On this page, we're responding to some of the feedback left in this questionnaire and at the end, we will explain some of our thoughts about the possible new changes to the club as well as open the floor for discussion. We want to create an open dialogue between us and all of you and will do our best to respond to any comments or questions left in that section.

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What do you like about the club?

"I like the feedback I get from my group and being consistently placed in the same group to get further into each other's stories. I also really like having a private channel in the discord for just my group so we can talk about our stories and communicate with each other directly."

"I like checking out other people's stories and having a sort of excuse to read through them even with my sometimes difficult offline life. I also like a lot of the feedback I get from most of the members since a lot of it is quite detailed and often helpful."

"Meeting new people."

"The community and opportunity to read new works while getting outside opinions on my work."

"I like that there's a process for new people to join. That way random people who don't actually care about writing can't just join and ruin the atmosphere for others. I also like how there's strict due dates for the chapters that need to be read."

"The community, the feedback (from those who actually do give feedback and don't just state the obvious)."

"that we keep the same teams every week and so we read the same book and form a more based opinion, and also get better feedback"

"I really like my reading group"

"Access to a writing community; consistent feedback that's both helpful and motivating; easier access to info on contests, opportunities and tools to improve one's writing; regular and fairly manageable reading schedule"

There's not much we have to say here other than that we're happy there are things about the club you enjoy. We do worry about how well everyone is enjoying things so this does make us feel a bit better.

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What don't you like about the club?

"Nothing"

"There isn't really anything that I dislike. Even reading genres I don't like as much sharpens my editing/critiquing skill and is intriguing/sort of fun in that regard."

"Nothing."

"Some commenters do the bare minimum all the time. Sometimes its okay, but the lack of quality feedback becomes unfair over time."

"Everything seems good to me."

"I suppose the differences in skill level between people. Some give and get a lot of great feedback, others don't do nearly enough. Just two three comments that give you nothing. And also the part where short and long stories get bunched up in the same groups (though I get why it'd be really hard to get those things better)."

"there's nothing bothering me really. i have to read books i dont like sometimes but it happens."

"Not much honestly. Nothing comes to mind"

"The focus on the aspect writing community can sometimes be neglected"

We see several mentions of members doing the bare minimum in feedback and we do feel for those of you who deal with this. We try our best to encourage great feedback by awarding notes to those who put time and effort into their comments. Unfortunately, there's not much more we can do about that. It's something that we too are frustrated with but if people don't care about the rewards, then they aren't going to do more than they already are. However, we do look at all feedback carefully and work hard to try and group those together who do the bare minimum. Sometimes we're successful in grouping members this way, and sometimes we just have nowhere else to put people. But that's why we offer rewards such as moving groups.

As for the writing community, we do want this to be a strong community, but again, some people just aren't interested in that aspect and so they don't participate. We wish there was more we could do about this and we are open to ideas, but at the moment, we're stumped on how to improve this side of things.

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What, if anything, do you wish the club offered that it doesn't currently?

"An awards. I know Jam has had them past years, but those are always fun."

"Nothing really comes to mind."

"N/A"

"I'm not sure. I like when the discord was more active. It allowed an avenue so the teams can interact more and help each other more, but I'm not seeing that."

"Nothing."

"Don't know"

"maybe freedom to change teams? i know it's hard to organize them but under special conditions, with notes maybe, someone could switch."

"N/a"

"Stronger sense of being part of a writing community (depends on all members not just the Adkins)"

For awards, we actually just wrapped up our 2022 awards in November. Awards are a big event and take a lot of time and planning so we only do those once a year. We would be open to a smaller scale and more frequent awards but even those take a lot of time and planning and we just don't get enough help from the club as a whole to do that. Plus, awards were something that was also brought up a lot in last year's survey, so we were actually surprised at the lack of Jam Fest members who entered this past year. Because of the low turnout, we worry doing more frequent, smaller awards just wouldn't result in much.

As for discord, we had changed the mandatory joining of discord because many were joining and still not participating and we worried that forcing people to join kept many from applying to the club. Unfortunately, this is another area that we too wish would improve but it really does come down to the members for that. We can't force people to interact with one another. We're open to ideas on how to make this better but it would need to be a group effort from everyone. Not only that, but we have had people tell us themselves that they don't participate in Discord because they don't feel safe expressing their ideas or just talking without some members wanting to start heated debates or argue. Maybe we need to remove those who are deemed too confrontational and that could get others to participate more, but we will warn that some of those who would be removed are also some of the very few who are actually active in Discord.

