Who wants to read a good book?
Nonnahswriter
Member Posts: 2,520
in Off-Topic
Hello all. 
My name is Nonnahswriter. A lot of you know me for my silly comments and Firefly memes and my vague hint-dropping of a Baldur's Gate fanfic I've been writing for what seems like forever (which I will get back to, eventually). As many of you might have already guessed by now, I am a writer. I like writing novels, drafting timelines, interviewing characters, building lore... You know, the same stuff that has helped create the wonderful story of Baldur's Gate, and so many others.
During November, and throughout much of December, I wrote a novel. It's gone through one round of revision since then, but if I want to get it published and start building a career, I need some help. I need readers, lots of them who are willing to tell me honestly where my book works and where it does not.
This is the first forum that I've been consistently active on in many years; you guys are awesome, wonderful, intelligent people, and I can think of no place better to garner much-needed feedback from a wide array of voices. Keep in mind, though, that I know some of you better than others, and I withhold the right to not share with whoever asks. I know: this is the Internet. This is also my book we're talking about, countless hours spent crafting words out of blood, sweat, and tears. Caution is necessary.
Here's a little about the book to persuade help you decide:
Our hero is Scar, a grim reaper who's sold his soul in service of the death goddess. The job comes with a few perks--immortality, power, and in Scar's case, bed-sharing privileges with the goddess herself. A fair deal...except for his eternal slavery in the Deathlands, and the not-so-pleasant rule that if Scar disobeys his Mistress, he'll be incinerated. Yet everything changes when Scar's given a bizarre new task: to observe a young girl trapped in a tower, and report anything strange. A simple job, far too menial for his liking; never does Scar expect to like the girl, or become her friend. And if he wants to protect her, Scar must turn against everything that has chained him down to Deathlands. A choice that could cost not only his new friend's life, but also his own.
So I ask again: who wants to read a good book? If you're interested, send me a PM. Feel free to ask questions in the comments if you have them!
And, of course, thank you.
My name is Nonnahswriter. A lot of you know me for my silly comments and Firefly memes and my vague hint-dropping of a Baldur's Gate fanfic I've been writing for what seems like forever (which I will get back to, eventually). As many of you might have already guessed by now, I am a writer. I like writing novels, drafting timelines, interviewing characters, building lore... You know, the same stuff that has helped create the wonderful story of Baldur's Gate, and so many others.
During November, and throughout much of December, I wrote a novel. It's gone through one round of revision since then, but if I want to get it published and start building a career, I need some help. I need readers, lots of them who are willing to tell me honestly where my book works and where it does not.
This is the first forum that I've been consistently active on in many years; you guys are awesome, wonderful, intelligent people, and I can think of no place better to garner much-needed feedback from a wide array of voices. Keep in mind, though, that I know some of you better than others, and I withhold the right to not share with whoever asks. I know: this is the Internet. This is also my book we're talking about, countless hours spent crafting words out of blood, sweat, and tears. Caution is necessary.
Here's a little about the book to persuade help you decide:
Our hero is Scar, a grim reaper who's sold his soul in service of the death goddess. The job comes with a few perks--immortality, power, and in Scar's case, bed-sharing privileges with the goddess herself. A fair deal...except for his eternal slavery in the Deathlands, and the not-so-pleasant rule that if Scar disobeys his Mistress, he'll be incinerated. Yet everything changes when Scar's given a bizarre new task: to observe a young girl trapped in a tower, and report anything strange. A simple job, far too menial for his liking; never does Scar expect to like the girl, or become her friend. And if he wants to protect her, Scar must turn against everything that has chained him down to Deathlands. A choice that could cost not only his new friend's life, but also his own.
So I ask again: who wants to read a good book? If you're interested, send me a PM. Feel free to ask questions in the comments if you have them!
And, of course, thank you.
8
Comments
BTW, and I'm not an expert, but sharing your book under secrecy is far worse regarding your IPR than sharing openly. If you publish (meaning make it public) your book online and with your own name, then that's that. However, if you share to people online and one of them publishes it before you do, good luck proving it was originally yours.
P.S. Sorry, your title made me think of this
As for length, I probably should have mentioned that. ^_^;; 104k words right now. Subject to change as I continue working on it. So no, probably not for the faint of heart.
What kind of feedback are you after? Anything? Style? Content? Grammar? And what timeframe would you have in mind for this feedback?
For feedback I'm looking for mostly big-picture stuff. Characterization, story arcs, plot holes, that sort of thing. I have a critique partner and a couple editing friends who like to nit-pick the small stuff, so I'm pretty confident leaving that to them. Any critique on style and grammar is always welcome too, though my style's pretty set-in-place at this point. I'd like to know if I stay consistent throughout the script. (Of course, I already think I do, but I wrote the darn thing!)
As for timeframe, I'm actually going to be on vacation in the first week of April. I think by the end of April would be a good enough deadline for those interested. But hey, there's no reason you can't reply any sooner than that; I just don't want to be pushy. ^_^;;
However, I also want to urge caution when it comes to sharing your work. If it is your first work and you are looking more for the experience than the final product, then all should be fine. However, it is important to be safe when it comes to intellectual property.
My father actually just got a publisher two months ago for a book he has been working on for over a decade (it is non-fiction). He had to be very careful in selecting publishers and had some unfortunate experiences with an editor releasing a draft on a website. Nothing happened, but the danger is there. Just a word of caution.
However you can totally trust me
I'd like to re-iterate what others have said about sharing your work unofficially with strangers off the internet, no matter how friendly they appear.
I have had ambitions of writing myself for years, and I've worked quite hard on background and character development, but haven't done much writing thus far. I faced a similar dilemma to you in that I wanted to share what work I did so I could get feedback, which I know is going to be crucial cos a novice will always make "schoolboy errors". However I didn't want my brainchild stolen or ripped off if I just posted it on a forum.
My intention now is to write a short story or two set in the same universe/setting as my main story, perhaps prequels or stories focusing on some of the minor characters in my main story. I plan to share those on Authonomy, primarily to receive feedback and to learn the basics of writing a novel before I try to commit the main project to paper.
If you'd like a taste of my style, you can visit my fanfiction.net account and read a bit of the fanfic I posted there. It's not as well-polished as what I wish to share here, mostly because I haven't dedicated hours on end revising and cleaning up. ^_^;; But it's a good enough base. Here's a link to the story: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8984482/1/Baldur-s-Gate-A-Novelization
(Not a blatant attempt to advertise myself. No ma'am. >.>;; )
The writing seems nice enough.
I am interested since grim reaper plot setting, does he carries scythe?