About

–    – –    – – –    – –   –

One of the most difficult hurdles in writing a successful story is gaining an audience.

–    – –    – – –    – –   –

Formerly known as Virtual Bookshelf from 2019-2020 and rebranded in 2021 to Archdale, our mission is to connect avid readers to undiscovered writers and their stories.

While many self-publishing and writing sites exist, new and old stories alike can be buried under others and lost. The Archdale Virtual Bookshelf (AVB) and online library curates, indexes, and scores stories for easier search and identification. The main Archdale website is on a separate domain and includes other content such as reviews, articles, and official events.

The format is simple. Each post will introduce new stories through three Story Factors and two Writing Factors for a total of Five Assessment Factors:

  • Story Factors:
    • Plot Development & Execution (PDE) — Clarity, originality, and pacing of storyline
    • Character Design & Development (CDD) — Appeal, originality, and growth of characters
    • Settings & World Building (SWB) — Immersion, clarity, and cohesiveness of world
  • Writing Factors:
    • Technical Quality (TQ) — Correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling
    • Style & Voice (SV) — Utilization and expression of language and vocabulary
  • Scoring:
    • Each factor is on a scale from 0 to 3.
      • A score of 1 is considered average for that specific factor.
    • The highest total score is 15; the lowest is 0.
      • A total score of 10 or higher is considered above-average.
      • The minimum score goal is 5; books not reaching this are not listed anywhere else besides the singular assessment post.

Authors of stories with <100 chapters can request a new assessment after at least 20 new chapters are posted. Do this as a comment with your URL link under the Contact page, OR submit your request in the Official Discord where both readers and writers are invited to join the newly established community server.

Novels will be held to a high, critical standard through the putative perspective of a traditional publisher. Writing quality and story expectations differ between web novels—mobile stories of the fast-paced internet—and traditionally published books—stories championed by agents and revised by professional editors.

Web novels often lack the polish of traditionally published stories due to authors taking on all steps of the writing and publishing process alone. But, what web novels may lack in refinement, they offer in convenience, variety, and interactiveness through their digital platforms. Additionally, web novels tend to have low reading levels, meaning they are easily able to be read by a larger audience. This also allows for easy reading on the go.

With these differences considered, a successful web novel typically do not equate to the same caliber as a traditionally published novel. In order to encourage more unique, quality web novels over mainstream or cookie-cutter stories that are popularly consumed, Archdale Reviews will hold web novels strictly to published print/e-book standards. Few web novels hit physical bookshelves, so Archdale aspires to spotlight those of merit and distinction.

Web novels which have 20 chapters, or roughly 20,000 total words, will have a dedicated Story Page that includes information such as the synopsis, genre, audience, current number of chapters, chapter length, date of posting, and reading level. Reviews from actual readers will be curated by Archdale to provide valuable, quick insight without the need to personally filter through dozens or hundreds on the writing site itself.

Only original novels or series will be assessed. Excluded stories:

  • short stories
  • one shots
  • fan-fictions
  • non-English stories
  • stories not available to read online

***Please Note:

  • Assessment of Story Factors are more accurate with more chapter content released.
  • Do NOT equate a novel’s score of half of the total possible points (7-8/15) as inferior or 50% as if it were a grade. The numbers are merely representations of qualitative not quantitative story elements.
  • Out of 370 stories from 2019 that scored 5+, roughly 20% were fair (5-6); 45% were good (7-9); 35% were great (10-12), and <2% were excellent (13-15).

While Archdale cannot claim to be the main cause for a story’s rise in readership after being assessed and listed on the website, visitors do indeed find engaging stories through our curation. Many of the listed stories from 2019 (only covering Webnovel during that time) have since exploded from ten thousand views to millions of views. It is a joy to see such stories flourish.

📘📗📙📕

Love your website! It is really hard to find good stories from good original authors. Bad grammar, cliche storylines and dialogue is frustrating. Thank you so much for your recommendations- I started with Mr. CEO and the Devilish Beauty and can’t put the book down. I was lucky to discover your blog. Thanks again! – Starrynight, May 9, 2019