Protagonize was an online creative
writing community based in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, BC,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
It was established in late December 2007. It was owned and operated by Taunt Media. The site catered to both amateur and experienced authors interested in online collaborative creative writing, and in 2016, was home to over 43,800 works (pieces of writing) and 160,800 pages, and over 29,000 members from around the world. On June 3, 2017, Protagonize closed down due to stagnant user growth and declining revenue from advertising and donations.
The current domain redirects to a blog page explaining the shutdown.
History
Protagonize is an
online community
An online community, also called an internet community or web community, is a community whose members interact with each other primarily via the Internet. Members of the community usually share common interests. For many, online communities may fe ...
and
self-publishing
Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pr ...
platform, launched in December, 2007 by creator Nick Bouton as a home for
Choose Your Own Adventure
''Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actio ...
-style branching stories. Shortly after launch, the site began to allow for linear narrative as well, and has since expanded to include poetry, screenplays, and other forms of literature.
Following its subsequent growth, there has been an increasing focus on the community aspect of the site, with features such as groups and writing circles being added.
In June 2008 Protagonize was selected as a finalist in the 2008 Canadian New Media Awards for "Excellence in Social Media Websites".
In June 2009 Protagonize was one of seven local BC startups chosen to demo at Launch Party Vancouver 7 as part of the Startup Most Likely to Succeed competition.
At least one published book started out life as a story on Protagonize.
On June 3, 2017, Protagonize closed down due to stagnant user growth and declining revenue from advertising and donations.
See also
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Addventure
An ''addventure'', also known as a collaborative gamebook, is a type of online interactive fiction that combines aspects of round-robin stories and Choose Your Own Adventure-style tales. Like a round-robin story, an addventure is a form of collab ...
*
Collaborative fiction
Collaborative fiction is a form of writing by a group of authors who share creative control of a story.
Collaborative fiction can occur for commercial gain, as part of education, or recreationally – many collaboratively written works have been ...
*
Interactive fiction
''
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
*
Online book
An online book is a resource in book-like form that is only available to read on the Internet. It differs from the common idea of an e-book, which is usually available for users to download and read locally on a computer, smartphone or on an e-re ...
*
Serials
Sources
External links
Official siteOfficial site's blog
Collaborative fiction
Canadian literature websites
Online publishing companies of Canada
Web fiction
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