thoughtfulI've already modified the "Fishbowl Is Open!" post to include a more detailed description of the project.
One proposed change would be to announce upcoming fishbowls farther in advance, for the convenience of people who don't check LJ frequently. So I'm going to try making the announcements a week in advance.
Another suggestion would be to hold the fishbowls less often, like 6-8 weeks apart, instead of monthly. I'd rather not do that; monthly scheduling works well for me. But if you'd really prefer longer spacing, let me know.
Regarding cyberfunded creativity, what I was aiming for was coverage of two different areas: specific prices for specific poems, for people who wanted to share one poem in particular; and the general donation, which can be any amount including very small ones, to support the fishbowl in general. I'm aware of the "micropayment adding up" concept, but not entirely sure of how to apply that in a way that would improve over the current options.
Trying to track individual donations adding up for various poems -- so that, say, three people could team up to buy one poem -- seems hopelessly complicated.
I could set a general donation target for sponsoring the fishbowl as a whole, in the advance notice. I'm somewhat hesitant to do that, because it seems like asking people to pay for something that was previously free (or freer, at least) which usually doesn't go over well.
Another possibility would be to compare the amount of general donations to the poems and choose myself which extra ones to post. Frex, if the general donation fund was $21, it would cover a $5 poem and a $15 poem, or one $20 poem, etc.
Do either of those latter two possibilities appeal? Do people have other ideas?
June 25 2008, 18:00:47 UTC 13 years ago
If your readership favors a "microfinance plan" for poetry over sponsoring individual poems, I think it may be easiest to add up all the donations at the end of the day and simply choose which poem(s) to post based on that total. If you wanted to amp up community participation a little, however, at the end of the day you could say, "All right, this month's Fishbowl netted X dollars - which poem(s) would people like to see posted?" Then you could create an LJ poll listing all of the eligible poems for folks to vote on and go with ruling of the majority. If that idea also sounds too hopelessly complicated, I understand - I just had the sudden brainstorm and thought I'd toss it out there. :)
The only wrinkle in these "microfinance plans" for me is that they usually involve PayPal and I prefer not to use that service. I realize that I may be the only holdout you know right now but that could change sometime down the road. So if you decide to make the switch from individual poem sponsorship to general Fishbowl sponsorship only, should I continue to send any donations to you via post as I've done in the past or do we need to work something else out?
June 25 2008, 19:40:45 UTC 13 years ago
That sounds like a very promising idea, to me. Let's see if other folks chime in with agreement.
"The only wrinkle in these "microfinance plans" for me is that they usually involve PayPal and I prefer not to use that service. I realize that I may be the only holdout you know right now but that could change sometime down the road."
You're not the only person who has paid via check. I added a note in the donation section that specifies checks are acceptable. Thanks for reminding me of that.
June 25 2008, 22:13:40 UTC 13 years ago
But I'm OK with letting you choose. Though if I wasn't so tight financially, I'd be very tempted to sponsor the one you did based on my suggestion. It is beautiful. I very much hope you can find someone to publish it for lots more people than just those who read your LJ posts!
Oh, I hope you can put the repetitive "what this is" stuff under a cut or even on a webpage people can link to.
June 26 2008, 03:48:11 UTC 13 years ago
You'll be able to see the one(s) I write based on your prompt(s). Also I post a little description of each poem after I finish it. Previously that seemed to be hooky enough: most people sponsoring a specific poem picked one based on their prompt, while a few picked ones that sounded "so cool" from the description.
Yes, the description is getting pretty long. What kind of information do people think should go above the cut, and what should be hidden under it?
June 26 2008, 02:49:06 UTC 13 years ago
Dove
Yay!
June 26 2008, 03:51:22 UTC 13 years ago
I think the poll idea sounds kind of nifty too. I've done a few polls here before; I could probably do this.
June 26 2008, 18:46:41 UTC 13 years ago