all these building issues get decided upon and sorted out, we could potentially start a new thread without the growing pains and really try to keep it alive with actual content at the site rather than construction of the site, which could be boring to anyone not directly involved yet. Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Mar 4, 2013 |
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Mar 4, 2013 18:33
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I uploaded my goony-as-gently caress Fifty Shades parody that I finished in January, and filled out the survey. Sort of. I've had a link from my wordpress blog to Goonreads for a while now, but that probably won't do you much good as I don't have a huge amount of traffic. One thing that just occurred to me though - what's up with the Twitter? By the looks of it I'm the only follower, which is not good. Is there something we can do with that to promote the site, authors, blogs etc?
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Mar 4, 2013 20:44
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Just got about five new titles today  I did reserve Goonreads on Twitter but haven't put any content up or advertised it. I'm still trying to get our FB page up to 30 so we can see statistics. Twitter is at https://twitter.com/Goonreads if you want to follow it, but I'll need to put some content there at some point. Typically people have volunteered to help with this stuff, so if you want to be an admin at Twitter, please let me know.
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Mar 4, 2013 22:37
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Desmond posted:Just got about five new titles today I'd be happy to help with the Twitter.
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Mar 4, 2013 22:42
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Have to confess that I wasn't aware of the featured aspect being open like that. I'm going to read about that.
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Mar 5, 2013 02:45
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Twitter is on, so follow and spread the word please!
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Mar 5, 2013 18:25
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Following it, and thanks! Feel free to change the design. If anyone else wants to help tweet crap, let me know. I hate using twitter but will update from time to time.
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Mar 6, 2013 01:15
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Desmond posted:Following it, and thanks! Feel free to change the design. Yes please! More volunteers please. If you can be witty in 140 characters please help out with the tweets. Or even if you can't. Just do it.
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Mar 6, 2013 17:34
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More survey results are in, and I think we should move soon from development of site to audience-building. But that's up to everyone as a community to help with. Edit: Due to some feedback, I will be messing around with the theme in the next few weeks. There might be some intermittent maintenance notices. Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Mar 8, 2013 |
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Mar 6, 2013 20:17
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Tweeted Goonreads. Sorry it took me a few days. I'm pretty interested in the review exchange, I'll have to check that out. I don't really know how to float out offers to review - does anybody really check their messages? Is there anywhere we can just find a list of authors who want reviews who will read your novel and write a review of their own? I'd feel weird and spammy just sending messages to random authors. I'm totally down with handing out free copies of my novel in exchange for reviews.
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Mar 11, 2013 23:37
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Careful with review exchanges on Amazon though. They have some policies against that sort of thing. From their review guidline FAQ: quote:To help illustrate, here are a few examples of customer reviews that we don't allow: http://www.amazon.com/gp/community-help/customer-reviews-guidelines (See the FAQ link)
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Mar 11, 2013 23:47
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I've signed up on the blog and followed the twitter, shame I missed the survey. All my stuff's still in the opening stages, but hopefully I can at least be useful until some of it's ready.
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Mar 12, 2013 01:41
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Squibbles posted:Careful with review exchanges on Amazon though. They have some policies against that sort of thing. I was under the impression that the reviews would be on Goonreads. I know that doesn't do much for my Amazon listing, but it still helps... and goons are pretty merciless, so it's not going to be all kittens and rainbows. e: I mean, on the other hand, I can't really deny them the right to leave my book a 1 star review on Amazon if they think it sucks. 
Theoretically fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Mar 12, 2013 |
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Mar 12, 2013 03:06
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Edit: I slightly revised the review exchange process, where you can fill out a form first for a review request. Then your info will go on a reviewer's page. See http://goonreads.com/review-exchange/ You can still use our new messaging for contacting the person you're exchanging a review with. These reviews are for Goonreads and shouldn't be biased. However, feel free to simply ask for private feedback if you are frightened. Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Mar 12, 2013 |
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Mar 12, 2013 03:11
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I'd be willing to do a Goonreads review exchange, with the caveat that you can expect an honest review from me - I don't think anyone really benefits from a hugbox review. I'd expect the same from someone reading my work. I'd put it on Goodreads as well, as that's kind of my universal book tracking mechanism right now. I also host a weekly roundup of books that gets a decent readership - you'd be guaranteed at least a week or two there (you can see an example here: http://jonathandallen.com/2013/02/fiction-wednesday-death-awakens/. PM me or find my email on my site, we can set something up.
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Mar 12, 2013 19:08
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I'd be willing to review, too; I don't have anything to put up in exchange, just yet, but once I've got some things published they'll be fair game. A question. I'm starting up a little freelance editing business offline, so would it be okay to offer my services along those lines?
