I've just noticed the new side bar with ads by Google. Thankfully it's low key and not at all lurid or annoying. Are the adverts chosen by WW or do they come up randomly?

Nell

I noticed it yesterday and was concerned as to one of the poetry sites which was advertised. I have expressed my concern already to David about that particular site.

I guess however the side bar is a twin edged sword useful if it is useful and a distraction if it isn't.

i suppose sadly its the price of progress

david

David - I wanted to WW mail you about something, but notice you've now hidden your profile.

Obviously our subscriptions aren't enough to cover the sites costs...

Personally, I think it it's quite poor. Sponsored links are a pain in the rear, and far too often link to sites that just want you to pay money for something you don't need.

Noticed earlier a link to a site with a "huge database of competitions", regardless of it saying it was free, you have to pay to be able to get details on comps, which you then have to pay to enter. Waste of time, if you ask me.

Then there are numerous links trying to sell "all the answers" to writing, which will just be some crappy book that likley leads you down "the road from folly to defeat". Why have such links when the answers should be here, in our own little community?

I clicked on a comp link and it was an australian organisation who offered to put your work into a competition which would be published in the form of a book which would be on sale ( as I understood it) the readers would then vote for the winner.

the cost of entering the competition by the way was 88 dollars australian nice work if you can con it (oops sorry I meant get it)

On the plus side the side bar is unobtrusive and you dont have to click on the links and at presentthere ar eno annoying pop ups so if it brings David and his team some extra revenue then fine. i am curently more concerned with the ssues raised inthe palgarism forum

And rather intriguingly, the subject of the ads appears to change depending upon what you're looking at. So, sure we get writing sites, but I was reading a piece about 'Man and Dog' and hey presto! the ads were for pet products and dog food. Surreal or just v clever?

Stephanie - you're right - the ads are produced automatically by Google which rather cleverly (sometimes anyway) deduces the content of the page and displays appropriate (sometimes anyway) ads to that content. It is mind-bogglingly clever, but as you've noticed, subject to the odd embarrassing problem. The best one I heard was a news article about a murderer who packed his victims in a suitcase - and the ad was for luxury baggage! Now you mention it, I dread to think what sort of ads will be displayed next to some stories on this site!!

Insane - you're quite right, the funds from subscriptions don't do much more than cover the site costs. We felt these ads might make us a few extra bob without spoiling the site. No plans for pop-ups or flashing banners, don't worry!

I'm not a fan of the ads but I fully understand the commercial reasoning behind it.

To be honest (and here's a controversial discussion thread by itself), I personally think that the £20 per year subscription is a bit on the light side anyway. I'd be happy to pay a tenner a month for the entertainment that I get here.

Noddy, I think we'd lose quite a few members if subscription was increased to a tenner a month.

subscription

I agree if the subs were raised to £10.00 per month I could not afford to stay as I suspect could many others, plus as in anything one must question what you would be getting for your money.

Equally however if those on here who are active myself included obviously enjoy the experience and get something out of being a member despite perhaps our reservations about the access to our work and details revealed over the past few days.

However I would not like to see the site become a haven for pop up adds adverts in general and crass commercialism, there are enough sites like that already so perhaps a modest increase in the subscription would be in order.

I can see nothing wrong in say an increase of £5.00 this year and whilst I accept that will not neccessarily make a huge difference to the income I hazard a guess that the membership is reasonably healthy although perhaps not as active as it could be.

I would like to see the security of work issue resolved though as I am still unhappy that the site is not as secure as I guess most of us thought it was.

david

I wouldn't mind at all having the subscription inflated a little, an extra £5 on the annual cost is fine, and almost everyone should be able to afford that.

As for security, I maintain that if there is something you dearly wish not to be overly exposed, posting it anywhere on the internet is a pretty bad idea.

I imagine the poets have more of a problem than most in this area. I can churn short stories out at my leisure, and so obviously some will end up here, others I tuck away for a rainy day. My ongoing novel efforts certainly don't find there way up here. Extracts, perhaps, bu that's it.

So in short, if you're protecting a certain piece for a competition or submission to an agent or publisher, don't put it up here.

Insane

which if you wish for some critical feed back and help rather negates the objective of the site doesnt it

Not really. I use the feedback I receive on all the work on the site to help influence all of the work kept from prying eyes.

If a writer is producing enough work, it's not a problem to keep it going that way.

I mean, look at the work I have uploaded. The first thing I wrote, my first "first-person" piece, two extracts from larger pieces and a few "thirty minute scribbles". The only exception is my comp winning entry, which I don't mind people seeing anyway. There is more than enough there for me to have received some excellent feedback and support.

I have plenty more that I won't share, because it's not good enough, too personal, or, hopefully, has enough potential to be a comp winner, or part of a compilation.

I'm not going to use this site as a showcase for the best I can produce. I'll save that for the publishing houses. However, this site is an invaluable resource for getting feedback on various writing styles, situations and perspectives. And that's how I've used it.