It's a simple question.
Why don't more BC writers support Hatbox by contributing stories to it?
I can't think of one valid reason.
It would seem logical that more people would subscribe to Hatbox if their was more quality content. Content seemingly is king. If Hatbox added a new story every week, from authors with followings, there's no doubt the number of subscriptions would skyrocket. More revenue, less doubt about the sustainability of BC. BC is NOT a given.
Hatbox subscriptions are one of the vital supportive measures for BC.
Of the sixteen current stories in Hatbox half were written by me. I'm no saint and certainly no more generous (or talented) than several dozen other writers on BC who should be contributing stories to Hatbox.
I would love to see Hatbox stories by:
Rasufelle
Sue Brown
Kristine Roland
Bailey Summers
Laika
Robyn Hoode
Grover
Barbara Lynn Terry
Drea
Arecee
This list was created without much thought. I'm sure I've left off many who I admire.
Who would you like to see write a story for Hatbox?
If you're an author who has enjoyed the benefits of BC, why haven't you posted a story to Hatbox? Perhaps you're holding back because of some misconception. Erin met every concern I had, I'm sure she would do the same for all other authors.
Jill M I
Comments
I recently added a story to the hatbox
I might add more at some point, if I can figure out which ones are worthy.
I'll give it a go
I've been dealing with personal problems and severe writer's block for the past year but I am still interested in donating a sequel to "A Hard Sell" to the Hatbox. As soon as I feel that I am up to writing again I will make it a priority.
Just an opinion
I don’t know about the others here, but since I am not that prolific, I have to husband the little that I can produce.
I think I would prefer to just contribute a specific amount or get a subscription, but I would not write something that only a select few can enjoy.
I am not that great a writer that I can put on airs, but since not everyone can visit the subscription portion of the site, I think I would prefer to put the few stories I have in the “free” part.
I realise the mechanism of writing stories exclusively for the “paid” portion of the site is to entice members to visit these paid-for pages. But since there are many who cannot enjoy them, I’d rather put my meager contributions in the “free” sections. And, besides, I fear my writing does not suit the more “exclusive” and more “elite” sections of the site.
It is a bit of a disappointment, actually, that the superb stories in the paid-for portion of the site cannot be enjoyed by everyone, but I understand that bills need to be paid, and upkeep of the site necessitates this. Guess it’s just a shame that distinctions between "premium" stories and "free" stories have to exist.
Just an opinion, of course.
To read my old Working Girl Blogs, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/19261/working-girl-blogs
To read all of my blogs, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog/bobbie-c
To read my stories in BCTS, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14775/roberta-j-cabot
To see my profile and know more about me, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/user/bobbie-c
See . . . That Is a Misconception
Erin and I worked out a deal so that every story I put in Hatbox is available for a certain amount of time for free. Erin and I both are very concerned that BC NOT become a paid site.
My stories for Hatbox are first published in Hatbox for a year. Then they are published as free stories for a few months before being archived in Hatbox.
Thank you for your comments.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Thank you for the clarification
Thank you for the clarification.
To summarize, then, contributors will have their stories exclusively in premium stories/hatbox for a year, and then they will be available to the general membership for just a few months, and then they will revert back to premium stories/hatbox as archived stories? Is this correct?
To read my old Working Girl Blogs, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/19261/working-girl-blogs
To read all of my blogs, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog/bobbie-c
To read my stories in BCTS, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14775/roberta-j-cabot
To see my profile and know more about me, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/user/bobbie-c
Yes
That is the agreement Erin and I have struck for my stories. Other authors might have different agreements with her.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Minimums
The minimum that I ask for is six months exclusive for a Hatbox story. Other terms are flexible.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Whatever I give can stay exclusive.
Just let me know what to do and how to submit. :) give me an idea for what you think might be helpful and I'll pen something just for BC. Just one thing? Can you make sure that the site snack bar soda machine has Diet Mountain Dew?
