Stan’s Comments (group member since Jun 18, 2008)

Stan’s comments from the Textnovel.com!! group.

Congrats to Saoirse Redgrave, grand prize winner of the 2008 Textnovel.com Writing Contest, for selling "13 to Life: A Werewolf's Tale" to St. Martin's Press as part of a 3 book deal. She was represented in the sale by her agent (me). We're already hearing from major movie studios about interest in the series! The press release is here. Hopefully this will inspire others to enter the current contest on Textnovel -- its not too late!

Go to http://www.textnovel.com to see or participate in the forum. Have fun!

Textnovel has announced the winners of its 2008 Writing Contest. "13 to Life: a Werewolf's Tale" by Saoirse Redgrave won 1st Prize. And "Secret Speakers and the Search for Selador's Gate" by K.S.R. Kingworth won the the Reader's Choice Award. Visit Textnovelblogfor more details.

Claire S. is the author of a blog named Wingcolor and is participating in Nanowrimo's annual novel-writing adventure in the month of November. She did a review of Quillpill as a possible way to write novels with cellphones, so we pointed out that she had missed Textnovel.com.

So today she did a review of Textnovel.com, and guess what? She loved Textnovel.com and decided to join! Here are a few things she said:

"TextNovel is a site that seems a bit more mainstream-friendly than QuillPill....there’s no character limit on how much you can write at a time. This allows for longer passages, and that, plus certain features that they offer–dividing stories into chapters, categorizing stories according to genre–make the written offerings seem far more traditional stories. They having a ranking system that puts the highest ranked stories on the front page, as well as editor’s picks, making it easier to find stories that might appeal to you."

"...for all that I’m fascinated by this new form, I’m actually probably NOT QuillPill’s ideal user as, I think (based on what I saw, and I could be wrong), it requires a mobile browser if you want to write your story from your cell phone. Originally, I had the idea that you could simply send a text message, and it would post to your account. Exploring the QuillPill site a bit more, I think that was a misconception on my part. However, TextNovel allows exactly that. You can also post by sending an e-mail, or of course, on the site itself. So that’s one of the major appeals of cell phone noveling that TextNovel makes more accessible to a larger population."

"I personally plan on signing up for TextNovel, and will probably use it, at least during NaNoWriMo, as a way to write on the go."

Thanks Claire! We look forward to seeing your stories.

P.S. Claire said these are some of her favorite stories on Textnovel.com: Bridge, Very Last Leaf of the Caravan, The Living Dead.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif, a bestselling Canadian author, has chosen Textnovel.com for her serialized novellete, REMOTE CONTROL. She plans on posting a new chapter every day (but don't be upset if she misses a day here or there). Fans can visit Textnovel.com to subscribe to the story and vote.

Ms. Tardif has recently gained attention for writing a novel entitled Finding Bliss on her iPhone. You can learn more at http://www.findingblissbook.com.

Ms. Tardif's most recent novel Whale Song was published by Kunati Inc. Book Publishers in April 2007, launching Kunati’s UNA trade paperback imprint. Whale Song, an emotional mystery that explores the controversial issue of assisted suicide, has captured the attention of numerous film companies, including many from Hollywood. A screenplay, which Tardif wrote with co-writer Alison Neuman, was completed in 2006. In September 2005, Tardif’s gripping action-packed techno-thriller The River was released. Tardif is also the author of the 2004 “sizzling psychic suspense” Divine Intervention, a 'psi-fi' suspense thriller (or paranormal romance) that has been compared to works by authors such as Iris Johansen, Kay Hooper and Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb’s ‘In Death’ series. All 3 novels have made Amazon.com's bestsellers list.

Here is a list of more websites about Ms. Tardif:

http://www.cherylktardif.com

http://www.whalesongbook.com

http://www.findingblissbook.com

http://www.cherylktardif.blogspot.com

We're happy to have you on board Cheryl!

Shannon Reinbold-Gee, a Textnovel Team Member, is seeking feedback from Textnovel authors. Here's her message:

I am part of the Textnovel team and am looking at throwing together a press release about TextNovel.com and would like some users’ quotes. Please keep your quotes to the following topics so I can get this out quickly:

1.) How TextNovel helps you stay creative...

