Unless an idea has slipped my mind, I've officially updated the roadmap to include not one but six unique categories:
- Open Topic
- Readers' Favorites
- Trending Stars
- Ideas in Production
- Authors' Favorites
- Resultant Books
Once you've posted an idea, I will monitor its progress. Your idea's journey will then look as follows:
I'll post it to the "Open Topic" card first. Like all cards, the "ideas" tab will show a list of all ideas attached to it. Over time, this will become the largest yet most important list. This is where other readers should check in and upvote their favorites. Your idea will stay here until it either trends or gets an author to represent it.
Once a healthy list of ideas begins to form, I'll start moving the top ten most upvoted topics to the "Readers' Favorites" card. These are the ideas that have a minimum of ten upvotes (this number will rise as more readers use this service, but we'll start at ten). Naturally, these are the ideas that authors will most likely want to focus on for their next books, as these are the ones with the highest level of interest or the greatest embedded reading audience. If your idea hits the Top Ten, it will move to this card.
If your idea catches fire and receives a surge of upvotes in a short span of time (comparative to the frequency other ideas are upvoted), I'll move it to the "Trending Stars" card. This may not necessarily represent the most in-demand topics and ideas overall, but it will represent the ones that are starting the next trends or have the highest emotional impact on readers, and if your idea ends up on this card, then that means it's got serious legs.
Once an author expresses interest in your idea and commits to developing it, I'll move it to the "Ideas in Production" card. This is where readers can check out the author's website and monitor the idea's progress. For an idea to move to this card (or to the "Chosen Topics" section), the author needs to send me a message letting me know that he or she has chosen that topic for development, as well as provide me a link to his or her website that I might post in the comments section for that idea. It's also a good idea for the author to have at least one previously released book available so readers can get to know his or her style and/or understand the seriousness of his intent and capability. Even though anyone can write a book, not everyone can write a good one, and readers want to be sure they'll get a good one from the author who has chosen their favorite topic. Having a proof of quality is the best way to develop a following.
Because ideas are not limited to a single author, your idea may get picked up more than once. An idea that gets the attention and representation of three or more authors will be moved to the "Authors' Favorites" card. From there, the idea may begin to trend, and even more writers may cotton on to it. If this is your preferred genre or topic, then you'll want to pay attention to this card and follow the authors who are writing about your favorites here. Again, you'll find them in the comments section for your idea.
Finally, if your idea becomes a book, it will be moved to the "Resultant Books" section. This is the pinnacle of the Book Ideas Generator. This is what we all hope for as readers and writers. If your favorites make this list, please support the authors who have developed books from them by visiting their websites and checking out their books (including the ones based on your idea).
So, I hope this clarifies the list and its usage. Remember, this system works only if readers contribute ideas and authors choose them for development. To find out what everyone wants, we have to talk to each other and examine and respond to the demands we see. And to get the list growing faster and the books made into reality, we need to let our other reader and writer friends know about the Book Ideas Generator. So, please pass on the message.
Note: To post an idea, you'll have to provide a first name and email and consent to the privacy policy before the system will accept it. Once live, the idea itself will display only your topic title, your description, whatever name you write (real or fake), and how long ago it was added or modified. Check out existing ideas to see the format if that sort of thing matters to you.
--Jeremy
