Beta Reader Group discussion
Writing Advice & Discussion
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About that website...
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Luke wrote: "Is there a link?"No, it's not out yet.
Delvin:Let me know when a link is available. Thanks.
David wrote: "Delvin:Let me know when a link is available. Thanks."
Me too
I've been redesigning the site for a while. Some features from the last time have been removed, some kept, and some replaced. Here is the overview:
An account can be a reader, an author, or both, or a paid-service provider.
=if you are a reader=
Reader status is toggled by customizing and activating recommendation list, which will recommend 10 books for each genre specified by you every day.
You have the option to mark a recommended book as to-be-read, since the content of recommendations changes every day.
Besides the recommendation list, you can still search for books of your interest in Library.
When you've decided to read a book, a one-on-one project will be created, where you can first chat with the author before commencing it.
A project can only be started after the author has accepted it. Then, you can forfeit or complete the ongoing project.
After the ongoing project is concluded in any way, you can use the project id as the key to give one evaluation about your experience with that author. (Thanks, Barbara) Additionally, the statistics of this project will be attached to your evaluation as a form of proof, so one should not lie about their experience or slander anyone.
Any evaluation can be reported by the person evaluated to determine whether the statement is well-founded. An invalid evaluation will reflect badly on the person who gave the evaluation.
Those evaluations can be viewed in a section called Voice, and shall provide insight into the quality or attitude of the author whose book you're trying to read.
Blocklist feature is retained.
If your Reader status is not toggled, you can still browse books in Library but you won't have the option to start a project to actually read them.
=if you are an author=
For your Author status to be toggled, simply add at least one book of yours to Shelf.
Uploading a book requires:
1. Basic information such as title, author, genres, etc.
2. A sample of your choice, which can be downloaded while people browse your book.
3. The raw txt-format of your original book. This is only needed for the legit word count and administrative purposes. This file CANNOT be viewed or downloaded by members and will be protected.
4. Cover is optional. If you don't have one, a default one will be generated using pre-made templates.
Lastly , you can choose the state of your book:
1. Beta - your book is ready for beta-reading.
2. Review - your book is ready for reviewing.
3. Under Revision or None - your book won't show up in library or recommendation lists.
4. Seeking Paid Service - specify your need, budget, etc, and available ones will find you, or you can search for them.
For books in Beta or Review:
Your book's recommendation chance is affected by how many times it has been read and, of course, how many readers there are in its genre. As long as there are enough readers, your book will be always recommended. However, when your book has been read for more than a threshold number of times, which I currently set to 5, its recommendation chance drops to zero. This is when you need to put your book under revision. After the revision period passes and you've uploaded a new version of your book, the counter for how many times it has been read resets to zero.
Daily recommendation chance can be estimated for your book. If it shows 1000%, it means you can expect your book to be recommended to 10 different readers today.
Your book's info panel also displays who receives its recommendation and who has marked it as to-be-read.
As an author, you can accept a pending project and cancel an ongoing project. It is during a project when you can send the complete version of your book (beautifully formatted) over to the reader.
After a project is concluded, you can use its id as the key to evaluate the reader once, talking about timeliness, helpfulness, thoughtfulness, and such. (Thanks, Barbara)
Once again, Voice is where you go to learn more about the person hoping to read your book.
Blocklist feature is retained.
=if you are both a reader and an author=
Recommendation Boost will take effect.
Overall, recomendation boost is a reward system that works best for authors who're also willing to read when there are not enough readers. It increases all your books' recommendation chance and is derived from how many words you have read through completed projects as a reader, and will decrease over time. Recommendation boost won't have a dominant impact, especially when the number of readers is sufficient.
=if you are paid service provider=
I haven't worked out all the details, but basically, you cannot be a reader or an author while being a service provider. If you decide to become one, all stats and books associated with your reader and author status will be removed.
As a service provider, you can search for people who seek your service type, based on their budget and deadline requirement, and recommend yourself to them. They can also search for you, but they won't know if you are available, so it's mostly up to you to find them.
A special project will be created when people accept your service. Upon conclusion, its id can be used by your customers to review you in Voice.
=end of overview=
This design is finalized. I'm afraid at this point changing it is no longer feasible. I will work full-time to finish the site, and release it as soon as the above features are in working state.
That is to say, the site when launched will be in beta stage, without a fully functional forum and some database optimizations (and possibly without a professional logo). I need to see how popular it gets before deciding what to do next. It's going to be a long ride, but won't be a long wait.