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Mar 13, 2013 21:29
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Goon Services Flesnolk, feel free to add your freelance services to the site. Just check the goon services section. There are directions there on how to add your own page. If you would rather I do it, just email me your info (email is in the OP). Review Exchange I worked on the Review Exchange section a couple days ago. If you guys want to do reviews, you can just work stuff out with others by posting in this thread or filling out a form on site in the Review Exchange section, and your info will go in a Reviewer's list. To start I'll add the people from the thread who have offered to review books. The form includes other info like time frame and book information (if you're requesting a review). Edit: If you are doing a review exchange, please go into your profile and ensure that any email notifications are sent to you (like if someone private messages you on Goonreads). Also, on your book posts, you have the ability to approve and trash comments, but there's also a checkbox for being notified if you get comments/reviews on your book. New Book Submission Form Also, Squibbles is working on a neat new form for book submissions that should be a little less complex than the current way of loading a wordy template and then filling out fields that are below the SEO stuff. The new form links to old fields, so the old posts wouldn't have to be updated. We'll have this ready pretty soon. Erotica Section Another update is that Erotica should be checked as a category when posting adult books. I've excluded it from showing up in the category cloud but added its own section to kind of keep it separate from everything else so that people who want to find just those books can now. Erotica banners/recently added books are still on the front page, and the big list still includes these books, but the Erotica (virtual) section has its own link now in the footer, along with the other taxonomy clouds. Also, I'm going to do a separate tag cloud for Erotica sometime in the future, but for now it won't have tags, just keywords. Tags/Genres vs. Keywords This kinda brings up the tag discussion again. Tags are for genres only, not keywords. I'm trying to clean it up so our tag cloud reflects high-level genres such as humor, science fiction, romance, historical, fantasy, adventure, detective, YA, and some other more general categories. Keywords will be posted in the SEO fields only, which will bring in more outside traffic. People who get to the site who want to find really specific stuff can just search for it if they don't see it in the genre cloud. The goal is to just clean it up and not be redundant, and not use keywords (vs. genres) in the tag cloud. Also, thanks I'm really appreciating the surge of recent activity both in this thread, on site, and in our social media. I have suggested that we should move our thread discussion into the direction of audience-building now instead of having this thread primarily talk about the site development, but the survey results show that people wanted some new features, so there you go. Some of the more programmatically involved, nice-to-have ones will just be put in the back burner for some time. Jenny of Oldstones fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Mar 13, 2013 |
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Mar 13, 2013 22:42
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Awesome, Des, thanks for the hard work on this.
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Mar 13, 2013 22:46
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Squibbles finished the new submission form tonight: http://goonreads.com/book-submission-form/ Gracias  Feel free to test it out. We have, and haven't seen any problems so far.
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Mar 14, 2013 05:51
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Desmond posted:Tags are for genres only, not keywords. poo poo, this may be my fault. I was approving and adjusting a more liberal blend of tags than you might have wanted. (My rules were simply "would any book _not_ by this author ever use this tag" and "do we already have a tag this falls under")
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Mar 14, 2013 06:46
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Don't worry, Icon-Cat. I was doing the same thing. But the tag cloud started to look overwhelming. I will see if we can eventually add our keywords to a separate cloud or way of browsing, but none of the taxonomy clouds listed in the footer should be too large. I've also added a Goon Services type of form, so anyone offering editorial, cover design, etc. type of services can just submit a form instead of dealing with that old template. I added a checkbox so that people should be reading the SA Mart type rules when offering their services. I've so far only gotten one small job at the site, and I would offer services only if you're willing to give goons a discount. Same as SA Mart services.
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Mar 15, 2013 16:28
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Desmond posted:I've also added a Goon Services type of form, so anyone offering editorial, cover design, etc. type of services can just submit a form instead of dealing with that old template. I added a checkbox so that people should be reading the SA Mart type rules when offering their services. I've so far only gotten one small job at the site, and I would offer services only if you're willing to give goons a discount. Same as SA Mart services. I'd like to add my name to the list for editing, copywriting, and publicity writing services, but there are just so many fields. I already have a LinkedIn profile...
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Mar 17, 2013 21:13
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Adraeus posted:I'd like to add my name to the list for editing, copywriting, and publicity writing services, but there are just so many fields. I already have a LinkedIn profile... It took me like 10 minutes to copy/paste mine, and there are only seven required fields. If it's really too much, just put N/A in the fields or whatever. But when people want to know what to look for, in the very least they might be interested in your experience, rates, and schedule.
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Mar 18, 2013 01:47
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Desmond posted:I'm really appreciating the surge of recent activity both in this thread, on site, and in our social media. I have suggested that we should move our thread discussion into the direction of audience-building now instead of having this thread primarily talk about the site development, but the survey results show that people wanted some new features, so there you go. Some of the more programmatically involved, nice-to-have ones will just be put in the back burner for some time. I didn't answer the survey since I hadn't listed anything yet, but my concern with focusing on audience building right now is that I'm not sure who your audience is. You can't compete with Goodreads. It's a phenomenally well-run site with (most importantly) an insurmountable content and community advantage. You need something that you provide that isn't already done better by Goodreads, or you need to hit a reader segment which isn't already better served by them. As it stands now, the site is basically Goodreads with a tiny community, goonbooks, less features and no reason for anyone outside of SomethingAwful to visit it. Outside of TBB, I don't take most of SA to be avid readers, either.
