Hello there my inky friends,
I'm just dropping you a quick note to let you know that I'm hosting another giveaway, this time on NoQu. You can see more information about it on the "Giveaways" page here, or you can click here and be brought directly to NoQu's giveaway page.
Thanks!
- Edna Pellen
Hello my inky friends,
I have been anticipating this moment. Being signed up for R.M. Archer's newsletter, I got to see the cover early (which is a good reason for why you should go sign up for her newsletter. now. NOW.) and so finally being able to plaster this everywhere is thrilling.
BUT FIRST. Let's tell you a bit about it.
Dragon ink gives calligraphers the power to set history in stone—or to change it.
Lai Duyên’s dreams are realized when she’s admitted into the ranks of the calligraphers, authors considered trustworthy enough to defend time from those who would change it. She’s thrilled at the opportunity to record her country’s history, and to work with the other calligraphers in her village.
But when Duyên’s guild is set upon by ancient dragons demanding a time-changer be destroyed, her world is flipped upside down. Her guildmates turn on each other, suspicion coloring their every move. To make matters worse, she’s begun hearing the dragons in her head and finds them impossible to block out: a condition that rendered her grandmother insane.
With the calligraphy guild in turmoil and Duyên’s ever-present fear of madness clouding her vision, will the group be able to discover which of their guildmates has altered time before the dragons pass judgment on them all?
ALRIGHT AND NOW FOR THE COVER.
THAR SHE ISSSSSSSSSS.
ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL.
And. As is the trend with these cover reveals. The book. Is coming out. THIS YEAR. This SUMMER. It's cOMING. AND SO.
To hype this up, I will indeed be running another giveaway for another one of R.M. Archer's works which is related to Calligraphy Guild. It will be hosted on NoQu starting February 1st, so if you're interested in that be sure to check in over there. Or, if you're not interested in needing to stalk another blog, just check back in on the "giveaways" page here on Bleeding Ink.
But MORE IMPORTANTLY. Go sign up for R.M. Archer's newsletter! AND follow her on Instagram! Go do the things! And share her graphics and whatnot! ANDANDANDAND. Go comment on Archer's cover reveal to hype her up!
AND SHARE THIS GRAPHIC.
GO FORTH AND DO THE THING.
Alright that's all for now. I don't want to hype everything to the extreme just yet, since we do have about five more months between now and the release.
BUT. I am very excited. And I will be posting more on this book in the months to come. Because I am excited. And you should be too. Because this book is just so endearing and adfghkjl
*Clears throat*
Anyways.
That's all for this post. Please do go show Calligraphy some love on all the socials via sharing that graphic, commenting on all of Archer's socials, and just generally blowing this book up because my friends, Ariel has been putting so much love and work into this book and it shows.
Okay now that's really all for this time. I'll write to you some time hopefully soon!
- E.P.
Hello, my friends!
Welcome to the New Year. I had intended to write a post about looking back on the previous year in reading here, and then a "2022 Indie Releases" post over on NoQu, but the holidays interfered as they so often do in the ways which we all know and love despite what we say.
That is to say, I never did write that post on looking back at the year. I did touch on it in my anniversary post, but not in any great depth. So I do still hope to write and release that post, it will just come on a little later.
I don't actually have any goals for this year. There's a few factors that are making it very uncertain and so I don't really have any clue where things will be headed and where my time will be most needed.
I have a tentative goal of reading sixty books that are either currently on my physical list of books to read, on my list of indie books to read (I have to buy all of those), or a combination of the two.
I won't be counting books that I began last year and am finishing this year as part of that challenge, but they will somewhat be "bonus points." What those points will add up to, I don't know. I was thinking of making a sort of reward system, where for every certain amount of points I can [fill in the blank], but I have no idea what that reward would be. If you have any ideas, please do share them.
Other than that, I have no goals. However, I do have some ideals, things which I'd like to do and will try to do but that are not things to complete and the like. These are more things that are to keep up good habits or to start good habits, things that don't need to be completed in order to be good.
My On-Topic Ideals For The Year:
Consistently support Indies and bloggers as much as I reasonably can
I've been over how important this is to me in the past, and now I want to really invest in more small-time writers. I've been finding the new bloggers I've interacted with lately to be so... alive, for a lack of better words. They're so ambitious and excited - so are many new authors - and I want to fan that flame as much as I can.
I really want them to know how valuable their work is and can be. And if I can show that by being a consistent participant on their posts, or by buying and reviewing their books as soon after their release as I can, or even just dropping them a note of encouragement every now and then, I want to.
And I don't wish to do this with the approach of a writer. I don't want to seem condescending or anything of the sort. I just want to be one of the audience members that cheers them on. So that will be my approach to them and to their work.
