What's the deal with Penana?

[Lysander_Works]

Penana as in, the writing platform. It is one of the 6 platforms I have my stories on.

Something weird is going on over there, or it may have always been a thing only to affect me now. I've been suddenly getting a lot of DMs from people there (5+ is a lot for me on Penana at least). At first I thought they were bots cause they usually just have the same start message, but the responses clearly show they are human. Same situation though; they try to small talk which is a bit awkward, then immediate tell me I have a problem reaching a wider audience, need their promotion services for a monthly fee, bla, bla, bla. I'm not dumb enough to take their "offers" but I just find it weird that I've suddenly been getting a large amount of DMs like this, and only like this.

Was Penana always this way and I had simply yet to show up on this strange RADAR, or is it something else going on? I find it strange as hell, but maybe that's just because I don't normally get any engagement at all over there. Not really a problem forum, just a 'curiosity of the day' topic, if anyone cares.

 

[ElijahRyne]

Penana as in, the writing platform. It is one of the 6 platforms I have my stories on.

Something weird is going on over there, or it may have always been a thing only to affect me now. I've been suddenly getting a lot of DMs from people there (5+ is a lot for me on Penana at least). At first I thought they were bots cause they usually just have the same start message, but the responses clearly show they are human. Same situation though; they try to small talk which is a bit awkward, then immediate tell me I have a problem reaching a wider audience, need their promotion services for a monthly fee, bla, bla, bla. I'm not dumb enough to take their "offers" but I just find it weird that I've suddenly been getting a large amount of DMs like this, and only like this.

Was Penana always this way and I had simply yet to show up on this strange RADAR, or is it something else going on? I find it strange as hell, but maybe that's just because I don't normally get any engagement at all over there. Not really a problem forum, just a 'curiosity of the day' topic, if anyone cares.

Cool, what’s Penna?

 

[Hana_chan]

Actually I'm having the same problem, but in wattpad.
I talked with one from Nigeria on telegram.

Well. I'm telling them that I have no money.
The one that I talked with him said that he wants about 100$ so he can buy the stuff he needs for starting to send my stories on email.

That a 100% scam. I told him if I collected more money from patreon I will give the money and I asked him for the method, if somthing I'll use it myself. But he just told me that I can use inkitt to get more followers, well, I loved the idea, but inkitt is worst than wattpad in getting more readers.

Any way Penana. Thanks for giving me a new platform to use for myself

 

[J_Chemist]

I thought you meant Panini and was thinking you meant the sandwich.

Only Panana I've heard about is the place with the canal.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Heh. Penis website.

 

[Lysander_Works]

Cool, what’s Penna?

Hah, I see what you did there. Yeah, it isn't too well known; I had to search for it myself to find it. I started with Wattpad and RR, then used the search engine to locate alternatives to those two platforms; Penena was one, but clearly not the best of the bunch.

I talked with one from Nigeria on telegram.

Why even go that far in the first place? I know you know it's a total scam, but I would never give those people the time of my day by talking to them on other platforms.

can use inkitt

No one can use Inkitt, nor should they; ever. One of the worst choices I stumbled into.

I thought you meant Panini and was thinking you meant the sandwich.

You just made me hungry. Time for a sandwich.

---

For anyone wondering, Penana is still something I consider worth using to have a longer reach to readers, at least for now. I think they have kind of the same rep as Booksie, only with a couple of more functions. At the very least it isn't too difficult to use. They have their premium memberships and pay as you read kind of features, which I totally ignore since it's all optional anyway.

 

[ShadowAether]

So does anyone know if Penana is still maintained? The blog hasn't been updated in over a year.

 

[CrimsonGenius]

I have been getting a lot of message from ’artist’ on fictonpress and Fanfiction.net telling my story is super great, inspiring, and that it touches them. Then they have great ideas for it in comic form and that it would be better. At first it was dm’s they started putting their crap in my and everyone’s reviews. I check everyones’s story on both sites and they sent the same message in every person’s review. They butter you up and I hate that.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

Penana as in, the writing platform. It is one of the 6 platforms I have my stories on.

Something weird is going on over there, or it may have always been a thing only to affect me now. I've been suddenly getting a lot of DMs from people there (5+ is a lot for me on Penana at least). At first I thought they were bots cause they usually just have the same start message, but the responses clearly show they are human. Same situation though; they try to small talk which is a bit awkward, then immediate tell me I have a problem reaching a wider audience, need their promotion services for a monthly fee, bla, bla, bla. I'm not dumb enough to take their "offers" but I just find it weird that I've suddenly been getting a large amount of DMs like this, and only like this.

Was Penana always this way and I had simply yet to show up on this strange RADAR, or is it something else going on? I find it strange as hell, but maybe that's just because I don't normally get any engagement at all over there. Not really a problem forum, just a 'curiosity of the day' topic, if anyone cares.

Yay! Now I have a new site to upload on.

 

[ShadowAether]

I have been getting a lot of message from ’artist’ on fictonpress and Fanfiction.net telling my story is super great, inspiring, and that it touches them. Then they have great ideas for it in comic form and that it would be better. At first it was dm’s they started putting their crap in my and everyone’s reviews. I check everyones’s story on both sites and they sent the same message in every person’s review. They butter you up and I hate that.

I've been getting the same thing on Penana, plus people wanting me to commission them for their art. (Someone even said they want to do a fantasy drawing, but my story is scifi.)

I reported them as spammer, but if the company isn't maintaining the site, then nothing's going to prevent spam bots from taking over. It sounds like this has been going on for over six months.

 

[3guanoff]

At first I thought they were bots cause they usually just have the same start message, but the responses clearly show they are human.

Can you be sure? With AI as it is, who knows.

Same situation though; they try to small talk which is a bit awkward, then immediate tell me I have a problem reaching a wider audience, need their promotion services for a monthly fee, bla, bla, bla. I'm not dumb enough to take their "offers" but I just find it weird that I've suddenly been getting a large amount of DMs like this, and only like this.

Very normal scheme. Someone likely has a few bots running this shit. Never encountered it over there, but that shit is all over the internet. And even offline. Ever been called by a marketing sales rep? One boss would hand me his phone so I could curse at those fellas. That was the only way to stop them from calling.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

Last time I uploaded at Penana, I got accused of stealing my own drawings. Evidence? Guy saw it in his dreams.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Last time I uploaded at Penana, I got accused of stealing my own drawings. Evidence? Guy saw it in his dreams.

What about panini?

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

What about panini?

That's a comb brand in the Philippines.

 

[Jocelyn_Uasal]

I've never heard of that site, but not so well known websites are favorites for scammers. The lack of engagement on places like that means that their messages are much more likely to be seen, and there's usually way less moderation to deter them.

 

[Lysander_Works]

I've never heard of that site, but not so well known websites are favorites for scammers. The lack of engagement on places like that means that their messages are much more likely to be seen, and there's usually way less moderation to deter them.

This makes sense. Penana does not have the same equivalent of forums. They have a forums, but it just isn't the same. Very minimal engagement on them, and some of them forums, never know what you might run into. Some people are selling NSFW pictures on some of them; truly wild stuff.
Also I get this gut feeling that they might be based in China? Can't confirm that.