There has been a lot of change since taking over the moderation of this community. For the most part, positive, as far fewer books seem to be dying and the core members that we still have are awesome.
We've had
a lot of rules, and most of you have taken them in stride, which we appreciate.
The point of all these rules was to weed out the people who were not up to participating in this project, which is a project reliant upon trust. But at this point, we feel like everyone is just taxed by the rules. The mods are taxed, the members are taxed...and everyone is suffering. We're losing people, and the community is in need of a new injection of life.
So we are making some major changes.
What will stay the same? -You will still have three week deadlines on books.
-We will need you to post when you send or receive a journal.
-We'd love for you to continue to post your scans.
-Of course, you should still leave feedback for each other.
What will Change?-No more check-ins.
-No more emailing me, or posting to the address request post [comments will be disabled, and you will be directed to this post]
-Those of you with 8+ positive feedbacks will be able to sponsor new members. These people should be responsible and people that you would trust with your own journal.
How will this work?-You may start a journal at any time and post to the community asking for sign-ups. You will collect your own list of people, and email the mods so that we may update the Master List.
-When you are ready to mail out a journal, make a LOCKED post to the community asking the next person in line for their address. It should look like this:
"Journal
#XX is ready to go out to SOANDSOXX. Please reply with your address by (screened post or email...your choice...but be sure to post your email if you want it emailed to you)."
If SOANDSOXX does not reply within a few days, it means they aren't paying attention and shouldn't be
sent the journal. Skip them and move on to the next person in line, and post asking for their address.
OR, if you are SOANDSOXX, and you are ready for the journal, reply in the manner they requested with your
address.
OR, if you are SOANDSOXX, and you would like to be skipped at this time, reply to their post asking to be
skipped.
Post when you mail,
use delivery confirmation within the US, and include the # in your post.
Post when you receive. The deadlines and Master List will still be updated.
If someone has your book for too long, you may contact them. This is at your discretion, but use common
sense. Don't hassle people. Be prepared for them to react poorly if you do hassle them.
If you would like to start a jouranl by invitation-only (you choose who can sign up), you may
do that at any time.
If you would like to set a feedback minimum on your sign-ups, include that info in your post when you
offer up the journal.
We are returning the bulk of the responsibility about this community to you, the members. You guys have been with us long enough to handle it. The layout and interfaces will be changed over the next couple of weeks to reflect these changes. Please help us to keep this community thriving.
Lastly, we're still here. But we're tired. And this community stopped being fun for us. We want to be artsy, too! We want to play with you guys too! We want journals - and I, specifically, want to be able to be on time with journals - instead of spending so much time on these issues.
THANK YOU ALL!! ♥
M, J & V.
PS: Its been just about a year since I came on as mod, which means J & V's "anniversaries" are soon to come too! Thanks, you two, for making my life markedly easier!
Feelin' kinda: 
relieved
Backward
creative
