ebook

[pippinfluff]

Will you continue posting stories as ebooks like you were doing Bardeyes. So glad to have you back and the site running again.Pips

[Bardeyes]

Will you continue posting stories as ebooks like you were doing Bardeyes. So glad to have you back and the site running again.Pips

Hey there pips.

Maybe--I don't know yet though. We would do it certainly if an author asks for it. Our two formats would likely be just ePub and AZW(or mobi). I really doubt we'll just start converting stories beyond that though. Our time and energy is extremely limited now.

We're not even counting on a lot of new stories being submitted. I hope to see it, but I doubt it will happen. Writers (and readers) seem to be gravitating toward blog style fanfic sites like lesfan.com (47,000 lesbian stories). The page format there awful though. No, it's beyond awful. It's a hideous swamp creature abomination. Loading 1 page worth of text before you have to suffer through another ad laden page to get another single page of text. Imagine doing that for a novel. I weep for the people that think this is how fiction should be read online. fanfiction.net isn't much better. The stories on those site tend to be...ah...less than spectacular. There really was no polite way to put that. There are probably some real alt. gems on fanfiction.net and the blog style fiction sites, but wading though acres of cringe worthy stories and hundreds (or thousands) of ads and reading one page at a time, is more than I could stomach for even 3 minutes.

Sorry for the little rant there.

[Mani]

Don't be sorry, I totally agree with you and I'm quite sure I'm not the only one...

[The Fallen]

Indeed, I agree 100%. Fanfiction.net... ugh. [Shudders]

[killerwit68]

I have been spreading the word about the return of The Athenaeum and everyone is happy so far. So hopefully you see a good influx of new readers and writers!

Kelly Aten

[Bardeyes]

I have been spreading the word about the return of The Athenaeum and everyone is happy so far. So hopefully you see a good influx of new readers and writers!

Kelly Aten

Thanks Kelly. By the way, congratulations on getting the top 2 spots on our Top-25. I thought I emailed you about that yesterday, but I was pretty out of it by noontime so I may not have. There have already been some nice comments about your work.

Now if we could ever so gently nudge a few authors to take up the quill again... We know all too well that muses can be fickle though. For encouragement, I've heard chocolate works and tiramisu is even better. Then again, that may be for the writers, and not the muses.

Bardeyes

[killerwit68]

Bardeyes,

I did not get an email, but thanks for the compliment just the same! And I'm telling everyone, so hopefully some of that word inspiration spaghetti will stick on their wall.

Kelly Aten

[UNKN]

Nice to see our hostesses back online! The world of online f/f fanfic needs The Athenaeum if You ask me.

This place has always been a favourite "hunting ground" to me. The amount of stories, the formatting of the posted stories and this forum has been / is (!) a winning combination.

But I have a feeling that the days of new, free - quality - online f/f fiction are over?

Where did they go - all the happy bards willing to share their stories for the price of ? .. an email response from a happy reader. Self publishing or the lesfic publishing houses ? Or was it US the readers who moved on in life ... ?

Somehow I can't imagine that Larisa or BadSquirrel stopped penning stories. On the other hand I've never been able to pinpoint "printed" fics from either pen among published fiction and it does seem that a lot of popular bards has had their stories published over the years.

Anyway - happy to see the site up and running!

I wish you all good health and happiness

UK

[Bardeyes]

But I have a feeling that the days of new, free - quality - online f/f fiction are over?

Where did they go - all the happy bards willing to share their stories for the price of ? .. an email response from a happy reader. Self publishing or the lesfic publishing houses ? Or was it US the readers who moved on in life ... ?

UK

Hey there, UK.

Thanks for the welcome back.

