Saturday, February 20, 2016

Beyond Annoying

While trawling for freeware I came across a mention of Reedsy (?) who are currently offering a free writing/typeset tool. I found that much, hence the link, but the (?) is because I can't figure out what the heck this thing is. Editor marketplace? Digital platform? What? Everything else on the web site is so glutted with gleeful meaningless advertising and testimonials by earnest new authors that I can't find any actual service info.

Case in point: look at their About page. Evidently they have big plans for the publishing industry, and they were founded by four dudes in the UK. That's it. When you click the "learn more" button it doesn't actually take you anywhere (or maybe I'm supposed to watch these informative videos. I hate watching videos. Where is the text?) Or maybe I have to sign up on Facebook to get the gist. Sorry, no Facebook here.

I'm utterly perplexed. Is this the hot new way to tell everyone about your new business? By not telling them anything? How innovative.

Look, I know I'm an old writer chick, and grumpy most of the time, but please. Before you try to take over the publishing industry from your hip new web site, how about providing potential clients (one might have been this grumpy old writer chick) some actual information? That's not too much to ask, is it?

4 comments:

  1. Funny. I'd never heard of Reedsy and in two days, two posts about it. The other one is at Elizabeth Spann Craig's blog and it's a guest post by the Reedsy guy talking about what it's all about. The biggest thing for me is that it supposedly helps with book formatting, and if it does that, I'm all over it. I'll check it out this weekend sometime and see if it really is easier than doing all the formatting myself. (The blog post is here - http://elizabethspanncraig.com/4011/introducing-the-reedsy-book-editor/ - if you're interested.)

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    1. Wow. Thanks for that link; it finally clears up all the questions. Shame I have to learn about the service from Elizabeth's blog, though.

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  2. I wonder if the page loaded correctly for you? I'm a cranky person too who refuses to watch videos, but the About page actually has a ton of info about what they do and the images all link to print articles to learn more.

    They offer collaborative online editing (you browse through their stable of editors to find someone you like), review/communication happens online, then they have their typesetting tool to give you the finished product. There is lots more there to read about. Sounds like they have some seasoned professionals providing editing services and they are selective in who they work with. I dunno - looks totally legit and very interesting to me. Kind of one-stop shopping for people interested in self-publishing. I had never heard of them until following your link (and preparing to be outraged). LOL. Maybe look around again -- I didn't actually see any videos to watch, though I didn't spent too much time.

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    1. Thanks for pointing out that it might be a browser problem on my end, Sheri. I'll give it another go on my kid's laptop; I think she has that mozilla browser.

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