June 13, 2001

8:31 AM

Inkblot, each month, invites writers to submit stories based on a black and white picture. It's approaching two years of operation. Lately it has reached the stage where its submission rate has been fading. How best do good open-call submission sites like this one attract/ maintain/ renew an active participant base?
posted by TimTypeZed (15 comments total)

Speaking as someone (warning: self link) who has an open call submission site like this (Lesion Legion), I think it's hard to keep interest up in a project for a long time. I've noticed that throughout the almost 2 years that I've had my section going, there's always sort of a fluctuation. I'll get a couple submissions in the course of one week, then I'll go months without getting another. It just sort of depends on how you get the word out there, how many people see it, and how it holds their interest. Of course, I'm sure that your link above will help renew some interest... :)
posted by almostcool at 9:13 AM on June 13, 2001

Jim Casler's Fragx has been going for a couple years now, and shows no signs of slowing down. I dropped out a long time ago because the community tends to get too vicious for my taste, but it's an interesting concept that inspires, through its limitations, healthy competition and very creative output.
posted by frykitty at 9:37 AM on June 13, 2001

how about asking people to rate whether the blots are hot or not :P
posted by DiplomaticImmunity at 10:24 AM on June 13, 2001

I too ran a submission based site for about a year and a half. The problem with that one was self interest, as opposed to interest from others. I got bored and shut it down.

Actually, one of the reason I stopped taking submissions wasn't because of quantity, for I never lacked stuff, but quality, since I often lacked good stuff.

Probably my best weapon in the fight to keep a consistent influx of was to register the site with Yahoo, and add the words "accepting submissions" to the site description. I ended up with scads of material that way. The other reason I never wanted for material was because I accepted poetry. Everybody writes poetry. Everybody. And they will all send it to you when you ask for it.

Actually, I was always open to short stories and essays, too, but didn't get very many of them. So poetry is the answer. Of course then you get back to that quality over quantity problem...
posted by jennyb at 12:08 PM on June 13, 2001

I just thought of another reason why submissions to these sites might be fading.

I think people, myself included, looked at having their writing published on the internet as the first step towards becoming the next PJ O'Rourke or Dave Barry. So they were far more willing to submit writing to sites in the hopes of getting their name out there.

Eventually, it sinks in that there are five billion other people submitting things they wrote to these websites, and more then half of them are better than you, and the futility of seeking to make your make in the writing world using pixels instead of print becomes clear.

More people have their own sites. There's not so much excitement behind seeing your name on the web when you have a personal site. Also, why go through the submission process, which could mean rejection, when you can post your thoughts about an ink-blot on your own blog?

With the exception of submission based sites like McSweeny's, who have already established themselves as relatively popular, I think the future of the small, submission based site is grim.
posted by jennyb at 12:17 PM on June 13, 2001

Also, why go through the submission process, which could mean rejection, when you can post your thoughts about an ink-blot on your own blog?

Agreed. I, too, ran a submission-based site for the better portion of a year, to see how things would go. It was called fluffypillow and was devoted to sharing dreams - er, not "I want to be Kottke", but more like, "Last night I dreamt I was Kottke". The site withered on the vine, and despite a link from Zannah, I pulled the plug shortly thereafter. Just not enough in the way of contribution, and I didn't have enough motivation to make the thing Really Good.

That said, I'm trying again with another idea, based on the Powazek model, and hopes are higher. [blatant plug]

The inkblot site is boffo. But the problem is that, as jennyb points out, there are other avenues for this type of expression. It's a delicate balance and you have to offer up something else to make the grade. Inkblot's got the looks, and it's got the concept.
posted by hijinx at 12:29 PM on June 13, 2001

do, ah, does one get paid? perhaps a 10$ award might get traffic flowing.(sell some domain for example) some problems can be solved with money. (green stamps) A random URL subject matter contest. Like poetic bingo, jingo with a Jpeg. audience folks, its about audience. Fill the house then secure the talent. (get fowles on the horn)
NOTE: The salt and pepper suit, stock ticker dialouge is meant to convey antipathy towards mediums of cultural exchange and the perceived eminent demise of said medium. or...like they say in the soda pop biz, "time to change the label" It still can be the great product inside.
posted by clavdivs at 2:12 PM on June 13, 2001

I think also you run a great risk of having someone rip off your writing.
posted by jfwlucy at 3:54 PM on June 13, 2001

jennyb: "I think people, myself included, looked at having their writing published on the internet as the first step towards becoming the next PJ O'Rourke or Dave Barry."

