Hey guys!
As a lot of you know, Episode changed up their ranking system to include gem choices. This has caused some major… annoyance… in the community.
A lot of big authors that are extremely talented have had their ranks dropped by not a little, but a lot! And let’s take a second to think about this. If well known authors are struggling with this, then how does this affect the small community author.
In my personal opinion, which you might not agree with, if big authors are hurting because of this then small authors are really going to struggle. Sure small authors become big authors, but if people don’t know about their stories (bc they aren’t well known) then their story doesn’t get reads and less people will chose the gem choice. This means that small authors won’t make the shelves as easily. This really takes away a lot of motivation for writing, sure you will have readers, but if your getting no where with your story because no one can find it then for some people: “what’s the point.” I am not saying that all authors will struggle with motivation because of this, but I have talked to a lot and they are already.
What’s really sad to me is that Episode claimed that this wouldn’t affect rankings too much. That was completely not true, as I said before.
A lot of people have bashed this on IG claiming that Episode is doing this just to gain money. Well Episode is a company, so they do have to do something to pay workers and make profit. However, the moment that you explicitly show that you value money over author’s ability to share their creative ideas then the purpose of the app changes entirely, into one that is just looking for how to make a buck. (Again, you don’t have to agree with me on this! I can see where other arguments come from!)
Honestly, if Episode wants to add the gem ranking system I think there is a better way. One that will allow small authors to get their voices heard and for Episode to make money.
Why not make two shelves for each genre?
I understand this is a lot of coding and time to make two shelves but think about it. One shelf could have the old ranking system which will be beneficial to those trying to make it. And then the other shelf could be for stories that had a lot of gem choices chosen.
At this point Episode probably won’t revert back to their previous ranking system only, so new alternatives should be met.
All together, what do you guys think about:
- The new ranking system
- My opinions (do you agree or disagree and why/why not
- What alternatives could be used to remedy this conflict between authors and Episode?
I will respect each and every one of your opinions as we are all entitled to our own opinions. I ask that you all do the same so no issues are caused. 
