1 Day To Go - Why Prose is Unique
Hey, Prosers,
The Bookstore launch is only bloody tomorrow!!
We are anxious, nervous, excited, and a bunch of noises that portray all of them.
Today's giveaway is a big one. It's the last one. One of you will get 2000 coins to spend in the Bookstore. Watch out wordporn, this winner is going to devour you!
So, how do you get your mitts on the coins? Share this post as many times as possible on all social platforms, then come and comment (again, on this post) and tell us how many times you've shared it. Don't go telling us porky pies (lies) though, we will find out.
All winners will be announced tomorrow!
Over the lifetime of Prose, we've always tried to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes Prose unique. It's taken us a long-ass time, but we think we've nailed it now, and we'd like to share it with you.
There are a couple of things that we know will make Prose even more unique, (if that's possible), but we can't share those with you just yet, because they're coming soon, and top secret. We like to build a little suspense - what story doesn't?
1) Bookstore
Launching tomorrow, our Bookstore is set to flip the publishing world the right-side up. The author-side up. Taking the greed out of the industry and kicking it in the books. (No, not balls, books.)
Our royalties will be the fairest in the whole industry, and we offer the flexibility to sell your content your way. Whether you want to sell short stories, books per chapter, or whole books, Prose will support you. You set your own prices and you'll never be penalised. Want to offer your book as a freebie? No sweat, do it.
2) Copyright
Your copyright always remains your own with Prose. Which, in turn, gives you the freedom to distribute your words wherever you choose. We don't bind you in with exclusivity contracts or penalise you when you share your words elsewhere.
3) No Censorship
We've always made this very clear to everyone. We do not, nor will we ever, censor your words. Words are there for us to use, and it'd be a shame to leave some of the more colourful ones out, right? You want to cuss? Do it. We aren't stopping you. Want to write something really mature? Go for it. The world needs your words, warts and all.
4) Challenge Stream
Okay, some of you may say, "it's just a challenge stream," but it's a place of collaboration. A place where people from all across the world inspire each other. And to us, there isn't anything quite as unique as that.
5) Letters from Prison
Prose made a promise that we would take on philanthropic endeavours to use the power of words to improve lives. We've fulfilled that promise by taking Prose into prison. Each week we set the residents tasks, and then post their poems and stories in the Letters from Prison Portal. You guys have been commenting on those posts and we've then taken those comments back to the prison for the residents to read. The results we have seen are outstanding. The power of their words, and your words, have had a profound affect on the residents. Boosting confidences, reducing anxiety, and anger. We are giving these people a voice with a non-judgemental ear to listen.
6) Portals
Talking of Portals, we think all of our Portals are pretty unique. If you're a reader, and haikus are your thing, there's a Portal for that. We've a huge amount of Portals for writers to fill and readers to devour.
7) Unique content
Not only do we have the unique content from the residents in prison, but we have unique content being written on Prose, everyday. If you are a voracious reader like we are on the Prose team, you will never, ever run out of fresh and unique content to read. It is, hands down, some of the best content we have ever read, period.
8) The community /social integration
We have saved the best till last. It should come as no shock to you that you, our wonderful community, are the best and most unique thing about Prose. When you think about social media, a lot of you will think about trolls, unnecessary comments made by a bunch of keyboard warriors. Judgemental minds and unsupportive groups. Not here. Not on Prose. This community is the best and most unique community we have ever seen. Without you all of the other unique things wouldn't be possible. Without you, there would be no Prose. Keep doing what you're doing. There are no words to thank you enough for being here.
Tomorrow we launch a new chapter of our story, and we are taking you all along for the ride. Our partnership with each and every one of you will continue, and we promise to always put you all in the forefront of our minds for every decision we make.
Until tomorrow, our launch, Prosers,
Prose.
Feature Friday: @JA
The weeks fly by, don’t they? Yet when they hurtle at breakneck speed towards the weekend, we get a little excited; as that means Friday Feature is about to propel another lovely Proser into view. This week is no exception, with a generous helping of a fascinating and very funny individual who has a very large and very loyal following.
P: What is your name, dear Proser?
J: My given name is a secret, aha. And my prose name is @JA.
P: Where on this earth do you live?
J: I reside in Australia, Brisbane to be exact.
P: Ooh, fancy! What do you do for a living?