Stay in practice with audiobook narrating
I have dropped this since around October, and I really don't want to lose the good progress I was making. So I want to start narrating free-domain works in hopes of maintaining the habits and the like. I'm considering volunteering on Librivox for this reason.
If I do this well, I may even share samples here on Bleeding Ink.
Make serious progress on one of my main writing projects
I'm notoriously bad at intentionally doing this, but I would really like to nonetheless. Likely, this would be on The Rising, which I believe I mentioned before, as I don't think I'm ready to return to Roslyn yet (though I might be doing so by February or March; I'm still not sure).
I haven't really been feeling much like a writer lately, and that's because I haven't been one. After all, you have to write to be writer. I would really like to change that, and to stay productive even though my leading project is halted.
The difficult part of this is that I'm not drafting The Rising, I'm plotting it. And that goes much slower than drafting does for me, for the most part (I usually plot a story as I draft it, but given the nature of The Rising I haven't been able to do that).
Actively look for part-time/freelance writing jobs
I love the job I have, but it isn't bringing in enough income for me to actively pursue the things which I intend to, so picking up an at-home job would be lovely.
In addition to that, I think having a writing job would help me stay focused on writing.
So that's something I'd like to look into.
Begin the office renovation
This will be costly, which is why I want to begin it and not do it. I'm not just painting and decorating; I'm actually intending on making holes in the wall and whatnot for my purposes.
But I want to get started, because getting this room done as soon as I can is a priority for me. Once that is done, I may be able to start doing videos and the like, and I definetly will be able to do audiobook narration far easier.
And that's about it. I've been doing a lot of introspecting lately, learning more about different aspects of myself and my processes, my ultimate goals and my temporary dreams. This is one of the reasons why I want to keep my goals loose, but still have a general direction to wander in.
If you want more details on what Bleeding Ink is going to look like in times to come, I recommend reading my anniversary post from December; it has many more details. I generally do my "yearly wrap up" and "yearly goal" things in that post instead of in separate posts.
Thank you for reading, and have a happy New Year.
- E.P.
Hello hello hello.
Bleeding Ink is now three years old (happened a few days ago). Huzzah. We made it. Congratulations us. Woo hoo. Such celebrate, very party.
What are we going to do about this momentous occasion?
I don't know. Eat cake, or something. Probably not. I'm saving my money to build a bookshelf and thus can't afford cake. But you can buy yourself cake if you want.
Anyways.
I should probably get on with the yearly review thingy thing that we unofficially do every year, right?
Okay. Updates and then celebration stuff.
Order of things
Updates:
Writing
Upppdaattesssssss
Writing
So like. *sips tea* This year was really not-productive where writing is concerned.
Why is that?
Well.
*straightens bowtie*
I don't have any good explanation.
Something to do with a lack of motivation. Although when I had that adventure back in August, my companions helped me write via percussive maintenance. The rewrite of Roslyn is now at 74,173 words long, which is probably a third of the way through the book. I've done a lot of condensing and cutting, and yet still am on the path to making this draft even bigger than the former one.
I do have some updates on all of my projects though, so here's that
Projects
Updates on my current leading projects and where what's going when and the like.
Roslyn - Halted
A brick wall fell on top of me and I now do not know how to get up and continue with this project.
I know where everything needs to go, I know why, and I know how. I just can't seem to write. It is deeply frustrating and discouraging, because I love the characters in this story and I know them and the world so very well.
But many doors have shut when it comes to the project, that aside, and so I'm taking a break from it. It genuinely pains me to do that, but it also is genuinely paining me to force the process while its so presently discouraging.
Hopefully I will return to it soon and be able to get it going again. I believe I was just starting to break real ground for the first time in five years, so I am eager to get back to it when I'm, for lack of better terms, better.
The Rising - Simmering and Plotting
The Rising is my newest story idea. And it actually isn't new. I came up with the concept about three years ago, and let it kind of hangout rent-free in my mind for a time. Then something happened - don't remember what - and I was thinking about it more and more.
Due to the nature of the story, I'd like to be able to say it was God's calling. Whether it actually is or not I couldn't say for certain, because people in my life have had conflicting reactions to this particular concept, but an awful lot of convenient things fell into place to motivate this project for it to just be coincidence.
But who knows.
Currently, I'm letting the idea simmer as I begin to loosely plot it. This is a very precarious process due to this story specifically, so I'm not rushing it right now.
The Little People of Their Place - Revisiting
Now that's a name I haven't heard of since... well, a long time.
For those of you that have snooped around my blog, you may be aware of the fact that I have a project with this name. What you may not be aware of is the fact that I have had this project even longer than I've had Roslyn.
