I'll critique yours if you critique mine.

[Colbey Frost]

I put this on the thread for http://harpervoyagerbooks.com/harper...al-submission/ but have decided it needs its own.

The main reason behind it is to help eachother get something ready for the open door. I've already written mine with synopsis etc, but feel a detailed eye and critique wouldn't hurt and would help sharpen what I have. Anyway, read below.

We have just over one month before the deadline so I was thinking...

Some time ago I asked if someone would like to swap what we were working on. I critique yours, while you critique mine. I did so with some people and I think it worked well. But that was on a small scale; max one chapter.

Taking into account that we have a month to submit to this one, would anyone want to swap books for critique? We could spend about two weeks reading, gathering notes in red etc just like we do in the critique forum, but on a bigger scale?

Once done we would hand it back over with the notes (including details after each chapter).

Details could be worked out in private, but I hope you get the general idea.

PM me.

 

[Dante DiBenedetto]

Interesting. Not offering my services, but this does raise some questions.

Do agents take on clients in situations like this? As if, say the publisher liked your manuscript and wanted to give you an offer, would an agent be willing to help negotiate things for their typical 15% cut? I've never heard of a situation like that before. Hm. It's just one of those things where, were I not experienced with contracts and such, I would feel a lot more comfortable having someone who was there to help me through the process instead of blindly trusting the publisher.

Best of luck to you, Christian Nash. I wish this was happening near the end of the year when my new novel will actually be done... >.>

 

[HareBrain]

Do agents take on clients in situations like this? As if, say the publisher liked your manuscript and wanted to give you an offer, would an agent be willing to help negotiate things for their typical 15% cut?

Yes, they do this. (And I imagine it would be somewhat easier to get an agent under these circumstances!)

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I think that's the way Anne Lyle went about it; Angry robot offered a contract and then she got an agent.

Christian, I'd love to help, but really busy the next two weeks. Good luck with it, though. I suspect there'll be a few of us taking a punt. (why not, eh? If you're not in...)

 

[allmywires]

I would offer but I'm only a couple of chapters into my rewrite so I'm not sure that would work. Good luck guys!

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I'm working in a chatroom if anyone wants some writing sprints PM me for details. It would be possible to help with short paragraphs and anything that wasn't coming right.

 

[Colbey Frost]

I wish I knew someone like me in my life. Saying that, we wouldn't get on. Ha.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Do agents take on clients in situations like this?

Oh yes. They are more than happy to do so, because they don't have to take the risk of submitting a manuscript on spec. And publishers (reputable publishers anyway) are happy to have you bring in an agent, because the agent knows what he or she is doing and the negotiation doesn't get bogged down in useless debate over things that absolutely can't be changed.

Still, it's advantageous to the writer to get an agent even at that stage, for all sorts of reasons.

 

[alchemist]

I'd be able to help you, Christian, except for the fact I'm going to be working on my own every hour of the day to make the deadline. I've benched my reading plans. Hell, I even posted my first attempt at the 75 word challenge rather than wait for further inspiration to strike -- my inspiration neurons are needed elsewhere for the next few weeks.
Afterwards, however, I might be up for swapsies.

 

[Grimbear]

I will never have anything ready in time for this so I might as well say ok - I'll be a reviewer.

PM me if interested in having your work shredded (joke obvs as I am always constructive in my critiques)

 

[Brian G Turner]

Christian, have you tried putting up your first page in the critiques section?

Simply that I find writers in a rush to have the entire book read before they've polished adequately, resulting in frustration for beta readers.

Of course, if your work does come across as polished in a critique, no doubt it would be easier to get readers.

 

[Gary Compton]

I would say that if your work wasn't polished at the time of the start of this thread. Rushing to get it ready for the deadline will be counter-productive.

Remember, it's a marathon not a sprint.

Just my opinion, feel free to ignore

 

[Colbey Frost]

I'm not rushing, I don't expect to get anywhere with it, I just like deadlines. If it doesn't work out, who cares? I'll write something else (already have) and same for that. I don't find it hard, in fact I love writing.

What I want to send off I wrote ages ago and have moved on since then. This is a way to get the interest back for it, to give me a kick up the bum to try and make it that little bit better.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Some authors run marathons and others sprint. A month is in my opinion a long time to get a novel rewritten and edited,but for another writer it might not be.

Eleanor Hibbert wrote over a hundred novels as did Claire Raynor most make for a good Sunday afternoon read.

 

[Colbey Frost]

The most important thing is that you keep writing. Go at your own pace. If you want to write a 500 page novel in a weekend, do it. If you want to take 12 years writing 500 pages, do it. But for your own sanity just write, and enjoy doing so. If and when the time is right, someone, somewhere, will pick up your novel and not only believe in its content, but believe in you.

It is this way of thinking that keeps me going. Just doing what feels right and picking up any advice and help along the way.

 

[Colbey Frost]

Right, I've got everything I need and more. Thanks for helping out. let's see how it goes