Forum / Invitations

  • Tolkien's_grave.thumb
    Wesley Baines
    May 17, 08:15am

    Does anyone know where I might be able to procure an invite for a well-deserving friend? I would appreciate any help with that.

  • Author_photo.thumb
    James Lloyd Davis
    May 17, 10:37am

    The only person who might be able to help you is:

    http://fictionaut.com/users/carson-baker

  • Rebel.thumb
    Sally Houtman
    May 17, 09:47pm

    or visit him on his website:

    www.carsonbakerisafigmentofourimagination.com

  • Best_guy_ever.thumb
    whatwouldbukowskido
    May 17, 10:04pm

    Thats...

    figamenTashunofyourIgmaginAtion

    (carson does not/has not existed in quite a while)

  • Author_photo.thumb
    James Lloyd Davis
    May 18, 01:20pm

    Masters of the obvious.

  • Author_photo.thumb
    James Lloyd Davis
    May 18, 04:43pm

    When there is no new blood in here, the place becomes tedious. It's nice, even encouraging when people return after a long absence, but they never stay.

    If someone is not willing to maintain the place.... beyond ensuring that the ads are working, maybe it's time to walk away.

  • Image.thumb
    Charlotte Hamrick
    May 18, 08:08pm

    What about the board of advisors?
    "The writers, editors, and publishing professionals below guide Fictionaut's development and growth. "
    Do they have any real managerial input here?

    As I see it, there are three options:
    Go with the flow
    Leave the site.
    Contact Mr. Faith and Mr. Carson and inquire about transferring admin duties to a committee of motivated, concerned Fictionauters.

    Running a site like this is a lot for two people who's energies might be elsewhere for many reasons. Maybe they'd welcome a change of hands and those who want a more efficient site could make a difference.

    Just a thought.

  • Blank_sp.thumb
    Carol Reid
    May 18, 08:38pm

    I could probably give a bit of time to helping run the site, but I would need the instruction book. Willing to try , if that idea gets off the ground.

    It would be great to include more people here.

  • Photo_on_2-20-16_at_8.24_pm__3.thumb
    Amanda Harris
    May 18, 08:44pm

    I actually just messaged Jurgen...have one person from my school who wants to join FNaut. So new blood is around...the invite things are just taking forever.

    I agree about having the site change hands.

  • Rebel.thumb
    Sally Houtman
    May 18, 08:59pm

    I sent two invites in November which are still stuck in the system.

    Messaged Jurgen twice. No response.

    Messaged Carson twice. No response.

    From the 'New members' list on the main page, only about 3 invites have gone through in past 8 months.

    Jurgen posted to a similar thread several months ago saying he's aware of the problem and to 'stay tuned'. Yet nothing.

    However, an errant thread was deleted last week when a member tweeted Jurgen about it. So there is a way to get certain things done.

    I don't do the twitter thing. Would it be an idea for someone to tweet Jurgen and send an SOS on our behalf?

  • Image.thumb
    Charlotte Hamrick
    May 18, 09:24pm

    Well, I just checked and he tweeted as late as 19 hours ago so maybe that's the way to go. He doesn't know me from Adam so I suggest someone else try it.

  • Image.thumb
    Charlotte Hamrick
    May 18, 09:26pm

    Check this out:
    https://twitter.com/muckster/status/467304161772859393

  • Author_photo.thumb
    James Lloyd Davis
    May 18, 09:53pm

    We are orphans adrift on the internet ocean of abandoned web sites. Every now and again, an illustrious alumnus sails back in for a dozen faves and, satisfied, sails on... but it would be nice if the founders passed the helm off to someone who would be willing to restore Fictionaut to a place that can grow and prosper once again.

  • Dscf0571.thumb
    David Ackley
    May 19, 12:47pm

    It seems like there is only one problem of much concern: the invite function's disfunction. With or without active involvement on the part of Jurgen et al, the rest of the site seems to work pretty much as always. At the same time, the lack of new blood following from the above disfunction is a real concern we all share. I've no idea why it hasn't been really addressed or fixed, whether Carson just hasn't the time, or whether it is too complex a problem or just what. I think Jurgen needs to know that we all take the problem seriously, and that if it doesn't get addressed, Fictionaut will continue to lose credibility, and writers will migrate elsewhere.

  • Image.thumb
    Charlotte Hamrick
    May 19, 01:40pm

    Well, if someone talks to them also mention the search function is horrible, so not user-friendly. I imagine it's aggrivating for readers trying to find specific writers. Also notifications is broken outside the site.
    It's Monday. I'm grumpy.

