Critique for stories

[Verasaille]

Is there any way an author can get some critque of work in progress prior to publication? I have a novel approaching completion with a co author I have been working with in Google docs.

We want to see an active thread with people willing to read and honestly critique the book. I propose offering a few chapters to begin with and asking for advice on characters, setting, etc.

The co author and I are looking into self publishing, an ebook to begin with. All the research we have done so far indicates it is a tedious and mostly unsatisfactory constant plugging in social media to get the word out for someone to read the book. The research is ongoing, and I am losing hope that this marvelous book will ever get read!

My suggestion is this: Open up a section for readers to look at a few chapters of a book ready for publication. Even if all we provide is a link to the Google Docs for anyone to read (not edit), and a thread in the E forums to discuss it. This section should be open to all. The more people that read it and offer feedback, the better.

This would be an excellent place for unpublished authors to display some samples of their work and get constructive criticism on it. Not just for our book, but for anyone seeking to publish. This is a writer's site as well as a rp site. Can we please offer this service for our budding authors?

[Boatman]

I wonder who the other mentioned author could be?
*Looks in mirror*
'Is it you?'

(For my sins) Having run an authoring website in the past, I should add, this idea does work if there is mutual review.

So, if a space is found for pre-publication review on E, then we will be more than happy to give our constructive thoughts on works of anyone kind enough to assess creations of ours.

[Oniya]

I believe that this post may be of assistance.

- Oniya

[Verasaille]

That looks promising, Oniya!! Could we maybe submit a racy chapter of our book? Or a simple story of our characters as we have written so much material!! Boatman knows how many words we have written...must be closing in on a 7 figure number by now!

[Boatman]

It would not be fair to ask any fellow author to review anything as large as a book.

Oniya, thanks very much for the link.
I guess my question about the Writers Group would be 'why keep it hidden? Doesn't this limit the number of eyes available to cast a glance, diverting the wind from the sails of the review process?

[Oniya]

It was created before I came to Elliquiy, but I think it's to strike a balance between an author's desire to have reviews and the conflicting fear of work getting too widely spread before publication.  It might also have something to do with 'First Publication Rights' (which major publishing houses seem to prefer having, if you're going for such a thing.)

[Verasaille]

The options for self publishing vary in their requirements. For instance, this site we found offers you a lot of leeway in publishing and offers a very nice set up. But not a very good way to market the books. They are still a work in progress.

https://leanpub.com/

The problem with self publishing is marketing. All the blogs suggest using social media, but all you get there is a ton of people all wanting the same thing. Buy my book! But few offer to buy others works.

We have discussed it and thought we just need a decent website for people to publish their works and get recognition and constructive criticism.

I thought it would also be nice if Elliquiy were to offer a forum for people to offer their books or links to self publishing sites where their books are sold.

[Blythe]

I guess my question about the Writers Group would be 'why keep it hidden? Doesn't this limit the number of eyes available to cast a glance, diverting the wind from the sails of the review process?

More privacy means less chances of your work getting stolen. While we do strive on Elliquiy to stamp out plagiarism, the truth of the matter is that if you are genuinely looking to get a work ready for publication and its still a work in progress, it's generally best to be very careful with whom you choose to share it. The EWG isn't open to everyone & is not visible to everyone; the Staff can vet who participates. It ensures we can do our best to protect your work.

[Boatman]

Thanks Blythe, I do understand that.

I remember having long discussions about protecting ideas and copyright on my old site. We too set up private groups for serious authoring projects.

But, I detect a move towards publishers looking for works which have already had some success in self-publishing ( ie successful review). This means the work will be on display early on.

The big catch 22 for authors is finding sufficient followers to break through when publishing websites only promote works which are already successful in order to protect their own reputations.

I have a potential technical solution for this when I can find an outlet to implement it.