Occasionally some of our newer members approach some of our published members with requests for critique and/or mentorship.
Here's the deal: We are a friendly, inclusive community here at Verla's, with a place for everyone from experienced professionals to the newest of newbies, and we welcome everybody. Our more experienced members hang out here because they want to. They like it for the same reasons all our members do--for the camaraderie, for a bit of a break from work, for shop talk. Our published members are willing to "pay it forward." They know that they were once unpublished, too, and they're willing to answer questions here on the boards, and furthermore, my guess is that if you were to run into someone at a conference and offer a greeting of "Hi, I'm so-and-so from Verla's" that it would elicit a huge smile, a hearty handshake or even a hug from these folks.
However, the truth is that the leap from "willing to answer questions on a message board" to "willing to do extensive critiquing/offer personal advice/provide mentorship" is awfully big. If you're asking someone you don't really know for this kind of help, you're probably saying to yourself that the worst they can say is no; that there's truth to that old saying "nothing ventured, nothing gained"; that it's worth a shot.
However, I'm asking you to consider that putting an author on the spot with such a request is very likely to backfire. At the very least, it puts the author in a situation where they have to say no, which can be awkward and stressful. A more unpleasant consequence for all of us would be if our published authors feel pestered to the point where they decide that participation on the boards is no longer worth their time. Then we all lose, because we've lost some of our greatest resources.
Bottom line: If you need critique, find a writing buddy or a good critique group. If you don't have a group or buddy yet, advertise or ask for help in our Critique Group thread. If you need or want a professional critique, find a reputable service--there are a good number of them, and their fees are generally reasonable. Please don't take advantage of our camaraderie here on the boards by alienating the published author members who offer so much to us all.
Here's the deal: We are a friendly, inclusive community here at Verla's, with a place for everyone from experienced professionals to the newest of newbies, and we welcome everybody. Our more experienced members hang out here because they want to. They like it for the same reasons all our members do--for the camaraderie, for a bit of a break from work, for shop talk. Our published members are willing to "pay it forward." They know that they were once unpublished, too, and they're willing to answer questions here on the boards, and furthermore, my guess is that if you were to run into someone at a conference and offer a greeting of "Hi, I'm so-and-so from Verla's" that it would elicit a huge smile, a hearty handshake or even a hug from these folks.
However, the truth is that the leap from "willing to answer questions on a message board" to "willing to do extensive critiquing/offer personal advice/provide mentorship" is awfully big. If you're asking someone you don't really know for this kind of help, you're probably saying to yourself that the worst they can say is no; that there's truth to that old saying "nothing ventured, nothing gained"; that it's worth a shot.
However, I'm asking you to consider that putting an author on the spot with such a request is very likely to backfire. At the very least, it puts the author in a situation where they have to say no, which can be awkward and stressful. A more unpleasant consequence for all of us would be if our published authors feel pestered to the point where they decide that participation on the boards is no longer worth their time. Then we all lose, because we've lost some of our greatest resources.
Bottom line: If you need critique, find a writing buddy or a good critique group. If you don't have a group or buddy yet, advertise or ask for help in our Critique Group thread. If you need or want a professional critique, find a reputable service--there are a good number of them, and their fees are generally reasonable. Please don't take advantage of our camaraderie here on the boards by alienating the published author members who offer so much to us all.
The response times sections are valuable resources for those optimistic writers and illustrators who are actively submitting work to editors and agents. Being the neat freaks that we are here at Verla's, we like to keep this section in ship-shop-shape. So let's review the rules.
1. In the response times section we only post information about response times. In other words, you post how long it took from the time you sent your query or submission, to the time you received a reply. Or, if after half a dozen months or so you haven't heard anything, you can post that, too. Feel free to include the type of submission (pb, query letter, etc.), the method (snail or e-mail), and the type of feedback (form, letter, revision request), and the name of the editor or agent you queried. However, we don't really care how you feel about it . . . in the response time section. We have a lovely Good News section and a That Stinks section for those who feel the need to emote.
2. Please don't start a new thread until you are absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it sure that there isn't a thread on your subject. Use the search function to check for an existing thread on your topic. Another nifty board feature is to click on "Subject" at the top of the forum and the thread titles will appear in alphabetical order.
3. Does "congratulations" fit in the "response times" category? No. Neither do the phrases "good luck" or "I'm sorry." Those are the empty beer bottles of the after-party and have no room here in this section. Don't leave a mess for me to clean up later.
4. Scorned by an agent? Burned by a publisher? Feel the need to bash someone who had the misfortune of critiquing your ms at a conference three years ago? If you really feel that bashing someone on the public board is in your best interest, try Pro Talk or Market News. Same goes for questions and comments about market information. If it isn't a response time, it doesn't belong here.
5. Response times vary by publisher, by season, by your envelope's placement in the slush pile. Response times are to be used to get a general idea of when things come and go at a given house, but please don't pepper innocent editors with status queries simply because someone else heard from them a few weeks before you did. As a general rule, don't send a status query until at least two months after the editor's stated reply time (you can usually find this information in the current market guides).
Remember, Response Times sections are like diamonds and last forever. Let's take care of our diamonds, and keep them clean.
1. In the response times section we only post information about response times. In other words, you post how long it took from the time you sent your query or submission, to the time you received a reply. Or, if after half a dozen months or so you haven't heard anything, you can post that, too. Feel free to include the type of submission (pb, query letter, etc.), the method (snail or e-mail), and the type of feedback (form, letter, revision request), and the name of the editor or agent you queried. However, we don't really care how you feel about it . . . in the response time section. We have a lovely Good News section and a That Stinks section for those who feel the need to emote.
2. Please don't start a new thread until you are absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it sure that there isn't a thread on your subject. Use the search function to check for an existing thread on your topic. Another nifty board feature is to click on "Subject" at the top of the forum and the thread titles will appear in alphabetical order.
3. Does "congratulations" fit in the "response times" category? No. Neither do the phrases "good luck" or "I'm sorry." Those are the empty beer bottles of the after-party and have no room here in this section. Don't leave a mess for me to clean up later.
4. Scorned by an agent? Burned by a publisher? Feel the need to bash someone who had the misfortune of critiquing your ms at a conference three years ago? If you really feel that bashing someone on the public board is in your best interest, try Pro Talk or Market News. Same goes for questions and comments about market information. If it isn't a response time, it doesn't belong here.
5. Response times vary by publisher, by season, by your envelope's placement in the slush pile. Response times are to be used to get a general idea of when things come and go at a given house, but please don't pepper innocent editors with status queries simply because someone else heard from them a few weeks before you did. As a general rule, don't send a status query until at least two months after the editor's stated reply time (you can usually find this information in the current market guides).
Remember, Response Times sections are like diamonds and last forever. Let's take care of our diamonds, and keep them clean.