Thumbnail of user lenam

Lena M.

3
Level 3 Contributor

Contributor Level

Total Points
2,102

About Me

writing, psychology, graphic design

How I Can Help

Attending Princeton University for Psychology, which helpsme to understand the why of the patterns in human behavior.

12 Reviews by Lena

  • Inkubate

7/8/11

This is a new site and I'm recommending that authors get in while it's in it's beginning stages.

Purpose: To bring Authors together with Agents and Publishers.

Functionality: User friendly. Great way for an author to "showcase" their work and and for agents and publishers to scout for new talent. (I have it on good word that the site owner has already found some interested publishers that will be joining up)

Design: Very clean, and CLEVER! Plus I love the name INKubate.It's suggests you "incubate" on the site (because "it's better here"). The play on words INK (for writing/books) instead of INC ubate is pretty neat. They really pulled the idea together nicely.

Mark my words, this is going to go well. The site set up and design itself shows that that the site owner is forward thinking and good with marketing--exactly what these types of sites need to succeed. And should the site succeed, I believe authors on the site may as well also.

Check it out!

  • Onyum

7/8/11

These people try to scam you out of money. Just read their "faq". You have to pay them $5 just to ASK them if they are interested in doing a job. After that, they may still decide you are a "fake" person and decline (keeping your $5... get it?). Why would someone pay $5 just to ask that question to be "fake"?

Now, I originally saw him on ifreelance where I was looking for someone to help make me something on my website. I contacted him as he had a profile there. Here was his response and our full interaction:

HIM:
Hi (my name),

Have you read our FAQ - http://www.Onyum.com/faq/?

Me:
I have, but I thought that was for people who contacted you through your site, and that you were on this site to participate in the way this site is designed. I will keep you guys in mind if none of the participants on this site are interested. Thank you for getting back to me:)

HIM:

Another fake invitation. Another fake project. Another fake buyer... from (where I live)- again. Really boring ' (my name)'.

Yeah, me, the fake person. *eye roll*. I wrote up nearly 500 words on my project idea. If I were fake, why would I waste the time doing that? I really don't get people sometimes...

  • Book Country

7/2/11

Format: Hard to navigate at first. Set up for reviews is nice though. Hard to find things.

Forums: Friendly and insightful, but slow paced, so not my number one choice.

Critique: Majorly Meh. Good feedback sometimes, but after six months, I'm just not impressed. Writers are trying WAY too hard. I haven't posted my work yet, but after reading some of the reviews there, I don't think I will. Some seem to be really helpful, but others seem to point out "problems" in the story just for the hell of it. There is a rating system there too, and a few times I have seen one guy in particular rate down a book that rose above his. It's always the books that are right above his and he rates them with 1s or 2s to bring them down. Thing is, the books he's rating this way are *******s times better than his novel. So far, seems like a popularity contest and cliquish at times. However, I've also seen some really constructive reviews as well. I think nay time you have writers rating other people's books, there's going to be a problem. Exchanging critique is better done without the added "rating" feature. Rating features should be for readers.

  • Scribophile

7/2/11

This has been the best critique community I've seen yet. I do think they would benefit to cut their full membership price in half. Moderators seem to be on top of things and don't seem to play favorites. At times a little... weird... but really on the whole great. Excellent, natural feedback, several talented writers, and a great incline critique system. They also seem to always be working to improve the sites features and functionality as well. I've been recommending all my friends there, and so far, they've been loving it, too! I think I've finally found my "critique home".

  • WEbook

7/2/11

My book has been doing well on the site, but if I'm looking at it without bias, I've noticed that only certain genres seem to do well, no matter the quality of writing (so probably means very little that my own novels is doing well.) I've also noticed a couple forum bullies, and the administration team seems to do nothing about it. I tried sticking up for a girl on there once, and then right after that my book got hit with some low rate scores. I asked the site owner about it, and he said that yes, those rating came from those people did sound like vindictive ratings, but that they weren't going to cancel those ratings. I thought that strange. They should care about the integrity of the ratings. I also reported them for how the forum bullies were treating one girl (cussing at her and attacking her for her disability) and they said they were going to "stay out of it". Upon further research, I realized the clique leader/head bully had paid in about $50 to the site (most other people it seems have only paid in maybe $5 or so). So, at that point, it made more sense. The bully is a money bank and so they let her do whatever she wants. I guess they don't realize that in the long run it puts off MANY people who are viewing and they lose more money in the long term.

