Should I get a manuscript assessment (appraisal)? Should I get a manuscript edit?

Should I get a manuscript assessment (appraisal)?

Should I get a manuscript edit?

Generally this means you are getting an assessment to find out whether the manuscript is commercially viable, if there is a good story arc, if the characters are believable, etc.

Basically it is a person reading over your manuscript and telling you if they like it, as it is a very subjective check. And you need to be aware that different readers will say different things. 

The assessor looking over your manuscript is being paid by you and will want repeat employment, and therefore will often give feedback mentioning that your work is great, but then point out a few areas to work on. 

You may then go back and make the adjustments, but still have a manuscript that is in dire need of editing. Plus, if you go and use the services of an editor following this, you and the editor may go and change all the areas that the assessor suggested you alter in the first place.

Upon typing this, I have realised that my view of manuscript assessments is very subjective also. You will need to form your own opinion. However, now that my opinion is out there, here is another: The only time it would be worthwhile to get an assessment would be if you have it assessed by 3 assessors and they all say it was terrible. Then you would have a fairly good idea it was really bad. If they all said it was good, you still would not know for sure. At least with an edit you are being shown all the issues that could make your manuscript unreadable, or boring, or not believable, or lack that special something. An editor will generally go line by line and help you make decisions on what needs to be altered, but at a grass-roots level, rather that a general read-through point of view.

So, I suggest an edit first. This will help you with your story, your sentence structure, your characters, your story arc, your punctuation, your start middle and end, and everything else. This will give you a great working base to go from.

Later, if you want an assessor's opinion on if they think it is commercially viable, and to see if they like it and what kind of author/title it is similar to, then it may be worth it. However, again, it is subjective. And not everyone likes the same stories. An editor will help you create something that is correctly done and with real life characters.

I hope this helped. 

Cheers,

Mat Clarke.

P.S. Services for editing if you are interested: 

https://www.worldwriterscollective.com/editng-services

The Higher Intelligence Dilema

Disagree and agree with the following:

1) Would you like a place with less problems?
2) Would you like to rarely feel pain or anxiety?
3) Would life for you be better if life was simpler?
4) What about if your days were more like dreams and you forgot much of it by the next day?
5) What about if relationships were structured and easy?

If you answered YES to at least three of these, then you want to be turned into an animal, such as a lyrebird, that scratches its food up from the ground as it lazily wanders the Australian underbrush.

Humans evolved and grew larger brains while gaining the ability to talk and pass on information in various forms. Our world society structure changed continuously throughout time, and so did the kind of people that lorded over us.

I spoke to a person the other day while in my line of work with the state government. He said that he hated being sober. All he wanted to do was be drunk all the time. And eventually he will 'off' himself.

There are many reasons that this may happen. It could be as simple as an addictive personality... However, often it is the way a person was raised, the influences they had from other adult figures, the teenagers he messed around with, and the circumstances that evolved as he became an adult.

The funny thing is, if he was a lyrebird, he would not have the brain capacity to realise all this. He would not get so down. And he would not know how to aquire or create alcohol (some animals do get stoned and drunk in the wild).

This raises many questions. And even though to de-evolve seems like the answer, I would like you to give me the answer that you think is right.

Regardless, it seems as if we might be doing life wrong.

Maybe we have set up so many social and religious and government road blocks that only a select few are really happy. While some are mostly happy. And most of us are 50% happy. While the remaining people just want to die.

Did something go wrong?
Because maybe lyrebirds are happier.

Editing to Publish

Do you need someone to read over your work?

Have you exhausted all friends and family and you now don't think they will be able to give you an objective view?

Would you like a point of view from someone from the other side of the world?

Is your dialogue working?

Is your first sentence going to catch people's attention quickly enough?

Is the ending great?

Is the sentence structure ok?

Why not drop your story inside here and have someone read your work!

It's FREE!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mx9e9m43ljweh11/AAD3I7-VKOT5XSL8As6k1UOxa?dl=0

Read the READ ME file to find out more :)

Writing competition and prize money

Ooooh wow, a writing competition.

Join in and write.
Support the World Writers Collective so they can publish you.

$100 cash prize, plus your story at the top of the website with the other top 5 winners. And a big chance of winning because this is a new competition with very few entries :)

www.worldwriterscollective.com/writing-competitons

Publish Yourself Here

It's a long road to getting published. Especially if you want your writing to gain a substantial audience.
It's amazingly hard to get your writing out there to the masses of people all over the world, let alone your own country.

If you want to give yourself and your writing a good leg up, then why not publish your work and your profile on the World Writers Collective site!

The site has only been running for a short time, so it's easy right now to join as a member and get noticed. And it's cheap!

Even if you have only written one or two short pieces, that's enough to share with your audience. No experience necessary.

You'll not only get your own personal profile page, but you'll also be able to enter the free competitions that allow your writing to be:

1) On the HOME page at the top so everyone can see it, read it, buy it.

