The Pros and Cons of Submitting Your Writing on Writer Fan Sites

If you have an interest in writing, as I do, you most likely have found one of these fan sites. They are primarily dedicated to those of us who want to hone our writing skills, and to be honest, want to get published. I don't think a writer exists who doesn't want to see his or her name in print as the author of the Great American Novel. We know the odds are greatly stacked against us, but plod along and persevere nonetheless.

A writer's fan site can be helpful if you want your work reviewed and critiqued by others. Some of the largest ones include Writing.com, Critique Circle and FanStory.com. There are others that can be found by Googling, but these are the ones that I'm familiar with. Membership is usually free, and premium upgrades are normally available for the extra features. I would not recommend premium on any of them until you get a feel for the environment and your needs. This definitely would be the case if you are an amateur just starting out.

Why would you want to put your stories or poems on the web for all to see and critique? Are you thin-skinned? Do your feelings get hurt very easily? If so, be prepared for it to happen. The paradox is this: if someone honestly tears your precious work apart, but does it from a professional perspective, it is invaluable for your learning process. I'm not referring to a critique that says your story is stupid or "I didn't like it". If the person can't back up their critique with sound reasons why, it's worthless and you move on. Yeah, it hurts at first to have the errors of your story exposed to the world. So, you go back to why you signed up with the site in the first place -- to get sound advice and direction on your writing.

The sites I mentioned also require you to review the work of others, too. After all, it's a reciprocal arrangement. You don't have to necessarily review the works of people who reviewed yours, but sometimes you should as a matter of courtesy. That being said, I wouldn't review a story that was in a genre that I didn't like, as it could influence my critique regardless of its worth.

Some of my stories had excellent critiques that I would immediately print out for reference purposes. And some of the reviewers were published writers that knew what they were talking about. In my experience, they are a small minority on these sites. Most of the stories and poems are uploaded by amateurs, so most of the reviewers are amateurs also. To quote Jerry Seinfeld, "not that there's anything wrong with that!".

In fact, one of my primary reasons for posting a story on the site is to gauge the reader interest. Regardless of the rest of their critique, if they say they loved the story line and want to know more about the characters or find out what happened to the protagonist, then I know I should pursue the story further. Maybe even convert the short story into a novel. I find that kind of feedback very helpful.

What I didn't find helpful was the general fluff that people might use for their review. Remember, on most of the sites you have to review before you can post your story. Some of the reviewers would post a critique that said "I loved the story and the characters. It was really interesting, etc., etc., etc.," . Rather than tell me if I had grammatical problems or spelling errors, or syntax problems, or structural issues, they would just post general fluff in order to meet their own review requirements. That is NOT helpful at all.

Some of the sites also have a rating system, almost like Associated Content. It's a star rating, but supposedly backed up by the reasons why. I totally dislike this system, due to the inherent abuses that arise out of jealousy, spite, revenge, etc. Having a five star rating doesn't necessarily correlate with your writing skills. I just ignored the thing as it was marginally useful and a distraction at best.

As I mentioned earlier, you are fortunate if you have a published writer review your story and offer legitimate, realistic advice. Some reviewers of mine were magazine writers and book authors. I encouraged an ongoing relationship with them, asking them to kindly look at future stories of mine. And some of them were able to.

I found reviewing, on average, to be a painful experience. A lot of the writings on the sites can only be described in one word: crap. It sounds elitist and cruel, but it's not. People rush to get their fantastic story or beautiful poem on the site, slapping it together in a hurry, and the results speak for themselves. I would see stories that made it obvious that the author knew nothing about grammatical construction, punctuation, spelling, etc. It reminded me of American Idol, with the terribly bad singers and performers embarrassing themselves in front of millions of viewers.

One note of caution. I sent in a story of mine to an eZine and it was accepted. Not only that, I would receive $300 for the story, too! I was in pig heaven for a while, demanding my wife and friends refer to me as The Author Who is Published! Then I had the contract emailed to me, and I had to certify that my work has never been published. But, this stumped me. It was on one of the fan sites, so did that constitute publication in the pure sense? I indicated this on the reply and was promptly, but regretfully, told that since it was "published" they could not accept it. That was the price I paid for honesty. So, I had to change my title to The Author Who Was Almost Published. I hope you see the point I'm trying to make. If you post a piece of writing on even an internet site, it can be interpreted as being previously published. Much like AC here, if you sign up for payment and give exclusive rights to them for your work, you are legally bound not to use it elsewhere.

Is it worth signing up on these sites? I believe so, as long as you put things in perspective and keep focused on your goal of improving your writing skills. Is it too late to get started? Hell no! I will be 60 this year and enjoy the challenge of this craft immensely. Just do it!