Scribophile Is an Option to Consider

The hard work of revising Honor at Stake continues. My new friends at Scribophile (and others) are finding lots of ways to improve it, stuff I was blind to. My response to most of their comments is, duh, I should have seen that myself. But after nearly a year of writing the book, I realize I’m too close to it to see what’s clearly on the page—or for that matter, what’s not on the page but should be. I am so grateful for these fresh eyes.

Having a local writer’s group would be wonderful, but I have not been able to find one close enough. I highly recommend Scribophile for writers in the same situation. Being a member has dual benefits. I get my work critiqued. I learn valuable lessons from critiquing other members’ work, both what to do and what not to do. And then there are the benefits of critiquing on my own schedule and not taking valuable writing time to travel. The downside for Scribophile is that it takes time to earn enough “Karma” points to post my chapters for critique. It’s taken a month to get eighteen chapters posted (only four more to go), and so far only six of them have received critiques.

But eventually, after taking the bits of advice that seem appropriate (and politely ignoring those that don’t) I’ll go through my manuscript with a fine toothed comb once last time. I’ve decided my next step will be to send it off to The Writer’s Edge, a “manuscript screening service for 75 cooperating Christian publishers.” For a fee, they will evaluate it and tell me if it is “publishable.” If they deem it so, they will send out a synopsis to their member publishers and see if any of them are interested in offering me a contract. If they deem my manuscript unready, they will offer advice (though not a detailed critique) on how to improve it. By the way, paid critique services cost hundreds of dollars.

If a publisher picks up my book through The Writer’s Edge, I may decide not to pursue an agent after all. Or maybe I should still get one to better protect my contract rights? But then again, I’d really like to avoid paying an agent 15% of my blood, sweat, and tears. If I am not successful with Writer’s Edge, it will be back to the drawing board. Here’s hoping (and praying) for success!