--edited by Lucy Silag - Book Country Director on 9/16/2015, 1:36 PM--

A better choice of covers would be of great benefit to those like myself where technical inadequacy prevents adding my preferred avatar or, more critically, my 'own' book cover. I accept it's my own fault that uploading my manuscript caused vast problems and repeated attempts to amend my book cover met with abject failure. Perhaps this site expects a minimal degree of technical ability and 'epic fail' will be my legacy.

A separate issue and please don't take this badly. I'm a relative newcomer to BC, since the announcement of Authonomy's imminent demise, and the lack of readers is concerning me. I now realise how valuable Authonomy was as a writer's resource. 

I've found books I like on this site. I've read several chapters of perhaps fifty manuscripts and added comments to 13 so far when I deemed it appropriate to praise or raise a point of issue. Fair enough;it's my decision to read a manuscript unprompted and I do so without expectation of a return read or comment. Despite this, however, my own manuscript has received only two comments: one from a former Authonomy member and the other from the splendid Lucy. Okay, perhaps the people whose books I've read don't like my book. Fine, but of the 13 comments I've made so far, only three of those fellow writers even bothered to thank/acknowledge my input.

Is this the norm here? Good manners is surely a reasonable expectation from a community of writers. 

Are you sure these members are currently active on the site? Do you see them popping up in discussions? I think that we have many drop-outs. That's my best guess. Like any site - I see it elsewhere - we have a few really active folks and many less so. I have a feeling that randomly selecting a piece to read is not the best way to go. Except for your own learning experience.

--edited by katie78 on 9/17/2015, 7:49 PM--

The best way to find active members is kind of complex, sadly. I don't think Book Country has a true method.

Some things to look out for when looking to do reviews:

Always check the date a manuscript has been uploaded. Go to the author's Profile and check to see whether they've been actively reviewing. If they uploaded their manuscript more than a month ago, and haven't reviewed anything for three months, then that mean's they're probably not very active here.

Here are a list of active members (that I know of)

Amber J. Wolfe--me

Mimi Speike

Lucy Silag

Carl E. Reed (He's taken a long break, but he's back now. He's really talented, too)

Lucy Basey

GD Deckard

Atthys Gage

Zach Heher

Please note that those listed above are the people I've noticed posting to the forums. I've no idea how much they review.

Book Country has been slow of late. I'm thinking it's because of the lack of reward one gets for leaving reviews--there's no true recognition for an active reviewer. No spotlights or anything.

I'm worried that Book Country will fade away if nothing is changed. So many members have disappeared since last year. Seems I joined just before the more active members started dribbling away . . .

Hi, everyone - I confess, I'm one of the members who used to be very active on this site for a few years. But then life got in the way and then the redesigned site was launched. Sadly, I never quite warmed up to the site. It used to be so much easier to track discussion forums and members' activity and so on all from the first page you landed on after logging in (it was very visual). But I won't dwell on that - I had posted plenty of comments when this version of Book Country launched and, though I don't actively post, I do still follow many threads and see that some of the issues that were raised some time ago are still haunting people. . .

While I still write/edit my own work, I have put the trilogy aside for now and have turned to another book. I've been struggling with the "what's the point of devoting so much time to writing when no one will ever read it" angst that I think most writers experience from time to time. I've also been spending what free time I have generally away from my personal laptop (I edit ALL day for a living - most of it on a computer - so I am a bit bleary-eyed at night) and focused on my art (finishing up a mosaic with hand-made tiles that I've been working on in memory of my dad, taking a Nigerian pottery class, working on an art car, volunteering for and participating in a community art project, and so on).

All that said, there are many fantastic writers on this site. Not just with respect to the WIPs they've posted, but also to the many contributions they've made to the many discussion forums. Witty, informative, thought-provoking, supportive are just a handful of the words that come to mind when I think of some of the exchanges I've read over the years. So, newcomers, welcome! And dig around the site. I'm sure you'll find the level of activity you need/want.

Another great way to find members to connect with is by scoping our blog. This week we featured Janice Peacock and Jessica Hawkins, two members whose work and insights on publishing I always enjoy! Folks should connect with these 2 for sure. Keeping up with the blog is a great way to see how people have used the site in different ways, too.

I love when folks post on the discussion board. It's so great to see the conversations and connections that happen! However, I don't think the discussion forum is the best gauge of site activity. A lot of folks view the discussions for writing and publishing tips without feeling the need to weigh in. If you want to get people talking, start a thread and then connect to people and tell them you are curious about their opinion. In the meantime, we're listening to suggestions about the discussion board and will revisit them when the time comes to develop this area of the site further.

Hi, Angela! *waves*

There can't be much that hasn't been discussed to death here, but what about Angela's comment? What keeps us writing when we know the odds are against us being widely read? Somebody start this up. I've done enough yakking today. You're probably tired of hearing my half-baked opinions.

@Angela: So good to hear from you again! How about giving us a three-sentence weird tale, over in HORROR? 

@Mimi: I'll take a crack at your question. We round-robined this very topic a couple of years back but I can't seem to find our old thread this late September 2015.

LATER: Here's the new thread Mimi just started: ww.bookcountry.com/Community/discussion/default.aspx?g=posts&t=8589937853 

NAME OF THE DISCUSSION: What the hell: Yet again, why do we write?

--edited by Carl E. Reed on 9/19/2015, 4:18 PM--

I'm at work now and picking up to go home. I'll start it in the am. Under what? Not sure. 

.

Of your list I'd say my number one reason for writing is your number 2 (more or less). I have a story to tell, and I'm dying to know how it works out. I have many ideas, how many of them can I work in? One of the reasons I'm in love with my new toy, my footnotes. I can shove anything into them, find some way to hook it up to the story. By the way/that reminds me usually works pretty well.

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Carl, if you don't know it by now (heaven help you, it's not like I've ever tried to keep it a secret), I will spell it out for you. I am incorrigible.

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Footnotes are a gas. I know you would do grand things with them. Think about it. 

--edited by Mimi Speike on 9/19/2015, 5:30 AM--