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What does it mean when contest after contest draws dozens of entries and Hatbox hasn't had a single new story contributed to it in months?
Jill
BigCloset TopShelf
TopShelf TG Fiction in the BigCloset!
The Hatbox
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Comments
insecurity
I think it means "I like writing stories, but I don't think any of them are good enough to make someone have to pay to read it."
Why is Hatbox Ignored?
It’s easy. Any entrepreneur should be able to figure this one out.
1. Marketing/Advertising, or more correctly lack there of. Where on the TS/BC opening page does it scream;
I mean, how many causal visitors even know what Hatbox is? You are assuming everyone knows what it is and how to access it. Flash traffic – That just isn’t so. When Angela made her first blog entry, the one in which she stated, "YOU WRITERS. . .you know who you are! Get off your collective asses and do what you do best. Send Erin a steady stream of stories for Hatbox,†I had a hard time finding Hatbox. It is not part of the items at the top of the page that can be selected. If you really wish to push and promote this feature, it needs to be displayed in a manner that cannot be missed or ignored.
In a society that now has an attention span of 5.3 nanoseconds, you need to remind people again, and again and, again. And after you do that, remind them again of the following;
- What Hatbox is.
- How it can be accessed.
- What its value to TS/BC is.
2. Aggressive recruiting of writers and stories for Hatbox. You cannot expect writers simply to wake up one morning and suddenly shout out, “Hey! I am going to post a story on Hatbox.â€
Someone has to sort though the stories here at TS/BC, decide what is good enough for Hatbox and contact the author and asked them if it could be transferred to Hatbox. In the time I have been positing stories here, no one has ever done that to any of my stories, which means the people running Hatbox do not think they are good enough, or it’s not your policy to go out and aggressively seek out stories, waiting for some benevolent TG friendly deity to come riding in on an enchanted unicorn and hand you stories.
3. Tease and entice the reader. Once you have a writer who is willing to donate a story to hatbox, publish the first few chapters on the public page of TS/BC and then transfer the rest to the Hatbox. That’s called marketing.
Before anyone goes about slamming writers for being sloths and miscreants for not posting stories to Hatbox, I suggest you take a look at how that program is being administered and marketed.
Hopefully this comment will not be viewed as being 'Unfriendly,' and deleted. I really want TS/BC to succeed. Otherwise, why would I be positing stuff here. Having said that, I hope my suggestions are taken in the vain in which I intended them. Otherwise, all I can do is wish you all the best of luck.
Okay, I'm stepping down from my soapbox. I have a scene to sort out.
Nancy Cole
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
Marketing 101
The first rule of marketing is to have something good to sell.
I have been nationally acknowledged as an outstanding marketeer for almost four solid decades. What Nancy suggests makes sense, in most cases. But. . .Nancy's suggestion assumes that Erin has the time and is so inclined. She doesn't. . .and isn't.
The thrust of my last blog, which was deleted, was that writers need to create content for Hatbox, submit it, and then keep on Erin until it is published. Hatbox can be the engine that powers this site, but only with good, plentiful content.
The TG appetite is vast and varied. My writing appeals to a certain group of readers. Other authors create material that will attract other readers. As a rule I would rather not have a youthful protagonist. Youthful protagonists are quite popular with most BC readers. There are some great BC writers who appeal to certain audiences who can create material that will make Hatbox successful.
If you aren't sure if your story is good enough for hatbox, ask someone you trust to read it. It's really that simple. I've submitted two or three Hatbox stories I wasn't all that proud to publish. They've been widely accepted. Your work will find an audience.
I have no desire to change BC into a pay as you go site. Hatbox is a palatable alternative that allows every reader to eventually read every story for nothing. Each author has a chance to reach the maximum number of readers. Isn't that what it's all about?
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
contributing to hatbox
count me as one who didnt know i could contribute a story to the hatbox. still not sure anything i have written is worthy of someone having to pay for em, but maybe ?
Mostly because...
I haven't done the work to put stories in the Hatbox. There have been donations of stories but it takes roughly three hours to prepare even a short story to be available in the Hatbox in multiple formats and with promotional pages. And for longer stories it can take ten hours or more. Getting time in chunks has been the problem.
Right now, I've spent almost five hours running BC today. That's just doing every day stuff and answering emails and PMs.
I've got books I'm working on for local authors that pay me twenty-thirty dollars an hour for the work and I'm behind on doing a reformatting job on one and doing lettering for the covers of four others. And I've got a Quillian page to put up tonight which takes roughly three hours to do.
It's always about time.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Heart of the Problem
I think Erin's response cuts right to the heart of the problem. She cannot do this on her own. She needs help, skilled, dedicated, knowledgeable and effective help that can help her implement many of the solutions and reforms needed not only to help TS/BC survive and thrive, but improve.
A couple of computer savvy techno types who aren't writers but would love to do something of value here is what she needs to implement some of the changes. They would have to work under her remote supervision, but I don't see what the alternative is. Otherwise, if Erin suddenly goes Tango Uniform or gets so frustrated that she throws in the towel, TS/BC will die.
Baying at the moon does not help. Helping helps.
Nancy Cole
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
Great point!
Nancy, Angela, Erin,
Why don't we ask people what skills they have and if they would be willing to share a bit of time?
We have some of the best TS/TG authors around, we have some wonderful and very dedicated editors, we have marketing, sales, strategy and deep technical skills amongst us.
The question is how do we collectively mobilise all this talent? Perhaps a simple PM to ask:
1. Do you have skills in any of the following areas?
2. Would you be willing to spend a bit of time helping?
Would it be possible to set up a sales and marketing forum, a technical forum etc?
One final observation. Erin set this site up and runs it. How do we make sure that anything we do doesn't take anything away from this whilst doing what we can to support it?
Persephone
Persephone
Non sum qualis eram
I'm trying to write
a long short story (novella) for hatbox, but like Erin it's about time. It's also in a different genre from my usual. I don't do contests.
I also have qualms about 'selling' my work, and is it actually worth paying for. However, I am committed to trying to keep this site running and encouraging more authors and readers here - which is why I spend a dozen hours a week writing stuff to post here.
Angharad
Angharad
One Way, Angharad
. . .to discover what something is "worth" is to offer it to a ready buyer.
Like you, I have qualms about selling my work, which is why Erin and I have the agreement that everything she has of mine that is held for sale has been has been or will be offered for free for a period of time.
I'm happy to see you're working toward putting a piece into Hatbox. It will be highly successful as a fundraiser.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)