Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
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2023 Team Competition Tracker / Google Sheet Central
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LOL of course. People look at your ..."
Sadly, there's tons of issues with that...
1) The reason I only track my audiobooks at xx.yy decimal hours, is because of all the problems I had, trying to do math on cells with xx:yy time data...
2) To do what you said, I'd need to come up with a formula (the basics I have in my sheet, since I measure pages/hour narrated and use it to color code my audiobook column by how fast/slow the narrator is... but to do so would mean putting this code in the pages column, and any time you read an ebook/paperback, you would need to overwrite it with a page number, then the code would be missing when I duplicate the sheet next year and wipe data...
*) Less of a problem, but most of the reason there's so much variance, is because there's alot of variance in how books are printed (font size, artwork, etc) and in narration (how fast the narrator speaks)...
*) The main time we do conversion around here is for books that are only available on audio, and thinks like Big Finish Productions Audioplays from BBC... and the rule of thump is 1 page per 2 minutes audio, or 30 minutes per hour...
3) I could try and create a helper section somewhere near the top, where you could input an audiobook duration (probably just as 15.5 hrs instead of 15:32), and it'll pop out an estimated page count, but using it for anything other than the 2 scenarios above would pretty much be cheating (whether it lowers your page count for fast narrators, or increases it for slow narrators)...
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Iain, did you or anyone else in the..."
We have/had her email address, as someone with editor/creator right on the spreadsheets in the past... and emailed our worries the first time she left... and wrote that little group fanfic, if you remember...
But nothing since the 2nd time she left, I don't think... it was before 2020 that she left... and she didn't stay long when she returned after her first leaving, I don't think?
My memory is clearly fuzzy...
We tried contacting Soo, after she disappeared last March... found her on LinkedIn/etc, and got no responses... the only thing we have is GR still says they "last visited" this month or last month, most of the time...
In contrast, Virginie's account hasn't been active on-site since November 2020... looks like I was wrong about her disappearing before that... her last FBR comment was July 2020...
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Like I said, you need to input books as 12.38 (hours) instead of 12h:23m
Generally, I get lazy and start reounding...
3 minutes is 0.05 hours... 6 minutes is 0.1 hours, 15 minutes is 0.25hrs... etc... being accurate down to the minute requires a calculator, because 0.01 hours is 36 seconds...
Again, you just input the numbers... the text is all formatting to make it readable...
Aw, I'm not sure if I remember a fanfic. *blink* Or wait, maybe I do... in a fever-dreamish way that makes me think it was all in my head.But yeah, not to derail the Sheets Tracker, just wondering if anyone had heard from her or knew. I've also disappeared for months, so I'm generally not worried if I see a recent login, but Nov 2020 was a while ago... and awful timing. I hope she's okay. (I recently breathed a sigh of relief to find an author still active. Their blog/twitter/facebook have all been silent for years, but good ol' Patreon showed updates, thank goodness.) I'll just have to imagine future Virginie dusting off her shelves and showing off her colorful sheets and colorful comments again.
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But yeah, not to derail the Sheets Tracker, just wonderin..."
You don't remember Spreadsheet Wars: The Timelord and the Empress?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i...
The pages are jumbled, because of the gymnastics Sir Anni / Annika had to pull, to get the book to print the pages correctly (she printed the little story, bound it, and sent it in a care package to Virginie with some chocolates, I think... they have addresses from Sisterhood of the Traveling books deal, I think?... sending books around Europe with notes in the margins... I vaguely remember something like that)...
Timelord Iain wrote: "Mel wrote: "Aw, I'm not sure if I remember a fanfic. *blink* Or wait, maybe I do... in a fever-dreamish way that makes me think it was all in my head.But yeah, not to derail the Sheets Tracker, j..."
Spreadsheet Wars!!! That's a blast from the past!!! I loved that story 😂
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But yeah, not to derail..."
Me and Anni had fun writing it... fictionalizing and exaggerating Ye Olde Group Drama...
Spreadsheet Wars? Sounds interesting and funny. Shame i missed it :)
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https://docs.google.com/document/d/19...
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I can quickly fix that... my bad... all fixed...
What's B2 in the sheet for? Just beneath where it says Team Points. At the moment it just says #Ref! for me..
