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Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Sarah P.
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If you're just learning and want to write in a genre, like fantasy, horror, crime, etc, you will get some helpful reviews, but if you have been writing for a while and want to write creative literary fiction that doesn't fit into a genre and pushes boundaries for creative purposes, the site may not be for you.
Some members, usually those who have been on there forever, believe they know *the only* way to write and will virtually scream and insult their way through a critique of a work that doesn't precisely fit into their mold, offering not one word of encouragement, then brag about how tough they are. If you posted 3000 words by Cormac McCarthy or William Falkner, they would tear it apart. That's not to say that *all* members are like that. If you're lucky you won't get too many reviews by the "my way is the only way" crowd, but that's the main downside I encountered. I'm still a member but don't visit too often anymore.

Date of experience: September 12, 2024
Sweden
1 review
1 helpful vote
Follow Paul J.
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Wrote a pretty good critique of a chapter, but since English is my second language, I let an AI polish my text. I wrote I did, thinking next time I would not do it. I wrote what was good, what needed improvement, and tried to help the author. I read some of the critiques others wrote and they were not great. One went in and made some suggestions about the wording. Another was just good work. I saw no one give advice on the structure of the writing and what needed to be worked on. So I guess it was no loss to be banned.

Date of experience: August 28, 2024
Ohio
3 reviews
9 helpful votes
Follow Derek B.
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In all the website is generally an awful place the main site admin had a rather pathetic tantrum over a chapter of mine containing 311 words more than the 300-word limit. When his demands were met he refused to refund my points.

Date of experience: October 31, 2022
Massachusetts
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Elizabeth G.
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Scribophile offers writers the opportunity to find writing partners and critique groups from all over the world. It takes time to network and find the right people, but if you're willing to put the time in, it's quite valuable. The site offers a free version that puts limits on the functionality, but the cost of a "premium" membership is far less than most writing classes and gives you access for an entire year.

Yes, the karma system can be tedious when you start out, but once you start sharing/reciprocating critiques, it generally adds up quickly.

Date of experience: April 24, 2022
GB
1 review
4 helpful votes
Follow Angela E.
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If you're an experienced professional who just wants confirmation that you're on the right track with a particular new story then Scribophile ought to be a good place to trial stuff right? Wrong. Whilst there are genuine people there, and I did get a lot of very good feedback, there are a lot of trolls with no writing experience at all, who simply exist to make life hell for the rest of us. Additionally, there's hardly anything posted on there that isn't Fantasy of some kind. I had to leave for the sake of my sanity.

Date of experience: November 3, 2022
Illinois
2 reviews
9 helpful votes
Follow Siobahn B.
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I've been to so many other writing sites to look for beta readers, and none of them have been very good. I'm glad I finally found Scribophile! I've been a member for a few months and I already have a fantastic group of beta readers who are reading through my novel. You have to earn points to post your writing and that means there's always someone to read your work. At first it's a little tough, but after a while I've wound up with more points than I can use.

Everyone is so nice and it's awesome to finally find other writers who can do beta reads!

Date of experience: August 7, 2019
Canada
2 reviews
36 helpful votes
Follow Elie H.
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Stay away
May 16, 2019

This is a bad site, bad team who banned me because I was writing a novel related to a Christian-Muslim war in Lebanon... Nobody has the right to shut my mouth, and I will find my way to spread the novel, not because I care what happened during any of the wars, but because there are readers out there who like to read about crime... am so sad :(

Date of experience: May 16, 2019
Illinois
3 reviews
11 helpful votes
Follow Sally C.
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I signed up for Scribophile earlier this year. It's helped my writing so much! The system makes you write critiques for other people before you can post your own novel. At first I was a little hesitant but let me tell you, sitting down and thinking hard about what other people can improve in their writing goes a long way to helping me objectively look at my own work.

So far I've made a lot of friends and critique partners, and I'm getting ready to do a complete beta read swap with another member. I would never have gotten this chance without Scribophile.

Besides critiquing, the forums are usually pretty busy and while the moderators can sometimes be a little zealous I think they're usually pretty fair.

In short I can't recommend Scribophile enough. Love it!

Date of experience: November 14, 2018
Illinois
1 review
3 helpful votes
Follow Lisa D.
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I've spent a lot of time at other writing sites, like Writing.com, Fanstory, Wattpad, and the other day someone recommended Scribophile. After a few weeks I knew I had found the place where I wanted to stay. I've gotten so many detailed reviews of my first few chapters and met some beta readers too. The way the app is organized means that beta readers find you and you get reviews suuuuper fast. I can't recommend it enough!

Date of experience: September 24, 2019
Georgia
1 review
39 helpful votes
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Authors beware
June 26, 2019

You never own the stuff you put on there. Let me explain. If the owners or those who run the site ever dislike you or you write about something controversial they will remove you from the site and all your data will be lost. No you can't retrieve your stuff. All it takes is one to two people complaining. It is not a place for creative freedom if you write horror or anything not pg-13. With the exception of romance but even then you can get reported. Art should be freeing. Like music, a cd will warn of explicit details. That cd wasn't removed from stores. Imagine working on a book and losing everything because someone didn't agree with your vision. Your not treated as an adult, your treated like children who should behave and stay silent.