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Mar 19, 2013 00:00
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Sundae posted:I didn't answer the survey since I hadn't listed anything yet, but my concern with focusing on audience building right now is that I'm not sure who your audience is. You can't compete with Goodreads. It's a phenomenally well-run site with (most importantly) an insurmountable content and community advantage. You need something that you provide that isn't already done better by Goodreads, or you need to hit a reader segment which isn't already better served by them.
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Mar 19, 2013 21:18
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I'm one of those people that hasn't written a book (some short stories for Thunderdome and myself and my novel is slowing making progress), but I post in TBB and I like to check out the site. I only found it through this thread because I read CC occasionally. I don't know what else you could do short of a sticky and buying another ad.
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Mar 19, 2013 22:15
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I just want t offer a review exchange to all people on Goonreads. If you send me an e-copy of your book, I'll send you an e-copy of my book, and we can review each other's books on Amazon. My pen name is Marsha Altman, so if you do this you'll be reading Pride and Prejudice fanfiction, but I'll also be reading your work, whatever it is. PM me about it if you're interested.
dj_clawson fucked around with this message at 04:58 on Mar 31, 2013 |
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Mar 31, 2013 04:55
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Hey everybody. I was told to post in this thread to get access. I'm an aspiring novelist I guess. I write in my spare time a lot during or after work if I have the energy and I've been working on a series that has been quite a labor of love. I've already written one novel through entirely and am working my fingers to the bone to get the second one done by the end of the year. I have at least two or three more planned, story arcs galore that I want to play with and complete, and I imagine I'll get a dozen amazing ideas from you guys along the way! I label myself as a discovery writer as I believe it is coined. I don't pound out the story and struggle so much as I let the characters set the path and I weave the story around them. I have found this really ignites me more than staring at the blank screen and trying to force the story out. I hope to get a lot of grammatical help and editing which no doubt would make most people grit their teeth. It's not perfect but I guess I've seen worse writing before. I write mostly fantasy though I wouldn't mind mixing fantasy and reality in a modern story. My wife says I feel a bit like a mix between Martin and Jordan though that is too much of an honor that I don't feel I deserve. I am very much influenced by Jordan at least for many themes and fluidity of writing. On a few occasions I like to write poetry or reviews for things in a descriptive manner.
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Apr 6, 2013 05:26
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Hunky Joe, you are now a contributor. I think a confirmation email sometimes goes to your spam folder, so check that. Is anyone using the review exchange yet? I added dj_clawson to it. There's a few other willing reviewers.
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Apr 6, 2013 18:08
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(Edit: Oops, already said this part. But now I can start reviewing because I'm not broke!) Also, I'm submitting the services form from a while back. Sorry that took a while. Flesnolk fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Apr 9, 2013 |
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Apr 9, 2013 21:23
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Well, I'm a big ol' so-an-so and I added my second novel to Goonreads. Hooray!
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Apr 11, 2013 06:48
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Hey y'all, I just recently started putting up some stories I'd been hoarding as ebooks on various publishing services (draft2digital is pretty great!) and also joined Goonreads. I write a lot of different stuff, usually it has a humor or adventure bent (or both), but lately I've been on a "writing about weird animal encounters" kick for some reason? And that's more or less what I published first. I went through a huge period of depression through 2012 when my writing was just completely forgotten and this year I decided to get my butt in gear. Thankfully all the formatting and stuff I thought I was too stupid to do, is actually really easy. I'm not great with outlines, and have a bad habit of editing stuff as I go that I'm trying to kick because it's slowed me down a lot in the past (I'd keep going "oh no, this sucks," and deleting the same paragraph a lot). My biggest influence when I was younger was Stephen King but I don't think I really write like him at all. I used to be influenced a lot by whatever I was writing at the time, a habit I've pretty much kicked by now.
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Apr 21, 2013 04:35
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Hey everyone, due to a high number of SA people registering but never posting books at Goonreads or posting here to contribute to our discussion, I'm changing the way users are updated to contributor status at the site. I just get a little nervous about having so many contributors who aren't really contributing. I've updated the OP with this, but from now on, if you register at the site, you will only be upgraded to a subscriber (if you have an SA name) and then to a contributor only after having contributing to this thread and showing intention to submit books eventually, even maybe talking about the site, what you're writing, etc. Once you do, you will be updated asap and be able to post a book. By the way, I want to add one of those newsfeeds that updates our tweets in a widget. Does anyone know the best plugin or service for that?
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May 2, 2013 21:44
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Also, for the Goonreads twitter feed - if your book is on Goonreads and you're doing a promotional offer, can you let the thread know or drop me a PM? Thanks.
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May 2, 2013 22:51
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