Deleted member 42
Writers are in it for a marathon, not a sprint. We have to polish our craft and hope it works for others.
I think this is crucial for all writers of every stripe to keep in mind.
Writers are in it for a marathon, not a sprint. We have to polish our craft and hope it works for others.
FUZZY FUND CRITIQUE UPDATE: I have caught up on all submissions sent prior to April 17th. The next batch came on on April 21st, so I'll start getting those out.
IF YOU SENT ANYTHING IN PRIOR TO APRIL 21 AND HAVEN'T GOTTEN YOUR CRITIQUE YET, contact me at my mystikmerchantrobes email address that's on the vampwriter website.
A few submissions got stuck in the spam filter (I check it now), never arrived, or the writers were bounced out of line when they sent a query using their original entry rather than in a separate mail.
Has anyone paid for Ms. Elrod's copyediting services? From what I've seen here on the boards, her critiquing skills are widely respected. But I'm wondering if anyone has employed her talents to help make a final MS shiny.
I hear she's picky. She won't take a job now if the book isn't ready, and the other day she posted on Facebook that her rates doubled from a penny a word to .02 a word. It's still cheap, though. At least you know she won't lie back and think of the check if the book's not ready. Lots of editors put the check first, not the writer.
This blog about turning down a job is on her FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/pn-elrod/when-to-not-hire-an-editor/522521014473173
I guess we need a facebook in order to see it?
The book wasn't ready. It was not ready to pay an editor to go over it, much less self-publish so the general public could read it. At this point in its development it was like having carpet installed on a house's bare foundation, with no walls and no roof.
I know the author is proud of that book, and he/she put a lot of work into it. She/he did something awesome just finishing a 75K-word book. Few aspiring writers are able to stick with such project. Writing is hard work!
But the book had problems. I could not in good conscience take more money for it. I charged the person for my work up to that point (a penny a word, which is dirt cheap for editing) and put in 8 pages of detailed feedback on the book, writing in general, and ways to get better at it. I sent an invoice along with the files with the corrections so far. The writer paid the invoice, but I've heard nothing more from the person.
I feel badly about it. First I made the poor writer wait for months on end while I cleared my schedule, then when I finally got to it I sent the whole thing back with unsolicited comments and a bill.
But the book just was NOT ready for publication. It wouldn't have made it out of one of my workshops alive. I'm not known for holding back on critiques, but I don't shred something just to be mean; I'm only ever going to be honest and offer alternatives and suggestions on how to fix it.
Which means it's gonna be painful. No writer enjoys hearing what's wrong with their labor of love.
However, if they want to be better that their craft, they put on their game face.
When they get over being mad, they take a second look to see if the critique raised some valid points.
FUZZY FUND CRITIQUE UPDATE: I've just now closed out critiques for stories sent prior to April 26 and am about to start on submissions for April 27 onward.
Unfortunately, some writers wrote for update information on their submissions using their original submission mail's reply feature-- and this sent their sub to the back of the line! I can't shift it back because my email won't allow it. I don't always remember to put in a date, either--I've a LOT of stuff on my plate.
I put in a warning about this on the website and it's now in the auto-reply letter writers get when they send something in.
The gist is: if you want to keep your place in line, send a SEPARATE email with the date of your submission and the title.
I expected a dozen or so subs and got flooded with over 200.
If you got a "thank you for your submission" auto reply it means your submission is in line and I'll get to it in its turn. It's not lost and your critique isn't lost. I keep track of the ones sent out. If I don't hear back from you -- as in a donation to Fuzzy's Fund didn't come in -- I'll try contacting you again.
One good thing on this is that out of all the crits I've done so far there's only been one deadbeat. He's not replied in 3 months, so I guess he just wasn't ready for a full on brick in the face treatment. As one of my friends rightly says, "This is not a job for wimps." By not donating he not only wasted my time and effort, he took time away from other, more serious writers -- *and* dissed my dog!
Again, I apologize for being so slow, but believe me, publishers are a lot slower. If they say their turnaround time is 2 months, triple it, and add another month or two. In the meantime, be working on your next project. It'll keep you from climbing the walls.
Glad to know mine will be read by the end of the year...maybe.
I felt like I couldn't write anything else until I had picked up an agent for said MC.