2.) How TextNovel provides easy ways to get your story “out there...”

3.) How excited you are about the contest...

4.) How you feel about using a cell phone for reading and writing...

5.) How close you are to meeting your writing goal online...

If you respond to any of these, please also include: your name OR pseudonym—whichever you want me to use in the press release, your city and state, the title of the novel you’re writing, a link (and title) of your blog (if you have one), any work you’ve had published previously and the publisher, and what your “day job” or “real” job is if you aren’t a professional author.

I greatly appreciate your prompt responses. Please email me at shannon@sr-g.com.  I need all responses by Sunday, October 5, 2008 so I can try and get something out in a timely fashion.

Thanks in advance!

Shannon Reinbold-Gee, Textnovel Team

Check out this report about this famous buddhist nun who has written a novel with her cellphone. She started doing it after being asked to serve as an honorary chairperson of a mobile novel contest. Her novel was published on September 25th!

So far I can't seem to get into it either. Quillpill.com is a "cellphone writing" website that has followed the Twitter model -- every entry is only 140 characters long. I am wondering if anyone has tried that?

I think teachers might be a bit nervous to legitimize the use of cellphones, probably because it would be difficult to monitor whether its being used to do work or text friends. We'll see!

It already came out! The enhancements were made during the month of August and polished off in early September.

Enhancements included:

1) new genres: literary and autobiography

2) make foreword optional

3) more search functions, including by story name or pen name

4) Voting/popularity enhancements

5) more author tools, like ability to create and manage a detailed profile

6) invite enhancements (making it easier to invite your friends to your story and letting you edit the message)

7) site registration enhancements (making cellphone number optional)

8) ability to see whether stories are in progress or are finished (so you know whether to subscribe)

Thanks to all for voting. Textnovel ended up with a score of 5.745. If you look at their archive of sites, this is a very high score.

Total unique visitors shot up to about 1,000 yesterday and Textnovel got picked up by users at Stumbled Upon. Also an editor at Website Magazine noticed it and wrote a positive review in Website Magazine.  This is a magazine dedicated to helping people gain success on the Internet.  We didn't contact Mike or this magazine at all so this review is unsolicited.

Thanks Karey and everyone else who voted yesterday!

Textnovel.com has been picked as Cool Site of the Day for September 22nd -- this is a big honor and should generate thousands of visitors on that day and after that as well. Cool Site of the Day has been around since 1994 and is, according to Yahoo, "the original and still the best!"

If you want to help us get maximum impact from this award, on September 22, visit Cool Site of the Day to vote for Textnovel. The way this works is that the higher score Textnovel gets (1-10, with 10 being the highest) and the more people who give Textnovel a score, the higher Textnovel will rank on the Cool Site of the Day website.

Join us on September 22nd in making the maximum impact and making sure your Textnovel story gets read by as many as possible!

Check out this great review of Textnovel.com on the blog www.cellphonesinlearning.com!

This awesome website is created and maintained by Liz Kolb, an adjunct professor at Madonna University and a doctoral student at the University of Michigan. Liz is a former high school teacher and technology coordinator and thinks www.Textnovel.com can be a great tool for parents and teachers to help students explore creative writing, learn about genres or even take notes about their research process and store those on Textnovel.com.

Liz's blog is a great resource for anyone interested in the intersection of education and technology, particularly cell phones.

Do you agree with Lisa that there can be a place for cell phones and texting in the classroom?

K. Dawson,
Hopefully your login challenges got all cleared up! I think what happened is your browser accidentally saved an incorrect email address so that was what was getting entered, but I think we fixed it.

I haven't seen those little dollar signs. Copy and paste and send me something and we'll see what that is if its still happening.

Thanks for asking and you're writing awesome stories by the way!

Has anyone tried Twitter for writing? It is a micro-blogging site and there are a few authors using it to try to write and get readers to subscribe to their writing. Would be interested in any feedback.

