WE DID IT!!!

As some of you already know, the Austen Admirers App went live on Tuesday.  The idea that I’ve been working on since September has been officially released into the wilds of the internet.  This is the closest that I will ever come to knowing what authors feel like on release day.  Scared…excited…proud…worried.  Yep, that about covers it.  And all because I have the patience of a 5 year-old kid.

That being said, there are still some things that I would like to do later this summer or this fall to make the app better.  Currently, most are out of my programming knowledge, but I would like to try and see if I can do it.

1.  Add icons in front of the RSS Feed to easily identify what post belongs to which blogger.

2.  Add the ability to star a post and save it to read later.

3.  Add the ability to create or upload a universal avatar that can be used to comment on all blogs from within the app.

4.  The app will not be available for Kindle Fire and Windows devices until later this summer.  I can give you all kind of tech babble why, but I’m afraid that I’ll bore you.

5.  Include a tab for a Twitter feed devoted only to those who are a part of the Austen Admirers App.

6.  Provide ad packages to authors to announce books via push notifications and images.

If you signed up for the app previously, what I need for you to do now is to…

1.  Download the app. (I LOVE saying that.)

2.  Check the links for your blog and author page.  Are they correct?  I noticed that Amazon is changing author pages, and it may affect if your link is working correctly in the app.  If you need to make any changes, please let me know.

3.  After you make a blog post, wait 30 minutes, and check to see if the post is visible in the News tab.  If it isn’t, please let me know.  This means that either I missed adding it to the RSS Mix, or the RSS Feed address you provided during sign-up isn’t correct.  We will work together to make sure your Austen news is included!

4.  Look for the announcement on the Austen Admirers Facebook page that will let you know when buttons for your blog will be available to download from austenadmirers.com.

5.  Share, Tweet, and Download!!

6.  If you are active on an Austen blog, or a fan of an Austen author who missed the original sign-up date, please let them know that the second round of sign-ups will begin on May 31st and end June 12th.  You can go ahead and sign up now.  Just know that I won’t be able to add you to the app until after June 12th.  I’ll try and post a financial statement from the Kickstarter Campaign later in June, but I think after everything is said and done, there is about $35 left over.

Every one of you who donated, tweeted, shared and gave me words of inspiration when I felt defeated made this happen.  This is your app.

Don’t forget, you can always find Austen Admirers on Facebook and Twitter.  Thank you to Tess for letting me take over her blog today – I truly appreciate it!