2) Added to the top readership list if you rank high within the competitions.

3) Be added to the anthology at the end of each year.

4) Be edited for free by other writers within the collective by simply dumping your project into the member DropBox.

5) Included in much more to come!


Check it out now:
https://www.worldwriterscollective.com


The website is still under construction, so add yourself to it ASAP so you will be ready for the launch.


More:
JOIN AS A WRITER.

Your membership will give you these amazing opportunities:

1) Your own page on the website. See the Jane Doe and John Doe Sample Pages.

2) Your achievements announced on our webpage.

3) Your book launch announced on our webpage and emailed to all our subscribers.

4) Your chance to have your best writing piece at the top of our main page to draw in hundreds of readers.

5) A valuable network of writers that help each other edit, write, throw ideas around, and discuss writing techniques, as well as publishing techniques.

What are you waiting for? This is it!

(The introductory price of $15 P.A. is definitely worth it. Membership is free for 2017. You can still pay now, and that will cover you for all of 2018.)


What you need to provide:
As you can see by the sample Jane Doe and John Doe page, lots of information is provided.
You can provide whatever information you like. However, so the author pages are at least mostly similar, we will keep to the basic format that you see on the sample profiles.
Check out Mat's, Melka's, and Jane's pages and you will see how different each is in their own way.

-A short blurb will be at the top next to your photo, so I'll need both of those supplied via email as soon as you can.
-A short paragraph of news about you is next to that again. Please send me an update regularly so I can keep your readers informed - minimum of once a month - maximum of once a week.
-What have you written? If you have books as hard copy or online, send me a link, or how people can buy them (Smashwords is great for online sales and easy to link to). If you are not selling them, send me a Word Doc or PDF, and I'll list them for free for people to read.
-A great bio about you. Editors, writers, authors, literary agents, all have bios online. Check them out and do something similar. Generally a bio is about your writing. However, at the end of the bio many authors add a little something personal about themselves which helps their readers relate to them better.
-Everything else is all about you, which is again so readers can connect with you. It's the same as if you were an actor or a musician, your fans want to know about you as well as about what you write. Ensure you add photos too.


Further Information:
A world of writers have come together to create the Writers Collective. It is here that everyone can become fully immersed within a writer’s work and learn all about your developing career. This is your first step to becoming a paid writer. No, you are not a sell-out. Instead, you will be recognised for the work you already do.

However, it is not an easy road and requires lots of time and even more patience. But this is what appeals to literary agents, publishers, and editors: being ready to pitch a finished written piece that already has a readership base.

For now, offering up free samples as well as free full-length stories (if you wish to), is the way you are going to build up a large readership.

All writing welcome. Novels, poetry, non-fiction, scripts, everything.

To help with the running of this website there is a small cost of $15 for an entire year (free for 2017). At present, this will not need to rise. However, it is best to call this the introductory amount while author numbers are building.

As well as notifications on this website regarding everyone's work, such as book launches, being a winner or runner-up for writing competitions, being published (traditional and self-published), and other successes, you will also have your own page to post up work, add links to your blog, links to your website, links to where you are selling your books online and hard-copy, and much more. For only $15, it is a good deal.

Even if you have other creative things you want to show off or sell, you are welcome to list these as well. Maybe you paint, maybe you have an EBAY store, or maybe you host roll playing games. Feel free to list these as well!

Check out the website and the author pages that are already populated and see what you think. If you like what you see, then please get in touch.

Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane heat wave and wind!

Looks like we are getting belted around by our desert winds.

So what's happening?
Well, when we get winds blasting us from the northern areas of Australia, we also get the heat that has draped our central red land, which gives us this crazy heat. And that my friends is setting new records all up and down the east coast.

It's quite normal during summer, as our winds change direction during this time, but for Spring it is just crazy.

Now, because on warm days it is great to grab a good book and start reading, check this out:

www.worldwriterscollective.com/mat-carke

Some great stuff inside!

Oh, and by the way, this heat is not going to last, so open your home up and let it in. Next week will probably go back to below 20C!

Cheers,
Mat.

"WTF Is Happening With My Life?"

Feel like a free evening surrounded by other readers and writers?

Want to get involved and hear about a fabulous book written by an Australian author?

Ever thought you might want to write a book yourself?

Then you should come along and hear a remarkable tale of one woman's journey of getting her sh*t together.

Hopefully I'll see you there :)

Jacqueline Cripps: 

"WTF Is Happening With My Life?" 

Book Launch

Join the hilariously honest Jacqueline at Brighton library in Victoria as she guides you through her journey of getting her sh*t together!

Sunday, April 30, 2017

2.00pm - Drinks and nibbles
2.30pm - Author talk with Jacqueline
3.00pm - Book signing
4.00pm - Event close.

For the launch only, all attendees can get Jacqueline's debut novel at a special discounted price of $25!

facebook.com/jacquelinecrippsauthor