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Apr 2018

Thanks for your reply, Serena! I just checked my phone, and I still don't see the Writers' Camp logo on the app's home screen ANYWHERE. It is, however, back on the Novels page--thanks for that! I don't know what you mean by "front and center." Someone must have taken it off again?

I don't have time to keep advocating for the contest on the forum. I am spending nearly all my waking hours writing the novel.

Sorry to be a sourpuss. Just tired and frustrated.

@cathsplat
My pleasure.

If only I didn't have to work full time and could spent it instead supporting all the wonderful, great stories I never have the time to read.

What do you think if we had bonus coins or something as prizes for those who entered, met the requirements by the deadlines, but didn't win? People would feel less bad about not winning and it'll encourage people.

On another topic, here are some novels from the contest that I'm reading



Hi, Serena! I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that the Writers' Camp banner is back on the first page of the app! Thank you to everyone who had a hand in that!

On another note: I have a question,and I don't know whether the answer is given elsewhere, but the answer should be important to everyone who wants to vote in this contest. Since a subscription counts as a vote, are we allowed to subscribe to as many novels as we want in it, or should we limit it to just one, or any other number?

I confess that, while I want to support my fellow Writers' Camp members, I am so busy on the writing of my own novel for this contest that I haven't gotten far yet in the few I've had time to look at. I noticed that one person has subscribed to what may be ALL the submissions then available, as well as to other things. Not sure what kind of vote that represents. On the other hand, I my story has had many views but very few subscriptions. I did get a message approving very much of my novel but the person didn't subscribe to it. She might have read it from the noted and new section and was unaware of the contest or its rules. The Collection doesn't state the rules about how stories win, does it?

I was wondering whether people were waiting until they had read more of the stories and longer portions of them before they decided to vote/subscribe. I have been doing that myself, not wanting to judge a story's merit too early in the narrative.

I am curious to know what approach others are using in reading and judging the entries.

@silverraven0 We use Pacific Standard Time, so the contest will end at midnight PST on April 19th.

@robinlayneauthor You can subscribe to as many works involved in the contest as you'd like! We aren't going to discount subscribers for one series just because they're subscribed to another.

The collection doesn't have a description or instructions because we currently aren't able to put a description on collections. It's never a bad idea to add a little more detail to your episode descriptions asking people to subscribe because you're participating in the contest. Also, I'd like to direct you to the Tapas Writers Camp Discussion Thread, which is a bit more active than this one and where you will likely get better feedback on questions like this than you would here in the main thread.

Thank you, Serena! I didn't know there was another thread. I will add something about the contest to my info on my novel.

I am writing a Once Upon A Time fanfiction for the Tapas Writers Camp. The story continues from the show's Season One finale. I have the whole story outline planned out. Just finally got around to typing it all out. Would appreciate feedback on my writing as I'm still new at writing.

Yeah, the problem with copyright aside, you couldn't even allowed to open the ads revenue and the probability of tapas making it premium is unlikely, I think (not because your story is bad, but it's because of the copyright).

If you refer to the TOS, what you can publish, you'll find fan fiction is not permitted but unless your story is reported or Tapas become aware, it may not be pulled.
You're not allowed to profit from Fan Fiction as @silverraven0 pointed out above, so if you do apply for the tipping program you may be declined.
Not sure how that works with comics as I've read plenty of fan based comics from artist who takes tips.

Hello,there.
Just wandering. Is there already a set date for the next Writer's Camp? I have a novel I'd love to share but, well, due to my imminent graduation, it would't be feasible for me to join at this time.

Lookin' forward to hearing from you! :slight_smile:

We don't have a specific date set, but at the moment we're planning on doing another Writers Camp before the end of this summer!

Before the end of summer? Damn, that's quick. I admire this newfound drive to draw more novels to the site :smiley:.

It's really hard to do that after 30+ years of hard work, when all the sites I've posted stuff on only seem to care about LGBTQ love stories or gaming culture jokes; or otherwise have toxic communities that abuse and steal at their leisure. I joined this event, as I'm sure a lot of other comparatively "niche" authors have, in the hope that I might get a little more exposure despite writing something a little different. When I came here from Smackjeeves there were a lot of action comics on the front page, so it felt like the right place for Daddy's Girl; within a year the BL reader base from Smackjeeves seemed to migrate here, and now I feel like the odd man out again. I can't write what I don't care about, but lately I've found it's really difficult to write at all. So I guess I have to hope that they care just a little bit about an army gal stopping a lunatic from experimenting on homosexual males like Dr. Mengele, 'cos I think that's the closest I've got to what the internet wants.

Maybe when you start making the event genre-centric you can limit it to genres that are being neglected, forbid romance altogether, and encourage people to populate the site with a broader range of content, if only to give authors outside the usual tropes a chance to be recognized a little. Assuming that idea isn't marketing poison that would drive your main audience away, now that I think about it.

Or maybe I'm way off and that's just how everything feels for me at the moment, which is that writing a good story can't beat out writing a popular genre.

In any case, I'm hoping the contest changes all this for the better.

Maybe when you start making the event genre-centric you can limit it to genres that are being neglected, forbid romance altogether [...]

I understand what you mean, it'd give a wider selection of great stories much needed attention, but we need to keep in mind that Tapas is a publishing company and it might not make business sense to abandon popular genres. The supply and demand must meet somewhere to make it succesful.
But I agree, it'd be great if the next contest would be genre-specific. Or maybe do a spotlight every month on different genres? E.g. May is for fantasy, June is for sci-fi, July is for Romance, etc. Like with the collections they already do on the main site.

That's exactly what I was thinking as well but I was scared to voice out my thoughts! People need to understand that Tapas is a business and they need to pay their employees and make money. Also genre specific contests are a great way for exposure. And it'll bring people with the same interests together.

But I just wanted to point out to a lot of people that there ARE premium novels that aren't romance/bl. It's just that they aren't popular among the crowd so they are farther down the popularity list. I can list at LEAST twenty premium books right now that don't fall under the typical genre.

I think if people want to make a change and expose a larger genre to the audience then they need to support these artists and up the demand.

It's just a thought because I wonder how much of the people actually support the writers in the premium section that aren't romance :confused: