Waverley Writers Group: Friends of Waverley Library (FOWL) that meets monthly in Bondi Buddy System or Restricted Small Group? American Writers’ Sites tend to recommend the use of Buddy Systems when it comes to ongoing feedback exchange for a longer work, such as a novel or a memoir. My experience has been that a small restricted group of four or five members works better, as you can be confident…

The journey of iwritereadrate.com has been very much like that of a new writer on the verge of sending out their hard work to be viewed by people they've never met for the first time.  We started with an idea - pure and simple - we researched, had various moments of self-doubt, concern, and trepidation.  Eventually we decided to go for it, to put the idea out into the world to live on its own.

Since we launched the Registration Page, our blog, and our Social Media groups the interest and support for what we're doing has been nothing short of fantastic.  We've met some great people, learnt so much more about the industry than just through our earlier research, and begun to develop our community.  Thank you to you all for getting involved, we believe that this is the start of a vibrant online writing and reading community.

The great thing is that it's only the beginning.  With our Beta site launching in a few weeks, the idea of iwritereadrate.com is becoming a reality; sent out into the world to live and develop as an independent entity.

We're excited and enthused by everyone who has already joined us, your involvement and interaction will be crucial in making the site come alive and bloom.

If you've not registered yet you can still do so at www.iwritereadrate.com to receive:

- pre-launch Beta site access

- enter our competition to win an eReader

- our monthly newsletters

We look forward to seeing you as active and constructive members of the community soon.

Happy writing.

The iwritereadrate Team

Rebekah Montgomery – from Writefly – interviewed iwritereadrate Director, Adam Charles, about our website and what we’re doing.  To read the full discussion please visit her site at:

http://writefly.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/interview-with-adam-charles-founding-director-of-iwritereadrate-com/

by Adam Charles (Director of iwritereadrate)

Reading is undoubtedly a personal affair. Sitting engrossed in an internalised world created from images hinted at by the static words on the page in front of you. It is a solitary and introverted entertainment medium. Perhaps it’s even a bit anti-social as you ignore the reality around you in favour of one created by your imagination, by the mental connections and neurons sparked into life by the story in front of you.

This is what I used to think, but now I’m convinced that it’s possibly one of the most social activities you can spend your time doing, a truly interactive experience. Unlike other mediums of entertainment it is so multi-dimensional that it’s going to be hard to condense why I’ve come to believe this in this relatively short article. Here goes…

The experience of discovering what to read is undoubtedly a social one. Whether you’re an old-school word of mouth person or into discovering new books through the internet on the various websites, forums and blogs out there. Not only that but when buying a book I always actively search for comments or feedback either from bookstore people or comments posted on the web; thereby connecting with people I would have no other reason to have spoken to or have interactions with, people I would probably never have met in any other circumstance other than my search for that next good read.

Talking through where you’re up to with the people that recommend the book is also social. There’s an unquantifiable number of occasions that I’ve discussed where I’m up to with someone who has already been through the story, trying to second-guess the story, to predict what happens next. They have the insight and through your conversation with them you’re reliving the events of the book, not as static ink blobs on a page, but in the real world.

I’m passionate about passing on books that have inspired me. Pretty much every book that I’ve read I have recommended to at least a few people, and at most everyone I meet! It is at this point that the cycle begins again – you become the person with the omniscient insight into the story, as they try to guess what’s going to happen. I often try to (as surreptitiously as possible) throw them off the scent, because the discovery of unwinding events in any book is one of the most compelling entertainment experiences I’ve ever found. Again, the words transubstantiate into living subject matter.

Some of us even hunger for reading as a Social Experience so much that they feel inspired to join reading groups and discussion groups the world over. In every town and city you can find them, diligently reading with the additional motive of future conversation with other people, face-to-face.

However, although you may sit reading alone, arguably you’re sharing that experience with every other person that has picked up that book; every other person who has entered that world throughout it‘s published life. Your experience and interpretation of the story is likely to be different to anyone else’s- despite the words on the page not changing from person to person.  Each individual creates the universe for the finite characters and events of each book to play out their story, and it is this that I think links everyone who has ever read any particular book.  It is a shared experience, and I like to think – perhaps rather oddly – that the book itself has its own memory and knows everyone who has read it.

