Noticed the Halloween Contest is open to paid or premium members only, which is fine. But I'm wondering what's the percentage of users here that are paid vs non paid. Just a curious question. Is it like 50 50 or are only 10% paid kind of thing?
And what's the best perk in going with a paid membership, besides the obvious benefit of keeping the lights on here?
Just a curious question. Is it like 50 50 or are only 10% paid kind of thing?
I dream of 50/50.
Actually it's closer to 0.98%. Not surprising considering the amount of free contents available.
As to the best perk? I don't know. Let's see if some of the premier level membership chime in.
As to the best perk? I don't know. Let's see if some of the premier level membership chime in
Is there a full list of features? Ones I use regularly are downloads, the 'more info' pages, the anon site and https; I would be using the higher daily limit but for the fact that the limit's now raised for free members.
As to the best perk? I don't know. Let's see if some of the premier level membership chime in.
For me it's the ability to read unlimited stories. Yet, ironically, once I had that ability, I didn't use it....Go figure... :facepalm:
Is access to the forums premier only as well?
Lazeez, would more authors making their work 'Premier only' help? I've always left mine free because it's going to get more readers. Would making a separate thread discussing the pros and cons of authors locking their work behind the site's paywall, so as not to mess up this one, be a constructive option?
As to the best perk? I don't know. Let's see if some of the premier level membership chime in.
For me the best perk is feeling good about supporting the site.
I'm surprised it's that low, 1%. I figured you'd have at least 10 percent paid. Has it always been like that? Did you have a higher engagement in paid back in the day? It seems everyone wants everything for free lately or maybe it's always been that way...
My suspicion then is that you keep offering the premium option to A. Generate some revenue and B. To reward your good authors with additional features once they qualify. Which are both great plans if that's indeed the case.
Do many of your authors qualify for Premier Services?
Did you have a higher engagement in paid back in the day?
The story archiving helped a little. Before archiving any stories, paid members constituted something like .78%
Do many of your authors qualify for Premier Services?
More premier author accounts than paid premier accounts.
Has there ever been any consideration of features to offer authors, to get more authors who already have premier author accounts to continue paying for premier accounts anyways.
(I don't have any actual suggestions of what that might be, I was just curious since I'm sure a lot of authors who might be paid premier members don't do that anymore once they publish enough)
Has there ever been any consideration of features to offer authors, to get more authors who already have premier author accounts to continue paying for premier accounts anyways.
Two things that author don't get with premier service.
1 - The network block bypass service
2 - The ability to vote on contests.
I'm not about to start taking away features.
I think it's fair and a good thing that authors get the same service as the paying members. It's a good incentive to post here. I don't believe that author should get to double contribute, contents and money. Currently, it's optional and many authors do contribute financially despite having content-supported premier service. Any author can pay for premier services if they wish to support the site, but I would never make it mandatory.
I'm not about to start taking away features.
I don't think that was being suggested, but if you could come up with new (paid only) features for authors...
I don't think that was being suggested, but if you could come up with new (paid only) features for authors...
The only feature I can think of that is still missing from the site is a good story suggestion mechanism. I don't have enough experience to build a good algorithm, being self taught.
But that is the only thing left to add. It's in the plans. Maybe that…
The only feature I can think of that is still missing from the site is a good story suggestion mechanism. I don't have enough experience to build a good algorithm, being self taught.
Given how poorly Amazon's suggestion engine works, I'm not sure experience/money are the deciding factors on that one!
A lot of Amazon's poor suggestions comes from authors tagging their stuff with very questionable keywords to have their books show up in less competitive categories.
Given how poorly Amazon's suggestion engine works, I'm not sure experience/money are the deciding factors on that one!
Hmm, same with Goodreads. Are they using the same engine or are the algorithms used by different engines this bad?
HM.
Hmm, same with Goodreads. Are they using the same engine or are the algorithms used by different engines this bad?
Goodreads == amazon
The only feature I can think of that is still missing from the site is a good story suggestion mechanism. I don't have enough experience to build a good algorithm, being self taught.
I hope you are able to do this. One way it could work:
When you rate a story 9 or 10, you should get a button to click that gives you a few links to SOL stories rated 9 or 10 by other readers who have rated this story 9 or 10. The list could be randomized. It should not contain stories you've already read.
When you rate a story 9 or 10, you should get a button to click that gives you a few links to SOL stories rated 9 or 10 by other readers who have rated this story 9 or 10. The list could be randomized. It should not contain stories you've already read.
