Beta Update on Admiral’s Revenge
Okay so my brother’s got his beta/editing website up for the testing/beta version (not to be confused with you guys who are going to be beta readers!) anyway he’s planning to put up the Revenge Draft on the website, where (on the website) you will be able to note if there’s an error by a simple click and drag to highlight the problem area and at some point if the error is bad enough, physically write in how it should be instead. Its still doesn’t have all the things we’d like in it yet but we hope to in short order.
So as soon as its ready, which should be a couple of days, the brother is going to post a link to the website where you can sign up for the website, click on which books you want to beta read and make your comments as you read it. I think its going to be really cool. And its a big step forward for my brother and his dream of making an interactive beta reading/editorial website.
The Deposed King
9 comments
KTnTx - October 4, 2013 4:24 pm
This sounds really cool. I can’t wait to try it.
Johntae - October 4, 2013 9:43 pm
I suspect there are a lot of Ebook writers who would be interested.
By the way, do us old Beta Readers need to re up or will the old sign in still go?
Vamen - October 4, 2013 10:44 pm
Yeah, I am really looking forward to trying it out. As of now there isn’t a way for proofers/betas to make notes of their own, but the truth is that I can, 99% of the time at LEAST, tell what the problem is once it’s been highlighted (highlit???)
I am pumped to try this new system out for Admiral’s Revenge. The proofreading/betareader interface isn’t totally finished yet (readers can’t yet make actual comments) but the system does allow for users to highlight a passage/sentence/paragraph/word and tag it as a spelling error, punctuation error, continuity issue, etc.. without interrupting the flow of your reading experience too much.
So that shouldn’t be any kind of real obstacle…might be frustrating for some to not be able to make notes yet, but I really think that simplifying the process will make it more likely for people to point out the errors, rather than groaning and throwing their hands in the air at the umpteenth punctuation error of the same kind they spot, haha.
And please….be gentle with me since the site’s really not even in beta mode. 80% of the links are dead, and all I really had time to do was get the bare bones of the betareader section up and running…well, power walking, anyways 😉 Still, I’m super excited to see how it works!
Emil - October 5, 2013 12:36 am
What precautions have you taken against trolling? A person who signed up but then goes in and highlights randomly for example.
Are it a collective highlit or is each proofer/beta given a copy each?
Will there be a system for regular proofers/betas? Simply: Verified/Unverified mayhaps?
Eitherway, it sounds cool and I hope it becomes a succes. I see great potential in it (Mayhaps the next ‘facebook’ for authors? 😀 )
Emil - October 5, 2013 12:39 am
I notice my last comment was a bit vague, so I’ll clarify: I meant that it got the potential to become as big as Facebook, but for authors/editors etc.
And since it mostly caters to authors/editors and proofers/betas then you can improve/evolve it to become bigger.
I’m looking forward to the end result.
Vamen - October 5, 2013 1:40 am
In the program’s current stage of evolution I can only view each proofer’s copy individually, but the hope is that by tomorrow it will compile the results onto one document, which has all kinds of benefits for authors/editors, primarily dealing with reducing the number of hours required to incorporate feedback. If I miss that deadline, it’s probably a week or so before that component goes online, but either way the betas will be able to make their own set of highlihted issues without restriction.
Regarding trolling, I have to manually approve each beta/proofer, and as time goes by I will obviously have to implement some kind of criteria for applicants to qualify for beta status. These will be common things; nothing you all wouldn’t be doing anyways, I assure you. Linking to a review you posted somewhere of the author’s other books seems an obvious idea to me, liking the author on facebook or +1’ing them on google plus, etc.. but nothing is set in stone – and again, there will be no such criteria for quite awhile. If you come on the site and help me iron out the kinks without walking away in disgust, I’ll consider that a big favor. I’m interested in trying to encourage community activity between authors and readers somewhat, but mostly I think of it as a mutual rewards system, so if there are ideas any of you have then I would love to hear them..
I also have an as-yet limited ability to monitor individual activity on a book-by-book basis, so that should afford some additional protection against spamming – both of the intentional and unintentional variety.
And yeah, early adopters/mega-fans will definitely be eligible for all kinds of goodies 😉
The Deposed King - October 5, 2013 2:00 am
It’s going to be great!
The Deposed King
Emil - October 6, 2013 6:14 am
Well, readers get to ‘read’ the book ahead of time, while editors could do it to improve their langue/proofer skill. But I imagine that in some cases authors would want a bit more ‘proffesional’ and quicker reader/editor and could pay a few bucks for the help? (Having a book edited in 2-3 days would be nice, eh?) Private and public groups, and a mutual ‘voting/review’ system where readers can rate the book ahead of its release according to 3 categories: Story, Spelling, Book Overral’. And the author can rate the performance an editor/proofer/reader does of the book. (Taking into account how many highligths and their summary of the book).
Personly, I dont mind proofing/editing/reading books that I find intressting and in return highlights/gives review of the book.
Ofcourse, dont forget to add a NDA (Non-disclosure) so people wont go around copying the books b4 their released on internet sites without a worry.
Also, do public and private/closed groups. And invitation only or open.
An forum would be very important aswell.
Eitherway, a lot of ways you can improve upon the original idea.
I’m sure it will be good.
Johntae - October 6, 2013 11:10 pm
Now that you’re done with the actual writing, go see Gravity.. Ideally in IMAX 3D. It’s not really Sci Fi considering all the tech is real and available now. It’s more of an adventure movie. It’s basically setting a new standard for how a movie about space should be made. Apollo 13 was a great movie, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Gravity.