ScribophileReviews 35

I signed up for Scribophile recently and have critiqued others works and posted two of my own works. The community really helped me improve my work, and I appreciate it. However, earning enough karma points to post them, and esp. Premium is really a problem.

It takes forever to earn karma points (you have to critique over 125 words to get 1 or 0.50 points). And Premium can make things unfair. What esp. bothers me is that non-paying writers have to delete past works just to post more.

So to conclude, if you are willing to pay and very professional, then this site is for you. But if you are a college student like me, you might find some issues.

I've enjoyed my time at Scribophile, but was surprised to find out two things as a non-paying member:

1. You cannot italicize anything in your submitted stories. I use italics a lot, so I was disappointed to find this out. Granted, they do say that "premium members" will enjoy certain format enhancements that will make your writing shine. Too bad I didn't read the fine print.

2. I somehow missed that at a certain point, you must pay up to continue membership. Nothing is free in this world after all. Trouble is, I'd already critiqued enough stories to earn 5 credits, enough to submit my next story. Ok, after reading more fine print, they do let you delete past stories and critiques to keep submitting stories for free. I guess you just have to be really on it. They have subtle ways of urging you to become a "premium member." Perhaps marketing is marketing, and I just need to deal with it!

I've been using Scribophile on and off over the past few years. The community is very friendly, and the critiquing features are top-notch. I've gotten lots of great feedback over time. The karma system makes it a little time-consuming to earn points but ultimately it's more than worth it.

I've tried them all and Scribophile is without a doubt the best writing site I've encountered.

I've been with them as a member for many years and don't see myself as ever leaving. The site itself is easily navigable with its large and colorful prompts, all laid out in a logical and eye-appealing format.

I've met hundreds of dedicated and talented writers, editors, publishers, and agents there, many of them published, and just about all more than willing to help you along in your writing endeavors.

The monthly membership fee is more than reasonable and is even discounted for those comfortable with a longer term membership.

As for submitting your writing for review and analysis and reviewing the works of others, the process is a straightforward and simple one via the "Karma" point system. I've grown to like it and can always see my efforts on my profile page.

Highly recommended for both novice and experienced novel, short story, and flash fiction writers. There are also categories for those who prefer nonfiction and poetry.

In short, I've learned more on Scribophile than I ever did in any college writing class.

I've tried both Critique Circle Pro and Scribophile Pro.
Heres a few comments about the service for anyone interested in signing up.

1)Scribophile is free
2)Pro is worth it if you don't mind the critiquing.

Critiques:
You can post a piece of crap writing and they will tell you everything thats wrong with it. I got more feedback from Scribophile than from taking a $400.00 writing course from a community college. I'll say this much, the Professor was not engaged and the students sugarcoated the feedback. If I'am paying for a writing course and putting my work out there I want people to rip my content to shreds. They are all very nice on Scribophile minus a troll or two. Some of the reviews are harsh but I prefer harsh over sugarcoating.

Critique Circle Vs. Scribophile
If I picked between Scribophile and Critique Circle I would pick Scribophile. I've seen some professional editors give feedback on the site. This site won't promise you published work, it enhances the work and tells a writer where they need to improve. It's up to the writer after that point.

Karma:

I like the Karma point system. It makes me think twice before posting something impulsively. I also improved my own writing style be critiquing other peoples work. It's like a writing course without the Prof and it's cheaper. The people who have been complaining need to take a writing course with a mediocre Prof.

I see some areas where it could improve, it's a good service that makes even the Pro Members work hard. The critiques can range from poor to excellent, harsh to constructive. Go to the site with a thick skin. You won't be getting feedback from friends tip toeing around major plot holes. If you don't want to spend as much time critiquing this site might not be for you.

I've been using Scribophile for a while and unlike other writing sites this one is focused on getting feedback on your writing. If you want to just post your writing for the world to read, like in a blog, then this is the wrong place... it's for getting reviews and critiques. And they're really good quality. It's a little hard to earn karma points but for me writing critiques has been a good way to train myself to look at my own writing differently. Great site!

First off set up is pretty good I like the critique features but this site takes a ton of work to post anything. It's like I critique five other works just to get one chapter of my work up. Leadership is terrible the mods do keep things moving but they are bias and for some reason volunteers. The head guy is unprofessional and plays favorites. People are leaving this place left and right save your money and go for something else.

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".