  • Starfall Education

2/28/11

This site is a great free option to the paid reading sites out there. It teaches phonics reading, and for kids who are interested learning to read, it's all you really need. There are a few "books" that are more fun, but mostly it's just assisted reading and not much in the way of "games". My daughter loves this site (reading the stories), as does my youngest (doing the alphabet games), but my oldest son has no interest in this site. It is the site his school uses, though. For free reading sites, it's the best option I've come across. I wouldn't pay for it, though.

  • Reading Eggs

2/28/11

I have used this site with my kids for teaching them how to read. While the cost is a bit pricey for the average family (hence my dropping the score) I do still find it a great value. I've tried multiple other reading sites with my three kids, ages 3,4, and 5. My 5 year old has Autism and it is very hard to find sites that meet his needs, but he loves this site so much he chooses "playing" on it to his TV time, which means he gets to learn and have fun at the same time.

What is great is that it's great for kids who can't read yet. It really brings the child along on the whole reading experience, working on letters (lowercase and capital) sight words, and eventually how to sound out words and read. My four year old is an advanced reader for her age and loves this site as well, but because they offer basic level reading, even my 3 year old can use the site and have fun.

Not only will your child learn reading, but they will learn value as well. Each time you complete a lesson, you get golden eggs. The golden eggs can be spent in the arcade, or you can spend them on items to decorate your "house" with.

We're tried a lot of other sites. Some free. I gladly pay for this one. The quality is exceptional, the value is great. I only wish it was a more affordable option so that more children would be able to use it.

  • AutoCrit

1/24/11

I used the free version for a while, and after that, I bought membership. It's fantastic! The only thing I wish is that is was better at highlighting "general descriptions" which they seem to highlight in the same color as other problems, making it harder to spot the general descriptions and rework them. It's such a small thing though, that I can hardly deduct any points for that. The subscription lasts a year, and is, IMO, a tiny bit pricey, but there's nothing else out there like it (in terms of auto critique), so I suppose they are just running the monopoly.

A note: This does not replace the key eyes of a human critiquer, who can give you invaluable reader and emotional reaction to your story. But auto critique can show you patterns, repeated words/phrases, cliches, potentially poorly-paced passages, and much more!

  • Writersdiet.ac.nz

1/24/11

The Wasteline Test helps Author evaluate five aspects of their writing for weakness, judging samples of writing as being lean, fit and trim, in need of toning, flabby, or on the verge a heart attack. It evaluates the five aspects separately, highlighting where the errors can be spotted, as well the sample of writing on the whole. And it's free to use!

See if you have problems with any of the following:
To-be verbs.
Abstract nouns
Overuse of prepositions and/or adjectives and/or adverbs
Overuse of it, this, that, there (waste words)

Enjoy this new free tool!

  • Archetypewriting

1/24/11

Amazing sight to help you build character depth, understand the psychology of people in relation to writing characters, and just to find general inspiration. The articles are fantastic, but even after you've read them, you'll find endless help with the MUSE tool (located on the top menu bar). Happy inspirations!

  • HarperCollins Publishers UK

1/23/11

Forums can be a little crazy and mostly unmoderated, but for the most part everyone is really supportive and with the exception of a select few (Every site has them) the members all know how to discuss and interact in a positive, supportive, and educational way. I find that when it comes to debate (again, minus a select few) the members here can even handle their disagreements with more maturity than seen on most other writing sites.

Authonomy.com is a great place to get general feedback on your novel and writing, as well as to enjoy reading the works of others. You can support books you like by putting them on your shelf, and the books that land on the most shelves for the longest amount of time in any given month have a shot at making the Editor's Desk and receiving a review from Harper Collins.

Overall, a very positive site. Has more technical bugs than some other sites I've used, and sometimes a bit outdated in their software, but for managing thousands of users I think they do a pretty good job.

