A bit about me:
I've been writing seriously for about four years now and have churned out somewhere between two and three million words.
I submit short stories to pro-paying magazines (no sales yet, but getting quite a few personal rejections), and indie publish both novels & shorts.
My main genres are:
Fantasy - SF - Urban Fantasy / Mystery / YA
Roughly I'd say about 70% of what I write falls into the first three (Fant/SF/UF), then mystery 20%, and YA 10%.
What I'm looking for:
I'm looking for a first reader to find typos and basic mistakes.
A typo is just what it sounds like ... it's not rejigging every single comma in the manuscript, it's something like "their" instead of "they're," or "were" instead of "where" ... you get the picture.
A 'basic mistake' is something like: 'How did this character manage to get over here all of sudden?!' ... 'Where did that gun come from?' ... 'When did she change from a yellow shirt to a red one?!'
I already have writing mentors (... people 20/30 years down the road in publishing / writing ...) helping me with craft, so I'm not looking for critique.
What I can give in return:
What I can't / won't give in return:
... And just one more thing ...
I'm probably what some people would consider 'prolific' in that I pound out, on average, 150k words a month.
While it'd be great to find a first reader who's hitting around the same word count, I'm realistic and think that I'm more likely to find a few first readers.
Though the first reader(s) doesn't(don't) necessarily need to be writers, I understand that that's most likely the fairest trade ... so if you'd be interested then perhaps think about how many words a month you'd be comfortable trading with me (and in which genres).
What next?
I'd propose that it's best to get a feel for each other's work before committing to anything, and so something like a trial novel, or a bunch of short stories might be a good indicator of whether we're working along the same lines.
Remember, I'm just into fixing mistakes and typos ... this isn't a critique.
Also, I'd suggest that it's important that we actually like one another's work, because we're going to be reading a lot of it ... and if we don't enjoy reading it then, well, what's the point?
Send me a PM or reply below with any questions ...
Look forward to getting in touch!
David
I've been writing seriously for about four years now and have churned out somewhere between two and three million words.
I submit short stories to pro-paying magazines (no sales yet, but getting quite a few personal rejections), and indie publish both novels & shorts.
My main genres are:
Fantasy - SF - Urban Fantasy / Mystery / YA
Roughly I'd say about 70% of what I write falls into the first three (Fant/SF/UF), then mystery 20%, and YA 10%.
What I'm looking for:
I'm looking for a first reader to find typos and basic mistakes.
A typo is just what it sounds like ... it's not rejigging every single comma in the manuscript, it's something like "their" instead of "they're," or "were" instead of "where" ... you get the picture.
A 'basic mistake' is something like: 'How did this character manage to get over here all of sudden?!' ... 'Where did that gun come from?' ... 'When did she change from a yellow shirt to a red one?!'
I already have writing mentors (... people 20/30 years down the road in publishing / writing ...) helping me with craft, so I'm not looking for critique.
What I can give in return:
- All of the above. (Pointing out typos and mistakes)
- Also, I've designed a ton of book covers, so if you're indie-publishing too (and designing your own covers) then it might be fun to flip covers back and forth to get a fresh set of eyes on them ...
What I can't / won't give in return:
- Re-reading multiple drafts (... fine if it's just a section you want to run past me again / or an idea you've completed redrafted from scratch, but something like: 'Hey! I nixed all the adverbs from my MS and changed all the commas about, can you read my MS again and tell me if this "fixes" my story?')
- Detailed critiques (beyond: 'Wow, this was great!' ... or ... 'Uh, what was that about ... ?')
... And just one more thing ...
I'm probably what some people would consider 'prolific' in that I pound out, on average, 150k words a month.
While it'd be great to find a first reader who's hitting around the same word count, I'm realistic and think that I'm more likely to find a few first readers.
Though the first reader(s) doesn't(don't) necessarily need to be writers, I understand that that's most likely the fairest trade ... so if you'd be interested then perhaps think about how many words a month you'd be comfortable trading with me (and in which genres).
What next?
I'd propose that it's best to get a feel for each other's work before committing to anything, and so something like a trial novel, or a bunch of short stories might be a good indicator of whether we're working along the same lines.
Remember, I'm just into fixing mistakes and typos ... this isn't a critique.
Also, I'd suggest that it's important that we actually like one another's work, because we're going to be reading a lot of it ... and if we don't enjoy reading it then, well, what's the point?
Send me a PM or reply below with any questions ...
Look forward to getting in touch!
David