kerzain
08-20-2009, 09:42 PM
I've been hitting up various message boards, writing critique websites and the like for a couple years now. There's a lot of junk out there, a lot of scam sites intended to simply take your money by charging a monthly fee (for nothing in return) or by charging to review your work.
Some of these sites are also hosted by self-publishing companies like Lulu, so their forums are full of jaded and angry self-publishers (who are out hundreds or thousands of dollars with nothing to show for it in return) who hate the competition, try to do nothing but bring you down and tear your work apart for no good reason, or spend every post trying to tell you why you need to buy THEIR book on publishing to learn the in's and out's of the self-publishing industry and why real publishing is such a scam...
In the thick of all this there is one website (or more precisely, forum) I'd recommend to anyone who is serious about trying to make the most of what they write without feeling like they are being sold something:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php
If you aren't familiar with Absolute Write it is to writing and publishing what QT3 is to gaming, almost. I say almost because although QT3 has a ton of people "in the gaming biz" there isn't a direct focus on working in the industry, or getting work in the industry. It is more of a fan-site for games with an occasional insightful post about the behind-the -scenes stuff. The AW forums serve a different purpose, it is more directly focused on writing and the process behind it, be it story-boarding, editing, publishing and the like -- yet it still has many many people in the biz who give their two cents.
The site is full of people in and out of the industry, at all levels, from known authors to editors to publishers working at major firms all the way down to people who are just getting started and don't know anything about anything.
It's a good site for the professional and the wanna-be professional or the amateur alike. There's no strings attached and they aren't trying to sell you anything in every forum. It is simply an invaluable resource for information on writing from the people in and our of the business. Though, because it IS an internet forum, take some stuff with a grain of salt, everyone has an opinion.
Some of these sites are also hosted by self-publishing companies like Lulu, so their forums are full of jaded and angry self-publishers (who are out hundreds or thousands of dollars with nothing to show for it in return) who hate the competition, try to do nothing but bring you down and tear your work apart for no good reason, or spend every post trying to tell you why you need to buy THEIR book on publishing to learn the in's and out's of the self-publishing industry and why real publishing is such a scam...
In the thick of all this there is one website (or more precisely, forum) I'd recommend to anyone who is serious about trying to make the most of what they write without feeling like they are being sold something:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php
If you aren't familiar with Absolute Write it is to writing and publishing what QT3 is to gaming, almost. I say almost because although QT3 has a ton of people "in the gaming biz" there isn't a direct focus on working in the industry, or getting work in the industry. It is more of a fan-site for games with an occasional insightful post about the behind-the -scenes stuff. The AW forums serve a different purpose, it is more directly focused on writing and the process behind it, be it story-boarding, editing, publishing and the like -- yet it still has many many people in the biz who give their two cents.
The site is full of people in and out of the industry, at all levels, from known authors to editors to publishers working at major firms all the way down to people who are just getting started and don't know anything about anything.
It's a good site for the professional and the wanna-be professional or the amateur alike. There's no strings attached and they aren't trying to sell you anything in every forum. It is simply an invaluable resource for information on writing from the people in and our of the business. Though, because it IS an internet forum, take some stuff with a grain of salt, everyone has an opinion.