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Old 03-14-2014, 02:10 PM   #121
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Would it be advisable to post links to each contributor's folder in the first post, so people outside the project can download the files (but not drop other files into the dropbox)?

Actually you can also create a 'public link' for the entire anthology folder in dropbox, and people would still have read-only access to the files.
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Old 03-14-2014, 02:11 PM   #122
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Mind you the one caveat I have over this is that, if there was a lot of interest, we may get swamped with comments. It would be a nice problem to have, but it's hard work keeping up with the output of just the five of us!

Graham

Agreed, and I for one am not going to submit anything new right now until I've cleaned up the mess in my first contribution (Sir Graham knows what I am talking about).
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Old 03-14-2014, 02:15 PM   #123
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Of course, but it would just be like: "Thank you for the comments. We will look at them, and see which ones are acted upon."

It's impossible to appease everybody, and maybe not everybody wants to read every story.
It could also be something like "Hello, nice stories you got there. Please review my book also [link in sig] Bye". I am only kidding but reality is that it is very hard to get people to comment on a book/ebook, especially 'constructive' comments [the same people won't hesitate to post one-liner negative comments though, like 'this book is junk. don't buy it. I didn't like it. worst book ever' etc]. I know it from my experience of scrounging for reviewers for my first novel.
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Old 03-14-2014, 02:21 PM   #124
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I think one of the interesting things about this process is that we're all up for taking the rough with the smooth!

Graham
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Old 03-23-2014, 08:29 AM   #125
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I think one of the interesting things about this process is that we're all up for taking the rough with the smooth!

Graham

For the hard-working writers here.
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Old 03-23-2014, 11:11 AM   #126
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Old 03-23-2014, 12:59 PM   #127
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I'm definitely the picture on the left.

Hey you're not alone; you got a partner here
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Old 05-02-2014, 09:30 AM   #128
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Just curious: How are things going with the anthology?
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Old 05-02-2014, 10:43 AM   #129
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Just curious: How are things going with the anthology?
We've got 8 stories now from the original 5 contributors, of which 5 are finished. Two still need some solid work on line edits, and one has gone off for a significant rewrite.

Unfortunately, we've not had anyone else come forward with stories, so we're well short on word count.

At the moment, we're up at about 33,500 words including the stories still being worked on. After line editing, and assuming that the story being rewritten uses the full 8,000 word limit, that word count will drop, perhaps to 33,000.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the editing and discussion process that we've gone through over the last two months, but I think we don't have anywhere near enough material for the book.

It seems to me that we've got four options:

1) Let the process meander on with the current editing constraints until we do have enough material.

2) Open up the submissions to any MobileRead author removing the 'all stories must submit to criticism and editing' constraint.

3) Complete and publish what we've got.

4) Accept that we've not got enough for a book and stop here, but without too many regrets, because this last couple of months has been incredibly worthwhile anyway.

My own opinions, after much mulling, are:

1) I'm not keen. Our stories would probably be tied up for years and may never see the light of day.

2) This is a possibility, but it opens a big can of worms. Who do we class as a MobileRead author? Do we accept all stories? If not, are we justified in setting ourselves up as editors? There may be a lot of work here tuning and reformatting a lot of stories. Unless the authors are regular MR posters, the lack of editing activity within the forum detracts from the idea that this is a MobileRead anthology.

3) I don't think 33,000 words is enough. I certainly wouldn't want it out on Smashwords and Amazon at that size, and I'm not sure it's enough for the MR library either.

4) I'd be happy to stop the project here, as I think we've all got a lot from it anyway so far.

What do the rest of you think?

Also, who else is following the project? It would be good to hear from any expectant readers!

I suspect, looking at the post count versus views on both threads, though, that there are less than half a dozen people other than the authors following the progress.

I hope this doesn't come across as a negative post, as this has been a very positive experience for me. I'm just wary of it going on to turn into something less positive.

Graham

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Old 05-02-2014, 11:38 AM   #130
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Let me just speak as a member here (not as a moderator), and also as someone who's interested in writing.

First, thanks for the great summary, but please don't get discouraged.

Some possibilities (but this is YOUR project):

1) Possibly allow for an increased word length on working stories, which may open up new possibilities, maybe?

2) As you mention in #2, this seems to be a viable option.

I'm not certain what you mean in your second enumerated list: "[M]ay be tied up for years..."

Sorry, but what was the goal for the total word count on the project?

This is a worthwhile project. I can't imagine anyone not in favor of getting editing assistance/positive critical comments on a developing story. Everyone benefits.