It's NOT? Oh pooh.

hijinx: "That said, I'm trying again with another idea, based on the Powazek model.."

Dayam! Dat's a hot idea! ...Powazek? Figures. Does he ever have a bad idea? The guy's giving us mere mortals a bad rep.

clavdivs: "do, ah, does one get paid?"

Anyone into writing for money is probably not surfing online in the circles where they'd find places like that.

jfwlucy: "I think also you run a great risk of having someone rip off your writing."

That's only if you write good enough to be worth getting stolen from, and if you were doing that, you'd be getting paid already. ...unless the thieves in question are just really stupid.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:22 AM on June 14, 2001

I saw this site when I was a few months online; it's important to me because it's the first site of this type that I felt comfortable participating in.

Individual sites did seem to have more presence then, that participation in them would bring some entry into the "community". Now even the submission sites of the prominent tend to me to seem like buried departments of someone's personal site, another nook in the endless array of nooks.

I still like the spirit of these sites however. Because they seem borne of the belief that there's a wealth of creativity available, and of the value of individual voices (not paid, or worth stealing, but valuable anyway).

Five Pieces, although for designers, is similar to inkblot, in that it's a classroom exercise opened to everyone. It's a clever idea, well managed and presented, and it's new. Where there were about seven shown submissions two issues ago there are now well over thirty (more than I care to click on) in the latest issue. But it won't be pointed to as prominently in the future, and many of the people participating now will fade away after a couple issues.

I like the structure the monthly schedules and the slight whiff of competition give these sites. But that schedule can become a disability in a medium where attention comes in waves and novelty is prized.

So I'm promo-ing for a site I like that has been around for awhile. Hope that I found a couple hobby writers that will find it an interesting impetus to bang out a story, to experiment and to see how their approach and voice can differ from others.
posted by TimTypeZed at 7:53 AM on June 14, 2001

zachsmind. your statement is good. i checked the powazek story. first paragraph had an error. I have my share, but not on the final product. Have you had anyone steal your ideas. Ive seen it a few times and it is not pretty. I figure the true gems on the net, most will not pick up anyways. Competition?....is that what it is?
posted by clavdivs at 8:15 AM on June 14, 2001

If you run a site that exists on the donations of work by volunteers, you need to pay them. But there are many types of payment, money just being the least creative.

As some of you know, I run {fray}, which exists on submissions. And while I would love to pay my contributors, I can't because the site makes no money (proceeds from fray.net go toward fray events. Of course, that's one of the reasons why the site has no ads - if it did, I'd feel it necessary to share the proceeds. If we ever did make money (like if we published a book or something), I would.

But just because I can't pay my contributors money doesn't mean I can't give them something. Here's how I pay my contributors: a really cool design (each story is individually designed), exposure and promotion (as much as I can), and the posting forum at the end of each story (it's always a surprise delight for authors to see people respond to their story with stories of their own). In the end, that's worth more than the hundred bucks an industry rag might pay you.

Could you do all those things on a personal homepage? Maybe. But it gains strength when it comes from many voices in a community site (there, I said it), rather than one voice on a homepage. And, of course, they're not mutually exclusive. Most {fray} authors have their own sites.

There's power in this. I totally encourage everyone to support collaborative sites with submissions, participation, and exposure. And I encourage everyone to get out there and start collaborative sites of their own. It's hard work - make no mistake. But it's worth it when it all comes together.

Just make sure, if you do run a collaborative site, that you're giving back as much as you can to your contributors. It's up to you to make it worth their while.

Speaking of, did you know that Heather Champ's site Jezebel just turned five? Or that Lance Arthur launched a new project? Or that Lance Anderson performs every Wednesday in LA? Or that Luke Seemann is going to open a restaurant? Or that....
posted by fraying at 11:31 AM on June 14, 2001

it still seems little more then organized graffeti.
posted by clavdivs at 8:01 AM on June 15, 2001

Mose of my favorite things are....
posted by fraying at 6:44 PM on June 17, 2001

"graffiti" and "most" that is....
posted by fraying at 7:12 PM on June 27, 2001