Where are there writers chatting about writing?

ForumHobnob with Authors

Melde dich bei LibraryThing an, um Nachrichten zu schreiben.

Where are there writers chatting about writing?

Dieses Thema ruht momentan. Die letzte Nachricht liegt mehr als 90 Tage zurück. Du kannst es wieder aufgreifen, indem du eine neue Antwort schreibst.

1LShelby
Feb. 16, 2020, 10:30 pm

So a quick question to all the Writer types who pass through here....

Where do you go online to talk shop with other writers?

2jeffschanz
Feb. 24, 2020, 4:28 pm

Twitter (#WritingCommunity), Goodreads, Bookrix, occasionally Facebook, and now here.
The only advice I really have is to stay the heck away from Absolute Write Water Cooler. Bitter, grouchy, judgemental people.

3Marissa_Doyle
Feb. 24, 2020, 5:37 pm

Huh. I love the Absolute Write Water Cooler--it's my favorite online writing community, aside from a private FB group. To each their own, I suppose.

4jeffschanz
Feb. 24, 2020, 5:59 pm

Marissa, ...Might be different now. Its been a few years from me. Many authors treated me disdainfully or patronizingly, and I was depressed at the time and feeling like the site was dragging me further down. So, I can ammend my previous statement by saying that my experiences are my own. Just my humble opinion. :)

5gilroy
Bearbeitet: Feb. 24, 2020, 7:12 pm

I go to Absolute Write for research of agents and publishers, but don't stay to chat any more. Similar experiences to >3 Marissa_Doyle:. (Oh and I survived the great meltdown of 2016...)
I do go to Forward Motion Writers. It's a smaller forum, with helpful writers, but it's also rather quiet.

6LShelby
Feb. 25, 2020, 5:09 pm

>2 jeffschanz:
I've been to Goodreads, but I couldn't figure out how to find a group that would appeal to me. Do you have some favorite groups on Goodreads you can recommend?

I'm not familiar with Bookrix. If Hobnob hits a slump I will go check it out. :)

>5 gilroy:
I have gone to Absolute Write to do research in the past, but the discussion groups never drew me in somehow.

Forward Motion I visited before also, but its been such a long time I can't remember what I thought of it. I'm sorry to hear that its gotten quiet. (It wasn't quiet then!)

A lot of places I used to chat have gone quiet or faded away completely. I tried joining a forum a couple years back, and while I was busy being sick they decided to take it down since most of the activity was going on in live chat.

I don't like live chat. I want the conversation to wait on my convenience. >:)

7jeffschanz
Feb. 26, 2020, 9:14 am

LShelby - Bookrix has hit a gigantic slump. It used to be easy to comment on groups or profiles and get notified when someone else comments back. But nowadays, the site has changed, and there's no notifications anymore. It's nearly impossible to communicate effectively. The only good thing about it is that there are still loads of readers willing to scan the site for books. It's best for non-published works (free), stuff you just want to get eyes on, kinda like Beta reads. You can post your work locally, kinda like Wattpad. The whole place is dying a slow, whimpering death.
-As for Goodreads... I don't have a favorite group. I just get notified of bunches of various posts, and will occasionally answer or give a new topic. I've found at least a couple of good opportunities from that site.

8LShelby
Feb. 28, 2020, 4:14 pm

>7 jeffschanz:
"As for Goodreads... I don't have a favorite group. I just get notified of bunches of various posts, and will occasionally answer or give a new topic."

The next time I am over there, I will try that and see how it works for me. I suspect that I prefer the continuity of an established group. But I'm willing to experiment. :)

From the sounds of things, I'm a bit dubious that I'll get any use out of Bookrix, though. I'm not quite as enchanted with the idea of giving away my books as I used to be. I don't mind giving them to specific people who I think deserve them, and I'm usually delighted to do an exchange with another author. But I don't like just putting them out there for anyone.

My experience is that the people who have done me the most good for my career by talking about my books, are the people who actually bought them.

I have been considering putting my next batch of books up on Netgalley though. Anyone here tried that?

9jeffschanz
Feb. 28, 2020, 4:30 pm

.LShelby - "From the sounds of things, I'm a bit dubious that I'll get any use out of Bookrix, though. I'm not quite as enchanted with the idea of giving away my books as I used to be. I don't mind giving them to specific people who I think deserve them, and I'm usually delighted to do an exchange with another author. But I don't like just putting them out there for anyone."

