Error Report Section for J-Novel Club Series

Serah

Greetings everyone,

is there a specific section here with the forums to report several typos/errors etc. for the amazon versions of J-Novel Club light novels series? So far I have seen a section for manga errors, so I wonder.

I apologize for my "newbie" question. I just registered looking for a place where I could report several errors through multiple ebooks at once instead of me composing several mails.

Cheers
Serah

HarunaChieP

From the looks of it, it really has to be sent via email for now since they're already published.

If there is a lot of errors, usually they work on it asap, so hope for the best

Serah

I see.

Thank you very much for the quick reply, Haruna.

I will compose some more emails for now then, hoping they will not be filtered out as spam for being multiple.

Fortunately there are not many errors as per ebook. I just came across several by reading through various light novels the past week. So I wondered which is the best way to submit multiple hints at once.

Thank you for your guidance.

Wellwisher

For already published books you should mail errors to contact@j-novel.club

myskaros

For already published books you should mail errors to ~~contact~~support@j-novel.club

FTFY :)

The "Contact Us" page is out of date :/

Serah

Thank you all.

I used contact@j-novel.club before and did not get any reaction. Probably that the page is outdated is a reason.

Will submit something using the email address you provided, myskaros. Thanks!

HarunaChieP

@myskaros oh probably explains why that email I sent months ago for another ebook never got anything done to it

myskaros

@harunachiep No, that's more likely just because we're all busy and small corrections to released e-books are lower priority. We'll fix them eventually, but not sure when.

Serah

@myskaros said in Error Report Section for J-Novel Club Series:

@harunachiep No, that's more likely just because we're all busy and small corrections to released e-books are lower priority. We'll fix them eventually, but not sure when.

With some of those kind of errors it is really hard to tell, whether they are reported and unattended or just gone unnoticed...

My experience so far is, that it does not feel appreciated to go after those errors. That is why I stopped caring taking notes of those, despite some are rather weird...

Please, consider this more of a feedback of mine instead of a misunderstanding of your hard work: when it was said "Premium Members get to hang with the translators, editors, and staff in a special Premium Members forum!" I expected the translators and editors are more perceptive and reactive towards feedback. That said might be better for the other topic I started, but the premium members forums section feel lacking exclusive stuff... instead I have seen a bunch of stuff I would think they belong more to the support sections...

Rahul Balaggan

@serah said in How do I report errors I see in pre-pubs?:

Hopefully one of the editors is going to pick it up.

As @SomeOldGuy said that particular error was already reported, the reason it is still in the ePub is because the ePub is not always updated, the error spotting is for the finalized product.

@someoldguy said in How do I report errors I see in pre-pubs?:

Note that pre-pubs are not necessarily updated for reported errors, so what you see in the pre-pub may not be in the epub!

Serah

@rahul-balaggan I written that as encouragement. A new member whose first post is a feedback feels being shot down if it stays with something simple like "it is already reported". I am very convinced that the lacking in the feedback system here is not favourable for JNC.

Rahul Balaggan

@serah feedback system in what way?

For users who report typos?

(This topic will go off topic that is fine I can move all the off topic posts and creat a new one depending on how far off topic it goes)

Serah

@rahul-balaggan I am talking in general. Therefore I see that was too unspecific. As you know I am convinced there is lots which can be improve to the better for the JNC staff, the moderator and the users with restructuring the forums - or rather: put proper structures into it, since it has changed a lot too since the beginning.

@SomeOldGuy 's suggestion on a general "rule" to contribute the feedback in standardised form is already one of the helpful steps which I imagine very important for a big improvement.

To clarify, I am not suggesting JNC to spend money on a new engine, new licenses, etc. especially if they can use the money elsewhere better. I am just pointing out you have tools lying around ready to use.

To give you an example for this very topic's theme:

I noticed that pre-pubs are discussed behind the pay-wall, based on one of the very early and yet somehow understandable decisions (https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/7/a-note-about-spoilers).
In the forums overview there is a clear visible error report section for manga, yet none for light novels
That section is not behind a pay-wall (lack of consistency)
From a stranger's point of view, the first stop at the forums, when you like to contribute feedback, is the Feedback section
Based on that statement, I would expect error report sections for LN + manga to be centralised there
It might be a makeshift work, but it could make things easier for editors and translators alike to centralised it there
6a. That way you can separate content discussion from error reports for light novels
6b. The visibility is quickly improved
6c. Editors and translators have an easy access to stuff related to their work, without the need to dive through content discussion
It would be simple enough to make for each new pre-pub or rather volume a standardised topic, easy to find for contributors and staff members
(forums) Rules would be accessible much easier too if they are found where they are supposed to be
The change might even help you setting the ominous conditions needed to start restructuring, provided it is an organisational issue.

