4th agent cited word count for genre as one rejection reason

lizmonster

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I went over to look but the 50 post limit is really daunting! I see you can circumvent it by donating but I don't know if that's frowned upon here.

Here's how you get your 50 posts:

Crit others.

A lot of people are intimidated by this idea, because they figure they're new, or they don't know how to articulate issues properly, or they somehow don't have "standing" to critique someone else (which is never, ever true).

But apart from being a contribution to the community, it's a fantastic learning experience. Reading someone else's piece and figuring out why parts of it do or don't work for you will help you understand how you process prose, and will help you with your own work. No matter how experienced or inexperienced a writer you are, giving a critique is a great way to develop your own skill set.

Dig into some recent threads, give a few crits, see how it goes. 50 posts will fly by, trust me. :) And you'll be helping people, which is a nice thing to do above and beyond everything else.
 

Maggie Maxwell

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I went over to look but the 50 post limit is really daunting! I see you can circumvent it by donating but I don't know if that's frowned upon here.

It usually makes us go "Wait what how" and then we remember the donation loophole and it's usually all good. But consider this: you're already at 15 posts. About a third of the way there. And if you go into SYW and give some critiques of your own to get your post count up, you'll get good favor points as well. ;) But no one will ever tell you not to donate at AW, even if it's for your own benefit.
 

Paul Lamb

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This may seem dumb but how can I find beta readers? And how much do they charge if they usually do? Also, how can I ensure a beta reader won't steal my work?

There is a new service that appears to be free (at least for now) called Fresh.ink. Their stated goal is to match submissions with qualified beta readers.

I can't vouch for this service or what it's long-term plan is, but I did submit one of my (published) stories just to see what would happen. So far (four days later) nothing but acknowledgement that my piece is in their pipeline. I don't know if they've built up their stable of readers yet or not.

As for the fear of someone stealing your work, I wouldn't give much worry to it. Everyone has their own stuff, and the fact that you would submit to someone else means you have a paper trail showing that you own it.
 

mrsmig

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I went over to look but the 50 post limit is really daunting!

Nah, it's really not. I second others' recommendations of doing some critting, just so you'll get an introduction to how Share Your Work functions, but there are dozens and dozens of active threads at AW, on just about every aspect of the writing experience. You'd be welcome in any of them. If you're still feeling shy, visit the Office Party subforum and play some games. Give us a chance to get to know you, and I guarantee it'll improve your chances of getting useful crits when you're able to post your excerpt in SYW - and it REALLY amps up your chances of landing a beta reader, too.
 

EvilPenguin

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Definitely crit others work! It'll help you see the flaws in your own writing and help you become a better editor in the long run. When I was just starting out, I was terrified to critique someone else's writing. I was a beginner, I didn't understand a lot about writing or what goes into it, so I didn't think it was worth it. But I just started critiquing as if I was a reader, and gave my overall opinion of something. That slowly changed into giving more and more detailed critiques as I learned more about writing and my own personal works have improved immensely because of it. Critiquing others and being critiqued (and learning how to accept critiques and grow from them) is a MAJOR part of becoming a good author.
 

writerjordan

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Definitely crit others work! It'll help you see the flaws in your own writing and help you become a better editor in the long run. When I was just starting out, I was terrified to critique someone else's writing. I was a beginner, I didn't understand a lot about writing or what goes into it, so I didn't think it was worth it. But I just started critiquing as if I was a reader, and gave my overall opinion of something. That slowly changed into giving more and more detailed critiques as I learned more about writing and my own personal works have improved immensely because of it. Critiquing others and being critiqued (and learning how to accept critiques and grow from them) is a MAJOR part of becoming a good author.

I was a writing tutor in college so that's all I did all day! It will be fun to do it with creative writing. And useful as well. thank you all for the advice
 

writerjordan

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Thank you so much. I will not cheat the system with a donation. Everyone here seems very established and intelligent so I'll take your advice
 

Ari Meermans

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It's not cheating the system if you can afford to contribute and want to. The 50-post requirement is about becoming a part of the community with posts of substance (giving, not taking only) and enjoying the camaraderie of community and the help and support of fellow writers. That's AW's vision and we all work together to realize that vision in whatever way we are able.

Contributing whatever we can, whenever we can helps keep the lights on for this great community. So, if you're moved to contribute monetarily and can afford a bit here and there, it's greatly appreciated.
 

writerjordan

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It's not cheating the system if you can afford to contribute and want to. The 50-post requirement is about becoming a part of the community with posts of substance (giving, not taking only) and enjoying the camaraderie of community and the help and support of fellow writers. That's AW's vision and we all work together to realize that vision in whatever way we are able.

Contributing whatever we can, whenever we can helps keep the lights on for this great community. So, if you're moved to contribute monetarily and can afford a bit here and there, it's greatly appreciated.

Thanks! I didn't mean to trivialize donations
 

Ari Meermans

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You didn't. I just wanted to make sure you didn't think it was cheating. :)


ETA: Mac provides a little something extra for benefactor members: a bigger mailbox, a larger avatar, and the ability to open threads in some rooms such as AE&BP and SYW. It's her way of saying "thank you"—as if providing the venue for this big old garden party wasn't enough. *snort* But she's generous that way.
 
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