Too, I think this is an important project here at Mobileread. (I can't speak for the other moderators here, but I have no hesitation in voicing my opinion as a member/writer here.)

Please keep working on this.
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Old 05-02-2014, 12:07 PM   #131
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1) Possibly allow for an increased word length on working stories, which may open up new possibilities, maybe?
The stories we have feel about right at the lengths that they've come in. We could open up a larger word count for new stories, perhaps, but 8,000 words is already quite a long short story - particularly in a cross-genre anthology where not everything will be to the reader's taste.

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I'm not certain what you mean in your second enumerated list: "[M]ay be tied up for years..."
Just that I could see the process going on for many, many months, with no assurance of an end date, and we've committed our stories to it. If we wanted to publish them elsewhere - even as free samples - we wouldn't be able to.

I don't think there's an appetite within the existing 5 authors to contribute more stories - the 8,000 word limit feels about right - so we're relying on other authors coming forward.

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Sorry, but what was the goal for the total word count on the project?
Minimum 80,000 words.

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This is a worthwhile project. I can't imagine anyone not in favor of getting editing assistance/positive critical comments on a developing story. Everyone benefits.

Too, I think this is an important project here at Mobileread. (I can't speak for the other moderators here, but I have no hesitation in voicing my opinion as a member/writer here.)

Please keep working on this.
Thanks for the positive words. I think the tricky part is that we need some other people to join us. Although we can keep working on what we've got, that will not be enough material.

Graham

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Old 05-02-2014, 12:54 PM   #132
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Just curious: How are things going with the anthology?
Why don't you too join us, Doc?
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Old 05-02-2014, 02:06 PM   #133
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Why don't you too join us, Doc?

I've thought about that, but was wondering (or worried) that it might be a perceived as a conflict of interest. (You see, I've been really tough on the writers here on Mobileread - about following guidelines, etc.)
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Old 05-02-2014, 08:16 PM   #134
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Just curious: How are things going with the anthology?
@Graham and Dr. Drib:

There are some stories that are coming along very well, but I myself have been too busy the last four weeks. You may have noticed that my posting on MR has been very sporadic. I've not yet looked into the newer stories or finished the rewrite of my own. (If I read 100 pages in the last four weeks, it's a lot. I'll probably fail even my reading challenge. (Yes, I still haven't finished the Professor Challenger works )

My suggestion would be to just go along as we are doing now and see where we end. I am in no hurry to release my story.

However, if there is a majority vote on not building the anthology because of lack of material and everyone just taking their own stories, then that's the way it has to be. I would also consider raising the limit to 16,000 or 20,000 words per member, so we can each contribute more stories, but I don't know if I can participate in such a venture at this time. I would already be very happy if I got somewhat 'unbusy' for a week or so, so I can actually read the newer stories and finish the rewrite of my own

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Old 05-04-2014, 07:30 AM   #135
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[...]It seems to me that we've got four options:

1) Let the process meander on with the current editing constraints until we do have enough material.

2) Open up the submissions to any MobileRead author removing the 'all stories must submit to criticism and editing' constraint.

3) Complete and publish what we've got.

4) Accept that we've not got enough for a book and stop here, but without too many regrets, because this last couple of months has been incredibly worthwhile anyway.[...]
That seems to sum it up pretty well.

Option 1 has the potential difficulty, as you said, of holding things up for a long time when an author may find alternative avenues for publishing - it does extended the original "six months" exclusivity thing a fair bit. I don't do much short, and I'm not getting much of any sort of writing done right now anyway, so option 1 remains open from my own personal perspective - AND I would like to see others join the project under the same constraints as we started, I think it would be better for the collection to have more diversity than it has now. (Highlighting that to be sure no one misses it.)

Option 2 is not something I'm keen on. The project started with a good set of objectives, I think - things that make the project much more useful as a thread here on MR. I'd much prefer to keep at least the the communal criticism and editing aspect of it. I am open to varying the length aspects.

I am open to both options 3 and 4 if that's what the other participants want. I've enjoyed what we've managed so far, so there's certainly nothing lost from my own perspective. The timing of the project hasn't been great, lots else going on here, but if it does carry on longer then I'd be happy to continue participating as much as I can.

Whether I have a second story to contribute or not remains to be seen (if other work pressures reduce for a while) but, as highlighted above, the ideal for this project (in my opinion) would be more diversity - more authors.

Dr Drib, I have no concerns with your participation, if you wanted to join in. The moderators here seem very good at separating their moderator role from their other participation. And, if there ever was any doubt, a second moderator's opinion could be asked for. ... Whatever you feel comfortable with.

Last edited by gmw; 05-04-2014 at 07:32 AM.
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