Love, Andrea Lena
We're going to be setting up an easy way to submit
to the Hatbox. Right now we are having to plan on moving the Denver servers so that is taking priority.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
oh....
and Kit Kats in the candy machine.... what..... virtual break room.... make believe? Never mind......
Love, Andrea Lena
It's just my own POV
People are, of course, free to do what they want with their literary creations, Aunt Andrea. I won't gainsay anyone.
For me, I would want to keep all of my stuff, meager and amateurish though they may be, accessible to all the readers instead of just to an exclusive few. I guess, for me, if I don't do that, I would feel that I am being elitist. Pardon my choice of words.
Like I said, I know the reasons why this is being done, and all I am saying is that this isn't for me. It's a little sad that there would be content in the site that not everyone will have access to - that there are "premium stories" that one has to effectively pay for to access. I have seen some of the stories in this section of the site and I am sure everyone in the site would want to read, but that's the way it goes.
My fear is that, in the future, the best stories of the site would start to concentrate in the "premium stories" section, and that the free stories might start to be considered "less premium" (shades of Animal Farm lol). I will throw my lot with the free story readers. No reflection on the ones that want to use their stories to help the site by making their stories available exclusively to a paying elite. In the end, it all helps the site, after all.
I think the raison d'etre of the site is to provide stories. Having some available to all and some available to only a few seem elitist to me somehow. It's just a shame that there would be a distinction between "free stories" and "premium stories," and that not all will be privileged to read the premium ones.
If I may make a suggestion: perhaps it would be good to have ALL stories be accessible to all, and the elite can instead have access to "premium services".
Perhaps these "premium services" can be access to "premium editions" of the stories that, I don't know, might have embedded pictures in them, or perhaps special introductions and postscripts from the authors, or perhaps have added features like enhanced readability, or "invited reviews" from specially-invited people. Perhaps the "premium" sections can have nice chat streams and "open mic" comments sections for the authors - and the "exclusive" service would be that these can be free-to-ask-anything chat, and a guarantee from the author to respond to these questions.
Sure, this would involve more work from the contributor, and more work to help in editing and formatting these stories properly. The price of entry into for contributors is that their work will have to have these "premium features" like pictures, exclusive intros, exclusive reviews, exclusive chat-comments, etc. But that's the thing - "premium" need not mean exclusive access to stories. "Premium" can mean access to premium "services" or premium "features."
Anyway, I guess, Aunt Andrea, I will not have access to the snack bar soda machine and not be able to share a Diet Mountain Dew with you. But you will find me hanging out with everyone else over at the water fountain. We might not have cafe au laits or have artisanal croissants with goat's cheese and manuka honey, but that's okay. We'll have baloney sandwiches we brought from home, with good old American cheese, mayo and sweet pickles (who doesn't like sweet pickles lol).
To read my old Working Girl Blogs, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/19261/working-girl-blogs
To read all of my blogs, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog/bobbie-c
To read my stories in BCTS, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14775/roberta-j-cabot
To see my profile and know more about me, click this link -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/user/bobbie-c
Premium saltines...
and Schickhaus All-Beef Bologna.... I cannot tell you how much you mean to me. I had one of the worst weeks physically that I have ever experienced. And I was very disappointed in forgetting your birthday but about as happy for another human being in my entire life at the news of your baby. I know you'll tell me not to cry, even if they are happy tears, so I'll just pretend we ran out of rolls and mayo, okay? oh... I'll bring the Swiss Miss cocoa... :)
Love, Andrea Lena
It is neither about elitism nor about "more premium" content.
To put it simply, Erin can't afford to foot the bill for the site, and not everyone who visits ever will contribute monetarily. The pickings in the Hatbox category of stories are slim at this time, and they always will remain so, because they're not meant to be put there as a way of locking people out of viewing them, but as a way to reward those who choose to contribute to the continued existence of the site in a more concrete way than mere content can.