J: Currently I am a full time student, aspiring writer, amateur graphics designer and part-time kebab maker, haha!
P: What is your relationship with writing and how has it evolved?
J: My relationship with writing is a love/ hate melodrama, no joke! Sometimes I regret finding a passion in the literature world and others I feel hella blessed... My skills in writing have definitely evolved and matured since I began seriously investing time in this passion. I sometimes find myself going through old projects and cringing hard asf and thanking the heavens for my surprisingly successful entry into erotica. Ironic huh!
P: What value does reading add to both your personal and professional life?
J: See this is a hard question; I rarely read! Crazy huh, I find myself more entertained with writing my own fantasies, rather than indulging in others...
P: Awkward. Haha. Please describe your current literary ventures and what can we look forward to.
J: My current status concerning writing is a haywire mess of stress and jumbled novellas! As many of my soldiers know; my Silvetti series is a six book journey, so they can definitely expect more of their favourite hunks and hunkesses... Not to mention I've begun a new trilogy called 'Gettin Wylde', not suggestive at all, aye! Lastly, I plan on posting up some of my more popular drafts like 'Yes, Master' and 'Naked' on Prose as proper novels.
P: What do you love about TheProse.com?
J: Y'all just love these hard questions! To put it simply; what's not to love? Honestly, I've found myself so completely addicted to this site. What have you done to me...!?
P: Is there one book that you would recommend everybody should read before they die?
J: Back in the day, I remember falling in love with Goosebumps! Fuck it, I spent hours being a complete book worm while flipping through R.L Stines adventures... If I were to recommend one only, it's have to be 'Welcome to Dead House'. A true killer that one is, haha!
P: Do you have an unsung hero who got you into reading and/or writing?
J: Sure do, the imaginary idiot who still flaunts around my head like a pimped up boss! Just kidding... My dad actually got me addicted, I remember forcing him to read to me before bed and then when we finished a chapter in one of our stories he'd fetch me a glass of water and tuck me in; yes I was that annoying little shit that hated to go to sleep... I still am that annoying little shit!
P: Describe yourself in just three words.
J: Loud. Awkward. Disastrous!
P: Is there one quote, from a writer or otherwise, that sums you up?
J: Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. —Cyril Connolly
P: Favourite music to write and/or read to?
J: Primarily, soundtracks that are deep, dramatic and sensual, for instance songs by XYLØ, LORDE, GRACE, LANA DEL REY, etc. And, when I'm unable to think of anything to write, I listen to Kpop; surprisingly enough it's highly effective in inspiring me!
P: The Prose Time Machine drops you off in a dystopian future that has no books. What do you say?
J: I would tell them anything, I'd simply ask; have you ever felt colour? Because a world without books is grey, dull and dead...
P: Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you/your work/social media accounts?
J: I'm really not that interesting, haha!
Well, we think you’ll agree that Jay is actually that interesting, and more besides. Please check her out, interact and read her awesome words.
Do you want to be featured, or would you like to nominate someone to be featured in a future Feature Friday? If so, get in touch at paul@theprose.com with the details.
Prose Challenge of the Week #27
Good morning, Prosers,
We hope this post finds you all enjoying the first day of the week. Monday blues are slightly lessened when you have Prose in your pocket and on your screens!
It’s week twenty-seven of the Prose Challenge of the Week! Last week saw you all writing the hottest sentence you could in ten words. Even some of the team had a go, we like a little bit of heat. The temperature in our digital offices were certainly raised with all the hotness you splashed on our desks!
Before we find out which one of you takes the $100 prize, let’s take a look at this week’s prompt:
Prose Challenge of the Week #27: Write a piece of micropoetry using the following word to inspire: “Farcical.” The winner will be chosen based on a number of criteria, this includes: fire, form, and creative edge. Number of reads, bookmarks, and shares will also be taken into consideration. The winner will receive $100. When sharing to Twitter, please use the hashtags #ProseChallenge & #Micropoetry
Get scribbling, write now.
Back to the winner of week twenty-six. We have read all of your entries and thoroughly enjoyed every single one, you certainly got us all hot under the collar. There can only be one winner, however, and after much deliberation that winner is, @JA with her piece “Claiming Her.” Congratulations to you, we will be in touch shortly to arrange transfer of your winnings!
