Writing Wednesday | Scribophile

For those of you who have no idea what the heck I'm talking about, Scribophile is a website resource for authors. A few days ago, a website I subscribe to posted their top helpful author websites. Of course, I'm always looking for new resources, so I checked it out.
First of all here is the link to the main page. The Main Page. Their facebook page. My name on the website is Taylor Lavati and my email is tayjane1@gmail.com. 
Here's how it works...

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• You have to sign up. There's two options: the free one and the premium. I've only been on the site for a few days, but I'm still under the free membership.
• Make sure to pimp out your profile. You don't have to give away any private information, but it helps that people know what you like to critique, what you write, and a little bit about yourself. There's also a little brag area, so take advantage of it.
• After you've set up your profile, you're pretty much set to go. The interface is pretty straightforward. The tabs on the top bar: Writing, Authors, Groups, Forum, etc all will take you where you need to go.
• The big thing that you need to know about is Karma. This is their currency. You need 5 karma to post a piece of work for critique. To gain Karma, you have to critique other people's work. It makes it fair.
• Join groups, meet people, and hop in on the forums. The more you are present, the more people will look at your profile and crit your work. This is huge! Make friends. This website is a community and if you're absent, your experience will not be as fufilling. 
• Your job on the site is to critique some work, write, post your writing, and start all over again. In the middle, meet some people, thank them for critting you, and just be around. ALSO: when you publish on the site, you still maintain your first publishing card

KARMA

The currency on the site. In order to post anything you need to get some karma. I've figured out that it takes about 2-3 quality critiques of other people's works to have enough points to post your own. That's not too bad, but prepare for it. 
Karma is calculated by the quality of your critique. If you only write 100 words, you aren't going to get many karma points. But if you write over 300 for an inline critique you could get 3 karma points right there. 
CRITIQUING
When you go to critique a work, you have three options and formats. There is inline editing, which lets you mark up the piece and comment right in it. This is my favorite type. There is a template, where you answer questions based on the story. Then the last one is free form. It's basically a blank slate where you can quote from the story and write whatever you want. 
You must post a critique in one sitting, unless you upgrade to the premium. The website recommends only posting pieces that are at the most, 3,000 words. They say that the most someone will critique in one sitting is below that. Truthfully, after doing a couple, I agree.

GROUPS
 I find this to be one of the very awesome aspects of the site. There's an entire tab dedicated to groups where you can find people who have similar interests with you. For example, I joined a group called Myths, Occult, Paranormal, and Dreams Exploration. Yes, you heard right!
While in the group, you can post something that would interest them, right onto the main page. Inside the group page, there's also a forum-like thread. You can bounce ideas off each other, ask if something works and just get to know people with similar interests. Take advantage of it!
SPOTLIGHTS
Bear with me because I don't know everything about spotlights yet, but I'm learning... When your book is in the spotlight, it immediately gets seen. However, it will only be in the spotlight until 3 long critiques are posted. BUT when it's in the spotlight, those who critique get extra karma, so its worth it for them to do your piece. 
+New Member Spotlight: The first piece you publish on the site immediately jumps into the spotlight. It remains there until you get 3 crits. Unlimited amount of pieces in this spotlight at any time. 
+The Main Spotlight: Any piece you publish will jump into a que to get into the main spotlight. It is split into type, poetry, short story, novel, etc. When you get the three crits, it comes out of the spotlight and another piece in the SAME type will take its place. You're only allowed to have one work in the main spotlight at a time. 
+The Good Critiquer Spotlight: The top five people who write the most quality critiques in one day is instantly put into the next days spotlight. The work that has the least amount of crits and isn't already in a spotlight will be featured for a full day, no matter how many crits it gets. This only happens once a day. 
+Premium Personal Spotlight: Obviously, this is only for premium members. You're allowed to post as many works as you want in your personal spotlight, however only people who follow or have favorited you will receive karma points for critiquing. Also, it stays in the spotlight until you get 6 crits. 
Once your piece is out of the spotlight, it will have a lifespan of 30 days. After that time period, it will become locked and will not be able to receive critiques anymore. People can still read it, though. You are able to put it back into the spotlight for another 5 karma points. 

Overall Thoughts? I love it. I really love the currency system of using karma. To get reviews, you must give quality reviews. The community is great. I've seen a lot of critiques and for the most part, they're thoughtful, helpful and constructive. If you write a lot, even flash fiction and short stories, check it out. It's worth the look.