Stories in Progress

Ok, going to characters makes sense for info on specific people. Is there a "Cultures" page with info on cultures, or is most of that on the "Start Here" page?

To learn about places: Click "Background" and then "Location" or use the search box to search for a specific place name.

I would put those exact words somewhere on the "Start Here" page. I would probably not have tried that. It might also be worthwhile to just have a section/link called "geography" or "cultures" which includes the appropriate map (one with geographic names or one with the cultures indicated by area).

I do think it would be useful to have a note at the top of the timeline which indicates that if readers want to know more about a person they should go to Characters and if they want to know about a place they should go to "insert section here" and if they want to know about a culture they should go to "insert section here."

I'd say that you have a LOT of information on Torn World, and cross-referencing a lot (while tedious and not fun for your web team) is going to be most helpful or visitors.

A text summary of the history would be helpful, for me at least. Not everyone likes reading history (it is a topic that runs the risk of becoming dry or dull). I've found, from reading lots of RPG books, that having a timeline I can refer to and a history that is divided into 2-3 paragraph chunks with clear headings works well. Someone looking for a specific time period can scroll or flip until they get to it. Someone who wants the whole history has it in what I'd call "digestible chunks."

A Who's Who for Torn World would be nice. Possibly at the top of the Characters page? List the main characters first, then later list the secondary characters (in some kind of order, whether alphabetical or by culture or by time period, whichever makes the most sense). Knowing who the main characters are will help potential readers decide "I like that one, I want to read more." If the characters page doesn't list who the main characters are, I as a reader can't tell who I will be reading about most. Now, granted, Torn World does allow readers to promote characters to become a main character. But still, knowing who you are likely to read a lot about helps when selecting any book or story.

"What's Where" or "Geography and CUlture", or something along those lines would be good. But yes, linking the "Start Here" page to the Background page would be good, as then new readers can go straight there. Again, cross-referencing is good!

Ah! I did not realize those were storyline tours. I expected a tour of the setting. Maybe call that page something like "Linked Stories" or "Plot Arcs." Something which indicates what they really are. Maybe "Story Tours," if you want to keep the word tour. Unfortunately, I think I was misunderstanding what you meant - the word "tour" was misleading.

As for making the anthology a good starting point, I think including "non-fiction" background material would be good. Things like creation stories, or a character relating a history (possibly followed by a different character talking about the same events form a different viewpoint). Adding background to the stories in a short introduction is helpful. Just a few sentences, maybe a couple of paragraphs at most, which fill in some information necessary to follow the story - either that or start the anthology with general introductory information, and then let each story stand on its own. I think it is definitely a balance - you don't want to get didactic, or to detract from the reader's joy in learning things through the stories. But some brief info like the short history and culture info on the "Start Here" page would help.

As for the site (because I think this sort of thing in a book would range into the expensive in terms of the size of the book and color printing), I would look as successful "supplemental worldbuilding" publications. I know on my self I have People of Pern, The DragonRider's Guide to Pern, and The Atlas of Pern, not to mention many role-playing game supplements which detail certain aspects of a setting. The Pern supplements contain a lot of the kind of info that fans and readers like, and are generally organized well (with the exception of a number of sidebars in the DragonRider's Guide showing up in odd places). In your case, a lot of that would be viewable only to those with an account on the site, or possibly only to contributors or to patrons. But the organization schemes are helpful, and some of it can be public.

One of my favorites for arranging info is Paizo's Guide to Darkmoon Vale (though most of their "Guide to..." books are similar, and I think you mentioned you have some of them). There is a timeline inside the front cover, easy to refer to (you've got a timeline), and a pull-out poster map in he back (you have various maps on your site).

The first part is a regional overview which is an introduction to the book and includes some basic info on the area, mottos and symbols, the people, general attitudes of the people, a bit about the economy, and some slang terms.

Then there is a section on the wilderness of the area, because it is rural (a city would be different) but info on the geography and plants and animals of the area is good. There are some smaller inset maps in this section, and information on various areas that players of the game might visit (including hints of a couple of dragons in the area!).

The next section is about civilization, and details the various towns in Darkmoon Vale, as well as sidebars on the NPCs (in your case, characters in the area), and on the various groups and factions. The next section is on the history of Darkmoon Vale.

The final section is Secrets - this is the part of the book that only a game master is supposed to read (in terms of Torn World, it may be a writer-only area with plot info).

Does that help or make sense? I am long-winded tonight...

I'm not going to quote you, simply so I don't hit the character limit on comments. But I will move in order through your thoughts.

I think an anthology introduction is nice, as it is one place for new readers to go and be directed to. I thing nonfiction pieces (such as a written history of some kind) would be helpful, as would a map (possibly more than one as you have a lot going on between shards, cultures, and locations). I do think introductions to each story, which help to set the story in the history/timeline and in the culture it takes place in will be helpful for new readers. I think a brief intro to "The North Country, fifty years ago" which describes the culture and any important historical events, followed by a story which showcases one character in that culture makes for a good combination.

The "Start Here" page for new visitors has a lot of what I was looking for. Making it easier to find would be a key thing.

I think more layers (or individual maps) would be good, along with a map key and a link to what shards are. Also, I get the impression that shards and cultures overlap a good deal. Possibly color-coding the cultures with the shard-lines over them would be informative. When the culture is just indicated by a word on the map, it is difficult to see how far that culture reaches. Names for geographic features are good as well. Given the size of the map you are working with (which is small but browser friendly) making different maps is probably the way to go. Someday you could sell poster-sized maps which allow for more details on one map if there is interest.

The "Start Here" page explained the shards well. That made more sense than just hitting the main page. But an FAQ page might also be good (possibly linked to on both the main site and the "Start Here" page).