Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share
and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of
appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer
assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all
kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our fearless ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. Co-hosts for
the June posting of the IWSG are Shannon Lawrence, Melissa Maygrove, Olga Godim and ME!
This month’s optional question: In this constantly evolving
industry, what kind of offering/service do you think the IWSG should consider
offering to members?
I’m being a smart-aleck here, but personally, I’d go for a
rejection therapy group! While I’m pretty good at taking no for an answer, it’s
ugly when you finally talk yourself into querying again, send out four queries, get one immediate "no," wait for a while, and then receive two rejections on the same day. Yes, I can do the math. When I sent the fourth one, the instructions said there would be an automatic confirmation receipt, but one never appeared in my inbox (or my "trash," and yes I looked), so who knows if it ever made it? How about a power of positive thinking
group, too, in which we repeat mantra’s like, at least three out of four responded,
and aren’t I glad those queries were for an older project (as I gear up to start querying my newest
one)?
I know the drill. Two rejections means it’s time to
send out two more. Ugh.
All kidding aside, I peruse the IWSG site to find
information on agents, publishing, and querying. I’ve taken part in IWSG
Twitter pitches, and weekly posts by various members often provide helpful tidbits.
I do wonder if IWSG might offer a means through which like-writers
can identify each other in order to develop small, interactive groups
for reading and critiquing ongoing work. Back in the dark ages, I became a member of an online writing group that I think was formed
through IWSG, but it faded into oblivion. Of course, anyone seeking to create or join a group could always shout out in a monthly post “Hey, I’m looking for X number of writers
for regular reading and critiquing of XYZ genre,” but perhaps there’s a way to
come up with something more curated?
In a similar vein, writers are often looking for beta
readers. I’ve found some of mine through IWSG in the past, but they've been people with whom I’ve already developed “blogging” relationships. Again, individual posts by IWSG members expressing
the need for beta readers would probably work, but perhaps a list of members willing
to read, their qualifications and genre would be helpful?
Regardless, I want to call out Alex and all the
administrators to express my thanks for continuing to pursue ways through which
IWSG may help writers grow.
