Young Writers Society

Yo,
Today I became a member of the Authonomy site, and will be a member until monday, 10th of May. I uploaded there two novellas, and will see what happens during these four days.

The site seems to be organized on a rat-race principle. People have to frantically gather points through 'backings' which their books are given by other members. Twenty minutes after my registration four people messaged me to propose schemes of 'you back book X by Y, or my book, and in return I'll back your book, and tell Z to back your book as well.' Complicated alliences are formed by members to push each other's books to the top. Those that receive the highest rating - the most 'backings' are to be reviewed by the editors of the site /a harper and collins program/. The editors promise to read 10 000 words and give feedback.

This is their bright idea of /I suppose/ finding the most popular manuscripts, and the best self-promoting, website point gathering conspirators.

Consiquently, the reviews are nothing like the reviewes here, but are all butt-licking things like 'wow, your books is so good, the characters so real, I couldn't stop reading it...' Which I suppose is a general rehearsal for when someone really does get published and has to make speaches everywhere how Authonomy and all its wonderful people...etc.

On the profile pages of the users, many write by way of introduction their exchange rates - if you back me, I back you, if you comment, I'll comment, if you comment but don't back, I'll go get a life... No I mean "I'll comment but won't back you,"...

Aparently, the site really is about manipulating popularity ratings. Here's what it says in the FAQ: "Attracting external readership can really boost your visibility on the site. So if you already have champions from outside the authonomy community – whether that’s family, friends, colleagues or visitors to your blog, facebook profile or other website, you might also encourage them to join the site and get involved. If they can prove their credentials to the community by building their talent spotter rank, then they'll be in a position to be noticed and in turn help you raise the profile of your book."

In the end, it looks like the purpose of this site is to have as many people as possible doing as much frantic clicking as possible. Making it no different from the million other inane sites whose sole function is to perpetuate themselves by trapping users into endless surfing, cliking, digging, twitting, tooting, meeping, gibbering, jabbering and generaly leading useless lives.

I have the gravest suspicions, that Authonomy is a sort of 'Writing Idol', where the purported purpose is to find talent among the lowly masses, but the real, and obvious purpose, is to make people follow contestants, vote and feel important by voting, then have a jury of celebrities /harper editors in this case/ say some meaningless stuff, and in the end really raise some poor wretch to the top, to show the masses that you really deliver what you promise, and to show the business environment that you are popular and able to construct money-making singers /writers, dancers, jugglers/ out of thin air.

As you can see, I'm totally unbiased

Anyway, I'll update on monday if anything even slightly smelling of 'positive' will come out of the experiment, but for now it honestly looks like a trap for mediocre writers whose plans for literary success hinge on bugging people on the internet to tell them how wonderful they are, in exchange on being told the same thing.

Sounds like complete crock to me. I wouldn't bother using that site anymore, dude. Getting everyone to 'back' you so that you can get noticed is not what writing's about, last I looked. There are plenty of us who aren't published and don't have a problem with it. And then there are people who just write for the fun of it, or use it as therapy for trouble in their life. This site definitely does not sound like something that should be condoned.

The cool thing about that site is that a lot of agents and publishers are watching that sort of stuff and seeing how new media will interact with old. But then again, we have publishers and agents who are also watching YWS, soooooooo. There you go!

Well, it was worse than it sounded. Not merely a waste of time, it's actually bad for a writer. The feedback is not real, but a pre-fabricated currency in a warped 'writing idol' economy, as is this 'backing' stuff.

I can only imagine how many precious hours, days, weeks and months people there /serious adults trying to outcompete each other for the coveted half hour of editorial attention/ have lost in order to participate in this nonsensical rat-race for a piece of imaginary cheese. Bleah, I say. Double Bleah! I should count my lucky stars for stumbling on YWS when I did

Sounds like the site Inkpop., basically that, except for teens.
>_< It's terrible there.

Right you are, .:Elf:., I checked Inkpop out, absolutely the same crud. What is it with these sites? A secret project to condition people to being useless lying dweebs with a disfunctioning radar for quality and non-quality? One would think that has already been achieved decades ago. What - now they're consolidating their gains? hahahahaha

In defence of Authonomy: it's one of those things that works in theory. I joined the proto-site before it was opened to the general public, and it was awesome. People were honest, and voted for the books they thought were best.

Then came the hoards of bargainers and people who are interested in getting published rather than having possitive contributions to the literary community, and everything went downhill from there.

I do occasionally worry for YWS's growing popularity, for this reason. When the adult version came out (what ever happened to that?) there were an uncomfortable amount of people like that on there.

Ah, interesting piece of info, Tenyo.
I think that as long as points and rating and stars are just peripherial details of the way YWS functions it's in no danger of becoming another authonomy or inkpop. It's only when some sort of carrot is dangled as a prize and the way to reach is to accumulate the local virtual currency, that the dweebs invade.
You say that authonomy is now filled with people who 'just want to be published'. But that's exactly my point - they can't ever get published when they participate in an invironment of unreal feedback. The only way any of them will be published by outcompeting the others in the hoarding of backs, likes and the lot, is when the heads of Authonomy tell the editors that by plan it's time to choose someone for publication, and they'll choose the least horrible one, rewrite it a bit and publish it. But that's no way to become an author.
On the other hand YWS is exactly the place to learn the art /or craft, depending on outlook/ by receiving and giving honest feedback and trying to see what everyone else is doing wrong and finally learning to see what one is doing wrong too. I mean, most of the reviewing here is not really very useful, but the very fact that it's honest already helps, it may not really tell you how to do better, but at least it tells you how certain people react to what you write.
Yeah.

That's what I like about YWS. People here give real, honest critiques. And they're strangers. They don't really care about hurting my feelings, where as friends might just point out a few little things and then tell me the rest is amazing. Or even lie through there teeth. YWS has really improved my writing skills, and I've only been a member for a month and a half, approximately. The point on here is not to get prizes--though we won't turn them down, now will we --it's to grow as a writer and we all understand that.

I don't care how many people "like" my story. I do care how many people spend time on the reviews, how in-depth they are, and how honest people are. If somebody tells me they love my piece and it's perfect when I can see a million typos and grammar mistakes from a glance, then it's not helping. If they say they don't do grammar but love the storyline, I'm more apt to believe them. And YWS does stuff like that. People don't most just for the heck of it, but because they have input on the content. I like that. And I know, I can ramble.