  • Photo_on_2-20-16_at_8.24_pm__3.thumb
    Amanda Harris
    May 19, 01:51pm

    Is it just me or has the Fnaut community gotten smaller in the past year?

  • Wince_cover2.thumb
    Barry Basden
    May 19, 02:42pm

    A lot of good people have pulled back or left, Amanda. You can probably guess why.

  • Blank_sp.thumb
    Carol Reid
    May 19, 03:08pm

    I think there's probably a tenth of the traffic and participation now compared to the heyday, whenever that was. I'm going to join a couple of other sites and will report back if I find one that feels as comfortable as this one.

  • Jerry_city_lights_books_2010.thumb
    Jerry Ratch
    May 19, 03:37pm

    get even get into this site most of the time

  • Blank_sp.thumb
    Carol Reid
    May 19, 04:00pm

    Wow, there are many more sites than I expected. Many bright, shiny, upbeat sites with many resources. Just two I looked at- Scribophile, http://www.scribophile.com/ and Figment, http://figment.com/

    I think I'll just stay at Fnaut until the lights go out or, preferably, until someone takes advantage of my offer to help things get back on track here. But I understand that the reality is that the site needs a major revamp and overhaul, not just a change of the guard and anyone who takes over the site ( assuming that's a possibility) has a big job ahead of them. We'll see.

  • Image.thumb
    Charlotte Hamrick
    May 19, 04:49pm

    I'll stay too because I've met some big-hearted people here and it's a friendly bunch. But I will also check out your links, Carol. I used to be in ReadWritePoem before they closed down and I loved that community - the site worked like a well-oiled machine. It's just a shame that it seems this site (and it's well-known name) is languishing.

  • Author_photo.thumb
    James Lloyd Davis
    May 19, 04:57pm

    Yes, there are other sites, none like this one has been, but they are out there. Unfortunately, they are heavily populated with writers who are into romance, science fiction, vampires/werewolves/zombies/et al.
    Fictionaut has a unique flavor that's worth preserving, but it won't survive this downward spiral. Nothing I can do, so I'll be keeping a presence here, if nothing else.

  • Rebel.thumb
    Sally Houtman
    May 19, 07:40pm

    This is all very sad.

    And preventable.

    Hope someone takes up the reigns before it's too late.

  • Blank.thumb
    Soon to be deleted
    May 20, 01:02am

    It's been too late for a very long time.

  • Author_wide.thumb
    Jürgen Fauth
    May 22, 09:34am

    As I just posted in another thread, there's not much I can do without tech help. Carson's exceedingly busy (and at the moment, hard to reach), so my hands are pretty much tied. I think it's a freakin' shame because I love this site and put years of work into it, but I'm not sure what to do at this point.

    What it comes down to, in the starkest terms, is money. Fictionaut needs coding just to continue to function properly, and unless you can find someone as talented and dedicated as Carson who is willing to work for the glory, coding costs money. The ads never brought in anything close to what we'd need. We've spent hundreds of hours discussing alternatives -- our own publishing ventures, crowdfunding, grants, investors, a premium model -- but so far nothing seemed viable.

    I agree that Fictionaut is worth preserving, and that it does have its own unique flavor and culture -- something we spent a lot of time nurturing over the years. I'd hate to see it shut down or break completely.

    But I don't see an easy, obvious solution either. Any ideas & comments are very much welcome.

  • Frankie Saxx
    May 24, 10:22am

    @Jürgen

    I can only speak for myself, but I wouldn't be averse to a premium model, crowdfunding, etc. I've never seen a discussion here about the status of Fictionaut and exploring those options, which doesn't mean they haven't occurred, just that I missed them.

    If you wanted to explain the hard requirements of what Fictionaut needs to keep going, as a community member (of admittedly occasional presence) I would like to hear what you have to say. It's hard to offer ideas or comments without knowing what Fictionaut needs.

    RE: the problem with the mailer, would it be possible to fix up an "invite code" system rather than only mailing the invites? That way if the mailer is offline, we could give them to people manually.

  • Dscf0571.thumb
    David Ackley
    Jun 16, 01:43pm

    As per the other relevant thread re Ficsing Fictionaut, it looks like invitations are back in the pipeline and actually arriving.

  • Frankie Saxx
    Jun 17, 07:21pm

    Aw, yeah, look at all those new users on the main page. That's what I'm talking about.

  • You must log in to reply to this thread.