h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just wondered if you've considered volunteering to be a Scout. You're active in PR and know what your talking about.

The Eds are still looking for more Scouts, and have requested that if current Scouts know of anyone suitable, to point them in their direction, and I thought of you.

If you've not done so already, have a read of the Scout pages, and if you're interested in volunteering, email the eds at

h2g2.Feedback@bbcDOTcoDOTuk

Feel free to mention my name, or include a link to this thread (there might be a choccie biscuit in it for me)

Emmily

Thanks for thinking of me Emmily!

I've thought long and hard about this, but for various reasons I've decided against it.

During my life, I've been involved in a number of things, many at 'committee' level. To be honest, I've found that the fun starts to disappear once you become more involved. People challenge your decisions and you have to justify your actions. I find that tiresome.

I know it's a little different here, but I'm concerned that I may eventually feel the same way and I don't want it to spoil my fun. There are a couple of things that are niggling me about the process at the moment. I've temporarily stopped writing and I'm taking a bit of a break for now - it's my way of having a little protest without complaining to the volunteers or the ed's. It's good to see the recruitment drive though - especially for subs. I'm watching it all with interest.

BTW, do you know how many scouts there are now? I've seen a lot of the new recruits, but I understand there is a shortage of new Entries. I'd hate to see a fight over who is picking what!

Okay, thanks for explaining, I understand your reasoning.

Sorry to hear you've temporary stopped writing Entries, I enjoyed your writing style, even if I didn't post in many, I read them. ( picked a couple of them too</whisper&gt

Have you considered mentioning your niggles of the PR process on 'The Nearly but Not Quite 'Official' Peer Review Discussion Forum' - A9741972 You may find you're not alone in your view. Most Scouts, maybe Sub-eds too, are subscribed to that page. We do listen to the views there, and if appropriate mention the thread in the scoutforum via email so the Eds get to see it.

The shortage of Entries is a summer thing, with people going on holiday and generally enjoying the sunshine rather than being sat indoors in front of their computer.

There is an unofficial list of Scouts here A8565690 which I try to keep up-to-date. There are three or four new Scouts that I haven't added yet, been waiting for Jimster to add the shiny red badge to their PS. I haven't checked today, they may be there now.

Emmily

I don't have any niggles with the PR process - generally I think it works well. My real beef is with subbing at the moment. I work very hard to get my Entries correct and I get very annoyed when things get altered or mistakes are made in the subbing and then it is returned to the Ed's without any consultation with me.

I know that's how the system works - you lose the rights to your work once it's accepted - but out of seven Entries so far, only two have been referred back to me. Those two didn't need any changes after hitting the front page, all the rest did (or will when they get there). I hate seeing my work on the front page with errors in them - it looks bad on me and the process as a whole. Some Entries (not mine) have been real howlers.

I haven't raised the issue because I don't want to embarrass any of the subs. I'm sure it's a hard enough and thankless task as it is, without someone complaining about their efforts. I'm sure the new blood will be keen to interact with the authors and things will improve soon, which is why I'm watching to see how it goes. I'll be back writing when it does.

I thought it might be that, I've noticed your posts on EF, I a lot more than I post.

A common complaint that's been discussed quite a lot over the years. Really annoying when your Entry gets to the Front Page with added errors, and the only posts at the bottom are those pointing out the errors, that are not your errors. Yep, I've had that too.

I *think* there was a discussion on the unofficial peer review discussion page now long ago about Sub-eds not contacting authors, since then at least one that didn't use to, now does more often than not, but I'd agree IMO all should.

At one point I was putting an invisible message on every Entry I submitted to PR, requesting the Sub-ed to contact me before they sent the Entry back to the Eds, that worked.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that the situation does indeed improve soon.

ps - if you want to know how to do an invisible message, (shows in the coding, not on the Entry) it's - <!--your message-->

Emmily

*offers a few *

I see it's happened again for you and looking at your PS, the Sub-ed didn't consult you. I don't know what else to say really. It's just a shame the guide is loosing good writers such as yourself. Though, I can understand your reasons and frustrations.

Emmily

Thanks for your sympathy and support Emmily. I think we've reached a satisfactory conclusion on this one and I've suggested that I may re-open the debate on subbing when I've thought a few things through.

Your idea of hidden messages in the GuideML seems like a good way to go, but I need to think more about it all and the way it could affect new authors.

Watch this space!