I wish we knew what happened to Lari and Badsquirrel--we don't though. From what people have said on our Facebook page, a number of authors are still writing, just in different fan genres, and perhaps even under different names. Self publishing has taken a LOT of the original fiction writers. I've happy for them, but saddened that something special on the online world seems to have been lost. There are other sites for lesbian fiction--fan and original--but with the no requirements at all for what gets posted, a lot of stories that really could use some work have flooded those other sites. Just today we've set up a page for people to recommend good off site stories for us to link to. We'll see how that goes.

The page is here: http://xenafiction.net/styles/athenaeum_deepblue/story_rec.cfm

Take care, UK
Bardeyes

Just today we've set up a page so people can recommend good fiction for us to link to. We'll see how that goes.

[Norsebard]

Now if we could ever so gently nudge a few authors to take up the quill again... We know all too well that muses can be fickle though.

Well, I certainly hope I'll return to writing one day but I need to get my life sorted out first. It's never been this long between my stories, but the real world tripped me up three times within six months, so...

Where did they go - all the happy bards willing to share their stories for the price of ? .. an email response from a happy reader (...) Or was it US the readers who moved on in life ... ?

As with everything in life, it's a combination of several factors. One of the major developments for someone like me (who isn't among the upper echelon of bards), was that from roughly 2014 onwards, the reader feedback suddenly slowed down to a trickle; then pretty much stopped altogether save for the odd one now and then.

It may sound self-important, but I just can't justify spending so much time planning, plotting, writing & editing the stories only to stare at an empty in-box once it's been released.

The Academy of Bards has been hit by the slowdown as well - like their Hall of Fame which hasn't been updated for the past two years due to a lack of interest from the readers.


Norsebard

[The Fallen]

One of the major developments for someone like me (who isn't among the upper echelon of bards), was that from roughly 2014 onwards, the reader feedback suddenly slowed down to a trickle; then pretty much stopped altogether save for the odd one now and then.

It may sound self-important, but I just can't justify spending so much time planning, plotting, writing & editing the stories only to stare at an empty in-box once it's been released.

Yes, Norsebard hits the nail on the head here. I will also add there are less and less fic sites out there, and those that do exist are gradually slowing down in all manner of ways. It's mostly not their fault - everyone has real life to contend with, after all - but it's still a crying shame to see. That's one of the (many) reasons I was glad to see the Athenaeum make a return.

And like Norsebard, I know where I stand and I have no intention to sound ungrateful or arrogant but let's face it - I spent over two years on my last story, researching, drafting, writing, rewriting, editing, having a back-and-forth conversation with my beta-reader, rewriting again. And every day of that process I questioned if it was wise to post the story. Obviously I did, and so far in the five months (since early March) in which it's been available (on many sites) I've received only one single e-mail about it. A kind, funny and thoughtful e-mail, sure, and one I'm very grateful for. But it's still certainly disappointing.

Speaking completely personally, I've always had doubts about my writing and its worth. It's a part of me, so I'd be lying if I said I was ever going to stop writing, but it just gets tougher and tougher to summon up the energy and enthusiasm to continue. (And much tougher to find the courage to share said stories.) What's that old saying? "If it stops being fun, stop doing it." It's something that's always on my mind.

Sorry, didn't mean to rant or complain, just thought it was an interesting topic and opted, foolishly perhaps, to share my two cents. Meaningless really but there you go.

[Bardeyes]

I'll flip my 0.02c into the pot. I'll probably ramble a bit...

Fan fic sites have closed but the volume of fiction (mostly fan fiction) being written has greatly increased--it's just located on a handful of sites. Fanfiction.net, An Archive of Our Own, and lesfan.something-or-other are the three that I'm aware of. lesfan has tens of thousands of stories, but is completely unusable, fanfiction.net has even more, but both sites have ads--lesfan is insane with ads. An Archive of Our Own in non-profit, so no ads and it has very good UI. We've always encouraged people to write, especially new writers, but with so many writers, and the ability to drop your own files on a site and post them yourself without even spell checking let only anyone having an editor, the overall quality has plummeted, while the quantity has skyrocketed. I'm not saying that there aren't great stories on this sites, because their certainly are. However, with so many more writers, feedback is going to basically be few and far between. Readers have always, always been stingy about feedback. It's always been easy to take the online fiction for granted; now even more people do that. Most readers that have never written anything haven't a clue how hard the writer works, and with the plethora of fiction available it's easy to just go on to the next story. I wish it were not that way, but I don't see a way to make the readers aware that feedback is appreciated by all writers. I'll try reminding people to give the writers feedback; it might have some small effect for our visitors at least.

