Creative Byline met their revised deadline of August 20 and added a number of new features to their website. There was only one surprise that wasn’t revealed in my previous blog post, but I’ll save that one for the end.
Basically, you’re looking at two membership levels [Edit: Link removed due to site's demise]. A free introductory service that allows you to play around with the user friendly interface and a paid membership that costs $29US per quarter or $99US per year. The two biggest features paid membership offer seem to be access to market trends and the ability to submit your pre-screened manuscript to an editor at one of the seven participating publishing companies. Passing the pre-screening stage still does not mean that the editor will actually view your work. Through some investigations on the Internet, I have found two writers who, like myself, did not have their submissions viewed.
See my first blog post and Victoria Strauss' Writer's Beware to read about their experiences.
Our experience was different from the one described in the CB News Section, “We’ve been able to demonstrate that we can connect writers and editors,” says Brad MacLean, CEO of Creative Byline, Inc. “In our beta phase, writers got feedback from first readers in three days, on average, and from editors in just over 8 days." If the average response time to manuscripts was eight days, a number of people must have received responses in less than eight days to balance out those of us who went twenty-one before our submissions expired. If you are one of those writers who received a response, I’d love to hear from you.
Paid membership also qualifies you to spend an additional $15-199US for your First Reader review. This review must be completed before you can submit to an editor, so an additional fee is unavoidable. You would definitely want to weigh your options (creative writing groups, college or university classes, paying a freelance editor etc.) to decide if the First Reader review would be of benefit to you.
The biggest surprise for me was the new 5 star rating system that is being employed by the First Readers. The levels look like this:
Five stars: This submission is of outstanding quality. The potential market appeal is very high.
Four stars: This submission is above average in quality and possible market appeal. It should be very competitive among other books in the genre.
Three stars: This submission is of acceptable, but not remarkable, quality. Errors in content, style, and structure are minimal. It may compete well among other books within its genre.
Two stars: This submission needs additional work in either content or structure (including accuracy and mechanics). While the work may exhibit some strength, it is not consistent or cohesive.
One star: This submission could use extensive additional work in both content and structure. It may be inconsistent or inaccurate. It is not, in general, compelling and is not likely to stand out within its genre.
***Edit August 27, 2009***
I just received an email from Creative Byline today sent out to their beta members indicating that all manuscripts defaulted to the 3 star rating during the website transition. This information will make the next part of the post seem less relevant. I've chosen not to edit or delete it for the sake of transparency.
***Edit ends***
Despite receiving this review in April,
Creative Byline reviewer notes
Date Reviewed: 04/01/2009
Review #: R00001038
for some reason I found only three stars attached to my “not remarkable” manuscript. There was no indication if my MS was re-evaluated or if the rating had been given in April but only displayed today. It’s difficult not to speculate why there is a discrepancy between my comment and the star rating. Did a lot of people receive 3 stars or less in an attempt to drum up action for higher priced First Reader reviews so that we can improve our MSs to four or even five star range? This line from the site is telling “We've introduced star ratings so you can see, beyond meeting basic requirements, how much more attractive to editors you could make your manuscript.” Maybe it’s just an accurate assessment and I am too close to my own project to see it. You can read an excerpt for yourself and let me know what you think of my impressive, yet unremarkable novel.
From what I can see, Creative Byline has three main challenges facing it:
1) Can it sign up a critical mass of publishers willing to attract enough writers looking for an online submission process?
2) Will there be enough success stories of writers who earned contracts through CB who never would have been able to have their work seen in the traditional query & submission process?
3) Can it build a viable business based on membership fees from a group of people notoriously lacking in money?
I wish them well, but can’t see myself plunking down more money at this point in time.
***Edit August 27, 2009***
Beta members have also been offered a free membership for up to two quarters, so it looks like I will be able to get a closer look at the full membership now.
***Edit ends***
Basically, you’re looking at two membership levels [Edit: Link removed due to site's demise]. A free introductory service that allows you to play around with the user friendly interface and a paid membership that costs $29US per quarter or $99US per year. The two biggest features paid membership offer seem to be access to market trends and the ability to submit your pre-screened manuscript to an editor at one of the seven participating publishing companies. Passing the pre-screening stage still does not mean that the editor will actually view your work. Through some investigations on the Internet, I have found two writers who, like myself, did not have their submissions viewed.
See my first blog post and Victoria Strauss' Writer's Beware to read about their experiences.
Our experience was different from the one described in the CB News Section, “We’ve been able to demonstrate that we can connect writers and editors,” says Brad MacLean, CEO of Creative Byline, Inc. “In our beta phase, writers got feedback from first readers in three days, on average, and from editors in just over 8 days." If the average response time to manuscripts was eight days, a number of people must have received responses in less than eight days to balance out those of us who went twenty-one before our submissions expired. If you are one of those writers who received a response, I’d love to hear from you.
Paid membership also qualifies you to spend an additional $15-199US for your First Reader review. This review must be completed before you can submit to an editor, so an additional fee is unavoidable. You would definitely want to weigh your options (creative writing groups, college or university classes, paying a freelance editor etc.) to decide if the First Reader review would be of benefit to you.
The biggest surprise for me was the new 5 star rating system that is being employed by the First Readers. The levels look like this:
Five stars: This submission is of outstanding quality. The potential market appeal is very high.
Four stars: This submission is above average in quality and possible market appeal. It should be very competitive among other books in the genre.
Three stars: This submission is of acceptable, but not remarkable, quality. Errors in content, style, and structure are minimal. It may compete well among other books within its genre.
Two stars: This submission needs additional work in either content or structure (including accuracy and mechanics). While the work may exhibit some strength, it is not consistent or cohesive.
One star: This submission could use extensive additional work in both content and structure. It may be inconsistent or inaccurate. It is not, in general, compelling and is not likely to stand out within its genre.
***Edit August 27, 2009***
I just received an email from Creative Byline today sent out to their beta members indicating that all manuscripts defaulted to the 3 star rating during the website transition. This information will make the next part of the post seem less relevant. I've chosen not to edit or delete it for the sake of transparency.
***Edit ends***
Despite receiving this review in April,
Creative Byline reviewer notes
Date Reviewed: 04/01/2009
Review #: R00001038
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.
for some reason I found only three stars attached to my “not remarkable” manuscript. There was no indication if my MS was re-evaluated or if the rating had been given in April but only displayed today. It’s difficult not to speculate why there is a discrepancy between my comment and the star rating. Did a lot of people receive 3 stars or less in an attempt to drum up action for higher priced First Reader reviews so that we can improve our MSs to four or even five star range? This line from the site is telling “We've introduced star ratings so you can see, beyond meeting basic requirements, how much more attractive to editors you could make your manuscript.” Maybe it’s just an accurate assessment and I am too close to my own project to see it. You can read an excerpt for yourself and let me know what you think of my impressive, yet unremarkable novel.
From what I can see, Creative Byline has three main challenges facing it:
1) Can it sign up a critical mass of publishers willing to attract enough writers looking for an online submission process?
2) Will there be enough success stories of writers who earned contracts through CB who never would have been able to have their work seen in the traditional query & submission process?
3) Can it build a viable business based on membership fees from a group of people notoriously lacking in money?
I wish them well, but can’t see myself plunking down more money at this point in time.
***Edit August 27, 2009***
Beta members have also been offered a free membership for up to two quarters, so it looks like I will be able to get a closer look at the full membership now.
***Edit ends***
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