This story is a simple and endearing one for me. It's about two sisters and a whole lot of magical creatures. You can read the early synopsis for it on my "WIP" page.
It's somewhat of an unofficial tradition for me to come back to this story every so often and reread chunks of it. Even as early of a draft as it is, I have always thought it flows very naturally and holds a lot of potential in its delightful simplicity.
The reason why I halted the project originally was because I hit a wall and didn't know how to progress, probably due to the fact that I didn't actually plot this story at all.
But now, with several years worth of writing between me and the last attempt at writing it, I'm revisiting it. It's a simple little book, and I'm hoping to be able to rework it and maybe even finish it as I recover from the pounds of brick that Roslyn dropped on me.
What revisiting this project will entail is something along the lines of rereading the whole thing, lots of time brainstorming and time spent staring at the wall, and repotting. Kind of directing the whole thing and putting it back together again.
Murder on the Writerly Wreck - Off and On
This is my murder comedy that I started writing a year or two back. I think it was last year.
It's a fun parody of sorts of Murder on the Orient Express and various other stories of that nature. It's actually heavily inspired by a true situation, as well.
The comedy partially relies on the visual affect of things; fonts and spelling and the like all add to its tone.
Because of this, it's a very loose and free project that's easy for me to use as a break from other projects. I'm not dedicatedly working on it at the moment, but I am using it in-between writing.
Reading
Oh stars I read a lot this year. Well, I read a lot for me.
I read 13 indie books (one of which is unpublished but is going to be published next year I believe), which makes me very happy and also very confused because it feels like that happened two years ago and not this year. But I'm happy about it because that means my indie author book rec page has been fairly active on my part this year. I've had two recommendations, one which I've read and one which I intend to read, so I think it's not been terrible all things considered.
As of November (who knows if I'll update this draft of the post before publishing it to correct this) I've read *27 books. I'll do my year-in-books thing sometime in December or January maybe probably possibly, so I won't go into all of that now.
But generally speaking it's been a good year for reading.
(*It's actually 29 as of today.)
Bleeding Ink
Giveaways
We hosted two giveaways this year, both of which were for indie trilogies that turned five years old *party-blower thing that rolls out when you blow into it noises* Happy birthdays once again to Dragons' Bane and The Fire Rain Chronicles. They're some of the coolest YA books ever.
We didn't get a lot of interactions on those giveaways, but what we did get has been valued and will hopefully be doubled a hundredfold by the time we come to the next giveaway. Which will be.... *digs through piles of papers* Ah, it will not be until August of 2022.
Anyways, that's how that went.
Statistics and Updates
I wrote like eighteen posts or something. We got like 3.31k views this year, and we have 5.1k views since being created, which means we have progressed a lot in that regard, even for so few posts. How, I don't know. But thank you to ye lurking followers of the blog who read all and say little.
As for updates on Bleeding Ink *long inhale* noupdateshavebeenmadeonthenewwebsiteasI'mstrugglinggreatlywithunderstandingeverythingandworkingonmybrandandblahblahblahstillwanttodobooktubeprobablywon'tforanotherfewyearsbecauseyyeaahhhhhcamerascostmoneyandstuff.
Also indie rec page will be on-going as perusal.
(Wait, what's this? Thinks Editing Edna. That's not true, I have many updates now. I'll just insert those here, and perhaps no one will notice that it was written weeks after the prior part was.)
Slow Going Activity
I'm currently very secluded when it comes to writing. Due to things, I no longer have a writing group which I can rely on, and my individual writing friends are all occupied. My family is occupied as well, and isn't able to offer any direct help either.
So it's just Marvin, Erwin and I, sitting around a typewriter and trying to figure out what to do with it (Marvin and Erwin are my inanimate assistants, if you didn't know).
Because of this, I'm in a very strange place, writing-wise. That includes blogging, and running NoQu. I am trying to maintain everything at a slow but intentional pace so that I don't overwork myself or burn out, but it's very likely I drop some things here and there.
I ask for your patience concerning posts during this time, and if you'd like to help, commenting on both Bleeding Ink and NoQu's blog and forums truly does help.
I also ask for your patience when it comes to things such as my Indie Book Recs page and general indie reading and support. I have every intention of still putting that to good use, but financially and mentally can't presently afford to maintain them to the degree which I would prefer.
More WIP Information
There have been several blogs spring up over the course of Bleeding Ink's lifespan which very quickly surpassed BI as well as several other blogs which I frequent. It's no wonder why they're doing well - after all they are very good blogs - but the wonder is why the other very good blogs, the ones which I frequent, haven't gotten as much traffic.