Freedom to change teams is something we offer. It's actually one of the prizes that members can cash in their notes for. It can only be used so often to prevent people from group hopping and making us switch people around every week, but it is an option to try out a new group every so often.

And again, as for a stronger sense of community, we want this as well. But we appreciate that you acknowledged this is something that really does require a group effort from the whole club. We want nothing more than for this club to grow and become close, we've had periods of time like that, but it does seem like more and more people are joining clubs solely to receive feedback and ignore other aspects of the club such as the community.

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What, if anything, do you think the club doesn't need that we currently have?

"Graphics and review shops are nice, but they seem to be a lot of work that is often unused."

"I don't know. I mean, there's certain features that I have no intention on using, such as the author interview note prize; however, that's just my personal preference and probably is liked by other members."

"N/A"

"Not sure."

"Nothing."

"I'm not sure. I see that the music notes aren't used super much, but I also want to use them. lol. I have used them once, I think."

"i cant think of anything"

"botw is hit or Miss for me. I much prefer the groups"

"The legend status doesn't seem very useful at this point"

To the first response, we completely agree. The graphics and review shops are not used much at all. In the course of almost a year, both have only been used maybe two or three times each. The review shop is especially difficult because it takes more time and we've only had two founders who were doing the reviews. Because the founders have become busier, even the few requests we got were hard to handle. This is one of those cases where volunteers truly are needed and that is why the review shop has been on a hiatus for so long. Another founder has reopened it for members only who wish to cash in notes, but even then it's only received a few requests.

To the second response, we respect your wish not to use certain aspects of the club or prizes, but sadly, this does seem to be the mentality most have at the moment and is one of the reasons we are looking to reduce what we currently offer.

To the sixth response, again, notes aren't getting used, and though some may plan on using them in the future, many haven't. We have several members currently who are close to 100 notes that are simply going unused. And as you stated yourself, you've only used yours once, which makes us believe they aren't wanted or needed.

As for BOTW mentioned in the seventh response, that is actually one aspect that many people in the club seem to like, so that's probably not going anywhere. It's not going to be a hit every time or for everyone but it's one of the few things that do seem wanted among the majority of members.

And for the last response, again, we agree. Legend status has become meaningless because almost everyone has it. It's another aspect that has a high chance of being removed.

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Are the music notes earned in Jam Fest important to you?

This was a simple "yes" or "no" question.

Yes - 70%

No - 30%

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Would you be upset if we removed the music notes system?

Yes - 20%

No - 80%

Based on this question and the one before, it seems most like and want the notes but would also not be disappointed if they were removed. To be honest, we're surprised how many people said they were important to them considering how little they get used, but the fact that so many wouldn't be upset to see them go makes us think that they aren't really that important anyway.

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If you have a large collection of music notes, is there a reason why you don't use them?

"Mainly because I don't make time to think about seriously. The main attraction is still being BOTW. It takes time to be featured and I prefer to let people who have never been featured have their run."

"Feel bad asking for things because I know people are short on time"

"waiting for the right time, but also i feel like if i use them, like for the brainstorming session, the other person might be very busy and i'll just add to their stress"

"I just forget about it, and get the feeling people would get upset if I used them too often."

"I don't have a collection of music notes."

"I'm about to use these as soon as I'm done with this survey, just in case they disappear."

"No."

"At this point, I save to cash multiple prizes at once, such as getting multiple graphics or getting BotW along with groupie comments."

Not thinking about or remembering the notes was a common thing brought up in the last survey which is why we now post the notes each round to help remind everyone that they have them. As for wanting to use them for BOTW, please do! Everyone has an equal chance of becoming BOTW once they become an Idol. We keep a list of everyone eligible for BOTW and do a digital dice roll to select BOTW each round. When someone is selected, we mark them as having their "turn" for that cycle and they aren't eligible again until everyone on the list has had a turn. So please don't worry about everyone having a turn, they will. If you want to be BOTW, then cash in those notes. We already have a time limit on how often it can be done, so we keep it fair in that aspect as well.

As for feeling bad for cashing them in or thinking we'll get upset, trust us, we won't and please don't feel bad. We want you to use your notes. We put a lot of time and effort into giving out and tracking notes. So it bothers us more when they don't get used and makes us think they aren't wanted or needed.

