Call for Crit Submissions

I’m thinking of adding something a little different to the blog this year. Critiques!

Need a fresh set of editing eyes? Want to make sure your characters come across? Got specific questions?  I’m opening up the blog, twice a month, to 300-word excerpts or queries.
 

Take the crit plunge!

Here are the details:

• Before you send, make sure you’re comfortable with me posting your excerpt, plus my crit, on the blog (I’ll always give you a heads up before it would go live).
• Send your submission to Nicole [dot] r [dot] singer [at] gmail [dot] com.
• In the subject line, include “Crit Me” and your genre.
• Let me know if there are any specific questions or concerns you want me to watch for during the crit.
• Limit your excerpt to about 300 words (Yes, plus or minus a few sentences is fine). If you want a query critiqued, feel free to send the whole thing.
• I’ll post the crits on Fridays a couple times each month and will let you know before your piece goes live.

And, here’s what you’ll get:

• I'll critique the piece from the viewpoint of a reader. That means I’ll let you know my overall reactions to the scene as I'm reading, what I think works, where you might be able to improve, and suggestions for how to do that.
• I’ll mark grammar, tense and punctuation edits if they pull me out of the story.
• I’ll respond to any of your specific questions or concerns.
• Though I’m not a professional editor, I like to think I have a little cred. I write and edit for my day job in PR (including a couple books), and I’m a crit partner for multiple folks who seem to like me. More importantly, I adore reading and writing, and I love, love, love helping people hit that perfect tone for their scenes.

 

If that sounds like it’s for you – send your stuff my way! And, if I’ve missed anything and you still have more questions, leave ‘em in the comments trail and I’ll see if I can make up some answers.

Shortly after I drafted this post, I saw Misha's awesome idea of "Paying it Forward" for her blog. I've always thought sharing insights, edits and encouragement through crits was a great way to help other writers get closer to their dreams. Goodness knows, it's definitely helped me along the way. So I'm really looking forward to this.