I guess the question is, who do you write for? If you write for fans and feedback, you're probably going to be always disappointing now for your work will always be one of a very many. If you write for yourself, for the joy of writing, and perhaps for a few friends, you may find that enough reward in and of itself. I know not everyone can do that; maybe even most can't do it. For some, feedback is vital and that's perfectly okay--it's not arrogance at all.

For what it's worth, I'm one of those few that just love’s to write, and I do it for just one other person--Webwarrior. I've written three novels and some short stories just for her. I have more than a dozen unfinished novels as well--one that I've spent more than a decade on and goddess knows how many thousands of hours working on. I don't consider my writing to be anything above average (WW says it's great but she's biased). My joy comes from the writing itself, immersing myself in a world of my creation, and following characters that are far more than words on a page to me. None of my novels have been posted or published anywhere. I might, perhaps, post one later this year under a pen name. People might like it, or they might think it nothing more than a bit of romantic fluff (which it is.) I'm not really even counting on any feedback. Of course feedback would be nice, but even if it just sits there and gets no feedback at, I won’t be discouraged from putting many more hundreds of hours into doing something that I love to do.

I'm not suggesting that anyone else feels like I do--or even that my way of thinking is the right way to think (I'm odd, there's no getting around that.) I'm just hoping that writers that get frustrated by the lack of feedback consider what really gives them the most joy in writing.

[killerwit68]

I will be the first to admit that a big part of me actually prefers to place my fiction on those sites that allow me to self-post. The reasoning behind that is because it is instantaneous and I can post and even edit without going through a lot of time or moderators. They are a good tool for getting your stuff up and sending the links to your friends for beta reviews.

That being said, the better place to put my fiction is on sites like the Athenaeum or the Royal Academy of Bards. I make a point to send my fiction to the traditional sites because they depend on the fresh influx of stories. Also, the feedback and reviews far exceed anything from the do-it-yourself sites. BUT, only if you do it right. I have posted on the Academy of Bards and gotten zero emails, zero feedback. And it frustrated me to no end until I realized that just like everything else in life, it's all about timing. For instance, the story with zero feedback? I posted it at the end of the month. A day later the Academy put up their next month's What's New page and effectively buried my story. Also, people tend to read your stuff and review if you read their stuff and review. It's kind of a tit for tat and all that. It's no problem for me because the only thing that outstrips my desire to write is my love of reading. Oh, and make sure your description draws people in, or that you simply have a description to start. Too many stories have no synopsis to lure me in and I skip them.

So yes, timing, feed the bard, and make sure you describe the story you've written.

Hope that helps with people looking to post and being frustrated at the lack of responses. And I know there are a lot of people that suffer from that, especially me. I'm impatient and really like the feedback. But just as Bardeyes said, even if I get no feedback I'm still going to write. I was a slow starter with the writing and I really wish I could take down my older stuff (pre-2007) but no matter what, I have to create. It's in my blood.

Ok, can someone help me down off this rickety soapbox? It seems to be held together with spit and thumbtacks. <grin>

[Bardeyes]

I will be the first to admit that a big part of me actually prefers to place my fiction on those sites that allow me to self-post. The reasoning behind that is because it is instantaneous and I can post and even edit without going through a lot of time or moderators. They are a good tool for getting your stuff up and sending the links to your friends for beta reviews.

