Whew... been a crazy couple of weeks. We've made a ton of updates to the site.
Thanks to those of you who've given it a try. What are your thoughts (positive or negative) now that we're nearly a month from launch?
I like it so far. I'm maintaining my Duotrope subscription at the moment, but using The Grinder in parallel.
Things I'm enjoying about The Grinder:
- I love the histograms of response times. When deciding where to submit, response times influence my choice. It's good to see when the bulk of responses are returned, not just an average or median figure. It is more meaningful. (Bearing in mind that in holiday season many markets slow down.)
- It is fast to use. Faster than I was expecting.
- Clean interface. I think more could be done with this eventually, but it is easy to read now, with enough contrast to not get things muddled up on the screen.
- I like the screen showing overall response activity. It's encouraging actually - a reminder that R's are incredibly normal, and to persevere.
- Personable staff and fast response to my query. I mentioned on the Rejectomancy thread that when I wanted to add a new market and contacted The Grinder via the web form, the market was added within minutes. I understand that I contacted you at a good time, and that may not always be possible, but it was still impressive. I like that it's less anonymous than Duotrope, and I'm dealing with real people, enthused about their project. It's great.
I know its a project that will only work if people support it - by logging their submissions and by adding new markets, and by letting you know their suggestions. I hope that markets support The Grinder by notifying it of their existence. In the end, it is these things which I expect will make it a success or not.
I think if there is constructive community involvement, it has the potential to do more than Duotrope.