Dear Textnovellers:

This is the first edition of the Textnoveller newsletter! We plan on sending out something like this monthly and will post it on the textnovel blog and on our facebook and goodreads feeds as well.

Updates: We've been busy! Phase 2 changes are mostly up and working (although we're still tweaking them a little). Some of these include:

• new genres: literary and autobiography

• foreword is now optional!

• invite email from My Library page can be customized

• can create and manage your profile (with photos)

• cell number is optional in registration

• readers can see whether story is in progress or completed (if its in progress they know they can subscribe)

Get Ready for Publicity! We’ll be rolling out the publicity machine soon so take a moment to login and:

• Update your profile -- don’t be lazy! (Go to My Profile and add details about yourself, links to your blog or facebook profile, and photo(s))

• Subscribe to your favorite stories (click on the phone icon next to a story name) – and make sure your subscription preferences are set under My Admin

• Vote for your favorite stories (click on the thumbs up icon)

• Use the Invite tool to push your own story to the top -- Nightlife by Valerie has a pretty significant lead right now, so the rest of us need to get out and get the vote!

• Clean up time– if you started a story and don’t intend to finish it anytime in the near future, go to My Library and next to the story, select “Make it Private” – this will remove it from public view (I’ll go through and contact a few members who haven’t worked on their stories for a while). Also, DON'T MARK YOUR STORY AS COMPLETED unless you are done uploading all the chapters.

New -- User Spotlight: I am going to add a user spotlight on the blog. If you want to be highlighted, send one or more photos (of whatever you want, but preferably something to do with you), and answer the following questions, and I’ll feature you on the blog!

• When did you start writing?

• If you’re not already full-time, do you hope to become a full-time writer?

• Tell us something funny or interesting about yourself and your stories.

• How did you find out about Textnovel.com?

Help! We are looking for Textnovel.com team members in the following areas:

• PHP software developer

• Web designer

• Community leader (web marketing and hand-holding is another way to say this!)

Compensation? Depends. Volunteers are ideal. If not, we are hoping to pay in equity; ok to work from somewhere else! These are part-time positions. But they are so fun – how can you can resist? If you are qualified and interested or know someone who is – let me know at info@textnovel.com.

Thanks!

Stan, Textnovel Team

Is anyone aware if any of the Japanese cellphone novels have been published in English? I've seen some excerpts from some of the novels, but haven't been able to find out if the entire novel in any case was ever published in English.

Also has anyone seen any of the movies that have been made in Japan that are based on these novels? I'd be curious as to the reactions of any group members.

I think you are right that it would be a great thing for young people. I think that perhaps the interactivity of the site will need to be further improved so that it is easier to comment on stories and give immediate feedback, and for the author to see that feedback and interact with the readers. We will work on that for release 3.

Great comments Shannon. Currently about one to two new authors a day are adding stories to Textnovel.com. I am hoping that when the new version comes out it will be even more compelling.

I have realized that for a site like this it is all about the content, and the technology is merely a platform. As the concept of the cell phone novel eventually takes off in the U.S., there will be a few fortunate writers who "get it" early on. These writers will attract a devoted number of fans and when that happens, they will end up getting chased by publishers, rather than the other way around. I hope that some of those writers use textnovel.com as a springboard for this type of success.

Stan

Great question!

We are adding a "How To" page to make it easier. There will be a link right at the top. I am even going to create some YouTube videos to show you how to do it. Although I wish I could put it on the home page, that sort of detail would end up using all the space so it will be one page in.

To find the instructions currently, create an account and go to My Stories. There is a link right at the top of your My Stories page that shows you how to do it. You basically just send an MMS text message to add@textnovel.com and in the subject line put your 'story number' followed by a ':' then your desired 'chapter number.' Your story number shows up next to each of the stories you create on your My Stories page. You may have to create an address in your address book for add@textnovel.com for this to work.

An MMS text message is basically a multimedia text message -- the same kind you would use to send pictures.

One interesting challenge is that U.S. cell phone users don't quite rely on their cell phones as much as the Japanese, so if this all seems a little daunting, don't feel bad! Its pretty much the way it works over there too.