Or, to put things a bit more cynically, most people are jerks who aren't willing to contribute to the upkeep of a good thing unless they get something out of it they wouldn't get simply by leeching off the edges. We have a lot of users who can't contribute, that's true, but we have a lot more who simply don't, and I'm well aware that I often fall into the latter category myself. Pictures on stories wouldn't suffice, nor would author chat or any of what you suggest: not only are those services usable for free at plenty of other sites, but they're services that readers here have come to expect to have regardless of their own contributions. Unique stories, however, are something that CAN be done, and can give those who choose to contribute a verifiable reward for doing so without stripping others of features that are already there. Most stories in the hatbox eventually see their way to free release, as Angela has taken pains to do with her own work featured there, so everyone can eventually get the content, and even should they NOT, well, there are always free alternatives already present here, both arguably better and worse than what is on offer in the Hatbox.
If we, as site visitors, as people who love the community and content here, could be relied upon to contribute financially more often, then the Hatbox would never need be so much as mentioned. But so long as the majority of us -- myself too often included -- ride on the coattails of those who do put in the sweat and blood to keep our haven secure, so long as we require or otherwise try to justify the offering of a reward for simply doing the right thing, the Hatbox, and the content within, are an unfortunate but necessary compromise.
Melanie E.
Me!
I hate sweet pickles with a passion. If I'm going to eat a pickle, it has to be a big, fat dill. And the sourer, the better. I prefer Mt. Olive, when I can find them,(they're as rare as honest politicians here, LOL) but will go for a Klaussen from time to time. Oh, and Yeah! to Dt. Dew, especially the Live Wire and Midnight varieties, or Baja Blast and Pitch Black. Kit Kats are good, but you gotta have Reese's as well to truluy be called a candy machine...
*Kisses Always*
Haylee V
Thank you ...
... for doing that, Angela! In addition to giving us "good reads," you help shift some of the burden from those of us who can contribute only $.
Sara
Between the wrinkles, the orthopedic shoes, and nine decades of gravity, it is really hard to be alluring. My icon, you ask? It is the last picture I allowed to escape the camera ... back before most BC authors were born.
Quality not quantity
Whatever you decide to do is of course your business, but I'm here to say that you have stories the equal of any here on BC or Amazon. I'm just starting "Shepherds Moon", which I missed when you started posting it. Certainly starting off well. As somebody said, it reminds me strongly of James P. Hogan, and I love Hogan! Your character development is A-1.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
I contributed
When I can afford it I pay a little
That's a very good question.
I have several stories I've started and intended for Hatbox but never finished.
Let me see what I can do.
Melanie E.
Well I do have one half finished story...
That's not too "experimental" and isn't part of this fantasy serial that will probably keep me occupied for the rest of the year. It'll either be called THE GIRL IN THE RED HOODIE or RED RIDES BACK TO THE HOOD; you can probably guess what it's about (The Enchanted Forest is a neighborhood in decline, with pixie dust addicts and wolves in old Chevy Impalas doing drive-by shootings keeping the tourists and their money away...)
I just spent over a month spinning my wheels and not working on the serial, during which I could have finished this 8-12 page fairy tale spoof, cleaned it up and donated it to hatbox. But just last night I figured out what the dramatic element could be in my most problematic and least finished chapter of OFF THE DEEP END; my wheels have found traction and I'm shooting forward with that. But the next time I hit an impasse on the serial (and I most likely will) I'll jump into working on the Hatbox donation story.
My problem is I'm just not prolific as a writer, it would be a lot easier to support this site I love by just sending a money order, except for the fact that every month I seem to get a surprise that wipes out the $50 bucks I might have been able to kick in. About twice a year I manage to, but it's not nearly enough considering how much Big Closet means to me, and gives me...
hugs, Veronica
What borders on pure insanity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
Your Story Sounds Timely
Probably somewhere around 4:23 AM.