If it were that simple Lazeez would have implemented it long ago, unfortunately it's not. Suggestions should give a list of similar stories to the one you have as the base. Thus you would need to take a lot of data points into consideration: tags, story type, story length, etc. etc. And each data point has to be weighted in an algorithm against all the other points. Score is probably just a minor data point for this. Using only the score won't give you usable suggestions. And that's without taking into consideration what type of stories the reader usually reads, what tags he likes/hates...
The best results you could get with an easy algorithm is probably by starting with stories with similar tags.
Keet11/1/2021, 10:41:22 AM
@Mat Twassel
When you rate a story 9 or 10, you should get a button to click that gives you a few links to SOL stories rated 9 or 10 by other readers who have rated this story 9 or 10. The list could be randomized. It should not contain stories you've already read.
If it were that simple Lazeez would have implemented it long ago, unfortunately it's not. Suggestions should give a list of similar stories to the one you have as the base. Thus you would need to take a lot of data points into consideration: tags, story type, story length, etc. etc. And each data point has to be weighted in an algorithm against all the other points. Score is probably just a minor data point for this. Using only the score won't give you usable suggestions. And that's without taking into consideration what type of stories the reader usually reads, what tags he likes/hates...
The best results you could get with an easy algorithm is probably by starting with stories with similar tags.
Whether it's simple to implement I don't know, but I think the method has merit, and no need to make it more complicated by looking at any more than the scores. You think a story is worth a 9 or a 10. A dozen other people rate that story 9 or 10. I think chances are good that if you get a list of a dozen other stories those readers rated 9 or 10, there's a good chance you'll like some of them. If you have a good friend on SOL, why not try this out. Exchange lists of stories you've rated 9 or 10. Are there any common to both lists? If so, I think there's a good chance you'll like some of the other stories on your friend's list. Probably a way to increase the chances is to get recommendations from someone who rates several of the same stories as you do with 9 or 10.
and no need to make it more complicated by looking at any more than the scores.
You can get that with the category search. Check at least one category and at the bottom select sort by score, descending. Voilà, you list-by-score, and even with category selection.
@Mat Twassel
and no need to make it more complicated by looking at any more than the scores.
You can get that with the category search. Check at least one category and at the bottom select sort by score, descending. Voilà, you list-by-score, and even with category selection.
This is not at all the same thing. What "you" want is a list of stories rated excellent by other readers whose rating of a story as excellent matched your rating of that story. A list of highly rated stories doesn't give you that. For one thing there's no correlation of your rating. For another thing, stories can be rated excellent but have an overall rating far down in the list. (You can find stories with middling ratings that received many excellent ratings.) The idea is to get what amounts to more personal recommendations. Note I'm not being critical of the existing search facilities.
This is not at all the same thing. What "you" want is a list of stories rated excellent by other readers whose rating of a story as excellent matched your rating of that story. A list of highly rated stories doesn't give you that. For one thing there's no correlation of your rating.
Yes, there is a correlation, that's why a story scores high, because other readers voted it to that. It has no relation to your score but the score is created by many other readers, the same as suggestions relate to the what other readers thought of the story, not your opinion, just what you voted for a story. Of course it's only focused on score, not on any other data points.
For another thing, stories can be rated excellent but have an overall rating far down in the list. (You can find stories with middling ratings that received many excellent ratings.) The idea is to get what amounts to more personal recommendations. Note I'm not being critical of the existing search facilities.
True, but most stories have ratings over the full scale 1-10, otherwise all high scoring stories would have a 10 score. Any story over 6 must have a good number of high scores to get to that score. The method of combining tags of interest and sorting on score as a rough replacement for suggestions should give you a good and probably long list of stories, and close to what 'real' suggestions would produce. By selecting your tags of interest you get your personal recommendations, especially if you narrow it down with the other options at the bottom of the category search page. In a way you construct your own suggestions list with that page, it's very powerful.
but most stories have ratings over the full scale 1-10
Not that I can check my own these days, but is that true? I've written a few medium-rated stories that didn't receive any very low votes.
AJ
Logic dictates that to get a certain score you have to have multiple different votes. Maybe not every number from 1-10 but I doubt there's any story with less than 5 different numbers voted, maybe there's some story that scores a 3 which probably only has votes 4 and lower. The same logic dictates that to get a higher score you have to have more high numbers than low numbers. Lazeez can probably extract numbers to verify my statement but that would probable end in another scoring system discussion so let's not go there.
