This is most impressive. I enjoyed it very much--beautiful, restrained yet lyrical writing. I wish its author the best of luck in placing it. It deserves an audience.High praise indeed. Any author would be pleased to receive such feedback from an independent reviewer. Why do I feel so ambiguous about it then?
A few months ago, I responded to an ad in facebook of all places. It was for a website called Creative Byline: “We think of ourselves as match.com for writers and editors, bringing together people who write books and the editors who buy them.” The site promises manuscript reviews, easy submission to a small selection of publishers, and tracking information during the submission process.
The $19 US fee seemed like a reasonable price for the service, so I went ahead and submitted a sample, a synopsis, and a newly created outline. Shortly thereafter, I received the positive comment reprinted above and the green light to submit my package to one of the site’s affiliated publishers. I waited the requisite three weeks for the expected rejection (this is publishing after all) only to receive word that since the editor hadn’t even looked at my submission, I was now free to resubmit it somewhere else.
Unfortunately for me, there was only one publisher on the site that would have room on its list for a book like mine. Consequently, I submitted to the “Manuscript Library” in the faint hope that one of the other editors would at least have a peek at it while trolling through the submissions. Needless to say, my meter remains stuck at “0 Views, 0 Responses.”
I’m curious to hear from other members of Creative Byline. Have your submissions been met with glowing praise followed by benign neglect, or can I take a measure of pride in the positive feedback I have received? Either way, I have no regrets about trying this service out. It forced me to write an outline which I have used for two subsequent submissions to other publishers. It also reassured me that my submission package probably doesn’t have any glaring problems that would invite rejection without reading.
Best off Googling your question as there are most likely others asking the same question. You've also created what they call a backlnk which will help their ranking in the search engines.....
ReplyDeleteThey're already #1 on Google, so my little backlink won't mean anything. There is a great blog exchange on CB here: http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2008/03/victoria-strauss-creative-byline-great.html
ReplyDeleteHey Travis, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Nice site, nice blog. My experience was very similar. I got some revision suggestions the first time I submitted my package, made the revisions, submitted again, and received: "This is an improvement, a little tighter and more cleanly written. The basic steps of the narrative are there. Nice job on the revisions! Good luck in the next phase!"
ReplyDeleteThe editor I submitted to, Mary Norris of Globe Pequot, didn't look at my material at all and I, too, submitted to the manuscript library after that. I'm not too disappointed, though, because the feedback helped me some like it did for you. Thanks for contacting me and good luck with your quest for publication!
Thanks for dropping by to comment Marianne. I wonder what percentage of approved manuscripts never get a look. Kind of renders the three week guarantee meaningless if it is invoked more often than not.
ReplyDeleteI was also intrigued by Creative Byline and in Feb,2009, tried submitting a children's picture book manuscript while the membership was still free. Since the fee for a picture book was only $9, what did I have to lose? Also, I could submit the entire MS, so I would receive a more thorough critique. Another reason that I chose this MS was because had already been workshopped twice by my children's writing circle, which includes a few published writers, so I felt it was already close to finished.
ReplyDeleteI received useful feedback and some nice compliments from the reader within a day or two. I made the suggested changes and resubmitted. It went back to the same reader, which was something I had questioned CB about. The reader was surprised by some of my changes, and thought I should return to the original storyline, but nonetheless was complimentary about both the first and second versions. I made the final set of changes and submitted for the third time. The $9 fee included only three readings. This third submission came back from the reader with only a few typos to correct, so it was still not approved for submission to an editor. Because correcting the typos and resubmitting for approval was the fourth reading, I had to pay again. Well, it irritated me a bit, since I was changing a few debatable commas, but I was too far in the process to quit. I paid up and finally my ms was approved.
CB has only one publisher accepting children's books, with one of their top editors and an editorial assistant to choose between. I chose the editor. This editor did look at my package, interestingly at about 4:45 p.m. on the last day of the three week period. She did not comment on it, tho. I have not done anything further with the MS.
I enjoyed the process, and definitely benefitted from the First Reader feedback. I also found the CB staff responsive, cheerful and helpful. However, it was a bit weird in that the reader is totally anonymous. And the writer cannot respond to the reader's comments. This is a bit unnerving. You also have to make the changes he/she wants or you don't get your MS approved.
Now I see that they have finally instituted a membership fee, while retaining the individual fees for each submission. And there are only 5 publishers, which is a very small list. I am not sure there is enough in it for writers at this point to justify the $100 membership fee.
Sorry this is a bit long, but I was so intrigued at first and then a bit disappointed, and wanted to share the whole experience.
Thank you for relating your experience Corinne. I think anyone who stumbles on this blog when trying to decide if CB is for them will appreciate the detail. From what I hear, the children's picture book market can be even tougher to break into than the adult fiction market. Due to the illustrations, there probably aren't even ways to drum up interest on line through a site similar to youwriteon or authonomy. The only resource that springs to mind is the 2010 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market. All the best placing your work.
ReplyDelete