I'm looking forward to reading it.
I know the feeling about $$$. I plan and plan, but my net worth six months from now is total conjecture.
Thanks for responding.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Didn't know that I could donate stories to the Hatbox.
If it was better publicised it might get more stories.
I do contribute funds to help keep things going but I don't have a view on how much revenue the Hatbox brings in to the site.
Perhaps Erin could share that?
Samantha
First You Have to Ask
A friend of mine was a wonderful philanthropist (Percy Ross https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Ross ). He gave away millions during his lifetime through his newspaper column. He said that the primary mistake most people in need make is failing to ask for help.
Thanks for pointing out this hole in the program. Now that you know you can submit a story to Erin, i hope you do. I like your writing.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Donating stories to the hatbox.
Not sure I have the type of following you're looking for (or any following, really) but I've thought about it. The problem is I'd probably have to finish one, first. Another Room in Hell tale has been considered, as has another Vagrants tale, but I decided to focus in other directions and finish other stories before starting another. Or at least finishing the current arcs my stories are set on.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you appreciate my tales, please consider supporting me on Patreon so that I may continue:
https://www.patreon.com/Nagrij
I don't, for one simple reason
I've never finished a long-form story in my life. Relatively undemanding flash fiction, yes, but never a multi-part story. I assume Hatbox exists mainly for more complicated narratives. The one such story I tried, I abandoned because I found it too much of an embarrassment. (In fact, I'm thinking of unpublishing it). I assume Hatbox is the premium service for a reason, in that it caters to the better writers here. I'm not yet among them, and doubt I ever will be.
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel
Not such a good writer
It never occurred to me that anything I write would be good enough.
Besides, I only have two completed stories, and one is rather short, and my impression is that Hatbox stories are novels.
I'd originally imagined Melanie's Story as a YA novel, but I didn't get the impression others were all that impressed, and certainly not enough to pay money for it. (I liked it, but I'm not exactly objective :) ) In principle, I could try to find an editor to help me turn it into something more widely acceptable, but I write to please myself and I don't know how well I would take to being asked to redo stuff in a way that I didn't like as much.
I have three or four longer stories started which I think I know what I want to do with, but I have a full-time job and I'm transitioning, so I have rather little free time or emotional clarity to work on them. (Much like with my programming, I need a block of time when I can empty my mind and let the task at hand fill my mind before I can do anything substantial.) Even once I finish them, I don't know that they'll be half as meaningful to anyone else as to me.
But...
Idea is good but there is a problem of self-rating. I guess stories in HatBox are the best among the best what makes a reader to want to subscribe. So every author who express the will to contribute sort of says "I'm one of the best". Then maybe if someone sees the story that's worth to be in hatbox there is a reason send a corresponding PM to the author.
Becoming more common
Several of my friends on dA are doing something similar, to monitize their work. A website called Patron allows them to set up an account to market their art. Some of them even have different levels, the more you pay the more you get. Most of them post the finished work to dA after a month or so, but the WIP and tutorials stay on their patron account.
I'm not sure if any of this is adaptable to BC, at least not without a lot of work on Erin's and Piper's part. I figured I'd throw it out there for people to think about.
I went outside once. The graphics weren' that great.
I have no problem with it
I have no problem with it conceptually, and thanks for being included in your list, Jill.
My issue is that I have not written anything in some time. I try once in a while to carve out the time, and haven't gotten anywhere.
But I really do want to, so I'll give another go and see what I can come up with.
Kristy
Why I haven't posted a story to the Hatbox
Simple.
1) I don't know how, and
2) nothing I write is good enough for it.
When I become a better author, I'll post to the Hatbox, but right now, I'm still trying to find my niche- the genre and types of stories I think others will read, and not just simply gloss over. Once I find that, I'll gladly contribute.
Perhaps I could migrate my Parables. Anyone care to comment on that idea?
*Kisses Always*
Haylee V