I'd happily take the rumored 'histogram' and things like that as paid author features. Even if it's nigh useless (and I suspect it is), I'd like it and I know other authors would, too. Data features like that might make it attractive, at least in my opinion (and would recompense Lazeez for the hassle they bring, perhaps).
Obviously it's a fine line, because content is a big thing, so nothing that makes it easier for authors to be authors is a good candidate for a paid feature.
Another idea: vanity stickers / stars / colored usernames / whatever. I've seen plenty of other sites where subscribers support the site just to be recognized as supporters (note: not story sites). That's not really tailored to authors, but it's a case where an author wouldn't get that 'premium feature', only supporters would.
That was my thinking. Something more tailored to authors in general. Both more data points for your stories or ways to make your stories stand out more (like the colored names/stars/whatever).
Things that wouldn't change the basic nature of the site for readers, but would offer something that some authors not currently paying a premium membership might consider incentive enough to get one. (that of course is a very fine line, and not easy to do)
Another idea: vanity stickers / stars / colored usernames / whatever. I've seen plenty of other sites where subscribers support the site just to be recognized as supporters (note: not story sites). That's not really tailored to authors, but it's a case where an author wouldn't get that 'premium feature', only supporters would.
That might be a good idea: an author badge, a premium member badge, and a paid premium member badge.
It might push some free reader members to a premium membership because they don't want to be 'marked' as a freeloader :)
ETA: I'm only a reader, but I don't think trying to push authors to a paid membership is fair. They already support the site with their work. Some already do the extra support by paying for premium, others started writing because they would earn a free premium membership that they otherwise couldn't afford. It's a sad fact there are less paid premium accounts than there are author premium accounts.
I'm going to try not to throw up some stomach acids with my next suggestion since I really, really hate ads: show a single advertisement per page for free members. Host it from SOL and ad blockers will mostly leave it untouched and SOL has full control over what ads to allow on the site. Paying premium members should of course stay completely ad free as they are now. It's very common nowadays that free access had ads while one of the main perks of paid access is no ads.
ETA2: I suggest serving an ad from SOL because many people block ads not because of the ads themselves but because they are a malware and virus risk if served through a ad provider. You also don't want such an ad provider connected to SOL for privacy reasons.
show a single advertisement per page for free members.
Show a single Bookapy advertisement per page for free members?
AJ
Show a single Bookapy advertisement per page for free members?
Advertisements for Bookapy could be mixed in with ads that brings in some cash. I don't know if it's worth the time and effort to do this and stay away from an ad provider by keeping the management completely on SOL.
I think authors can already advertise the availability of their book on Bookapy at the end of the story. So in a way there already are ads on SOL, just none that bring the revenue to SOL. Of course there's also the link to Bookapy on the home page.
ETA2: I suggest serving an ad from SOL because many people block ads not because of the ads themselves but because they are a malware and virus risk if served through a ad provider. You also don't want such an ad provider connected to SOL for privacy reasons.
It's not just the malware/virus risk, or the privacy risk, but some sites are nigh-on unreadable because of the ads. I compare what's served in Apple News (no ad block) versus what's on the site (using uBlock on Firefox) and it's a night and day experience on some sites.
I'd strongly prefer to pay than to see ads. That said, publishing on Bookapy (which I do) generates revenue for Lazeez, which I am very happy about (and hope he is, too).
It's not just the malware/virus risk, or the privacy risk, but some sites are nigh-on unreadable because of the ads.
Yep, a huge problem for some sites. I wouldn't know how those sites look these days since I aggressively block ads. Basically when I first visit a site I haven't been to before I start with everything blocked. If I don't get anything readable after allowing the site domain itself I usually don't bother any further unless it needs access to a known cnd or something like cloudflare. There's very little I allow by default.
I'm only a reader, but I don't think trying to push authors to a paid membership is fair. They already support the site with their work. Some already do the extra support by paying for premium, others started writing because they would earn a free premium membership that they otherwise couldn't afford. It's a sad fact there are less paid premium accounts than there are author premium accounts.
I'm very happy with my author premium account, don't get me wrong :) I suppose it's the difference between 'pushing' and 'offering'. I'd like some extra features which would make it worthwhile to pay, and they're features that would reasonably work as a tier of service.
Another, different, option is to upcharge $X for said features (e.g. counters and metrics for authors, customization and such for readers) as a separate thing. So, a premium reader might pay X for premium, X+$10 for customization etc. An author might pay $25 for metrics and customization. Still much cheaper than premium, so a solid incentive to write, but a perk for those who want to be supporters and/or get those features.