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Not again... it seems like that info is missing in a number of sheets, for some reason...
It shows how much your team is winning/losing by, by using a helper query hidden in cell O3 (on most sheets, unless they had extra columns added)... I added that Query (it uses your team name, to figure out what row you are on the Main page leaderboards), and now everything is working as intended...
Brilliant story Iain!!! I bet you and Anni had fun writing it!
Timelord Iain wrote: "Gaea wrote: "What's B2 in the sheet for? Just beneath where it says Team Points. At the moment it just says #Ref! for me.."Not again... it seems like that info is missing in a number of sheets, f..."
That's definitely some useful info~ Thanks for fixing it! :)
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LOL of course. People look at your ..."
While I couldn't do what you wanted before... if you want to track hours of audio you read each month, I could do part of what you asked for, and move G/M/C into the Format column, and turn Graphic Novel into an Audiobook Duration column... but again, you'd have to just use decimals, and not hour:minute notation... pretty much the audio column I have in my sheet...
Yes a few of us did a travelling book and sent Virginie a package when she disappeared for a while. I think she had a family illness possibly. I miss her! And I miss Anni and Elinor being here as much as they were! <3
I sometimes wonder if that travelling book made it back to Anni?! I should probably just remember to ask her :')
Siobhan wrote: "Yes a few of us did a travelling book and sent Virginie a package when she disappeared for a while. I think she had a family illness possibly. I miss her! And I miss Anni and Elinor being here as..."
I've also wondered about the travelling book over the years and whether it made its way back to Anni. My memory is fuzzy did we do a travelling book for the first 2 books in the series. I know we didn't do it for book 3 but I can't remember if we did it twice or not?
Hailee wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "Yes a few of us did a travelling book and sent Virginie a package when she disappeared for a while. I think she had a family illness possibly. I miss her! And I miss Anni and Elin..."
I think we did it twice, because I bought book 2 and started it off, then sent it to you I think! :)
Wonder where that one got to!
Thanks for sharing the Spreadsheet Wars!Turns out that wasn't the fever-dream I was remembering though. But it unearthed in my memory some totally different FBR fic I wrote for Zaara as Zaaragorn, who lived by the Rambling Brook under the watchful eye of the Moderation Mountains, etc. Had totally forgotten about that.
I love the travelling book thing you guys did too. So many collaborative endeavors by creative talented members. This competition included!
Siobhan wrote: "Hailee wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "Yes a few of us did a travelling book and sent Virginie a package when she disappeared for a while. I think she had a family illness possibly. I miss her! And I mis..."
Yeah I thought there was two. I think we did the same route (that minimised postage costs) coz I got both of mine from you and mine went on to Virginie but no idea who was nearest to her. I wonder how far around the route either of them went... I'd love to see how many more notes the books accumulated. I still have those Simon/Baz tea tins you gave me. I love them!! Hmm I wonder if 2023 is another reread of the series year...
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Our traveling book wasn't Simon Snow, we did The Waking Fire :)
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Timelord Iain wrote: "Simon & Baz are the MCs of Simon Snow as well…"I know they're from Simon Snow haha, that was just something in the box for Hailee.
Sorry I think we're talking at cross purposes now so I'll shut up! xD
Timelord Iain wrote: "You guys did Simon Snow trilogy?… I read that in this group a year or 3 ago…"Yes I think we buddy read it together in October '21. Its a favourite of mine though so I reread it every couple of years
Siobhan wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Simon & Baz are the MCs of Simon Snow as well…"I know they're from Simon Snow haha, that was just something in the box for Hailee.
Sorry I think we're talking at cross purp..."
Siobhan wrote: "Our traveling book wasn't Simon Snow, we did The Waking Fire :)"
Hahaha yes sorry for the confusion Iain I didn't explain my comment in detail as I knew Siobhan would know what I meant but I didn't consider other peoples confusion. The travelling book was from The Draconis Memoria trilogy but we all included a few goodies for the person we were sending the book to and one of the goodies Siobhan sent me were some tea boxes with some Simon/Baz artwork from the Carry On trilogy on them.
Hailee wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Simon & Baz are the MCs of Simon Snow as well…"I know they're from Simon Snow haha, that was just something in the box for Hailee.
Sorry I think we're talki..."