Date of experience: June 26, 2019
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
Follow Jamie A.
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I have been a member for a year. In that time I have made so many great friends on Scribophile. The people there give you great reviews and it is a fantastic way to get detailed feedback. I have used the free membership for a while but the paid membership is a pretty good value. Eventually I had a paid membership gifted to me by someone on the site!

Date of experience: October 4, 2019
Australia
1 review
4 helpful votes
Follow Rajit K.
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I spent a long time writing on my own and I didn't realize how nice it is to talk to other people about writing. The selling point of Scribophile is getting reviews for your novel but I've found it even more useful as a chat space to talk to other people who are all trying to write. It is so nice to find a group of people who are all going through the same struggles as you are in writing a novel. And everyone is so welcoming. The reviews are nice too but where the site really shines is as a place to talk with other writers.

Date of experience: October 13, 2019
Spain
1 review
3 helpful votes
Follow stefan b.
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I was looking for an online critique group and stumbled on Scibophile and love it! There's stacks of active members, the website works really well, and I love the sense of community there. It's really inspired me to write again and I'm getting great feedback from experienced writers. Couldn't be happier!

Date of experience: November 16, 2019
New Jersey
1 review
2 helpful votes
Follow Barbara A.
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A friend told me about Scribophile and I signed up and love it. There is so much stuff there to read it's almost overwhelming. I've met a few people and we're swapping chapters and starting a beta read. Everyone is so nice and there is so much knowledge there.

Date of experience: August 13, 2019
Nevada
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Laura R.
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I was so surprised by the great edits I got on my short story just after I uploaded it to Scribophile. The people were so helpful in pointing out ways to make my story better. Now I just have to earn enough points to start uploading my novel!

Date of experience: January 11, 2020
GB
1 review
6 helpful votes
Follow Vivienne S.
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Whether you've been writing for years, or are a newbie with your first book, this is the site for you. The critiques are from fellow writers who know what they are doing. There is both a paid and free service, but the critiques are the same for both. The extras are things like as many messages as you like in your inbox.(free people only get 10.) As many critiques as critiquers wish. (Free members only get 3 per post.)
You must critique other's work in order to gain 'karma' in order to post your own.
I have found the critiques I have received most helpful. Knowing the people critiquing your work are other authors is reassuring. I would recommend this group to any author, no matter their experience.

Date of experience: March 20, 2020
Indiana
1 review
47 helpful votes
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Scribophile
July 16, 2016

First off set up is pretty good I like the critique features but this site takes a ton of work to post anything. It's like I critique five other works just to get one chapter of my work up. Leadership is terrible the mods do keep things moving but they are bias and for some reason volunteers. The head guy is unprofessional and plays favorites. People are leaving this place left and right save your money and go for something else.

Date of experience: July 16, 2016
Australia
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Barry M.
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This site has significantly improved my writing
October 24, 2022

I joined this site as a novice unpublished writer two years ago. There were/are numerous groups I could join, that best suit my writing interests. The critiques I have received have been extremely insightful. Unfortunately I'm one of those authros who think I'm so very clever when I write something - the critiques have shown me that I'm not so clever and ways in which I could improve my writing.

I've now done quite well having been a finalist in six national short story contests (yet to win though) and most of those where greatly improved through the critiques of those on scribophile.

That said, the critiques one gets can vary considerably, depending not only on the writing experience of the critiquer, but their capacity to have insight into how one can improve the writing and where/why the writing was weak

The site is free nut you can pay a modest premium to get added benefits, which I elected to do. You can message other authors with whom you have developed a collegial relationship and arrange more consistent critiques of your work.

I find this site to be far more helpful than the writers group I attend at a writers centre.

Date of experience: October 23, 2022
Poland
6 reviews
10 helpful votes
Follow Silvio E.
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I've been using Scribophile on and off over the past few years. The community is very friendly, and the critiquing features are top-notch. I've gotten lots of great feedback over time. The karma system makes it a little time-consuming to earn points but ultimately it's more than worth it.

Date of experience: August 22, 2017
California
1 review
22 helpful votes
Follow tim l.
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I've enjoyed my time at Scribophile, but was surprised to find out two things as a non-paying member:

1. You cannot italicize anything in your submitted stories. I use italics a lot, so I was disappointed to find this out. Granted, they do say that "premium members" will enjoy certain format enhancements that will make your writing shine. Too bad I didn't read the fine print.

2. I somehow missed that at a certain point, you must pay up to continue membership. Nothing is free in this world after all. Trouble is, I'd already critiqued enough stories to earn 5 credits, enough to submit my next story. Ok, after reading more fine print, they do let you delete past stories and critiques to keep submitting stories for free. I guess you just have to be really on it. They have subtle ways of urging you to become a "premium member." Perhaps marketing is marketing, and I just need to deal with it!

Date of experience: April 10, 2018

Overview

Scribophile has a rating of 2.3 stars from 34 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Scribophile ranks 12th among Forum sites.

service
11
value
10
quality
9