Books create conversation, ideas and discussion about meaning, form, and an endless array of different thoughts around their content. They, through a collection of ordered twenty-six symbols, bring people together; can make them think differently and often give a different shade to this crazy world we inhabit. They can make us look slightly alternatively at this spinning rock of existence as it makes its way through space and time. Ultimately, even though reading is done alone, in your comfy chair in the corner of the living room, it is a social experience that we share with everyone else that has ever read that particular book, or indeed anyone else throughout the history of the printed word. It is social as we discover it, talk about it, discuss and live the story with others, and then pass it on to start the cycle again.  I find this liberating, as the image of the reader transforms from someone with their head stuck in a book to someone who goes out and engages others, inspires them to explore new stories and ideas.

So what’s next? What excites me about the next evolution of the reading experience is the scope, scale and ability of the internet to connect readers from all over the world, from places and walks of life that we may never have met otherwise; people who would simply not have existed to us before.  For the first time in history, the social sphere of influence for anyone reading a book that has inspired them is the entire world of other readers out there. Truly exciting in my opinion.

Reading is as pure a social entertainment form as you will find, it is more than just the actual physical activity of sitting down with a book – it’s everything else that comes with it. It’s metaphysical, philosophical, phantasmagorical, and I think it’s amazing.

Happy reading everyone!

This is a special extended version of The Story of www.iwritereadrate.com by one of our founding Directors, Adam Charles.

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 oddly proud of it too. This feels good, cathartic almost, like my first night at Writer’s Anonymous.

It's been a long time coming too.  I spent most of my younger days reading all sorts of books, with a keen (perhaps unhealthy!) weighting towards counter-culture.  I’ve also had all sorts of jobs over the years but always come back to the fact that I’m just enthralled by literature - basically what I’ve learnt about myself is 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 solely 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 an idea for a story that had been bouncing around in my head for the best part of a decade.  Whilst I knew where it began, I really didn’t know where the narrative would take me.  It went well, the words flowed, my pen moved effortlessly and almost supernaturally across the page: I was fulfilling my dream of writing. It had begun.

I reached a fair point, some 30,000 or so words and had judiciously self-edited two or three times.  I printed it off, held it, and passed it to several people to analyse and edit.  Once I’d made all the changes I decided that it was time, time to send off my baby to be critiqued by those in-the-know to see if my delusions and dreams had any substance at all.  I packaged up the first few chapters, bought an exorbitant quantity of 90p stamps and envelopes to send to a variety of 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 at the envelope.  Sadly, all that was contained inside was the returned, unmarked, extracts I had sent and a standard rejection note written on a tiny complements slip.  I, however, was not deterred.  I posted off another tranche 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 - just stick with the day job, even though it provides zero intellectual or metaphysical nourishment - just stick with it.

After three batches of submissions I coalesced, none-the-wiser and somewhat baffled.  I didn’t know whether I had something entertaining - perhaps even interesting or eloquent - to say or if I should just stick to reading other people’s ideas and give up on my dream of writing.  I wasn’t upset or disappointed, I just wanted to know whether the lack of feedback was due to my work or the limitations of the system that had so effortlessly cast me aside.  I simply could not know.

Frantic 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 to find out whether my work is any good or not?  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 for unpublished writers - www.iwritereadrate.com.  At the time the proliferation of mobile and electronic reading devices was somewhat limited, so I left the idea simmering in the recesses of my mind.

In 2010 we began building out this idea; the seed began to germinate.  An online community for unpublished writers by unpublished writers.  A 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.  I know this is altruistic - but then I’m an idealist at heart.

If we did it right we could put a new democracy into the writing process, where writers could get constant feedback from a community of other writers and readers about their work.  If we do it right then we can establish a new link in the chain and hopefully improve the quality of our members work to help them along their journey to becoming published.  We thought out and developed the idea, packing in as many features as we could that would benefit unpublished writers like us.

In the end, the only way to know if what you’ve written is any good is to have other people read it - you might not sell 1m copies but that doesn’t mean that what you have to say - the story you have to tell - isn’t worth the paper or screen it’s printed on.  It also doesn’t mean that it isn’t well written.  The only way to know is to put it out there and let other people decide. 

From my research I’m pretty sure that in this ultra-connected Internet age that even the most niche literature can find an enthusiastic readership somewhere - it’s just a matter of reaching them.  The web seems intrinsically made for this type of connection between interested parties, it’s just that it hasn’t been used quite in this way for writers at this point, although this is now changing for the better in my opinion.

With these ideas now at the forefront of my mind I assembled the team and we set to work on building the website.

