Interview by: tackaberry
Interviewee: <a href="http://www.ubbdev.com/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_profile;u=00006594">ADWOFF</a>



The "Content Rulez" contest, allows UBB'ers to show some substance over style. Where it takes more than eye candy to run a great message board. Each entrant must supply a background on their forum along with four example threads that they feel best represent their forum.
The Staff at UBBDev reviews each entry and votes to decide which site, in our opinion best serves the needs of its community.

This month our winner is ADWOFF ("A Day Without French Fries") Messageboard , an oustanding literary community. We caught up with Sue (a.k.a. ADWOFF) the head Noraholic in charge to find out what it takes to author a great community.

The ADWOFF message board can be found at: http://www.adwoff.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi and the site home is at http://adwoff.com/



<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
Tell me about the history of ADWOFF and when you got started.

ADWOFF:
In 1997, I was looking for a new author to read. It was between Nora Roberts and Patricia Cornwell. I went into messageboards on AOL and challenged their readers to convince me to choose one or the other. Imagine my surprise when Nora responded to me personally!

At the same time, women on that board had started a round-robin e-mail. The concept was great, but the reality meant hundreds of e-mails each night. When it ended, an idea struck me--Why not do an e-mail newsletter that would focus on Nora and her readers?

I asked Nora if she'd be cool with it, and she gave me her blessing. Nora had said to someone in a post, "A day without fries is like a day without an orgasm ..." And so, A Day Without French Fries ...-ADWOFF-was born.

The first newsletter went over extremely well. The second one was so big that it crashed a lot of computers when opened.

I had no choice but to make a Website--even though I had no clue how to do .html, etc.

The ADWOFF site has evolved from being pieced together using AOL screennames to its own domain, and as of May of 2001, a UBB.Classic messageboard.

Through the years we had a very simplistic .html board and then one that was "free" but had pop-up ads up the gazoo. When that site was taken down by crackers, and a guardian angel donated enough money for the ADWOFF domain and messageboard, I didn't think twice about getting a UBB.Classic board.

We have evolved from being friends in cyberspace to actually being friends in real life--as we have attended signings, traveled to see one another, and even gone to work for each other!

Needless to say, ADWOFF has evolved into something beyond my wildest imagination.

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
For those not familiar with Nora, can you describe what her books are like?

ADWOFF:
Nora writes three kinds of stories: stand alone romantic suspense (latest is Three Fates); straight romance (usually trilogies or category romances--latest title is Face the Fire); and a futuristic police procedural/romantic suspense series that features a cop named Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke (latest title--Reunion in Death).



Her books are mostly read by women, but her stand alone titles and her DEATH books have enough gritty elements to attract men who like suspense.

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
How many books has Nora Roberts written?

ADWOFF:
As last count, Nora has had at least 145 novels published--with even more due out in 2002.

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
Nora seems to write a lot of books. What are some of the favorites that you would recommend.

ADWOFF:
Depends on the kind of story you like to read. If you like thrillers/suspense, I think the three I'd recommend the most would be Sacreds Sins, Divine Evil, and Montana Sky. If you're interested in straight relationships, her trilogies are quite excellent. If you like series books--especially police procedurals--the DEATH books (starting with Naked in Death) is good, gritty suspense.



<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
Have any suggestions from the board appeared in any of Nora's books?

ADWOFF:
LOL--no, not that I'm aware of, but we have nagged, er, convinced her to write a story that she never intended to write (Chesapeake Blue).

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
Nora's books are predominantly read by women. Do you have any male members on your board, and how do they fit in with all the gals?

ADWOFF:
We literally have just a handful of guys (to my knowledge) signed up for the board. I think they'd be well received.

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
How many members does ADWOFF have, both total and regulars?

ADWOFF:
Back in 1997, we started with less than 20; we now have 1892 registered for the messageboard! Of that number, a little over 600 have posted at least once. We probably have around 200 really active members.

Since we have had a lot sign up but haven't posted, we are doing several things to try to encourage the new members to participate--namely, a mentoring program. Our moderators are contacting the last 50 who signed up to introduce themselves, and let them know that if they have questions, they can ask them directly.

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
Your mentoring program and introduce yourself thread sound like a great ideas for drawing out some of the lurkers. How have they been working out?

ADWOFF:
The mentoring program is literally in its infancy. We have had so many sign up but still lurk. Because most of our members are not as comfortable with computers as the UBBDev community, I think there are two main problems: a) intimidation regarding the board and how it works; b) intimidation getting involved in an established community.

By asking everyone to make an introduction, I'm hoping it serves as an ice-breaker. The mentoring program, combined with the ADWOFF tutorial I've created, will hopefully alleviate the intimidation factor regarding the board itself.

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
What other authors do you discuss, and do you also have a personal relationship with them?

ADWOFF:
We will discuss just about any author, but at the board, we do have specific forums for Patricia Gaffney, Lisa Scottoline, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas. They, like Nora, participate in their forums. Via cyberspace, I know a few more authors--with a favorite being Harlan Coben.

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
Which are the most popular forums on your board?

ADWOFF:
Our top forum is "All About Nora"--which is devoted to Nora Roberts. Coming in second is a forum called "Pet Peeves (Bitch , Rant, & Rave!)". I'm not sure what that says about us.

We also see a lot of activity in "Celebrate "IN DEATH" ... with J.D. Robb" (which is Nora's alter-ego), "All Sugar, No Spice!" (the forum is considered the alternative to Peeves), "InSaNiTy & The Lighter Side" (where we can let our hair down), "Post a Quote" (an ongoing activity that has survived several incarnations of messageboards), and "What are you currently reading?" (just as the name implies).

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
What are the typical types of threads on ADWOFF?

ADWOFF:
Typical threads? Gosh, we are all over the board with topics. LOL

One of our most popular threads is called "Stooopid Questions for Nora" (or something similar). In this thread, members can ask questions of Nora (serious or goofy), and Nora responds. We also have an "Introduce Yourself" thread--since its inception, we've had close to 500 members post to it (about a quarter of our membership). Our hottest thread right now is called "Chesapeake Blue ARC Contest." Chesapeake Blue is the title of a book written by Nora; it will be published in November, 2002. The ARC stands for Advanced Reading Copy. Needless to say, we have people who want to win this!

<img src="http://www.ubbdev.com/columns/tackaberry/content_rulez/cr_0702_chesapeakblue.jpg" alt="chesapeak blue"/>

Generally speaking, we have two main goals at ADWOFF--to talk books and to have fun. Every now and then, though, something will happen that peeves us, so we'll talk about that, too. In a nutshell, almost anything can be discussed at ADWOFF.

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
How do you promote the site, is it strictly word of mouth or do you try to reach Nora's core audience?

ADWOFF:
For the longest time we were just word of mouth/part of the major search engines. We go to a lot of Nora's signings across the U.S., and at those, members of ADWOFF would talk up the board. Membership really took off, though, when Nora posted a link to the ADWOFF messageboard at her site's main page. In addition, Lisa Scottoline and Ruth Ryan Langan have links to ADWOFF at their sites, too.

<font color="006699">UBBDev: </font>
Thanks for taking the time to talk some Nora with us. You've done an outstanding job providing a great platform for fans to discuss their favorite books, often with the authors themselves.

The Award Winning sample threads entered in the contest were:

• TTP Raffle, July 2002
• The Official Really STOOOOOOPID Questions for Nora, Part IV
• Chesapeake Blue ARC Contest
• I fear for our children & future generations