As for waiting for the right time or being worried about a founder having time to do a brainstorming session or anything else for that matter, again, cash those notes in. If we're super busy, we will let you know and ask for patience, but we will still get it done. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time for us to do a certain prize, but we keep track and make sure to do it. If a prize really is that difficult for us to provide, we will put it on hiatus or remove it. So, please cash it in!

To the last response, just from what you said, we had an idea of who you are and simply say thank you for using your notes.

Overall, we can't say this enough, please use your notes! If you don't, there's a strong chance we might just do away with them completely. Having your admins hand out notes each week and then us tracking them is one of the most time-consuming aspects of producing each round. But we do it because we want you all to be encouraged to give the best feedback you possibly can and be rewarded for your hard work. But if we think they aren't wanted or needed, then it makes all our time and effort in giving them out and tracking them feel pointless and like a waste of time.

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Do any of the prizes offered for music notes interest you, and if so, which ones? If not, why not?

"Botw mainly."

"More reads on my book"

"they're all pretty good"

"Yes, being BOTW. And maybe getting more reviews and have the book "promoted". For the question below: Making the BOTW be only every other week would make it really hard to recall the stories read, and you'd get seen even less. So while the partners would get the same number of reads, it would decrese the BOTW part."

"I'm just not very interested in the prizes offered because I'm more interested in having feedback from people about my work."

"Book reviews, shout outs!"

"Yes, the opportunity to put in to be BOTW get a review or comments are all good. Honestly, all the prizes offered are good."

"The graphics/// the BotW lottery/// the comment groupie///the brainstorming session///the five chapter review//// and the switched to a different reading group are the prizes that interest me. I'm also interested in the bio one, but I don't feel like I contribute enough on discord and other community aspects to really deserve that one."

"Not applicable"

First off, we had to ask this question because we wondered if any of the prizes were interesting to anyone since hardly anyone cashes in their notes. We're happy to see that we do offer several that have you interested, and just hope that after this, they are actually used.

To the fourth response, we will address the second part of your response in our discussion portion at the end.

To the fifth response, we understand being more interested in receiving feedback about your work, but there are several prizes that do that as well.

To the eighth response, regarding feeling as if you deserve a certain prize, if you earned the notes for it, you deserve it. You don't have to be active in Discord for that. You worked hard to earn your notes and should cash them in however you wish.

To the last response, we get the feeling you're an admin and just want to say that even though admins don't collect notes, you do work your butt off and help us out a lot. If there's a prize you want, just ask. You've earned.

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Do you prefer a weekly round system or does a bi-weekly system sound better?

This was a multiple-choice question.

Weekly - 40%

Bi-weekly - 30%

Doesn't matter - 30%

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If we switched to a bi-weekly system, does reading two chapters per partner per round (a two-week round) and one chapter for botw sound fair? (This would be 5 chapters in two weeks as compared to our current 6 chapters over the course of two weeks.)

This was a simple "yes" or "no" question.

Yes - 80%

No - 20%

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Is the Jam Fest graphics shop something you would like the club to keep?

This was a simple "yes" or "no" question.

Yes - 40%

No - 60%

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Is the Jam Fest review shop something you would like the club to keep?

This was a simple "yes" or "no" question.

Yes - 80%

No - 20%

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Is it important to you that Jam Fest offers more things outside of just the book club, and if so, why and what would those things be?

"I've made no contributions or requests to things like the graphic or the critique shops but I think they're important to keep since they can be a good entry for new members in the club."

"N/a"

"i like the review book but it's also a bit redudant since we already review each other's books. maybe a review could be a prize won by notes?"

"No clue"

"It's not important to me that Jam Fest offers more things outside of the book club."

"Yes, empower the community"

"As of right now... no."

"It is important to me that the Jam Fest offers things like discord forums to have the opportunity to interact with other members. Also, the writing festivals are important to me because they provide a writing motivation that isn't as intense as November's time."

"I don't participate in much outside of the book club. The thing I find most important outside of bookclub rounds is the discord server."

To the first response, we get your point and really wished it worked like that. But sadly, it hasn't seemed to help much in drawing in new members.

To the third response, the difference between the reviews you get in bc and the review book is that the review book allows for you to get more chapters reviewed at once and the reviewer is required to cover many different aspects of your book that your partners might not cover. A review from the review book is also already a prize that you can cash your notes in for.

To the sixth response, love the enthusiasm but not sure its really empowering anything right now. It's be awesome if it did though!