The Beta Club Crit Project is ON! Come sign up!
Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 9:14AM 
So I am beyond excited that so many of you are willing to volunteer for a public critique here on the blog. Y'all rock! I think this is going to be a great exercise for everyone. I know we can all learn from each other.
Now, as the comments rolled in yesterday I realized--oh, I should probably make some sort of guidelines or rules. Ha. Maybe should have thought of that a bit earlier, but better late than never, right?
And so, the rules, my friends...
1. Participants can submit 500-750 word passages to me via email. (Click on the blue @ under my picture). I think that will be a good length to start with. I know commenters don't have a ton of time to spend, so I don't want the passage to be too long. You can submit from anywhere in your manuscript but getting your opening critted will probably be of most value.
2. Please put in the subject line FOR BLOG CRIT and submit attachment as .doc, .docx or .rtf format. Please DOUBLE SPACE with 12 point font.
3. Please cut and paste this form and fill it out to include in the email:
Title:
Genre:
Do you give me permission to post this passage publicly on the Fiction Groupie blog?
Do you give permission for me to use Scribd format to post your crit in PDF form on this blog? (All Scribd documents will be kept as private in Scribd system. No one will have access except here on the blog.)
What theme song would you like for your post? If you don't choose one, I'll pick one for you.
Do you want this posted anonymously or do you want your name/link listed on the post?*If you do not give permission in questions 1 or 2, I'm sorry, but will not be able to crit your work.*
4. All authors will have the choice to remain anonymous or to reveal themselves (see form above). The author will also get a word version of my crit emailed to them after the blog post.
5. All commenters will agree to be constructive and honest in their feedback. We are writers who are being supportive of each others journey, so no ugliness, mmm kay? If you cross the line, I will delete you like an unnecessary adverb.
6. If an author decides they want their passage pulled down at any point, just let me know and I will remove it.
7. Passages will go up on a first come basis, so when I get your email, you will be put in queue. I will let you know when yours is going to be up.
8. The format will be the following:
Title:
Genre:
The unedited passage (so people can read it through without being influenced by my opinion)
Then my crit of it in Scribd format, which will look like this (you should be able to click on view full screen and once you're in full screen right click to zoom so you can read it--please let me know if that's not working):
Then you guys can add your own comments.
9. All genres except non-fiction and poetry will be accepted (memoir is fine). If the submission is erotic romance/erotica, please be sure the excerpt is appropriate for my PG-13 blog. (Cursing is fine, but will be bleeped out via #$*&.)
10. These rules are subject to change as we learn more. This feature can be discontinued at any time, which may mean your work doesn't get critiqued.
For now, I'm going to try this out as a Tuesday/Thursday feature. The success of this will be dependent on your level of participation. So beyond volunteering to be critted (which is awesome), please take the time to read through people's passages and offer feedback. If nothing else, you'll get writer karma points. ;)
Alright, so what do you think? Am I missing any issues? Do you think any of the above is going to be a problem? Is the Scribd format easy to read when you open it (I'm trying to find the easiest way to present the crit--blogger isn't so friendly for that)?
And finally...submissions are OPEN! So email me to get your passage in queue! Thanks guys, I look forward to reading everyone's work. :)
Reader Comments (31)
Hey Roni,
afraid I got nothing I would be wiling to submit right now but I am happy to crit until I do.
I think this is a fab idea, hun, really helpful to all of us.
Mua ha ha! I just sent you the roughest of rough draft 700 word opening. Rip it to shreds:D
i think this is a wonderful idea and i'll be happy to participate in crits until i have something ready to submit. I've never done anything with Scribd, but it seemed to make sense to me when i clicked on it.
I'm sure the first few ones will have a lot of trial and error.
I'm really excited about this
Great idea. I'll have to find something.
I just sent mine in to be shredded! (I can't believe I just said that!)
I'm not familiar with Scribd, but it looks pretty useful and user friendly.
My stomach is churning already. But in a good way.
I also should mention that the author will get the word document with my crits emailed to them after the post, so that they don't have to work in Scribd for revisions. I think I need to go back and add that to this post.
Oh yay! I'm just so excited about this!
Um... is there a deadline? Or do we just aim for daytime Tues and Thurs? <- I wouldn't be able to get to my home computer and docs until tonight, so I'll probably will just be a reader/critter this round.
I think you are awesome to do this, Roni. You must love critting! :)
Count me in.
Catherine, there is not a deadline. However, I'm going to put the emailed submissions in cue first come first serve. Then I'll make a schedule of when each goes up using that order. I'm hoping to schedule the next couple of weeks worth with the submissions that come in over the next two days. So the sooner you get it to me, just means the quicker your date will come up. :)
Oh, and yes, I do enjoy critting. :)
Maybe you've already thought of this, but just making sure... Don't forget to put some kind of legend or something that explains why you highlight certain words or what AI, BD, SDT, etc... mean.
Lynnette Labelle
http://lynnettelabelle.blogspot.com
Maybe you've already thought of this, but just making sure... Don't forget to put some kind of legend or something that explains why you highlight certain words or what AI, BD, SDT, etc... mean.
Lynnette Labelle
http://lynnettelabelle.blogspot.com
Oh, man. How did I miss this yesterday?! What a great idea! :-)
And to clarify for anyone who missed yesterday's post--anyone can still volunteer--you don't have to have commented on yesterday's post.
@scheduling - makes sense! I initially thought you planned to do this like on MSFV and take all the subs & put them up immediately. <- Which would have gotten overwhelming really fast<:
Catherine, yeah, since I'm doing a detailed crit on each and not just opening it up for comments, I would never be able to do it Miss Snark FV style. I'd get buried! :)
Thanks, Roni! Mine's on its way. :)
This should be fun AND educational!
Very cool! Just sent you an email!!
I just sent mine in. I'm VERY excited about this : ) Thanks for doing it!
This is awesome! I'm looking forward to these posts. :)
This is such a wonderful concept. I'll send something in soon.
That pic is perfect. That sounds just like me when I am getting ready to read my hubbie new chapters. I hand him 15 qualifiers and theeeeennnnn, read them to him.
On a completely different note, I love the cover you've created for Wanderlust. I've been thinking about doing a faux cover once I get ready to submit, just for my own page. I'm noticing the trend on a few other sites.I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.
AJ, I just did the cover in microsoft Paint one day when I was avoiding writing, lol. I think it's fun to have around. Figure it can't hurt anything. :)