I notice that a fair number of the postings in the "new fiction" listings are simply announcements that a particular story is for sale on Kindle (Amazon), and they're frequently repostings of old "on Kindle" announcements, presumably to keep them visible on the home page. However, stories that are actually posted on BC only get listed when they are first posted, and maybe again some years later if the BC editors decide to republish it as an oldie-but-goodie. I feel like these announcements don't really belong in the "new fiction" section, since they're not new and they're not themselves fiction.
Would it be possible to have a separate listing on the home page for stories by BC authors that are on Kindle (and maybe other commercial media?) Hatbox stories are already listed separately on the home page, so maybe something similar? This way, the authors wouldn't have to keep reposting "on Kindle" announcements, and the "new fiction" list would be just for actual new fiction.
Comments
Love the Kindle Reminders
I Love the Kindle Reminders. They are fantastic just the way that they are. Remember that every Kindle Book sold goes in part or in whole toward the funds needed to keep Big Closet Top Shelf on the internet. Without all the ads, BCTS would not have the funds to operate. The more income that comes in from advertising and books plus the loyal supporters with contributions regularly thru hatbox and Patreon, means the less stress on Erin & Company. I hate that Erin still has to make emergency appeals like the one posted in the blogs currently but I would hate even more to point my browser to BCTS one day and get a "Not Found". The reminders are clearly marked so if you just don't care about BCTS then you can skip over them. It's not like BCTS is a pay to play subscription site, which it would have to be to exist if it were not for the advertising of all sorts which do not interrupt the main function of the site to be able to read write and discuss TG fiction.
The Kindle Reminders are a very minor inconvenience to the minority who feel that free TG fiction for their self gratification is really free. It is not free. It costs a huge amount of money to support a site of BCTS's size. It costs money to run the Kindle publishing arm of BCTS, Doppler Press and its other imprints, to support the site and to give BCTS authors their dream of becoming real published authors to the world at large and have a lasting evidence to their writing if BCTS ever went off the air. It costs authors their precious time and talent to provide those free stories that BCTS publishes to the web.
Readers can be very selfish withholding their kudos and comments from free stories published on BCTS. It fills my heart with pride every time the Kindle promo comes up with my 2 Doppler Press books. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of those books go to the support of BCTS. But how are people going to buy them without a reminder that they exist?
The Kindle reminders do an extreme amount of good both for BCTS authors and for BCTS itself. If you care anything about BCTS then just embrace the reminders in the loving spirit in which they are offered.
Exploring the impossibilities,
Jo Dora Webster on YouTube
Jo says it well...
But I can be more blunt! The Kindle sales are a quarter to a third of our budget. The self-ads we post (the authors don't do it, I do it) are our choice in lieu of selling ads that have nothing to do with the site and would probably go in the self-same spots.
And as to that, you suggest putting the ads somewhere else. Like where? There's only so much real estate. Less than 1/5 of the lastest posts in the fiction column are ads for our Kindle books, I don't post a Kindle ad until there are 5 new story posts.. And no pop-ups, and no animation, and no LOUD ads that play automatically, all of which I run into on most other sites I go to.
And still I have to beg for money contributions several times a month. I despair, and I ain't shitting about that. In about a week, I will have been doing this for 22 years which is about 30% of my life. The question is why do I do it?
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
It's Just That...
...the book covers are as tall as my screen, so they take up far more than 20% of the space.
Fwiw, I seldom look down the front page past the index at the top and the blog listings; I go to the "free stories" page to scroll down the story teasers and to see which of the stories I've read have new comments.
Best, Eric
Less tall
I've started making them less tall. I might do another round of shrinkage. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I agree... but...
I agree that the Kindle and Amazon stories intermixed with the posted stories are annoying at times, (especially when I just post a story up and it immediately loses the coveted 'top spot' in the home page!) however I would much rather them be there than lose the site to the never-ending costs that threaten to shut the virtual doors of this place permanently.
Erin et al. work tirelessly to keep this place going. Anything that forwards that is in all of our benefit. They wouldn't need to if people actually contributed more to the site. I donate as much as I can as often as I can, on top of contributing free stories for people to enjoy. In each of my stories, I ask only a small donation to the site in payment for each... and even then only after the story is fully posted, so I'm not even asking people to pay before they read them... but only after the reader has enjoyed it. (which still doesn't help nearly enough)
If every one of the 500+ readers of The Wisher's Paradox or Curse of the Werewoman just donated $5 each, that would be $1,000 towards keeping this place afloat so I can continue putting up my other stories for people to enjoy. $5 is nothing today. So if we would like to see the for-pay book ads be taken out of the story list, people need to put their money where their interests lie.
Even if you regularly contribute, see if you can scrounge up a few dollars more for the absolute privilege of having this place at all...
...unless we would all like to see...
"404 error, page not found"
...one day when we try to log in.
Roberta
Been on both sides of the postings ....
I've been on both sides of the Kindle postings. I wrote for years before I took the plunge and worked with Erin and her awesome team to get the Amadeus series published on Kindle/DopplerPress. I'll have to say, it's a pretty heady thing to see your published book be advertised on the site -- and the more the better, as an author. The fact that the proceeds are benefitting the site makes it even better. I do have to say that even as a "seasoned" author on the site before being published, I never begrudged the "Kindle" postings inserting themselves into the mix. I've been a member of many other sites, most of which require a fee to access (with no better content that what BC has to offer). So, I'll happily accept a few intermixed postings advertising books that were mostly free to read on the site before being published, anyway, if that will keep the site free.
Story codes
Above the list of new stories is the legend:
Codes: Solo=Standalone story, not series, verse, drabble or fanfic; Source codes: HB=Hatbox; DP=Doppler Press; KS=Kindle Store; AB=Amazon Book; LL=Lulu; SW=SmashWords; SD=Stardust; SS=StorySite; SP=Sapphire's Place; FM=FictionMania. Default is day of week.
But the "Kindle remembers" items are marked with a day of the week, not KS. Ditto the other "adverts".
Code these use their allocated codes, or would it be better to remove this legend and use the screen space for another story ?
Andrew