Mentor Success Stories?

No success stories from me per se. But if you get a good agent they might be able to support you in that way. Happy to crit a synopsis and getting quite good at that now.

Oh goodness, I beg to differ on that last point about finding an agent who'll mentor you in anything other than the process of selling your book. It might happen, but my experience with agents says otherwise.

I'm fairly new here, but I get the impression that the Mentors in the title are the general community rather than specific one-on-one mentorships.

Try sharing some parts of your work in the appropriate SYW forum, and continue to ask questions and support other writers. Mentors will emerge from those who frequently take an interest and give good feedback. You'll probably find that you have information to offer newer writers as well, and you'll soon be acting as a sort of mentor as well.

I get a feeling that mentor is gradually being turned around here to represent someone whose suggestions and advice may be noted and acted upon without any acknowledged mentor relationship as such at all.

> has anyone had a positive experience with a mentor?

Has anyone been able to find a mentor at all?

-cb

I have acted as a mentor here for several AW members (who shall remain nameless unless they choose to reveal themselves...)

I believe they've gotten benefit from my help, but they'd have to be the judges of that. On other sites, I wound up mentoring a few people after critiquing their work and had those writers go on to publication.

It can happen. But it doesn't always happen in-thread.

I was lucky to stumble across a mentor. He's a successful European author and taught me a lot about writing and the publishing business. He encouraged me to keep going, praised my strengths and pointed out my weaknesses. Because of his tutelage, I've finished writing three novels and am shopping one out as we speak.

I don't know how one actively goes about getting a mentor, though. If I ever get published, I'm going to pay it forward and mentor another writer.

cbenoi1 said:

Has anyone been able to find a mentor at all?

Click to expand...

I've benefited grandly from what Bufty suggested are a collective of mentors here, unacknowledged individually yet helpful and encouraging.

I could point to several personal mentors at AW. One goes out of her way to help me--of course when I'm at my dumbest but especially when I'm stubbornly working hard to resist all help.

She'd be surprised and embarrassed if named. Those are the best mentors.