That’s all for this week, here’s to a week filled with all things Prose!
Until next time, Prosers,
Prose.
Introducing: The Prose Collections
Hey, Prosers!
This is a public service announcement: There will be no Throwback Thursday in app today.
Why not? Well, today is not just a good morning, it’s a super-awesome morning.
Those of you logging on to the website right now will notice something different, we’ve made some changes, changes that we know you’ll love, we love them too!
We are proud to introduce The Prose Collections. This has been in the works for such a long time and we are bursting at the seams with excitement to finally be able to share this with you.
We have spent a lot of time as a team discussing the writing industry and how we can make it better. These discussions haven’t been the kind that take an hour or two, we have poured over this for an inconceivable amount of time.
So, we hear you ask, what on earth are “Collections?”
Before we tell you about the collections in their entirety, there will be certain things that are NOT live right now; for really good reasons, too. They will be soon, but not today. But instead of just telling you about the things that are now live, we wanted to let you in on the whole secret that we have been keeping for months. All of it. So without further ado, we give you The Prose Collections.
The Prose Collections are split into two main functions. Reader functions and writer functions.
Readers:
Readlists: Spotify brings you playlists. Prose brings you readlists. Save your favorite posts to your readlists so you can read them over and over again. Share your readlists with other users and let them know what you like to read. Discover new writers and new posts by browsing other Prosers’ readlists. (Coming in the next update, hang tight)
Bookmarks: Every reader needs one, especially when it comes to longer pieces of literature. Bookmark the piece you are reading, and dive straight back in when it is more convenient for you. (Coming in the next update, we know it’s worth the wait)
Writers:
The Partner Program: This is an application-only facility whereby accepted writers will be able to make money directly from their Prose account in the most flexible way possible. (Live)
Books: Partners and non-partners will be able to create books and publish them in our brand-new Prose Bookstore. Partners will be able to sell these books for our in-house currency, Prose Coins. (Book creation is live. Selling and purchasing is coming as soon as our bookshelves are stocked.)
Bookselling: Not only will Partners be able to create and sell their books directly on Prose, but they will also have a new and flexible way of selling them. Not only will you be able to sell your books as a whole, but if you can’t wait to get readers drawn in to your story, you can now sell you book on a per chapter basis. Serialised fiction like this has become more popular over recent years, so now your words can earn you money. We would also like to announce the subscription model. We took inspiration for this part from Twitch, the go-to place for online video game live streaming. This is another way your blood sweat and words can make you money. Each subscriber would pay monthly amount to read all of your content, it’s that simple. (Stock our bookshelves first, and we’ll open the store!)
Royalties: Prose wants to put the power back into the hand of the author. Our royalty scheme is competitive, and more importantly, fair. Authors will take 80% of all earnings on Prose. (As soon as you are able to sell books, you’ll start earning. See the seller's terms here). You’ll be able to “cash-in” your Prose Coins for the currency of your country!
Visibility: You now have better flexibility over who sees your posts. Hurrah! You can select these options in your writing desk. Your default audience will be everyone, but you can change that to followers only (coming in the next day or so), subscribers only (coming in the next update), or only me (live now). That’s right, you can write privately and share with your audience later. How cool is that?
For this first update, we have disabled some of the features until the iOS update is ready to roll out and the bookstore is ready for its grand unveiling. We can’t have a bookstore with empty shelves, so the book creation feature is live right now. So, you know, write now! We’ve also included within the above description little notes on what’s live and what’s not just yet.
We have made some design changes we hope you like, including welcoming a new term, “your desk.” Your writers desk is your creation suite. Create books, posts, and challenges all from your desk, and control who sees your posts. Set the pricing model of your books (mentioned above), attach your hashtags and header images, along with assigning a portal.
As if that wasn’t enough, likes are back! Thank goodness! We know that the introduction of bookmarks six months ago confused some people and given that we are changing the functionalities of bookmarks, likes have made a welcome return to your screens.
So, that’s a round-up of what has just landed, and what will be on your screens soon. Development of the iOS features are underway, and we will push the update to your phones as soon as it’s complete and we’re happy that everything is working as it should be.
Go forth and do what writers do. Create your books, write your poetry and prose. Comment, like, and share. We are building an empire, and this is only one chapter of our book.
Until next time, Prosers,
Prose.