Fourth Time's the Charm? Not Quite.

Our class has just put forth the fourth (Ha!) draft of our eBook about the changes in reading in the digital age. We've come pretty far from where we were, but we've still got a lot of things to work on. For my class members, I've included below a few notes that I took while reading this build.

Before I go into individual chapters, the over-arching problem I've seen is that we need to do some editing! I noticed a lot of errors in this build. As we haven't yet had the copy editor go through the chapters, this is understandable, but I do think this should be our next step. I also agree with Shelby's post about it being a good idea for us to take one or two chapters and look at those alone so that we can do a sort of peer-edit. 

Class, I've numbered the notes 1 and 2 based on the order your chapter lies in the book, not on the order you may have written the chapters. Hopefully, I don't offend anyone. I just took quick notes so, as a general rule, just know that I thought all of the chapters really were well done! :)

Emily: 

1. I love the personal nature of this chapter. I really enjoyed reading it! 

2. I think this chapter needs a little bit more development or worded a little bit differently? I understood your stance but that could be because I know what we're aiming for, but I think you might need to clarify your argument. Again, I think the peer-edit might help this more because you'd have actual notes about what might need changed and so forth.

Saren: 

1. My immediate thoughts when reading your chapter were, "Sooooo good!" Haha. I really loved how you applied your analogy to Harry Potter.

2. I noticed in this one that you talked more about Amazon and I think you could find a way to plug in Dr. Burton's chapter about Amazon. Just a thought!

Lauren:

1. I think this is the perfect chapter to begin the Find section, but I think it would be good if you are more direct about it being a finding chapter in the beginning. Does that make sense?

2. I didn't get your second chapter!

Meghan: 

1. Super Great! I think it might need a little better finish? Maybe another tie in to the metaphor? I think it could be neat to include a personal story in there too about you personally using eLending or something of that nature.

2. Great beginning because I learned exactly what I was going to be learning, and then the first section goes right into your analogy. Right when you introduce Goodreads would be a good time to plug in someone's chapter on Goodreads. Like you mention curating bookshelves. You could maybe reference Leah's chapter there?

Leah: 

1. I love the parlor metaphor. I'm wondering if you could use more examples from the text? So that we can really see the strength of the metaphor. The part where you talk about teachers not explaining enough and students seeking out other sources would be the perfect place to say something like "Jenna's chapter on the XRay discusses how this issue can be resolved!" Or something like that haha. I also wonder if maybe you could gear this chapter more toward how Goodreads is changing reading. The way it is now, it almost seems like it would go into the Connect section rather than Read. Or maybe we need to move it to the Connect section? 

2. I think it could be good for you to use a personal example of creating your own bookshelf and naming it. I also didn't feel like the chapter was really concluded. I loved that you taught me more about the librarians on Goodreads though!

Nathan: 

1. Really good writing. I love how you tied in the book so that I knew a bit of what it was about. I do think you need to find some kind of sources. I know you mention that it was hard to find anything,  but there's got to be something out there about movie spoilers not necessarily ruining a movie or something like that. I also think it would be a good idea to find specific examples on Goodreads of spoilers and share how it effects your desire to read or not read a book.

2. Your transition to the section titled "The Next Era" doesn't make much sense. I also think you need more actual evidence of being social on Goodreads. Maybe reference a conversation on Goodreads or something? Like comments on a forum? That way the reader or your chapter can see physical evidence of Goodreads making reading more social.

Shelby:

1. I love your way of asking questions to help us know what the book is about. Great job plugging in Emily's chapter about how books can go where we want. 

2. Good transition of my chapter to yours. I still need to figure out what I can write to add to that transition. I really love your personal story about the lady that said "mine!" haha.