I’m delighted to say that 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.  It’s been going extremely well and we’re surpassing website hits and registration targets each week - which is fantastic.  My heart-felt thanks to everyone who has already joined and supported us so far.

You can register now to be given:

- Pre-launch access to the site to upload your work before anyone else 

- Automatically entered our competition to win an eReader at the site’s full launch

- Receive our monthly update Newsletter

We look forward to having you as part of our new community. Become an iwritereadrater - what are you waiting for?

We took some time last month to interview Helen Corner,  Director of Cornerstones Literary Consultancy.  Cornerstones offer professional editing advice to authors for a fee, and have been supporting new writers since 1998.  They’re passionate about writing, editing, and launching new authors, so it was a natural fit for us to join up with them.  We posed a few questions that we thought would be interesting for members of www.iwritereadrate.com to Helen, here are the responses:

Q1: Cornerstones have a lot of experience in helping writers with editing their work.  For the benefit of the members of iwritereadrate.com can you tell us a little more about what you do and your expertise?

A1:  I worked at Penguin and felt there was a gap in the market for helping new writers learn the craft of self-editing. Many writers were being overlooked because their manuscripts were unpolished and there was/is increasingly less resources for in-house editing, so I set up Cornerstones in 1998 with five freelance editors.

I believe that while talent can’t be taught, self-editing techniques can be. It’s then up to the author’s ability to master those and apply them to strengthen their work. Cornerstones has grown organically, responding to our authors’ and the trade’s needs, and we now have 60 editors and have helped launch many writers over the years. See www.cornerstones.co.uk and authors’ journeys for case studies – as every journey is different and sometimes it can be uplifting to see the behind-the-deal story.

We’re a fee-paying service and our ethos is to support the new writer and give them the best start possible in the publishing wheel. We don’t take on every author but we’re always happy to chat things through and see sample material, whether they end up coming to us or not. We run an open advisory line, 020 89680777, so if anyone has any questions let me know and I’d be happy to talk things through. It would be helpful if you could mention that you heard about us via iwritereadrate.

Q2: From your experience, what advice would you give an aspiring writer about how they should go about self-editing their work in the first instance?

A2: The first draft often holds the magic that makes the manuscript sparkle but it’s usually in rough form and needs tidying up and strengthening.

But how does an author know when they’re ready to receive feedback, and what to change without losing that original sparkle? Usually when they can no longer see the wood for the trees, suspect they know what revisions are needed but require professional input (ie. not from a friend or relative!) and then an awareness of how to go about making effective revisions.

Receiving feedback can be nerve-wracking but once an author gets used to the process and trusts the feedback – where an editor resonates with what the author already knows deep down – it can even be an enjoyable process.

A common mistake is to rush to make revisions as soon as the author’s  received feedback. Let the power of knowing what you want to change build in your mind after a while of mulling things over, you should probably then begin making those revisions. Also, take what an editor says and build on that and make it more than what they’ve suggested. That is when an author ‘owns’ their revisions and makes a real dent in their writing rather than surface revisions.

Q3: In your opinion, what challenges do unpublished writers face in their dream of becoming published?

A3: 2011 is the ‘year for debut writers’ so says The Bookseller, so new writers should feel full of optimism.

I think the challenge is to not lose hope – they’ll hear from agents and editors all the time that it’s harder than ever to get published, which can be true – it’s hard! However, if you have a fantastic story with the ‘X’ factor and it’s polished and ready to go then an author should make it, and if not with that MS then with the next.

Having trawled through the slush pile at Penguin for many years the standard of new writing and submissions is extremely low so I believe it’s easy to shine if the author is professional and takes it upon himself to produce the best book possible.

Positive thinking and perseverance is the key. So many (talented) writers give up if their first MS doesn’t get anywhere whereas all writing is essential to the road to being published, no effort is wasted. Put it aside and move on to the next if you hit that wall. The author should always consider whether their book is the best to launch their career or can they do better? If your first book dies then the struggle of getting booksellers to take on the second book, however much the publisher pushes it, is the curve-ball to watch out for.

Q4:  How do you think the publishing industry will adapt to new and emerging technology over the next five years?

A4: Word on the grapevine is that they’re all in a state of flux about it and don’t really know where it’s going. But I think it’s exciting as it’s breaking up some of the power and monopoly and restrictions of the old publishing model between publisher, bookseller-to-consumer and high discounting, and where the author has often been the one to lose out.