I don't think trying to push authors to a paid membership is fair.
I had two reasons for starting to publish my works on here. One was simply for feedback, and to actually force myself to start writing. The other was to get the free premium account.
I do not begrudge one little bit the amount that is kept from total Bookapy sales. Not only is the percentage more in our favor as the author, but that also helps keep this site going. I appreciate as well this past quarter, when Laz offered to do a bank transfer instead of PayPal, as their percentage would have been ridiculous. He didn't have to do that. (And no, I'm not going to tell you how much the total was.)
when Laz offered to do a bank transfer instead of PayPal
Was that a one-off or is it a new payment option?
I appreciate as well this past quarter, when Laz offered to do a bank transfer instead of PayPal, as their percentage would have been ridiculous.
If you can avoid paypal all the better. Many years ago paypal blocked my account without giving a reason and never responded to my requests to return the balance and close the account. It wasn't much but they virtually stole it. I never used it again and refuse to do so in the future. They do know how to find me since every now and then I get an email on the connected email address. From what I read I'm not the only one with such experiences with paypal.
I like to encourage people with more talent than me to write. Admittedly I only give feedback to a select few.
But, I pay for this site so you all have a forum.
My favorite features:
As a reader who seldom reads unfinished stories, the ability to download epubs of a completed story.
As an Author writing in established universes, the ability to search for terms and concepts already used.
I subscribe purely for the ability to download epubs. Premier stories are nice, and I'm glad to have them, but I wouldn't sub if d/l was not an option.
I'm in a weird situation, though. At work I have lots of short breaks and am allowed to have a book or ebook reader, but I'm not allowed to use any device that has a camera on the floor and the building doesn't have wifi.
At work I have lots of short breaks and am allowed to have a book or ebook reader, but I'm not allowed to use any device that has a camera on the floor and the building doesn't have wifi.
It's a tough life being a lift attendant in a multistorey car park...
:)
Good guess, but its an incoming call centre for citizens with questions about specific government programs.
That's why the no cell phones, etc. rules. We have very strict guidelines since we're dealing with personal information.
And what's the best perk
the library features and improved filters.
I'll second that.
the library features and improved filters.
The improved filters and search options. But for me the download features are the most important. I don't use the Library because I programmed my own local library (hence the importance of downloads) but for for someone else the Library will definitely be an important part of the premium membership. Of course the higher number of allowed downloads is very generous for free members at the moment but when that returns to the normal daily allotment that too is an important perk of the premium membership.
I don't use the Library
I use the library mostly for 2 reasons:
1. stories I'd like to read later,
2. stories I want to keep tabs on because they get asked for a lot and it's easier for me to find them in the library than the general database.
perk
Perk has three quite separate meanings and origins, and is a microcosm of English etymology.
Its oldest use (by 1400) is as a verb, meaning to smarten (up), carry yourself in a smart or jaunty manner, or enliven. Its origin is more doubtful, though: Chambers' Dictionary of Etymology and the OED think it may be the same word as perch, going back to Old North French and thus to the Latin pertica, rod or perch. The OED also offers a related obsolete meaning of perk as a pole, stake, bracket to support candles, or perch.
From that, we get perk up, meaning to liven or brighten up, and perky, lively, bright or even (Chambers assures me) saucy; the OED sees it as a bit more disparaging, more self-assertive or even cocky.
Perky has even achieved stardom in the animated children's TV series Pinky and Perky (1957, revived 2008, Wikipedia). However that seems to have been a quirk of fate: its originators, Jan and Vlasta Dalibor, intended to name the anthropomorphic pigs with characteristic high-pitched voices Pinky and Porky. They changed the latter name to Perky when they hit a problem registering Porky as a character name.
Then in the nineteenth century (first recorded in 1869), the old word perquisite increasingly became abbreviated to perk, in the sense of a non-monetary benefit associated with a job or work. Thus someone working in a factory might take home an empty wooden palette on the basis that it is a perk of the job.
Perquisite is now largely disused, and derived from the Latin perquisitum, which in medieval times became an acquisition, something gained. For much of its early use in English it has referred to property gained by means other than inheritance, then casual income of the lord of a manor. By the end of the seventeenth century it was becoming used for casual fees or income in addition to the salary associated with an office or official position. In the nineteenth century it was often used to describe items which had, once they had served their purpose, been passed on to subordinates or employees to use or remove, and expected gratuities or tips.