I agree with you, it's fast, easy, you can quickly update, and anyone can do it. Perhaps that makes sites like The Academy and The Athenaeum obsolete--I really don't know. In the past, when a new writer wanted to post something, we'd read the story and give them feedback before posting it. That helped to catch those stories that really needed work before they could be posted (and there were a fair number of those), and it also would catch those stories that violated are oh-so-freaking simple rule about what we won't post. (Sorry about letting out a bit of irritation there--it's certainly not directed at you.) After the author wrote a few stories that weren't chock full of spelling and grammar errors, we'd just post them without reading them. We think it helped the writing on the site be a little better. Anymore though, we don't expect to get more then a few stories submitted to us a month.

We've found that the individual story recommendations on our site are what people pay the most attention to. The majority of out story links never crack our weekly top-25, but if even one person writes a review and says they liked the story, that story will probably be one of the 10 most read stories for for the next week. A couple of nice reviews and the story will be on the Top-25 for weeks on end. Even a well written story teaser doesn't have that effect, though it does help the story get read.

I also wanted to mention that if you want to take down your older works, you can. Everything that you've send us still belongs to you, and it's always your choice to remove what has been posted.

Bardeyes

[UNKN]

Thanks for the "update" on how things work:

Code: Select all

[i]We've found that the individual story recommendations on our site are what people pay the most attention to. The majority of out story links never crack our weekly top-25, but if even one person writes a review and says they liked the story, that story will probably be one of the 10 most read stories for for the next week. A couple of nice reviews and the story will be on the Top-25 for weeks on end. Even a well written story teaser doesn't have that effect, though it does help the story get read.[/i]


I must admit that I can't remember if I ever posted a recommendation, but I've rated a number of stories over the years and I've been keen to watch for the "Top 10" and "The list of most read stories" as a help to sort through the stories archived and it's great that these features are back.

...I've been rereading a few favourite fic's so maybe I should post a few words in recommendation and see if the stories turn up on the "most read list"

UK

[MissPogani]

Hi!

As a long time lurker that did start reading fanfiction on your website, and had to find other means after 2013, I just want to had my two cents about feedback and visibility of the stories. (I had to dig deep to find my old password )

Two things drag immediately my attention towards a story: a good synopsys and detailed recommandations (not just: "yep, liked it", I want to know if I'm susceptible to like the same things). I know it's kinda stupid because I never leave recommandations myself. I don''t leave much on the internet as a rule and shy away of social medias, so... Lurker forever! If the recommandations are good enough, I'll even read unfinished stories despite the frustration (better to love and lose than never have loved? Argh)
Sometimes, I discovered a story/an author because of someone posting a search on the forum.
If I like one story by the author, I read them all, like a big bulimic. If this author recommand other authors, I go check ("I like you, probably I'll like them" )

I've send a few mails to a few authors, but it was so very rare, mainly because the story was unfinished and I wanted to know if I was losing my time checking every once in a while. Why? Because I don't think I have anything interesting to say - authors aren't the only ones who are insecure - and email is way too personal for a lurker. Additionaly, I tend to easily describe what I don't like, not what I like, it's like a personality disorder^^ That doesn't mean I'm not very impressed/thankful for the good quality of the works. In fact, I've been blown away by the quality of the fanfics more than once. And wow! all the time it takes! and it's free! and people don't even write in their native langage sometimes!

I've migrated my lurking on ArchiveOfYourOwn (way too many stories, uneven quality, but very user friendly). You can leave kudos, without identifying yourself. That I do, each time I like a story: that's an easy accolade to thank the author.
If you check, you'll see that for maybe 200 kudos, there's only a few comments. I'd guess even fewer emails.
So maybe something like that could be implemented here to encourage the authors?

It's getting late on my part of the world, so I'll end this long post by thanking everyone for all this hours-days-months-my God! of reading/dreaming/and so on that are so very precious.

[Bardeyes]

Hi!

