Writer’s Digest Self-Published Authors Competition Results
Entered Wake-Robin Ridge in a self-published authors contest sponsored by Writer’s Digest, just to get the “brief critique” promised to all entrants. (I had no thoughts of winning, you understand. This contest is huge, and many contestants have been doing this a long, long time, and are very good.) Finally got my long-awaited critique, and was very pleased and encouraged. My characters were called “compelling and psychotic (Lloyd Carter),” and “strong and interesting (Ruth Winn Carter). Sarah Gray & MacKenzie Cole’s relationship was described as “adorable,” and my overall Plot got 4 points out of 5. WOW. For a beginning author, I think this is fantastic. Much better than I expected.
Structure and Organization also got 4 points, which amazed me. In a book as long as Wake-Robin Ridge, with a tale spanning 50 years, and two different sets of characters, to have a score like that for organizing the plot was positively thrilling.
The book also got a solid 5 points for grammar, which, btw, is the first thing they score. I knew it would be worth every penny to hire a good editor. (Thank you, Caitlin!) I think my grammar is fairly solid, but you simply can’t do it alone. You have to have good eyes watching for errors made in “the heat of writing.” And typos, and places where your characters might not be acting true to themselves. If you write, GET AN EDITOR. It can turn your book from amateur to professional, and will serve you well in the long run. Just sayin’………………
All and all, a good day, and I feel much encouraged, as I work on my second book, Swamp Ghosts. Let’s see what WD will have to say about snakes and gators and murders, oh my!
Wake-Robin Ridge (A Darcy’s Corner Novel)
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Congratulations on the great critique. Thank you for the great editor advice; I’ll keep that in mind for when the day finally arrives that I’m ready for one.
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Hi, Greenlightlady! So nice to see you here. I found some of your work on Twitter today, I believe, and really enjoyed it. Poetry needs less editing, to my mind, than prose. Having done both, all I really wanted for my poetry chapbook was someone to read carefully for typos, and make sure they were all formatted well. But I think it’s still an important step. I hope you will keep us posted as to when you ARE ready. I’d love to review your book when the time comes.
Thanks for taking time to comment, and have a great weekend.
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So glad you got good scores! Your grammar is already excellent, even if you have an odd aversion to commas. 😉
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You think my aversion to commas was bad…just remember my total lack of interest in HYPHENS! Eeeep. 😯
Thanks, Caitlin, O’ Editor Extraordinaire! You ROCK! 🙂
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