In the twentieth century, feeling that its four letters were strong enough to bear yet another meaning, it became an abbreviation for percolator, and its original, percolate. First recorded as perc in 1934, apparently North American, it is now more commonly spelled as perk; this can be applied to the device, the coffee it produces, or verbalised to describe the action of making coffee in a percolator.
One of the early devices for producing filtered coffee, percolators (Wikipedia) anticipated the current popularity of shiny, noisy and often expensive equipment for generating 'serious' coffee. Their name is derived from the process of percolation, in turn from the Latin percolare, to strain through a filter.
So smarten up, a benefit in addition to pay, and filtered coffee: a lot packed into just four letters."
I don't think we are premium members. I think we are premiers (of Canada) and hold high government office, although we pay for it instead of being paid.
Noticed the Halloween Contest is open to paid or premium members only
I'm not sure I understand that. I thought any author could enter a story. Only paid, premium members are allowed to vote until contest voting is over.
What is the context for your 'paid or premium'?
AJ
What is the context for your 'paid or premium'?
Voting on the entries to determine the winner.
Voting on the entries to determine the winner.
In that case the 'or' is incorrect. Only paying premium members (ie not earned premium members) are allowed to register contest votes.
AJ
For me it's being able to read all the "premier only" stories, especially now, reading the older ones by authors that are no longer with us for one reason or another,,,some re-reading for the umpteenth time :)
For me it is being able to download stories in epub form with searchable chapters as opposed to old way of copying each chapter to a html file and then merging them into a large file then converting it to epub.
way of copying each chapter to a html file and then merging them into a large file then converting it to epub.
Why first merging the chapter files?
I created an EPUB template file with a generic cover page and an edited xht.css file (edited to meet my preferences).
I use Calibre's eBook editor to open a renamed copy of the template and just import all chapter files.
I then copy the lines of the template's cover page above the h1 title and go through all imported chapters replacing all lines above the h2 chapter title.
Next step is to delete all lines between the last text line and the /body tag.
Then a check run to let the editor find any problems (usually use of br instead of br/ and hr instead of hr/).
Finally some fine-tuning by reading through the story looking for typos, wrong homophones(their vs. they're, hanger vs. hangar, ...), grammar and interpunction (like single left quote where it should be an apostrophe).
If you have one huge merged file you may run into problems with some eBook readers (size limits) and have to let your conversion program split it.
BTW, how do you force a page break above a chapter header without splitting the file there?
HM.
BTW, how do you force a page break above a chapter header without splitting the file there?
h2 {page-break-before: always}
h2 {page-break-before: always}
Thank you, I appreciate the help.
FYI, this works with the eBook viewers, but has no effect in the preview window of Calibre's eBook editor.
HM.
First off this was like 10-15 years ago and second I am not a geek.
I have had to split a few long stories because the program I was using to convert at the time wouldn't handle it.
"BTW, how do you force a page break above a chapter header without splitting the file there?"
I know this will hurt but I didn't, I would open the html file in explorer, hit right button and hit select all then hit copy, then paste it to the new file in the conversion program.
I may not be a geek but I am determined. BTW I still have almost every story I downloaded this way all the way back for close to 20 years. Back then when I couldn't afford internet I would go to the library with a stick and download every chapter of the 3 stories I was allowed to view that day and take it home and convert then do the same thing the next day.
This. I'm lazy. Of course I could download in another format and convert to EPUB, but I want to push a button and get an EPUB that I can just read, instead of wasting reading time dealing with formatting.
If you want story recommendations by other readers of SOL stories, you should probably check the reviews. There is some bias by reviewers, since the boss wants reviews to be mostly favorable with occasional critical elements there tends to be reviews of stories the reviewer liked. If you find a reviewer who has reviewed stories you liked, you could do worse than looking at other stories he or she has reviewed. For time travel into the past, you could look at reviews by Celeste. I have reviewed about 100 stories, you could probably enjoy most of them, and there are reviewers who have reviewed even more stories than richardshagrin. You can organize the reviews a number of different ways, by reviewer is one that is available. Check out the top of the home page, there is a tab that says reviews.
The ability to search by text string or keyword, beyond the "category search." And access to "Premium only" stories.
~ JBB
Is there a way to get a premium membership without using a credit or debit card, or at least a way to avoid having it show up on the charges list?
It's possible to pay by money order, but as for a credit or debit card, what will show up on your statement is "World Literature Company". It doesn't exactly scream porn website.