In addition to that, it would not hurt to support the feedback givers more (that is a personal opinion for reasons you can tell) - and let them know that what they do actually helps affecting something (a reply once in a while by the people responsible/caring about those stuff). I remember @HarunaChieP 's post which got a sobering (do you say it like that in English?) reply about their contribution long before mine. Too many things here seem simply too scattered. Like the post of yours (https://forums.j-novel.club/post/48271) which I appreciated before I registered. And so on... I shall cut it short here, since I feel like repeating myself which sound more and more like ranting while my original intent is only to gift feedback and support towards something I like.

@Rahul-Balaggan my suggestion - how about moving these posts to the opinion topic of mine or the other feedback topics I already created? I welcome other forums members input on them, but it seems no one wants this. So ~

Rahul Balaggan

@serah said in Error Report Section for J-Novel Club Series:

@rahul-balaggan I am talking in general. Therefore I see that was too unspecific. As you know I am convinced there is lots which can be improve to the better for the JNC staff, the moderator and the users with restructuring the forums - or rather: put proper structures into it, since it has changed a lot too since the beginning.

Thank you for your feedback.

To clarify, I am not suggesting JNC to spend money on a new engine, new licenses, etc. especially if they can use the money elsewhere better. I am just pointing out you have tools lying around ready to use.

Understood

To give you an example for this very topic's theme:

I noticed that pre-pubs are discussed behind the pay-wall, based on one of the very early and yet somehow understandable decisions (https://forums.j-novel.club/topic/7/a-note-about-spoilers).

That is true, the odds of that changing are low to none, not just for the sake of familiarity or complacency but because the prepubs are something only for subscribers. As such if non-subscribers wanted to discuss something about a J-Novel Club title they can make

In the forums overview there is a clear visible error report section for manga, yet none for light novels

That error report section was for errors with the manga reader and other manga related errors not necessarily typos and grammar errors. The manga reader was created brand new when J-Novel Club first started releasing manga as such the error report section was used to identify errors in the reader and so on. There is a dedicated person handling pretty much all aspects of manga for J-Novel Club, having errors in one section is about manga is a convince.

That section is not behind a pay-wall (lack of consistency)

Honestly didn’t know that, I am always logged in and have access to everything so I would never be able to tell if something is or is not behind a paywall. Whether or not Manga will now be put behind a paywall I don’t know (probably not, but that is just my guess).

From a stranger's point of view, the first stop at the forums, when you like to contribute feedback, is the Feedback section

I think that is on a case by case basis, depending on various factors that we can never get into, cause at the end of it we are humans. There have been plenty of users brand new to the site and reported in the discussion topic, and there have been some who make new topics to report typos. (Although they don’t necessarily post in the feedback section, they do it in the LN discussion section)

Based on that statement, I would expect error report sections for LN + manga to be centralised there

This just relates to my previous comment, no one even really uses the manga error section anymore cause all the kinks have been worked out.

It might be a makeshift work, but it could make things easier for editors and translators alike to centralised it there
6a. That way you can separate content discussion from error reports for light novels
6b. The visibility is quickly improved
6c. Editors and translators have an easy access to stuff related to their work, without the need to dive through content discussion

Where there is content discussion there will be error discussion, these are things we have learned over time. Plus the biggest thing here is that, error reporting is 100% voluntary. If we start making a separate section and post for people wanting to post errors it starts to look like this is a J-Novel Club requirement. I understand we have had this conversation before, but this all boils down to humans and humans we are all different by nature, you may not think this way but others may.

It would be simple enough to make for each new pre-pub or rather volume a standardised topic, easy to find for contributors and staff members

This relates to 6.

(forums) Rules would be accessible much easier too if they are found where they are supposed to be

Rules are still being finalized.

The change might even help you setting the ominous conditions needed to start restructuring, provided it is an organisational issue.

I wouldn’t use the term ominous just not something made public right now as it relates to me and J-Novel Club personally.

In addition to that, it would not hurt to support the feedback givers more (that is a personal opinion for reasons you can tell) - and let them know that what they do actually helps affecting something (a reply once in a while by the people responsible/caring about those stuff). I remember @HarunaChieP 's post which got a sobering (do you say it like that in English?) reply about their contribution long before mine. Too many things here seem simply too scattered. Like the post of yours (https://forums.j-novel.club/post/48271) which I appreciated before I registered. And so on... I shall cut it short here, since I feel like repeating myself which sound more and more like ranting while my original intent is only to gift feedback and support towards something I like.

Unfortunately I can not say anything on this because that is up to the individual translation teams. Some interact with the users some don’t...

