Not sure where to post this, but I wondered if anyone's had any experience of ****? They seem to be offering a deal for people who join them this autumn to have their work assessed, and various other things. There's no way I'd join them rather than WW, by the way! But as well as... the offer seems very tempting.
Susiex

[Edited by david bruce at 08:55:00 on 05 November 2007
Reason: legal ]

I've had a quick look at their site and have to say it's rather vague. There are no specific details of what they provide, and they don't say who they are. The pictures of three famous authors on their home page are a little misleading, in that the unwary will think these are working for them (even if one of them is dead!).

I think, too, this is misleading:

"we'll help you edit your book, and find a publisher"

The way it's phrased implies that they will find you a publisher (i.e. the first part of the sentence says they will help you edit, so the meaning runs into the second part, despite the comma).

Also, this is very odd, where they're talking about their staff:

"others as publishing executives handling scores of submissions daily"

Never heard of a publishing executive handling the slush pile before!

Terry

I briefly considered this before joining WriteWords but there was just something about it that made me wary. I am always very suspicious of anything involving handing over money (it took me ages to sign up for WW!) and the slightly rough-and-ready site design was a minus. What decided me against it in the end was that on one page the editor is referred to as '****' and on another page as '****.' OK, it could be sisters running it, but I just thought that was odd.

The offer was running then too - I think that was the beginning of this year.

The site does have a few interesting articles though, which are free to view.

Caro

I presume you mean **** since a search brought up several ****

Looks a bit dodgy to me, in that I can't find any names on the site at all, which contradicts what someone else said in this thread. It may be well-intentioned or it may be a scam, but they seem preciously light on details of who is running this and what their qualifications are to do so.

Deb

[Edited by david bruce at 08:56:00 on 05 November 2007
Reason: legal - see post later in thread]

Thanks all. Yes, it does seem rather vague. Just that £27 seemed a steal to get your work assessed...but then that depends who's doing the assessing and how they go about it!
Susiex

As far as I could tell the fee for getting work assessed was extra - up to £95. I can't imagine they give you more than couple of paragraphs of feedback. (A case of 'you get what you pay for'
I think some of the established literary editorial companies will read through your initial chapters and tell you whether it's got legs or not, for a similar amount.

Thanks, Naomi. I'm going to send to Hilary J or TLC when the time is right. Couldn't afford the whole novel, but the first three chapters and synopsis would be very helpful, and as someone said on another thread, it might well point out repeating errors which one can look for in the rest of the ms.
Susiex

To be honest, susie, you could get your first 3 chapters and synopsis done for free on WW (if you ignore the subscription ).
I'm saving up for a read through of the entire manuscript for a bit of feedback on the plot structure and how to tighten it up (it's bit long), which hopefully will just cost a few hundred pounds - as opposed to forking over several hundreds of pounds for a full report which I don't need yet, and which will be a lot cheaper once I've trimmed away the fat.

Good thinking, Naomi, on both counts. I will certainly post them on WW, and join the synopsis group too, if I can.
Sx

Looks shoddy to me, and the payment method is VISA only. I would be suspicious. This is the site: ****

Not to be confused with : **** which is quite good. They give away free books now and then and have realtime interviews with authors.

there is also **** which looks like a personal website.

Colin M

Thanks, Colin. This clears up my own misunderstanding - I'd seen **** mentioned in a thread (possibly by you) and I googled it and picked up the uk one instead of the org one. Then got seduced by the offer. Definitely not going for it. Thanks, all.
Susiex

[Edited by david bruce at 08:57:00 on 05 November 2007
Reason: legal]

If it's any consolation, I did the same thing with a file sharing site and got scammed for £25. Lost the money, but the main worry was they had my credit card details. Luckily I realised and cancelled the card - too late to stop the payment, but quick enough that I didn't get charged for a load of other things. I'm usually so careful and suspicious, but there you go.

Poor you. It's a good lesson, all this, in following your instinct. I signed up for another writers site (free) but am not getting a good feeling about it so will not be getting involved.
Sx

I've been on a few. Some are almost inactive and others are full of kids. AbsoluteWrite is okay, but the same questions come up again and again.

but the same questions come up again and again.

That is true of all writers sites, although they tend to pop up more often on the free sites because that's where most new writers and youngsters start.

MyWritersCircle is a good one for beginners, and has the advantage of being child friendly - ie. no work with a sexual content allowed.