Tips for Writers
Too good to be true?
Recently we've seen a bit of a growth
industry in web sites that purport to help writers get published. They
have certain characteristics in common:
1) They are generally free for writers
to join, but offer no payment themselves.
2) They claim that unnamed
"publishers" will see and publish your work at some point pay
you to publish.
3) Some offer "peer review".
4) Some offer "pay per click"
I do not recommend such sites.
Some signs that the site is not
credible:
1) You keep seeing "your" instead of "you're" for
"you are" in the site copy:
"YOUR GOING TO BE PUBLISHED" ... and other basic editorial
mistakes. If the site's owners are not professional writers, there is no
chance they are in the company of credible publishers.
2) None of the "publishers" are named. They don't say how many
publishers they represent. There are likely none, in most cases. A few
are up front about that - even saying "at some future time"
they may attract paying markets. You are better off to set up your own
page. You have as much chance as they do of attracting a paying
publisher.
3) There is no indication of their
traffic or the amount of payment a writer can expect. Everything is
presented in rather vague terms.
4) There is no editorial review. While "we publish anyone"
appears to be a good deal for the beginner, for the published pro or
serious aspiring writer, that's a tip-off that your writing will end up
in a slush-pile of atrocious drek written by barely literate people
desperate to get their names in print, anywhere, at any price.
5) These kinds of services come and go, and to date, I have not received
or read a single report of a professional writer finding any significant
income through them. In fact, they usually end in disappointment,
sometimes even lost income for writers. It's one way for a web publisher
to get content without paying for it, but I'd have to see real evidence
that writers are getting published in paying markets (at reasonable pay
rates) before I was able to swap links with such a site.
6) "Peer Review" is almost
universally ineffective as a learning tool. Bluntly, beginning writers
tend to be hyper-sensitive about critical feedback. While they may say
they want honest criticism, they generally react defensively to it when
it's offered. What's the point in critiquing another writer when you
know that 99 out of a hundred will ignore you, flame you, act hurt, post
nasty reviews of your work, or tell you "You don't understand my
muse/this genre/(insert reason)"? What you end up with is silence
from thoughtful critics and a lot of pointless Pollyanna "Oh I
loved it, look at mine!" posts. Furthermore, most of those with
time to participate are other amateurs, not professional writers. They
are going to miss a lot of your critical mistakes, because they have the
same bad habits. What's the point? Go to a professional editor and pay
them for their feedback - it will be more than worth the price.
On "pay per click" sites I
could not put my disdain any more clearly than Angela Hoy did in HOW
TO BE A STARVING WRITER: Write for Pay-Per-Click Sites!