New technology is opening up alternative ways for the consumer to acquire books and more interactive ways of reading books (e-books and multi-media) and for the author it’s introducing new ways of getting published (self-publishing and e-publishing).

If an author no longer has to attract a traditional publisher then in some ways it can be empowering to the author. If the author self-publishes, not overlooking the fact that the quality of manuscript should be high – no consumer wants to waste money and time on sloppy, boring works – and the author knows how to garner market presence (facebook, website, tweeting with a following) then it could even be lucrative whilst maintaining the vision for their book. If they can negotiate foreign rights, all the better. Although these are the areas that an agent or publisher know inside out – that and knowing what sells and how to publish well – so if the author doesn’t fancy reinventing the wheel then the traditional route is still the best.

Q5: What are your thoughts around the new community for unpublished writers being launched by iwritereadrate.com?

A5: I think any forum where writers can pool advice, chat to one another and give feedback on work without having to travel anywhere, is great. The best online communities are ones that are supportive rather than competitive and where writers feel they’re being looked after by one another and the site experts. And if it remains interactive where interesting and different things are brought to the e-forum table, then even better.

Q6: What top writing tips can you give the aspiring writers on iwritereadrate.com?

A6: Put the hoover away – writers will often find any excuse not to write – I know because I write and I hate cleaning yet my flat is spotless at the moment. Even if you stare at your screen for two hours a day you’re still allowing your mind to enter into that semi-dreamlike state; you’re still writing.

Sometimes when I’m stuck over a scene it feels like drinking bitter medicine. I know it’s good for me to persevere but it’s not always that enjoyable. If I’m really not enjoying it then I give myself permission to put it aside for a while. However, a writer friend said that the scenes she wrote when she wasn’t in the mood ended up being the best ones. So, persevere and don’t become attached to your ‘little darlings’.

Don’t worry too much about getting it wrong in the first draft – it can always be put right later. Self-editing is really as simple as reading from a hard copy (and out loud) and every time you stop reading or the flow snags, question why and how you can fix it?

Don’t stress about your writing and try not to care too much about the outcome of whether you get published or not as that puts unnecessary pressure on the process. Enjoy it, as that is what matters. And if you’re having a good time, so will your reader.

When you’re loving writing then you know it’s flowing and you’re in the zone. We all LIVE for those moments otherwise we wouldn’t do it at all.

Once you’ve completed your novel you must ensure that it’s at submission level before sending it out, and then there’s an effective process to avoid the slush pile. Half of my co-authored book handles this process:  Write a Blockbuster and Get it Published by Helen Corner and Lee Weatherly, Hodder. Or just contact me [email protected] and I can talk you through it.

Q7: If you could change anything about the traditional way that writers get their work published through Agents/Editors/Publishers – what would you change and why?

A7: For authors to be more professional about their writing and the submission process and to remember that it’s a business. If authors approached a publisher as they would a new job where they’re up against 1000 other applicants, it would probably put things in perspective.

For agents and editors to be faster in getting back to authors. However, remember they’re a business and until you’re earning money for them they don’t owe you anything. Harsh but true. So, when an agent spends time considering your work and giving you feedback, even if it’s a turn down, don’t forget to thank them.

Don’t rely on an editor making extensive revisions, if they do then it’s a bonus, as often they only have limited time to read your MS and make editorial suggestions. The dream author is the one who doesn’t need too much editorial input, and when they receive input to speak the editor’s language and know how best to fix the problem areas. For instance, one author had an editor say the main character wasn’t working and to cut him out. The other editor said to build him up. They’re saying the same thing – strengthen the character – and the solution is down to the author.

You can’t control how others work but you can have control over your own professionalism. Concentrate on that and the rest should follow.

And finally, really good luck and enjoy the sensation of writing and aiming to get published, because when you finish your first draft and you love reading it, and then an agent does and then the publisher, and then the book buyer! That’s what it’s all about.

Q8: Any final thoughts for the members of iwritereadrate.com?

A8: Good luck and keep in touch.

Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, Helen, some fantastic industry insights here which will be beneficial to our members.  Also, we totally agree, self-editing is an integral part of the writing process.

Remember to register on our website to be given pre-launch access to upload before anyone else and to be entered into our competition to win an eReader at the sites full launch.  There’s also a short FAQ’s section on our website if you’d like to find out more about us.

Visit us at: www.iwritereadrate.com