Critique

Bid on Me!

| Casey Wyatt

Happy Friday everyone! Please remember to stop by the Scribes and read my post – Pitch Perfect.

This  year, along with my other Soul Mate sisters, I’m participating in Brenda Novak’s Auction for Diabetes Research. So far, the auction has raised $1.3 million, with a goal of $2 million.

The auction runs from May 1, 2012 – May 31, 2012.

There is an impressive variety of items up for bid from autographed books, e-readers, jewelry, networking opportunities, and the grand prize is an iMac.

As a group, Soul Mate authors are auctioning off a Kindle, fully loaded with Soul Mate Books. Click here, to place a bid.

I’m giving away an e-book copy of Mystic Ink and a 15 page evaluation of a WIP in progress. If you’re interested, please click here, and it will take you directly to my bidding page.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that next weekend is Connecticut Fiction Fest – CTRWA’s annual writing conference.  

If you live in the area, this is a great event! We have agents and editors galore, a variety of valuable workshops, book signings and a raffle.

Check it out – Fiction Fest 2012.

Speaking of the conference, I’m pitching again this year, so it’s back to work for me!

Have a great weekend!

Now the Fun Begins!

| Casey Wyatt

Happy Friday everyone.  Don’t forget to visit me at the Scribes today and say “hi” to our special guest – Frankie Robertson. She’s discussing her move to indie publishing and her new, traditionally published book – Veiled Mirror.

After a few weeks of waiting, I’ve received critique for The Undead Space Initiative. The overall reception has been positive. The book isn’t perfect (nothing ever is) and I have a bunch of questions, comments and “things that may need more explaining” to sift through.

To my beta readers and critique partners – thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to read and comment on my book. The book will only be better because of you.

How should a writer deal with feedback? Gracefully is always a good place to start. Try not to stress about it or take it personally.

But, practically, you also can’t please everyone. Nor can you re-make the book is someone else’s image. Balance is necessary. Take what works for you and discard the rest. But don’t toss it completely away (more on this at the end of the post).

One of the hardest things I’ve had to learn is what should be changed or not changed based on critique. Monday’s Scribe – Jamie Pope- has done a great blog post on critique and I urge you to read it!

The two questions I always ask myself – Do I agree? Will the change make the book better?

Notice, I didn’t ask, “Do I like it?” It doesn’t matter if I like the feedback or not. It doesn’t matter whether I want to hear that I might need to change something.  If I agree, I suck it up, start evaluating, and make the changes.

Also, notice I said,  “If I agree.”

And I always try to apply the unused, technique-related feedback to my next novel. That way I can grow and improve as a writer.

Besides, I’m still the Author Goddess. And what I say goes.