  • Litopia

1/23/11

Admin on a power trip. See for yourselves. To summarize the events leading up to this discussion:

1) One of the members was rude and snarky to me, which Admin denies but which many other members and non members who viewed the posts could see.
2) In response, I said how i felt, because their attack felt personal and unwarranted and I'm (as you can see) not one to roll over and play dead.
3) Mr Rude responds saying he didn't mean to offend
4) I said I apologize also if I offended him
5) He said was NOT apologizing and was still very angry and decided to step away.

That was the end of that. We both *moved on*

AFTER we've moved on, admin Jamie starts this convo with me, which wasn't a request for me not to post, initially. Without anything further negative transpiring on the board, a DAY LATER, he *requested* me not post so I could take some time to feel better about how I had been treated. When I opted not to take the time off, even though everything was going smooth on the board, he went on a power trip and in the end banned me from their site.

I had seen his request for me to take a week off as 1) optional and 2) based entirely on how he felt about me and not about what was going on on the boards, since he'd already contacted me positively after what happened on the board, and his response for me to take a break was related to our private message and not to what was currently happening on the board.

I was polite with him, but honest. I don't feed into people's power trips. If someone is doing something wrong or abusing their power, I speak up. I don't like it when people use their power to play favorites either. And SAYING you aren't playing favorites is different from not actually playing favorites.

Evidence of what admin is like on Litopia. I recommend trying absolutewrite.com instead if you want a positive writing community.

1) PK was rude and snarky (in my eyes and the eyes of several others, but not in your eyes or ren's eyes. So, possibly all a misunderstanding)
2) I said how i felt
3) He respondes saying he didn't mean to offend
4) I said I apologize also if I offeneded him

5) He said was NOT apologizing and was still very angry and decided to step away.

That was the end of that. We both *moved on*

AFTER we've moved on, you start this convo with me, which wasn't even a request for me not to post, initially. Without anything further negative transpiring on the board, a DAY LATER, you request me not post. (This is in response to our discussion and not the good nature taking place on the board at the time of your request)

At that point, it was clear there'd been plenty of time that passed on the forum showing that we'd both moved on.

This is why I see your request for me to take a week off as 1) optional and 2) based entirely on how you feel about me and not about what was going on on the boards, since you'd already contacted me positively after what happened on the board, and your response for me to take a break was related to out private message and not to my behavior on the board. I've been very polite to you (but i've been honest. It's true, I don't see being an admin as a free pass, and I don't think you see it that way either)

After that, he banned me :)

Lena Has Earned 62 Votes

Lena M.'s review of Inkubate earned 2 Great Find votes

Lena M.'s review of Onyum earned 3 Fraud Buster votes

Lena M.'s review of writersdiet.ac.nz earned 3 Very Helpful votes

Lena M.'s review of Onyum earned 2 Very Helpful votes

Lena M.'s review of WEbook earned 3 Very Helpful votes

Lena M.'s review of Inkubate earned a Very Helpful vote

Lena M.'s review of Book Country earned 4 Very Helpful votes

Lena M.'s review of HarperCollins Publishers UK earned 4 Very Helpful votes

Lena M.'s review of AutoCrit earned a Fraud Buster vote

Lena M.'s review of Reading Eggs earned 3 Very Helpful votes

Lena M.'s review of Scribophile earned 2 Great Find votes

Lena M.'s review of AutoCrit earned 7 Very Helpful votes

Lena M.'s review of Archetypewriting earned 5 Very Helpful votes

Lena M.'s review of Litopia earned 7 Very Helpful votes

Lena M.'s review of Scribophile earned 10 Very Helpful votes

Lena M.'s review of Starfall Education earned 5 Very Helpful votes

Lena hasn’t received any thanks yous.

Lena Has 2 Fans

Thumbnail of user tn1
T N.
265 Reviews
1,793 Votes
Thumbnail of user omegar
Omega R.
149 Reviews
1,784 Votes

Lena isn’t following anybody yet.

Empty.

Similar Reviewers on Sitejabber

Thumbnail of user janetd5
Janet D. reviewed Onyum
10/19/12

I got sucked into these people and got the biggest runaround ever. They didn't appear to be able...

Thumbnail of user peters108
1/19/14

I'm a self-pu blushed author and thought that it would be great to get peer reviews of my new...