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Author Zone - Readers Welcome! > MacGuffin - a new site for writers and reader

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message 1: by Lydia (new)

Lydia St Giles (lydia_stg) | 62 comments It looks as if no-one has drawn the attention of this forum to MacGuffin - a welcome new shop-window for writers and one with its own rationale.
Free hosting is offered to writers of short pieces - poetry, stories and extracts from full-length works are all valid. The works are then available free to members logging onto the site, who are invited to comment on the piece they’ve just read. A special feature is that a story has to be offered in both screen and audio forms. However, the site gives lots of help to writers facing this hurdle - and it need not be you that makes the recording. (This is nothing like the Amazon ACX provision.)
This showcase may bring your work to the attention of a different set of readers. Even if you don’t write short stories, posting an extract of your novel is well worth doing. It gives you the freedom to choose a scene from any chapter, with an eye to its appeal to a new reader.
This page on the MacGuffin site contains the terms and conditions:
https://macguffin.io/terms/
MacGuffin has been set up by Comma Press, and more information on that is to be found here:
www.commapress.co.uk
In order to get a feel for the MacGuffin site, you have to sign up, so you could open a temporary membership to have a look first. Once you’re listed, it’s your username which is how other users will find you, so you may want to give that some thought.
Do let us know whether you will join up to post your own work or find new things to read.


message 2: by Jan (new)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson (janhurst-nicholson) | 347 comments I think it would be beyond me to offer a screen an audio version.


message 3: by Jim (new)

Jim | 21810 comments Jan wrote: "I think it would be beyond me to offer a screen an audio version."

I got to that bit and lost interest.


Patti (baconater) (goldengreene) | 56525 comments As a reader, I'll stick with the ease of downloading through Amazon.

You lost me at the sign in page.


message 5: by Jim (new)

Jim | 21810 comments It's very badly set up, to find out what they actually offer you either have to try and work it out by studying the terms and conditions which are 'legalese' or sign in.
Sorry but there are far too many options out there and I'm not going to sign in to yet another website that I discover I never use but get email updates from


Patti (baconater) (goldengreene) | 56525 comments Completely agree, Jim.


message 7: by Kath (new)

Kath Middleton | 23860 comments I know I'm an irascible old bat but the very name MacGuffin put me off.


message 8: by David (new)

David Hadley I dunno, I could be wrong, but it seems to me a lot of these sites end up being swamped by writers and ignored by readers.


message 9: by Jim (new)

Jim | 21810 comments Kath wrote: "I know I'm an irascible old bat but the very name MacGuffin put me off."

Certainly I wouldn't have chosen the name myself


message 10: by Jim (new)

Jim | 21810 comments David wrote: "I dunno, I could be wrong, but it seems to me a lot of these sites end up being swamped by writers and ignored by readers."

I think the only answer to that is yes I'm afraid


message 11: by David (new)

David Hadley Jim wrote: "David wrote: "I dunno, I could be wrong, but it seems to me a lot of these sites end up being swamped by writers and ignored by readers."

I think the only answer to that is yes I'm afraid"


The only one I've seen that has a good ratio of readers to writers is Wattpad.


Jay-me (Janet)  | 3784 comments David wrote: "Jim wrote: "David wrote: "I dunno, I could be wrong, but it seems to me a lot of these sites end up being swamped by writers and ignored by readers."

I think the only answer to that is yes I'm afraid"

The only one I've seen that has a good ratio of readers to writers is Wattpad. "



As a reader I can say that I have never looked at any of those sites - I have not even heard of Wattpad. I'm too busy reading.


message 13: by David (new)

David Hadley Jay-me (Janet) wrote: "As a reader I can say that I have never looked at any of those sites - I have not even heard of Wattpad. I'm too busy reading."

Wattpad has been around for a while, it is popular with the youngsters, apparently.


Patti (baconater) (goldengreene) | 56525 comments I think I only heard of Wattpad through Geoff's Sophie or our Deedee...


message 15: by Megan (new)

Megan Goodenough | 7 comments I've read some interesting stuff on Wattpad, and it's all free, there's some interesting experimental sort of stories on there, as well as straight novels.


Jay-me (Janet)  | 3784 comments David wrote: "
Wattpad has been around for a while, it is popular with the youngsters, apparently."


Patti (baconater) wrote: "I think I only heard of Wattpad through Geoff's Sophie or our Deedee..."

Well if I ever get through my TBR pile I might take a look at Wattpad.


message 17: by Jim (new)

Jim | 21810 comments Megan wrote: "I've read some interesting stuff on Wattpad, and it's all free, there's some interesting experimental sort of stories on there, as well as straight novels."

That's why I've never bothered with it. I probably even have an account but I've never posted anything.
My gut feeling from watching the effect of free promos is that people will read your stuff on Wattpad, decide they like it, discover they have to pay for more, and go on to read more cool free stuff on Wattpad :-(


Patti (baconater) (goldengreene) | 56525 comments As any sensible reader would do, Jim.


message 19: by David (new)

David Hadley I have heard of some folks getting sales off the back of Wattpad, some of them doing quite well apparently, but I would suspect it is mostly as Jim says.


Patti (baconater) (goldengreene) | 56525 comments Haven't a couple of fanbois made it big off Wattpad?


message 21: by Jim (new)

Jim | 21810 comments Exactly Patti, and I work on the principle that by and large, my readers are sensible people. Perhaps I should have targeted my writing at some less mentally acute demographic?


Patti (baconater) (goldengreene) | 56525 comments Yeah, I've not read any of your stuff, Jim. :D


message 23: by David (new)

David Hadley Patti (baconater) wrote: "Haven't a couple of fanbois made it big off Wattpad?"

Maybe, I don't know.

I heard one writer say she had thousands of reads on Wattpad that led to a fair few sales, but I can't remember who it was or which podcast I heard it on.


message 24: by Jim (new)

Jim | 21810 comments Patti (baconater) wrote: "Yeah, I've not read any of your stuff, Jim. :D"

And we still love her to bits


message 25: by Lydia (new)

Lydia St Giles (lydia_stg) | 62 comments Well, I'm glad to have provoked a response! When I eventually sign up and use it, I'll let you know how MacGuffin goes.


message 26: by Jim (new)

Jim | 21810 comments I'd be genuinely interested


message 27: by D.D. Chant (new)

D.D. Chant (DDChant) | 7663 comments I have both Broken City and The Promise fully uploaded on wattpad, it doesn't hurt me that they are free because they're free on Amazoo as well. The Promise has 4000 reads and Broken City has 2900 reads; does it help sales??? I have no idea, but some of my most die hard fans found me on wattpad first.


message 28: by David (new)

David Hadley Wattpad does seem like a place where writer can find readers and it does seem possible that those readers can be turned into fans who will follow an author to the extent that they even may think about contemplating the possibility of one day perhaps considering buying a book.


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