Time for our monthly meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Hosted as ever by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the aim of the group is to offer a safe space where writers can share doubts and insecurities without fear of being judged. This month's co-hosts are Liza at Middle Passages, Shannon Lawrence, Melissa Maygrove and Olga Godim.
This month's IWSG question is: In this constantly evolving industry, what kind of offering/service do you think the IWSG should consider offering to members?
This is a great question and for me, it kind of answers itself - I think the clue is in "constantly evolving". In an industry of fleeting trends and new platforms popping up every other week, the IWSG should offer stability, continuity and above all, a warm hug to its members and it's already doing that in spades. It definitely feels like the last bastion of the old school blogging age and that's no bad thing, we can all gather once a month and arm ourselves with solid advice and support, get a laugh or two, before going out and continuing to plough our furrow in whatever way seems best at the time. That image of the beacon shining on the lighthouse is so well chosen. Something unchanging and reassuring.
So what have I been up to? Well, I continue on my querying journey for my DNA transitioning story. No requests yet, but hopefully getting close! I was lucky enough to get a critique from an agent and I also got my query letter, synopsis and Chapter 1 looked over on QTcritique, the community offered on Query Tracker. The feedback was definitely a mixed bag - some reviews are very perfunctory, while others go into great detail - but it's good for showing up common threads where a majority of readers think something needs work. I've implemented a lot of changes and am hopeful going into round 2 of querying.
What do you think the IWSG should offer members? Have you tried QTcritique? As ever, check out more responses from other IWSGers here. See you next month!
19 comments:
Good luck with your querying. Don't give up. That's great that you got a critique from an agent. I hop you'll think of entering some of my query critique contests offered by agents that I interview at Literary Rambles. Many of them represent adult fiction too.
Good luck with the second round a querying. That's helpful you've received feedback.
Good luck with querying. It's a long, tedious process (as you know).
Keep at it. You may be one step away from a yes!
I hope you find a home with your queries! Best of luck!
I love the warm hug of IWSG and I love how you put that. :)
Interesting take on the question. Thought provoking.
Good luck with your querying!
I did not know Query Tracker had those sorts of forums. (Of course, I'm not in the querying trenches as I haven't written anything in way too long, so not surprising.) Good luck. I'm sure you'll get requests for your novel any day now.
I haven't tried the QTcritique. Sounds like something that would be helpful. Good luck on your queries.
Good luck with the queries. Sounds like you are getting some positive feedback, at least. And I, too, really appreciate the continuity of this group.
Hi, Nick! I love what you said about IWSG offering stability and a "warm hug" to writers.
I haven't heard of Query Tracker, sounds interesting.
It's sad to think we're in "the last bastion of the old school blogging age ." I haven't found anything as good anywhere else. Maybe I'm getting old ~ lol! Good luck with your querying, Nick!
Warm hugs for everyone! :)
Good luck with your querying. Fingers crossed for good news for you!
It's such a slow process, isn't it? But you have the endurance, so it will turn out well. Of that I'm sure.
Yeah, those warm hugs are what keeps me blogging.
Best of luck with the querying.
I agree that we've got what we *need* from the IWSG, so it should definitely continue doing what it already does. Good luck with your querying!
Good for you to have readers send you critiques. And you are correct to see where a few people say the same thing. This is where you should concentrate on revision. All the luck with your querying. You can do this.
Best of luck with round two of the queries!
Excellent point about the IWSG. All the other platforms exhaust me because they are constantly switching and changing.
Hi Nick - way too late ... but better late than never, I guess! I love your sentence about the IWSG offering stability, continuity and above all, a warm hug to its members and it's already doing that in spades. So right there ... all the best with progressing your novel - cheers Hilary
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