Me either. I use Bookrix as a Beta site. I get eyes that way, and occasional comments. Then when the book is ready, I pull it and leave only an excerpt and a link to the sales site. You can sell a book on Bookrix, but it's not exactly pulling in the cash that way. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend it for anyone that would be annoyed sorting through a lot of young people drama. It's turned into a strange chat site for some very seedy elements. It used to be better. I met a lot of cool authors there. Not anymore.

10LShelby
Mrz. 1, 2020, 8:15 pm

I suppose we need to get feedback from somewhere.

Although, all three of my traditionally published sales were read by no one other than my husband before submission, so maybe I don't need betareaders?

But I just had a betareader catch a real big oops in something. So I think I'm going to continue to have my stuff betaread, and assume that the only non-beta'd stuff being bought thingy is a coincidence.

A lot of the places I met some cool authors seem to have declined. That's why I started this thread. I mean, did they all stop talking or something? Where did everyone go?

11jeffschanz
Mrz. 2, 2020, 2:19 pm

I did a reading event recently and one of the ladies who read and loved my book asked if she could Beta read my newest novel. Just for free. I was glad to and she did a terrific job of listing the things that she liked and others thought were awkward. Very helpful.
If there's any of your readers that you feel good about that might be interested in Beta reading, might be worth asking.
I woudn't pay anyone. And I had bad experiences doing trades with other authors. That's just me. Do what you feel is comfortable.

12LShelby
Mrz. 6, 2020, 3:53 pm

>11 jeffschanz:

I have some betareaders like that, and I also used to participate in an online writer's workshop.

Like I said, the fact that the ones that sold to traditional markets were the ones I hadn't actually had read by anyone other my husband is probably a coincidence. (My husband would say it's because he's such an awesome betareader that I don't need anyone else.) From the beginning I have always tried to get my stuff critiqued.

Anyway, I've brought in more money in from my beta-read indie sales than my not beta-read traditional sales at this point, I think. The profit is still lower because the indie sales have expenses attached to them that I didn't have when submitting to traditional markets. I have never paid anyone to betaread, but I do pay my copyeditor. :)

...
By the way, I am not exactly sure what a "reading event" is. Could you expand?

13jeffschanz
Mrz. 6, 2020, 9:28 pm

LShelby...There was a reading contest posted on another site, run by a semi-popular author. They gave prizes to the readers for amount read, etc. There are some authors who poo-poo that kind of event, but I enjoyed it. 60 authors and 360 readers. Your ebook is gifted to the readers. I got a lot of reads and reviews. Plus, a few new fans who are wanting to read my next books. I would do it again if I have a new book to offer.

14LShelby
Mrz. 7, 2020, 2:46 pm

It sounds fun to me. I'll have to keep that in mind as a "better way" of doing book giveaways.

I guess what you need now, is that next book. :)

15jeffschanz
Mrz. 7, 2020, 4:01 pm

LShelby... Here was the event page (it's over now), just for reference. She claims they will be putting something together for Summer, so if you occasionally check her site, she'll post whatever it is.
https://casimclean.com/winter-games/

If you have some books you'd like to add some reviews to, I'd consider it. The audience she got was a bit on the romance-y side, and gravitated to anything with love or sex in it. My book isn't a romance, but besides the action and mayhem, it is a love story, with some romance elements, admittedly. I got 13 reviews out of it, everyone was sweet and very complimentary. There were other books there too, mysteries, suspense, etc. which seemed to do well. Something to think about. The games take place on Facebook, and there's things like rapid fire interviews, etc. Mostly just interacting with the readers.

Jeff

16LShelby
Mrz. 9, 2020, 8:24 pm

Thank you!

I do tend to write romantic subplots, but I also keep in mind Gold's rule... um.. #2? #4? I forget which number. Anyway, to summarize: the more words you spend on sex scenes, the less you spend on story.

The only thing that really worries me is...

...I'm not that fond of facebook. :(

But one must make sacrifices for the sake of one's art, right?

17jeffschanz
Mrz. 9, 2020, 10:10 pm

>LShelby...
Facebook sucks ass, and takes forever to load anything to do with the games or interviews, etc. That said, we had no choice. That's where it took place. Check out her site and decide for yourself. Everyone has the preferences. Mine was to get exposure, maybe some new fans, and definitely some reviews. Worked to plan perfectly.