Two things drag immediately my attention towards a story: a good synopsys and detailed recommandations (not just: "yep, liked it", I want to know if I'm susceptible to like the same things). I know it's kinda stupid because I never leave recommandations myself. I don''t leave much on the internet as a rule and shy away of social medias, so... Lurker forever!

I've send a few mails to a few authors, but it was so very rare, mainly because the story was unfinished and I wanted to know if I was losing my time checking every once in a while. Why? Because I don't think I have anything interesting to say - authors aren't the only ones who are insecure - and email is way too personal for a lurker. Additionaly, I tend to easily describe what I don't like, not what I like, it's like a personality disorder^^ That doesn't mean I'm not very impressed/thankful for the good quality of the works. In fact, I've been blown away by the quality of the fanfics more than once. And wow! all the time it takes! and it's free! and people don't even write in their native langage sometimes!

It's okay if the feedback--in whatever form--isn't eloquent. It is important though. Even if it's just a note to say that you enjoy the story is encouraging to a writer. You can tell them you liked a specific part, or some scene, or that it was an emotional roller coaster (cliches are okay), or that you cried in the end, or even that you just loved the sex. That's all okay.

If you want to comment anonymously our recommend button allows that--just don't enter any name and the review will be shown as "anonymous." Reviews that just say "i loved this!" may no attract your eye, but they do mean something to both the writer and quite a number of people that want to read something that others think is good.

It's not a personality disorder to be nervous about saying anything online--it just called "being human." It took me a long time to get past that. It took me even longer to get up the courage to write something that even one person would see. When I finally wrote something and put it online, I was so nervous I was physically ill. I've heard that last so many times over the last nearly twenty years, that I now assume that the majority of writers feel that way at first--some always feel that way.

Being a lurker is easy--too easy in fact. Assuming that "other people" will take the time to leave nice comments so you don't need to, is not the way to encourage people to write. It doesn't take much effort--especially after the first couple of times--and it can be done anonymously. If you want others to leave good reviews, you must also be willing to take the effort to leave them for others as well.

I've migrated my lurking on ArchiveOfYourOwn (way too many stories, uneven quality, but very user friendly). You can leave kudos, without identifying yourself. That I do, each time I like a story: that's an easy accolade to thank the author.
If you check, you'll see that for maybe 200 kudos, there's only a few comments. I'd guess even fewer emails.
So maybe something like that could be implemented here to encourage the authors?

You can leave "kudoes" on the Athenaeum by giving the story a good rating. The recommendation page allows you to leave a rating even if you don't leave a recommendation. However, leaving a rating (or kudo) without leaving a few words, doesn't mean nearly as much as taking the time to as least say, "Thanks for writing this, I really liked it."

Be well, and happy reading.
Bardeyes

[manddym]

Oh maaan! Can't believe the athenaeum is back! I was so happy when i saw an update ♡
I've been reading from this website for years now, so thank you for all the hard work and pm me if admins need help, I'd be glad to help with whatever i can

[cnh2123]

Hi,
This is off the subject of ebooks, but this seems to be a working post and I think I have a few valid comments to add. First of all, I am a lurker, I read stories here all the time but with few exceptions I've not bothered to give feedback. I'm sorry, I know better, but until this site was back up and activly running it did not occur to me. A well written story, especially when you can tell the author has gone to a lot of time and trouble should generate feedback. The author has put her heart and soul out there for anyone to comment on, and to end up in a black hole is devastating. Especially when that author wants nothing more than a quick email saying "Thanks," or "I liked it but you lost me at 'this part....'" I have written, but I am humbled by the ladies who finish what they started, plus they are brave enough to post that for all to see and ask, "Tell me what you think." I will try to do better from now on.
Second, a quick note for the Fallen. I could not get your email link to work. At all. This may be why you haven't gotten any feedback for your latest story or any before then, because they are good, damn good.
I'm tickled stupid to know that this site is active again. Thanks ladies.
Carolyn