I actually think the tea boxes were from Anni you know! She had put them in for you before sending to me!! If my memory serves haha.
This travelling book is such a cute and fun idea! Probably cost an arm and a leg in these present times though...
Beena wrote: "This travelling book is such a cute and fun idea! Probably cost an arm and a leg in these present times though..."It was a few years ago! Pre Brexit I think, I don't think the postage costs were too bad 😅 would probably be double now!!
Siobhan wrote: "I actually think the tea boxes were from Anni you know! She had put them in for you before sending to me!! If my memory serves haha..."Oooh now you say it that rings a bell. Its been a while since I saw Anni around on the threads
Beena wrote: "This travelling book is such a cute and fun idea! Probably cost an arm and a leg in these present times though..."It was a really fun thing to do but yeah a lot has changed since then. I dread to think how much it would cost nowadays!!
Timelord Iain wrote: "I made a little Audiobook to Page Converter in the Monthly section of your sheet, below the bar graphs... not sure how useful it'll be...Like I said, you need to input books as 12.38 (hours) inst..."
This is really cool! Thank you!
I didn't even think about how slow/fast narration could affect the page count... I was just thinking of how much of a difference there is between the kindle, paperback, and hardcover editions of any book, that I didn't know what page number to put in, and thought it would be more consistent to use the audio as reference when I did audio, than randomly choosing one of the physical versions which sometimes vary by 100 pages... sometimes I'll just go look at my physical copy if I have one, but when I don't...
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Like I said, you need to input books..."
The officially allowed page count is top 5 editions of your reading/listening language (English for most people), or the page count in your edition in foreign languages (since there don't tend to be as many editions to choose from)...
Timelord Iain wrote: "The officially allowed page count is top 5 editions of your reading/listening language (English for most people), or the page count in your edition in foreign languages (since there don't tend to be as many editions to choose from)..."
Yeah... it just bugs me when it says that one edition is 330 pages, and another 500... but it feels more like 420 to me... and my ereader is saying 380 but is at 8pt font.. then I just want to take all the numbers and divide them by four...
Took a bit off your workload Iain and got my sheet all set up.
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Alright... thanks... I just got home and was going to check the 2022 sheet if you had anything special, and get you setup...
Did you do the maintenance work on the Participant Data sheet?
There, you need to add yourself as a row, input your team name, copy some formulas, set your start date to the day you signed up, and flip the dropdown switch to grab your gID from your tab-specific URL, then everything is setup... there's a chance your B2 cell will be #REF, because there seems to be a hidden cell formula missing from some templates, I think?
I'll let you handle that. I added myself and copied some formulas which seem to be working, but there might be some other nuances I have missed!(I did previously create the row, but might be some errors still, not sure).
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I love it... and it cuts down on recalculating every time someone changes a value in any tab...
Anyway... I changed your start date to January 16th... that only really matters to make the estimated points/pages at the end of the competition in October more accurate, really...
If you notice any other issues, I'll pop in and fix them...
So I added a few rows to my January because I read more than I did this month last year, but they're not adding to everything correctly.
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It's the hidden column...
Just dragging some rows from near the bottom up, is safer, if there's extras down there...
I fixed the formulas missing in the hidden column...
Problems with net connection here... so... no reading on kindle...
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Best to download ahead of time, so you can read offline... reading offline is best, anyway, to conserve battery, in my opinion...
I didn't know I can read when offline :)
Hi everyone, I am so sorry but I am going to have to bow out from this team challenge. My reading has taken a bit of a nose dive and I haven't been feeling motivated to pick up books lately. I know this is a competition so I don't think I should stay on as I don't foresee myself joining buddy reads anytime soon. Again, I am so sorry for the inconvenience this may cause to the rest of my group.
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Slumps suck... And I know you were planning to read sun eater 3+
:(
Oh dear! It looks like Navi left the group entirely??I sent her a DM, so I hope she comes back. :/
Navi, if you come back to read this, I forgot to say, thank you for giving us a heads up.
Still, I do hope you reconsider. <3
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Iain, did you or anyone else in the group have contact with Virginie outside of Goodreads? It's always a bit sad to lose touch with contacts, but while people disappear from online spaces for all sorts of reasons, since 2020... now I always wonder, and mourn those silences all the more keenly.