Greetings! I hope you are having a lovely Sunday morning! Here in Long Island, NY, the sun is shining, I’ve got a fresh cup of coffee, and it looks like it’s going to be a great day! My first book, Silver Icon, has been on sale for about a week now at both Amazon and Smashwords, and I am so excited! I want to share some information with fellow writers about an awesome tool and website that can help you with your goals of publishing your own work. No, it’s not a publishing company or any gimmick or trick. Also, it’s not a magic wand!  What it is, however, is a great place on the web to meet fellow authors and writers, both published and unpublished, and exchange critiques on each other’s work. I am talking about www.critiquecircle.com!

While I believe there is no substitution for professional editing, Critique Circle will come pretty damn close. And for the indie author on a tight budget, the price is right! Critique Circle’s membership is free! The site is a place where writers can post their work and other writers will critique your submissions. You can write critiques for other authors and form critique buddy relationships with many talented people. There is a “donation” method to become a premium member, but all of the main features of submitting and critiquing are available to all members. The premium membership, which is really a donation to keep the site running, gives you a few extra added perks but is not required to get extreme value out of the site regarding your work.

The basic functions of the site include the ability to submit your chapters into one of the various Queues, classified by type of work or genre. The site works on a credit system. When you submit your work, it costs a minimum of three credits. When you write critiques on the work of others, you earn credits, anywhere from half a credit and up, depending on the length of your critique. As other writers begin to critique your work, and as you critique other writers’ work, you’ll find buddies that can become regular crit partners! I’ve made several friends in the past two months and regularly write and receive critiques — almost daily. I’m a bit addicted to the site! 🙂

Many other useful features are available on Critique Circle. The site has a novel system, so you can chain your submissions together, and your critique buddies can follow your novel from start to finish. Authors can add a synopsis for their novel and for each chapter, content advisories for adult or mature stories, outlines for settings, plot, and character sketches. The site also has a forum and message system so you can socialize with your fellow writers and crit partners.

The credit system is nothing to worry about. I quickly became immersed in several of other author’s works, and in just reading, writing critiques, and offering grammar or spelling suggestions, I very quickly grew a nice credit balance, enough to submit many chapters and stories. Since I started using the site, I’ve never run out of credits for submissions. I think I am actually critiquing more than I am submitting. I believe the main reason for this is that I am learning so much about writing, prose, and style from the stories I read and the critiques I have given other authors. This exchange from author to author is sharpening my writing skills as well as those of my crit buddies. The forums provide a lot of value, too. For example, you can tie your story submissions to a personal forum thread–focused on that story so all your crit partners can collaborate with you and each other.

In summary, if you are an author on a budget, don’t have access to an editor, or just want to bounce your chapters, stories, or other writing pieces off on other people to receive feedback and edit suggestions, Critique Circle’s an awesome web site to do all that! I highly recommend the site to indie authors and would absolutely welcome new critique partners!

For the official “What is Critique Circle About Page,” click here.

Happy Writing!

-Nick

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