Serah

@rahul-balaggan thank you for the effort you put into your reply. I can tell already how much is in there without me starting to reply on your reply...

Long story short: I am totally fine if my feedback is correctly understood and noted. A feedback is a gift after all, and not a demand to change something. I joined the membership as a fellow community member and light novel enthusiast and not as a customer who submit complaints. Though, since I got the impression from a few people here, I put the emphasis on that. Same with the upvote topic where I feel it is more misunderstood since I do not particular care about upvotes compared to comments.

Let us see if we can get more constructive use of this...

@rahul-balaggan said in Error Report Section for J-Novel Club Series:

That is true, the odds of that changing are low to none, not just for the sake of familiarity or complacency but because the prepubs are something only for subscribers. As such if non-subscribers wanted to discuss something about a J-Novel Club title they can make

This is part of discussion where I suggest a restructuring - or if you want - a reorganising of stuff within the forums. I will add my point of view in detail about the pay-wall-thingy, as for how you explain it here it is completely understandable and agreeable to keep things like it is - if it was not for the pay-wall effect. The issue here is organisational and eventually rule-based. Like e.g. I want to talk about Sexiled Volume 1 - specifically that volume - , which is already released - I would need to create as a non-subscriber a new thread in the non-members area. That would lead to multiple threads with the same topics, unless that certain topic in the members only area is moved after release.

Since we discussed this before, I already know there are certain conditions to be met in the background etc. Yet with standard forum etiquette, it is difficult for new registered users who are non subscribers to participate in that discussion without making a new topic with the same title as for now.

That error report section was for errors with the manga reader and other manga related errors not necessarily typos and grammar errors. The manga reader was created brand new when J-Novel Club first started releasing manga as such the error report section was used to identify errors in the reader and so on. There is a dedicated person handling pretty much all aspects of manga for J-Novel Club, having errors in one section is about manga is a convince.

That I did not know. A good portion of information that is, which cannot be obviously seen from the overview. I am describing my view from a new member/stranger point of view and I am basically seeing "this and that leads to this and that impression - something JNC might want to rethink"-

Honestly didn’t know that, I am always logged in and have access to everything so I would never be able to tell if something is or is not behind a paywall. Whether or not Manga will now be put behind a paywall I don’t know (probably not, but that is just my guess).

That is absolutely understandable and I expect nothing less from your roles. After all it is the forums' admin's job to take of that matter, with roles, accessibility, design etc. I expect admin or @Sam-Pinansky is using several dummy users with different roles to check those kind of things out. Such inconsistencies as mentioned should not gone unnoticed or be explained - but that is something for veteran and staff members to discuss, since I am a newbie here.

However, every new registered user is hitting the pay-wall very quick. I told so from my own experience and stated my opinion about it, how odd it feels if topics which you expect should be accessible for everyone is seemingly locked away, while once unlocked you do not find any special reason for keeping them locked away.

Not sure if this is understandable with my average English skills. But to a new user who is also a non subscriber it looks odd.

You use the search function of the forums to avoid making double threads
You find the topic related to the book in the members only section
You cannot access that section for understandable reasons
Yet the topic is locked away despite those understandable reasons (discussion about the pre-pub) are no longer valid since there is already a release
That leads to the impression that every interesting topic - aka new releases - are locked away behind a pay-wall
It would already matter if you can tell as a stranger that the discussions in the members only section are about pre-pubs, but it is not
If you would not know it simply looks like: oh, all the good stuff the community keep talking exclusively to themselves, looking down on all non-subscribers (to put it bold)

Again: its an impression you can get - I am not saying it is like that. A lot of people here seem to feel personally offended despite impressions are highly individual and by no means stating facts.

I think that is on a case by case basis, depending on varies factors that we can never get into, cause at the end of it we are humans. There have been plenty of users brand new to the site and reported in the discussion topic, and there have been some who make new topics to report typos. (Although they don’t necessarily post in the feedback section, they do it in the LN discussion section)

Agreed. I keep wondering if it might be better if forums rules are more present. Rather than rules I am missing pinned topics which gives proper guidance towards new users.

Where there is content discussion there will be error discussion, these are things we have learned over time. Plus the biggest thing here is that, error reporting is 100% voluntary. If we start making a separate section and post for people wanting to post errors it starts to look like this is a J-Novel Club requirement. I understand we have had this conversation before, but this all boils down to humans and humans we are all different by nature, you may not think this way but others may.

Yep. Yep. I absolutely cannot see how giving feedback could be seen as part of the membership. After all we do differ between a service members are getting (for pay) and something which is done voluntarily regardless whether you are a member or not. I would think you cannot misunderstand that, unless you put the error report section behind the pay-wall, but I do accept your point.

