Are you looking forward to the new year, dusting off this one - out with the old in with the new? Not so fast... Starting January 1, 2013 Duotrope - the writer market listing and submission tracking service will no longer be available free. Of course as it has been said many times about many things, nothing is really free. Duotrope has operated since inception without charge. It has encouraged users to make contributions towards operating expenses and utilized a color coded warning system not unlike the old homeland security threat system. This told users if they were on track, running short, or warning Will Robinson things are dire.
All the good stuff that is Durotrope is no longer going to be available to users unless they ante up. Now I could say, "Damn, why didn't people support it?" But I am, case in point perhaps a reason for the downfall. Yes, I have contributed to it, but not often enough.
Now, I've seen one blogger post that this has caused a major uproar among writers and that many are saying they will do without the service before they will pay to use it. Of course that's a choice we can all make. If I was only submitting work two or three times a year I'm sure I could live without it. I did see one writer on Facebook objecting to the pay model that if they charged everyone $50 to use Facebook there would be mass exodus. I don't disagree, but I've never felt I could live would Facebook and I would not pay $50 to be on it. But this is apples and oranges.
Durotrope has been a top notch site in my opinion and further, they have made major upgrades to it in recent times. Only time will tell, but I'm planning on submitting a lot of work in 2013 and I'm going to need the service.
1 comment:
I will pay to use it. I've been impressed enough with the service it provides to pay a fee to continue.
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