Young Writers Society

Hey! I wrote this novel a couple of months ago, and I wanted to people to critique it, so if you have a like.. a long time, check it out!


Summary:
The Three Peterson boys go to a secret summer camp called S.K.T. and find out that they all have secret powers. Race can fly. Jared is the Gifted, and Zach has Super Human Strength.

A year later, the three Petersons are sent on an adventure that will change their lives forever.

Just to let you know:

I have downloaded this, and will get started reading this right away. I can't promise anything lengthy just yet, but have no fear! I'll work on it!

...Yeah, I'm not sure why I told you that. I guess I wanted to tell you I was there for you?

PLC,
Muffin

Errr, what Muffin said. I'll post the critique of the prologue and chapter 1 on Friday. You've written a lot!

Charlie

Oh yeah, this is the first part of three books. The Gifted and the Cursed is a trilogy, and the prolouge of each book really just is important to the third book. So, you don't have to read it.


BBB

Well, I read your novel...skimmed through it, really. it's good as it is, but the writing style is a little immature. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to get a full-length review. I can tell you, though, that you chose an excellent title. The title alone made me want to download it!

The thing is, the subject matter wasn't really my favorite - I'm not so into vampires, etc, so after a while it lost my interest. This could just be a personal thing, though, so you'll have to get vampire-lovers and superpower-lovers to tell you what they think.

Cheerio! Congratulations on finishing the novel, by the way!

~mademoiselleKool

Ok. I critiqued the prologue and I'm working on Chapter 1. My main comment so far is that you often use the same words to begin paragraphs (especially in the prologue) so be aware of that.

Full comments are on the document

Charlie

Holy Cow you guys!
I submitted this story to a publisher and guess what?

THIS IS GONNA GET PUBLISHED!

I am so happy! Well, not really. I have to pay a 'subsidy' or something like that fee and that is like 6000 buckaroos. Hm..that's a difficult thing. Anyone have any ideas for me to make 6k? and quick?


BBB

Tell the publisher to go die in a hole. It's a scam dude, sorry. A real publisher would never ask for your money.

Really? You sure?

That's brilliant! I guess you won't need my editing any more then! I'm amazed! Well done!

$6000? Can your parents bail you out? Maybe you could fundraise, saying that you're raising money to get your book published or something? I dunno.

This is brilliant though! Congratulations! Do you get your own proper editor now ?

Charlie

Ok, the publisher is named DORRANCE PUBLISHING CO. Is this a scam?
Well, let me go and get the letter and I'll read it exactly:

First, I will assign an editor to mechanically edit The Gifted and the Cursed, making a check for consistency and accuracy of punctuation, spelling, and grammar. The manuscript will be returned to you, for your approval, upon completon of the editing process.

That's a scary thought. Anyway, I still want you guys to correct this, for like stuff that doesn't make sense so that I can revise it and send it back to them. Please continue!!!

And more:

Our subsidy publishing fees generally average between $6000- $10000. The fee is dependent on the lenght of your manuscript and other physical characterisics of the finished book. Whatever the fee, please be assured it is not due at once; rather, it is paid over time.

Oh my gosh! What the heck does that mean? I mean my book the Gifted and the Cursed is 73 pages...do I still have to pay a flippin 6000 bucks?

And more:

If after the exact subsidey fee for The Gifted and the Cursed has been determind, you think that the fee may be a financial burden for you, please let us know. Often, we can offer our new authors attractive and flexible, intrest free payment plan.s it may be possible for you to get strarted with as little as a $500 down payment and pay the remaining fee in as many as 24 installment.

Uh.. what? Does anyone have any clue on what they mean? I mean, I'm fourteen. I don't understand any of this. I know that I have to pay.. but I mean 6000 bucks is a lot.. even just for a short story..

And check this out: this is a letter to an editor to check out my story: sorry if this is long.

Please revieew the reader's report for the above noted manuscript. I recommend it for publication via our subsidy-publishing program.

In The Gifted and the Cursed, Peterson (me) has created an imaginative and descriptive storyline surrounding three brothers: Zach, Race, and Jared. As the story begins, the three are sent to camp against their will. When they arive at the S.K.T. camp, all of the children are curious as to what kind of campi it was. However, they sopon discover that not only is the camp different, so are all of the campiers:

"All of you here tonight will be given--no wait, all of you here tongiht already have a power! :If you asked, I could name each one of your powers, because your ancestors will have the same power!~ You wee, many many years ago, the Power of Light was stolen and evil unleashed its fullest extent. The Power found their masters and hid a part of it within their human master. All of you have a part of that power inside of your blood."

The camp, run by Shawn Snow Jr. was desighned to train all of the descendents of the origianl Super Kids. However, dark magic is soon around them, jeopardizing the camp and their lives. As a curse is set againsts Jared, Shawn does his best to protect him, however the powers are too strong for him. As Shawn explains:

"Well, Quadrena died a long im ago, in a war in the acient city of Oosengoth. Oh, this is hard to explain! Well, I think that my great-great-grandfather made a deal with Quadrena to cooperate with the curse, and that Quadrena would come back from the dead to hunt whoever thouched the wand."

Throughout the story, Peterson maintains an exciting storyline. THe plot seems well organized and it should be easy for readers to become wrapped up in the characters' adventures..


Well, that makes me seem important. Anyone have any help or advice? This is freaking terrifying!

Seriously, don't write back. They'll take your money, produce a crappy book (that won't appear in any shops), and quite likely force you to buy a certain number of the books, costing you even more money. You'll end up losing $6,000+ as well as the rights to your story.

If you want to be published, submit the novel to a real publisher. A real publisher would never, ever, ever, ask you for any money. Ever.

... ever.

Altertively, check out http://www.lulu.com, which is a decent (ie. not a scam) self-publishing company.

............... ever.

And google them first:
http://www.mindsightseries.com/cgi-bin/ ... /5221.html
http://christianwriters.com/forums/show ... php?t=1028 <- Third post sums it up.

Yeah, a quick bit of research reveals that they're just a vanity publisher. You'll get the same sort of thing you'd get with Lulu, only it'll cost you $6,000, rather than being free. Heck, I'd say Lulu is better, simply because you get more control over the design of the book.

Yup. I don't know much about publishing, but just the letter sounds bad. Did it really have all those typos, or was that just you typing too fast, bigbadbear? If it did, I'd be especially suspicious. The editor's letter did make your story sound interesting, though. Hopefully I'll read it when I get the time...

Yeah, I was typing too fast. Sorry about that! I was just so excited!