Rules are still being finalized.

I thought the forums is already a bunch of years old... or do you mean discord rules?

I wouldn’t use the term ominous just not something made public right now as it relates to me and J-Novel Club personally.

I did not mean offence. You know my appreciation for your work. I am just surprised you are an actual paid staff member. That would put you in a higher position than a moderator from my point of view. In Germany moderators are generally not paid for those are all community volunteers.

Blame my English skills here - the way it was stated makes it sound that there is no unified plan in the backgrounds what to do with the forums aside from "keeping it running (as long as it works how it is)".

Unfortunately I can not say anything on this because that is up to the individual translation teams. Some interact with the users some don’t...

That is absolutely understandable. Again, I am working with examples, generally speaking and so on. I do not want to kill off the mood with details and so on since I see myself more as a giver of ideas and not as an executive/someone demanding stuff. (Feedback is after all a gift)

However, I like to cut that argument short with a suggestion: you do not have members of those translator teams to be present on the forums. You just need some representative (who gives the impression that the member's input means something) for those people - as mentioned elsewhere before: like a PR/community manager. There is so much about how you could change the feels to a better, with very little investment. Nothing more. Nothing less. It is up to JNC what they want to do with feedback. They can do whatever they want with it. And with how there is little to none community interest in those, it does not even matter.

The last sentence is born out of my frustration after I feel being misunderstood. However, I mean it when I say I do not care what JNC is doing with my feedback. It has to be the other way around anyroads by logical understanding.

Addendum
I forgot one important thing to mention about the pay-wall.
The impression is especially strong due to the set to default unread feature of the forums. All activity within the forums are shown up there, regardless of the role you own. That way the impression becomes especially strong, since it looks like that almost all activities in the forums are exclusively for members only, regardless whether it is about paid subscription features or not. And it gets worse when you see support topics being locked away in premium members section only and so on.

Rahul Balaggan

@serah said in Error Report Section for J-Novel Club Series:

I thought the forums is already a bunch of years old... or do you mean discord rules?

They are as old as the site, but we don't have a centralized rule set anywhere, for the longest time there was such little activity it was not necessary now they are being worked on and will find there way on the forums after they are finalized.

I did not mean offence. You know my appreciation for your work. I am just surprised you are an actual paid staff member. That would put you in a higher position than a moderator from my point of view. In Germany moderators are generally not paid for those are all community volunteers.

To clarify I am not paid and I am a volunteer, in another topic I said something like "above my pay grade", that was just an expression.

Blame my English skills here - the way it was stated makes it sound that there is no unified plan in the backgrounds what to do with the forums aside from "keeping it running (as long as it works how it is)".

Another expression, if it isn't broke don't fix it. That is not to imply stagnation there will be minor changes made slowly, until it eventually starts to look vastly different.

However, I like to cut that argument short with a suggestion: you do not have members of those translator teams to be present on the forums. You just need some representative (who gives the impression that the member's input means something) for those people - as mentioned elsewhere before: like a PR/community manager. There is so much about how you could change the feels to a better, with very little investment. Nothing more. Nothing less. It is up to JNC what they want to do with feedback. They can do whatever they want with it. And with how there is little to none community interest in those, it does not even matter.

Noted

Addendum
I forgot one important thing to mention about the pay-wall.
The impression is especially strong due to the set to default unread feature of the forums. All activity within the forums are shown up there, regardless of the role you own. That way the impression becomes especially strong, since it looks like that almost all activities in the forums are exclusively for members only, regardless whether it is about paid subscription features or not. And it gets worse when you see support topics being locked away in premium members section only and so on.

This also noted

HarunaChieP

@serah said in Error Report Section for J-Novel Club Series:

I remember @HarunaChieP 's post which got a sobering (do you say it like that in English?) reply about their contribution long before mine.

I do not understand this (sorry English is also my second language) maybe if you link a post where this happened then I'll probably get the context of it?

Serah

@harunachiep my bad. I kept that short after all the confusion with the postings being moved back and forward. I was mainly referring to this reply you got after you assumed as I did, it might had something to do with the email.

@myskaros said in Error Report Section for J-Novel Club Series:

@harunachiep No, that's more likely just because we're all busy and small corrections to released e-books are lower priority. We'll fix them eventually, but not sure when.

While it is understandable and no one to blame, it is one kind of reply you usually would not get from a customer service department (of course I do not see @myskaros as customer service, unless they are which I do not know). While the truth is always appreciated I see such stuff as disheartening to give further feedback/support when you actually do not have to.

Helping the service provider to make their product better for everyone is a voluntary thing to do, after all.