And you can always point to finestories or scifistories which are also charged the same.
I am an author who has paid for membership for several years. (I first bought a membership after a couple of months of reading for free.)
I have earned a membership by posting chapters, however, I continue to pay every 6 months to a year. I am a disabled veteran on a limited income, but the quality of a small number of stories here makes Membership a Good Value!
I post stories so they will be Read, and to get constructive criticism and other feedback.
I pay so that this site continues to Exist!
@ZerboMolo
One word of advice: paragraphs.
Don't expect a reader to write like an author ;)
Don't expect a reader to write like an author
Such large text blocks are difficult to read even in the forum.
Paragraphs are not called for
If you want your feedback to be understood, paragraphs help.
Just saying…
Compare this
There are in-fact useful advantages with Premier membership, which I have held (for the most part) since 2007. Full, detailed search capabilities, open access to archived stories, ability to download stories in multiple formats, and last but not least use of a personal library. Frankly, the liberal access for non-paying users pisses me off. I still remember the maddening frustration of poor service about 10 years ago when SOL was having bandwidth problems with the then current web access company. It made me furious and frustrated at the time. Since then I have purposely allowed my paid membership lapse for varying periods of time. During the lapse periods, I had the same access as any other non-paying subscriber. I could not access my library and had limited download capability, but SOL will retain and return all of my library record to me when I resubscribe to Premier service. The only caveat is that the library will be held in suspense for a maximum of 6 months; longer and I would lose it for good (quite liberal, actually). I made a practice of 'stocking up' on loads of reading material prior to my Premier service expiring. I then bided my time for a few weeks to a few months and renewed my Premier service subscription. Being frugal hasn't been my motivation, but feeling somewhat cheated for free advantage of the vast majority of the other readers is the 'thorn in my side.' I have given much thought as to why free services are so liberally given. Only two possiblilities came to mind; Pressure either real or perceived from authors to have the maximum number of /followers, or some hope on the part of SOL to encourage more paid subscribers by showcasing the site. Perhaps the free access should be for a time limit of 30-90 days, then insist upon paid access? Judging from a paid subscriber measure of .98%, that surely is not working. Heck, $75 annually is not big deal, but it feels that I am 'rowing the boat' for a bunch of free riders. By the way, I too am an old fart living on Social Security and a tiny private pension that wouldn't pay the electric bill some months. But..."It is what it is"
to this
There are in-fact useful advantages with Premier membership, which I have held (for the most part) since 2007. Full, detailed search capabilities, open access to archived stories, ability to download stories in multiple formats, and last but not least use of a personal library.
Frankly, the liberal access for non-paying users pisses me off. I still remember the maddening frustration of poor service about 10 years ago when SOL was having bandwidth problems with the then current web access company. It made me furious and frustrated at the time. Since then I have purposely allowed my paid membership lapse for varying periods of time.
During the lapse periods, I had the same access as any other non-paying subscriber. I could not access my library and had limited download capability, but SOL will retain and return all of my library record to me when I resubscribe to Premier service. The only caveat is that the library will be held in suspense for a maximum of 6 months; longer and I would lose it for good (quite liberal, actually). I made a practice of 'stocking up' on loads of reading material prior to my Premier service expiring. I then bided my time for a few weeks to a few months and renewed my Premier service subscription. Being frugal hasn't been my motivation, but feeling somewhat cheated for free advantage of the vast majority of the other readers is the 'thorn in my side.'
I have given much thought as to why free services are so liberally given. Only two possibilities came to mind; Pressure either real or perceived from authors to have the maximum number of /followers, or some hope on the part of SOL to encourage more paid subscribers by showcasing the site. Perhaps the free access should be for a time limit of 30-90 days, then insist upon paid access? Judging from a paid subscriber measure of .98%, that surely is not working. Heck, $75 annually is not big deal, but it feels that I am 'rowing the boat' for a bunch of free riders.
By the way, I too am an old fart living on Social Security and a tiny private pension that wouldn't pay the electric bill some months. But..."It is what it is"
I'm not an author and not the creator of your response so it's arguable if I split the paragraphs where it makes most sense.
I posted a brief commentary in a discussion forum. It is my reply to Lazeez' request for feedback from readers. IMO....Paragraphs are not called for.
If you want anyone(including Lazeez) to read and understand your commentary paragraphs are very much called for.
If you're actually interested in the content of my post, I am confident that you will struggle through.
That pretty much makes the point about paragraphs being necessary.