Guest Post: Adam Charles on iwritereadrate.com

Please enjoy this guest post by Adam Charles Director of the iwritereadrate website designed to help unpublished writers better their work and find their markets.

For me, and maybe for you too, admitting to being an unpublished writer is sort of a little bit like admitting to having contracted some disease in some bizarre circumstance. However, here I am, admitting to the wonderful readership of this blog that I am an unpublished writer; further to this that I’m proud of it too. This feels good, cathartic almost, like my first night at Writer’s Anonymous.

I’m enthralled by literature, and always have been. I’ve learnt about myself over the years that the gratuitous acts of writing and reading just do it for me.

So, a few years ago I decreed that no longer would I watch from afar, no more would I be content with reading, I wanted to become part of the writing world, a world where ideas and images conjured by language are king. With my mission confirmed I set down to diligently sketch out a story that had been bouncing around in my head for a decade. It went well, the words flowed, my pen moved effortlessly and almost supernaturally across the page: I was fulfilling my dream of writing.

I reached a fair point, some 35,000 words and had judiciously self-edited a few times. I decided that it was time to send off my baby to be critiqued by those in the know to see if my delusions had any substance. I packaged up the first few chapters, bought a load of stamps and envelopes to send to publishing industry bodies.

I waited and I waited and finally they started to return home to me.

I opened the first one with adolescent enthusiasm, tearing it open. Sadly, all that was contained inside was the returned, unmarked, extracts I had sent and a standard rejection note on a tiny complements slip. I, however, was not deterred. I posted off another batch of submissions. The curse of the standard rejection letter continued.

Were they even reading it? Surely they could pass some kind of judgement? Surely I could get more feedback than this? Doubt began to creep in, maybe I’d never know.

After three batches of submissions I coalesced. I didn’t know whether I had something entertaining – even interesting – to say or if I should just stick to reading other people’s ideas and give up on my dream. I wasn’t upset or disappointed, I just wanted to know whether it was me or the system that had cast me aside.

Research followed into all the facets of the agencies, editing, and publishing process.

A couple of years ago I eventually hit upon an idea. If the professionals can’t tell me, then how can technology help me and people like me to find out whether our work is any good? I trawled the internet but couldn’t find anything that I could use for these objectives. This is where the first seed began to grow for our new website – www.iwritereadrate.com.

In 2010 we began building out this idea; the seed began to germinate. An online community for unpublished writers by unpublished writers. A democratic cyber-city where writers can upload, sell, and receive ratings and reviews on their hard work. Where unpublished writers can sell their passion for writing as well as their stories. A place where readers can provide direct feedback direct to writers, have access to them and become part of the writing process. A brave new world in the dynamic between unpublished writers and readers everywhere.

After all, the only way to know if what you’ve written is any good is to have other people read it.

We successfully launched our Registration Page in December 2010 and are now looking to launch the full site during the first few months of 2011.

You can register now to be given pre-launch access to the site to upload your work before anyone else and you’ll also be automatically entered our competition to win an eReader at the site’s full launch.

We Look forward to seeing you on our website soon.

Visit us for more details at: www.iwritereadrate.com

 

By Adam Charles

5 Things Writers should Do before Release Day from Author Inara Scott

Inara Scott, author of Delcroix Academy: The Candidates, recently contributed a post to the blog A Guide to Literary Agents which struck me as poignant for everyone with aspirations of publication.  Entitled 5 Things Writers should Do before Release Day, the post names 5 things you should be doing now in preparation for the business of publication when it comes around.  The tips are must-dos for success with today’s social networking market and proposes a constant online connectedness with that market through formats other than your novels.  I liked the advice and feel it’s a perfect way to continue to know your audience in times that change pretty quickly.  Keep checking back on the blog A Guide to Literary Agents because you’ll find loads a good advice from those in the know – it’s a blog to bookmark.

Here is the quick list of Scott’s tips:

1. Website
2. Book Bloggers & Blog Tours
3. Social Networking & Blogging
4. Blurbs
5. Bookmarks

Read the full post: 5 Things Writers should Do before Release Day