Pretty in Punk Book Club [OPEN]

🌟Becoming a Rockstar🌟

What is a Rockstar?

A Rockstar is a top-level reviewer in the Pretty in Punk Book Club. They're someone who consistently and continuously exhibits Superior Reviewing Skills™, supports their fellow writers, and strives to make everyone around them as awesome as they are.

How do I become a Rockstar?

Becoming a Rockstar is earned, and it's a status that can be lost. In order to be considered for Rockstar status, a fully-fledged punkster needs to exhibit Superior Reviewing Skills™ for at least three consecutive rounds before their Team Lead can submit them for Rockstar consideration.

Once a punkster is submitted for Rockstar consideration, that application will be reviewed by Pretty in Punk management. The managers will either accept that application and grant Rockstar status to that punkster, or reject the application and provide some feedback on how they can improve their reviews.

If an application is rejected, the Rockstar cycle restarts and that punkster will then need to exhibit Superior Reviewing Skills™ for three additional rounds before being considered again.

What are Superior Reviewing Skills™?

When someone joins a book club, they're looking for feedback on their writing (among other things), right? The quality of that feedback can vary depending on who reads their book, and even when their book is read. Someone with Superior Reviewing Skills™ is someone who regularly goes above and beyond the minimum criteria we've set for reviews at Pretty in Punk. It's less about the quantity of the review (the length of the final review and/or the number of comments left per chapter) and more about the quality.

What is included in a review of this caliber can vary widely and be heavily dependent on what a person is reviewing. So, we've developed some criteria that should be fairly consistent across reviews to help us determine whether someone has Superior Reviewing Skills™. On top of the minimum review requirements set out in the rules, someone with Superior Reviewing Skills™ will also exhibit the following:

🎸Provide substantial constructive criticism. This will be in-line, in the chapter review, or preferably both

🎸Constructive feedback can be positive and negative. Avoid being rude when giving negative feedback.

This means that the punkster doesn't just leave a comment saying they love something. They say they love it because it adds rich detail to the world that allows them to immerse themselves into the story more. One is fun to get. The other is actually helpful.

Conversely, a punkster doesn't just leave a comment saying something isn't working for them. They say it's not working for them because the character is coming off inconsistent and makes them hard to connect with. One points to a problem. The other points to a problem and explains why they think it's a problem. Helpful but not really actionable versus helpful with an actionable item to focus on.

🎸Provide comments that focus on things like pacing, plot development, story arc, character development, character consistency, world building, etc.

🎸It's not just about being in that chapter you're currently reviewing but being able to zoom out and look at the book as a whole as well. We try to keep partners together so they can get through most, if not all, of a book for this very reason.

🎸Provide feedback that may escape most people.

🎸Basically, surprise us. Everyone brings different skill sets to the table and we love being pleasantly surprised when someone points something out that escaped nearly everyone else.

🎸Provide grammar feedback to a lesser extent. Not everyone is a BrittaSwann grammarian, but if there's something glaringly obvious or consistently repeated, it should be pointed out if other people haven't picked it up. Also explain why it's wrong instead of just telling someone it's wrong. If you don't know why, but you know it 'just is', then don't point it out.

🎸Engage in the books beyond feedback. This is a social component to the club that we think is important. Sure, we're here for the more critical feedback. But we all love those fluffy comments that people leave when a scene or a sentence or a character hits just right. They're the mullet of reviewers: all business in the front, but a party in the back.

🎸Anything else that we haven't thought of. This we'll leave up to the Team Leads.

To sum up: A lot of it is the "why of it all". Why do you like this? Why didn't you like that? Why is that punctuation wrong? Why might a different word choice work better?

This seems like a lot more effort to become a Rockstar than before. Why is that?

Because we want it to be a special award, a special recognition for people who have gone way above and beyond the usual reviewing criteria. When nearly everyone in the club is a Rockstar, it no longer has that special status. So, we wanted to make sure it's not so easy to earn in order for it to be more exclusive.

Is Rockstar a permanent title?

Nope. You can lose the title if your Team Lead and management deem your Superior Reviewing Skills™ to be less than superior for at least three consecutive rounds. Your Team Lead will submit you to management for review and if we're all in agreement that your reviews are slipping, we will revoke your Rockstar status. Any rewards you received and have not yet redeemed to this point will remain yours. If you re-earn your Rockstar status, you will NOT receive additional or duplicate rewards.

If you receive strikes or ask for too many extensions that disrupt a round more than twice in a three-month period, this can jeopardize your Rockstar status as well, or prevent you from earning the status to begin with.

If you're a Rockstar and you earn and lose your status at least three times, you will be barred from earning that status again. A large point of being a Rockstar is to be consistent, and this is not consistent.

Of course, we all know life happens, so if you're a Rockstar and you feel something going on with you may jeopardize your standing, talk to your Team Lead and we'll work something out.