Fringe Fiction Unlimited discussion
Questions/Help Section
>
Pay it Forward Group
date
newest »
newest »
Oh, as for my thoughts - I love the challenge! It's been great as both a reader and a writer. I'm curious as to where one of my readers has gone...but other than that, it's great!
Mod
... how would you organize something that big?
Sarah wrote: "Courtney is magical. She has wonder-mods to help her as well. =)"That's what I'm afraid of...
As for organization - each genre would need a folder, obviously, for the books to be posted in. The problem I foresee with that is that people are lazy - the more clicks they have to make, the less likely they are to do something.A group bookshelf would be helpful, of course, but again people have to click more. Then again, is that any more than surfing through the thread to find books ? I don't know.
I would use such a group. How would we post progress? A separate folder with threads for each person, perhaps? Or by comments on each book's entry? I'm kind of rambling because I got four hours sleep last night.
@Sarah I know! Every book I've picked up from the Challenge has been, at the least interesting and filled with potential, and at the most outstanding works of literary art!
Mod
Lily - basically I would just have the group description spell out the mission, post guidelines to participate, have genre folders for people to put books under.
If you post a book, you read three (or more if you like) and basically post "gonna read" in the book's topic then mention when the review is up.
I'll do periodic activity sweeps and poke people who aren't following through before deleting their existence from the group but I want to believe more people will honor the spirit of it than take advantage.
But yeah my sanity will be fine if I do activity sweeps, honor system and say "edit to fit guidelines". Otherwise it runs itself mostly.
Ohhh, I see now, as a part of the group description and purpose of the group. That might help with discouraging the less than sincere random joining. Got it now. Sigh of relief.
Mod
And if anyone wants to be a mod, I'd welcome anyone who would vouch for the challenge working and just nudge people to follow guidelines and keep offering suggestions that might lead to greater things for authors participating :)
Again no pressure just letting people know I'm open to collaborating.
Mod
I hope the disingenuous won't be the majority. So many people here were grateful about the opportunity I expect others will be the same.
What if there is a pledge sheet - like "I pledge to read these three books"?
I will, of course, join the group! I love the pay-it-forward challenge and concept.I would also be glad to be a mod, except that I am super busy. How much time investment does being a mod take? I've never done it before.
Thank you again, Courtney, for doing this!
Time is a disadvantage, also money. Not everyone has both the time and the money to read and review right away. So for fairness, it might be an idea to consider this to be a bit more longer term.And make Jason a mod. I'll whip him in shape personally.
Mod
Jason, hypocritically I would only see your duties be browsing to make sure books submitted fit the guidelines - like the topic is Title and Author - and post a request to edit if not. Low key unless people lose their minds and eat one another because we wouldn't have discussions aplenty as we so here.
...people eating each other...Sign me up!
Capes? WE GET TO WEAR CAPES?!Why hasn't anyone ever mentioned this before???
Current Jason Away!
/flyaway
I think this is a good idea. I'm halfway through fulfilling my Pay-it-Forward obligations, but will get it done in the next couple weeks. I'd join this group.
Mod
I'm definitely not trying to rope you in, just hoping to broaden your exposure.
I'm thinking of including a 3R aspect - read, review, recommend. The last one being if you gave a book 3+ stars recommend it to your GR friends. It might help generate interest :)
Interesting. I tend to avoid mass recommendations because it's basically spam. But every so often I'll recommend a book I've reviewed to specific people that I think would like it.
I thinks its a great idea, would also join this group. Am working my way thro a couple 'other' reads, then will pick up some more from the challenge.
Mod
I would also like to see it promoted that being honest is most important. If you read a book, and you honestly feel it's a 2 star book, then that should be acceptable. No one should feel under obligation to give stellar reviews.
I agree with the honesty point. Otherwise the whole thing falls apart. If you join the Pay it Forward group you need to be willing to be (constructively) critical, because the rest of us will be, if necessary, to you.
Mod
I'll stress honestly and constructive of course as well as nobody can complain about unfavorable reviews. Not the point of the group.
Well...if I remember correctly, no one in the Pay it Forward program is obligated to review. Rate, yes; review, no. Are we changing this?Also, it's because we're communicating. It's easy (for some, I hear) to feel "watched" when you're in direct communication with the author (see many many other threads where that discussion has come up) so the readers need to feel that their honesty will be protected from reprisal by the moderators.
Think this is a great idea and that many authors would join. Also like the idea of genre folders. If enough people join then the pool of books to choose from should be varied enough that people can choose from books that truly interest them. Maybe mention that as more people join, more books will be available and that members can wait a little and see. A review is never fun to write if it's about a book in a genre the reader doesn't enjoy. I very much like the pay it forward part, since that way authors don't necessarily rate each other's books, but rather the ones they're interested in.
Agreed: It's an opportunity, for both author and reader, but nothing more. If you invest into it, you'll get something out of it (you'll get to read!) and you may even get more (book exposure). I like the "suggestion" to make recommendations about the books that one enjoys as well.
Mod
Yeah, if you're going to make a group out of it, think the review should be part of it.
Mod
As silly as it may sound in our cynical world, I still do.
Since we've had a number of people participate here I wanted to see what your thoughts were on the challenge and see if I could apply that to a group setting.