A lot is happening behind the scenes at ScribeCount, and we have several things scheduled for the first of April. We're telling you now so that you know they aren't pranks. Mostly.
End of the Beta Period
As you are likely already aware, we extended the free trial for everyone until April 1st so that we could deploy the verification software. (Please note, an error in one of our emails stated that this was April 13th. We're sorry for the confusion!) We didn’t feel it was right to charge for data that was incorrect or unverified. We have since solved that issue and are confident that our reports are as accurate as they can possible be with the current platform access we have. We’re also pleased to announce that PayPal will now be an option alongside Stripe as requested; further payment options will likely be added in the future.
But all good things must come to an end. For those of you already through your 14-day free trial period, on April 1st you will be prompted to sign up for the paid version.
D2D
Thank you for your patience as we worked on the issues with data accuracy for D2D. Each platform is slightly different, and - as the data come to D2D from multiple places - it is more complex than most. We are pleased to say that our verification software has been integrated, and numbers from D2D will now be double checked for accuracy before they are sent to your dashboard. There are however some slight differences from the previous updates.
Since, as mentioned above, D2D is not actually a platform, but instead an aggregator, not all of its data will arrive at the same time or in the same way, which means that not all of ScribeCount's data from D2D will arrive at the same time or in the same way. Some platforms only offer monthly data reports to D2D, so you will still see a whole month’s worth of sales hit your dashboard the day that report comes in; Apple is an example of this.
D2D has been working with us to provide accuracy and transparency, including helping us with the long-term goal of allowing you to see your platform breakdown of D2D sales at a glance. Our developers and theirs are working hard on that, and we'll get it into beta as soon as we can.
In the meantime, in order to verify your ScribeCount sales data from D2D, you can follow these steps:
- First, check that your browser extension is on version 1.3.9.3 0 you can usually do this by right-clicking on the extension icon and clicking "manage extension" or, on a Mac, by going to Preferences and from there to Extensions
- Once you have confirmed that you're running the most up-to-date software, reload ScribeCount and wait for the data to refresh
- Check that the number of sales match those on D2D
- If you have any problems, respond to this email!
We're finishing up with the verification software this week, and then will be moving on to adding more features!
Coming Soon
The Homepage
The long-awaited homepage is still in progress (mostly because I keep adding things to it) and when finished will not only provide a ton of useful information about ScribeCount and the publishing world at large but will serve as our main communication and education portal. Where the ScribeCount dashboard is one-stop reporting, the ScribeCount homepage will be one-stop information. We can't wait to show you!
Smashwords
Smashwords is in progress! Like D2D, it is an aggregator - and, therefore, has unique challenges. We hope to use what we’ve learned from and coded for D2D to help us get Smash added more quickly.
Affiliate Program
We’ll soon be launching an affiliate program available to all ScribeCount subscribers. Send your friends our way and get rewarded. Details will appear soon on the dashboard.
What to watch for
We’re going public! While we’ve kept the ScribeCount family small since we launched in order to work out the bugs and adjust to your requests, the time has come to get the word out. So watch for Philippa and/or myself to appear on several of the bigger podcast out there. We’ll give everyone a heads-up here so you don’t miss out and we’ll be linking to them all via our own podcast and YouTube channel. Since we’re still in covid-mode there may be photo-bombing dogs. You’ve been warned.
Thank you
I’d like to once again thank everyone for trying us out. You volunteered to be our test dummies and we can’t thank you enough for the feedback and suggestions. We hope ScribeCount becomes everything you want it to be and everything we have envisioned for you.
See you all soon,
Randall
