Young Writers Society

Here's the scoop: Nate asked me to do the Story of the Month for Squills, but I'm kind of an unfair pick for the position in that regard, as I usually arrive too late to get into the novels posted- I usually just review short stories. So, instead of only doing short stories, they'll be two sections: a short story of the month and a few novel profiles.

Why? Novels are a grand, grand thing, correct? They need lots of readers and critiquers to put them afloat, but the process is intimidating to many.

NOTE: The novel doesn't have to be finished. I repeat: it does not have to be finished. A half-finished first draft is fine- or even just the opening chapters. As long as you have intention to finish (if you don't finish, that's okay, but I doubt it'll stay a rough draft for long with a little support ).

So, if you want your novel considered for a Novel Profile of the Month, here's what you'll need:

- You'll need to PM me, first of all. Pretty please?

- Prepare a short synopsis- keep it clear and concise. Think of it like a book jacket; this is what's going to hook in new readers.

- A read-only copy or a PDF to send to new readers. The fifty-two or so posts in the literary forum are a bit intimidating, da? People who want to be up to speed like that sort of thing to happen instantaneously.

- An open-minded attitude. If you're not open to critiques or suggestions, why should we read? ...Ah, stupid question. Let me rephrase: only submit your novel if you want reviews, and if you're going to take them into consideration.

- A personal favor: be prepared to ramble a little, or have a short interview. I absolutely love the novel editions with the discussion guides and author interviews in them. They're great fun to read, and excellent inspiration.

So! If you're looking for some more publicity, or just like to ramble about your novel, PM away. Ask questions in this thread, if you've got them.

How does one PDF something? :crazylook in eye at the prospect:

I honestly have no idea...

The read-only's another option, I believe- in Word, there should be a bar called "Properties". Scan through the sections until you find one that's about doing passwords; there, you can set a password and whether or not you want people to be able to edit.

Hmm...PDFs are pretty, though. Anyone know how?

A good easy way to do .pdf is go to:

http://www.pdfonline.com

Unfortunately, it will only take files up to 2mb in size. But unless you're novel is quite big, that should be quite enough.

Baroness Ink wrote:How does one PDF something? :crazylook in eye at the prospect:

If you have open-office then you just click the PDF button. (open-office is free. http://www.openoffice.org?)

*coughcough*

What's a PDF?

How does all this work?

Squills is a magazine, right?

How do I submit my novel?

Why is this happening?

*has a nervous breakdown*

A PDF is a document that people can download but can't edit. That'll help protect your work from plagiarism.

First off, tell me the name of your novel and all that sort of thing, and then make a PDF using the website, or just a Read-Only Document in Word. You really don't have to do all of that, but it makes people feel better when their works are for download.

Squills is the literary magazine for YWS.

Submit by telling me you're interested first, and then I'll tell you what you need.

This is happening because I usually critique short stories, and infrequently novels. It's not fair that the novels don't get recognition.

...teehee, any more questions?