The problem is, they're making the subscription rate $50/year. I contribute $20-25 a year and would be fine if this were the subscription rate. But I think they're going to lose so many users that their data is going to become scarce and irrelevent.
If you agree, drop the nice people there a line asking them to reduce the annual fee. Let them know just how many people they'll lose and how poorly that will affect their database. Duotrope is a great service. I'd like to see it stay that way.
Posts: 1993 | Registered: Jul 2009
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Alas, Duotrope is coming of age into middle adulthood's addressing pressing financial obligations. Bean counters' bottom line priorities demanding financial accountability for every product contaminated traditional publishing. This too shall pass, in time.
Posts: 6037 | Registered: Jun 2008
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I would be perfectly willing to pay them $20-$25 a year, but $50 is too much.
I agree with Genevive that making users pay for a service that has been by donation-only is going to drive a lot of people away, which in turn will lessen the value of the service because there will be fewer data points. So, the people who stay will be paying more for less value.
I guess I will have to resurrect my spreadsheet and become friends with Ralan.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2008
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For anyone in need of a new submission tracker after Dec. 31, writersplanner.com is pretty good. I used that site before I discovered Duotrope and plan to return there. You can't track every user's submission data, but you can keep track of your own.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2008
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I blogged about this today. I am 100% against this, as the blog clearly explains.
They are so set to try it despite the Facebook outcry over it. The problem with that is, that once they lose many users, the damage will be done. I'd be surprised to see Duotrope around in any relevant form by 2014.
I think next week I will blog about alternatives to Duotrope.
Posts: 725 | Registered: Jan 2011
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A replacement for Duotrope is in the works. It's called Submitomancy. I've met the person running it and her intentions are very good. She's looking for funding to cover start-up costs but many of the functions will be free if she gets it off the ground.
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I believe that's what indiegogo does. It's a kickstarter fund. I donated and if the project doesn't reach its goal, I get a refund.
Posts: 1993 | Registered: Jul 2009
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I've just emailed them to close my account as I can't seem to do it myself. Just about all functionality, including my previous subs, seems to have been locked out unless I pay them.
Very bad way to do things and the wrong way to go about keeping existing users.
Posts: 778 | Registered: Aug 2010
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I also know of another submission tracker that's in the works that is going to be free, but I don't want to say anymore until it is up and running.
Posts: 1993 | Registered: Jul 2009
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The folks over at Diabolical Plots announced The Submission Grinder. I've already signed up and it looks to promise the exact same service at Duotrope did and for free.
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The Submission Grinder is great, and going to get better. But if you have any technical problems, or ideas for improvements, let them know and be patient. I know they're very interested in making this work.
Posts: 1993 | Registered: Jul 2009
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Stay away a month and see what you miss. I wonder if I will be able to at least get my submission tracker information back, or if my submission history is lost. I am sure I can back track it, but had been using them as my main database.
Posts: 1168 | Registered: Mar 2008
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You can spend five bucks on Duotrope for a one month subscription and then download your data - they have a specific function for this. And I know the new Submission Grinder is prepared to accept the data from a Duotrope file.
Posts: 1993 | Registered: Jul 2009
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I tried to give the Grinder a try, but I couldn't even register. I put in a six character password and it told me I needed a six character password.
I think what bugs me most about this Duotrope stuff is the lack of creativity in trying to solve their funding problem. There are so many other ways to address this issue besides high subscription fees or donations. They could've used a combination of lower subscription fees, advertising revenue, and tricks used in many free-to-play games in which access to the service would be given in exchange if users participate in certain promotions (ex: Netflix free trials, purchasing things online, signing up for credit cards, etc). I'd be much more willing to continue using Duotrope under that environment.
quote:Originally posted by Tiergan: Just heard back from them, and they sent me my file in a csv format so all is well.
You can upload that csv into the Grinder and they will not only import all the data, they will also add any markets on your list to their data base.
There are bugs on this Grinder site. I got several run time errors when I was try to get the links to add to my blog post on the topic. But I am very much looking forward to them. They have been on top of every bug so far.
Posts: 725 | Registered: Jan 2011
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>>I tried to give the Grinder a try, but I couldn't even register. I put in a six character password and it told me I needed a six character password.
Osiris, would you mind trying again? There have been a lot of changes that improve stability and add features since we launched 5 days ago.
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Site updates have been happening every day--today we added one my favorite features--the option to view recent market responses from any market listing.
And let me know if you have any problems, or if you have suggestions for features/enhancements.
Posts: 299 | Registered: Oct 2008
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Also, we have features in the works that Duotrope has never offered. Filling Duotrope's functionality is just our baseline. Posts: 299 | Registered: Oct 2008
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Steffen, all set now. I didn't try putting a 6-character password though, I used 8 to be safe.
Posts: 1043 | Registered: Jul 2010
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Cool! Added a "Contact Us" link on the site too, to give an easy place to report problems like that.
Posts: 299 | Registered: Oct 2008
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