Well, I don't know for sure. But it seems that the popular blogs are certain personality types, and they either do more "how to write [blank]" type posts or they talk more frequently about their own projects.
I'm not about to change my whole personality for the sake of improving Bleeding Ink, of course, and I'm really not the best at giving instructions (though I do mean to give more "my process for [blank]" type posts here and there), but I do believe I could stand being a bit more open about my projects.
I originally didn't want to do this because I figured either no one would care, or someone may inadvertently take inspiration from my own work and produce a project similar. But you know what, that doesn't really matter.
So I intend to do posts and tags that allow for more conversations about my leading WIP, whatever that would be considered right now, and which will hopefully attract more reader interaction.
Because while I really don't care for blogging, I do like sharing my thoughts and projects and getting feedback on it. And, I do like the idea of publishing, which certainly won't go well if I don't first have an audience of some sort.
So moving forward, you can expect more openness regarding my projects.
Types of Posts
I want to talk a bit about what posts you can expect to see more of in the future, though like I mentioned at a slower pace. I'm going back to why I made Bleeding Ink, and trying to tailor my post types to match that. Because really, only occasional posts of mine accurately represent why I started Bleeding Ink in the first place.
My Approach
I've recently found that I'm really not the kind of person that can supply you with writing advice. And really, it was never my intention to be one of those anyways.
I wanted to be a person who shared my experience, not a person who guides other people through theirs. And so I am going to continue the "My Approach" post series, which details my approach to various things as a writer as well as a reader.
My main goal is to just let you in on my own journey, but if you find that it helps you along yours, then we will have accomplished quite a feat.
Concerning Classics
Before I started this blog I was talking with my mother about a blog post we were reading together about Anne Shirley. I remember saying that this was the kind of thing I could do, and the kind of thing I wanted to do.
But I'm a writer as well as a reader, so I made this blog to promote myself and build an audience, totally forgetting that I wanted to talk about other books, not just my own, from the very beginning.
And now I find myself coming back to that; the older I grow, the more I come to love classical literature, and the more and more I find myself wanting to talk about them and dissect them and collect them. I want to explore past literature in more ways than just reading it.
So I'm getting back to those roots., and now intend to really focus on that more than I have in the past. I've already begun this; you may remember I recently began a post category called "Concerning Classics" (or "CC"). I will be continuing on with that, talking about everything from classic authors to their books. Diving into the culture around the books, studying characters, that sort of thing.
Indie, New, Young Author, and Blogger Spotlights
Though I am trying to reign the focus of Bleeding Ink in to once again be Bleeding Ink itself, I still have every intention of supporting my comrades in the writing and blogging field.
So I'm hoping to do a post, perhaps once a month, that is spotlighting a particular person who fits these categories. It will include things like all of their works, my favorite things about them, quotes, a bit about their history even, my favorite posts by them, things of that sort.
It's kind of like the "Upcoming Author" book tag that I invented, but not limited to authors, and it won't be a tag.
Tags
I do not intend to doing any more blog tags, unless they are directly related to writing and/or reading. While blog tags are often a quick and easy kind of post to do, I find that they're very unfulfilling and actually take me more time than usual, because I have to go find other bloggers. I also don't think readers really enjoy them all that much, so they're not really good for any of my purposes.
So unless the tags are on-topic, I do not plan in participating in them any longer.
(Oh yeah, Editing Edna thinks. That was seamless.)
NoQu
So NoQu is a thing I did this year.
We (that'd be just me) haven't (*hasn't) gotten a whole lot of interaction, but that's to be expected given we (I) didn't even know the site would be live in time for November.
SO. That's going well all things considered.
Life
I have a new sword, started a collection of pretty classics, I've decided to stop building that desk I began two or three years ago so that I can instead build a whole room (sort of), I discovered I loved goblins, work has been going well, I met three people who I knew for a long time and that was awesome, learned how to make ink, I have a new niece, I worsened my caffeine addiction, annnnnnddd I have a tophat now.
So.
*thumbs up*
Okay the part we all hate is out of the way so now onto the cellebrattionnnn
and by THAT I mean it's time for me to be bossy and tell you to support THIS PERSON and THIS PERSON and THAT PERSON OVER THERE and whOOAAHH that PERSON who is RIGHT BEHIND YOU AND HAS A KNIFE!!
just kidding.
well, no, she does have a knife (a sword, actually) but she's not like, going to stab you with it. she might throw a rock-hard baguette at your head though. She's nice like that.
also
THAT PERSON and THAT ONE and THAT ONE.
*draws in a deep breath* okay what else. I feel like I'm forgetting something.
...
...
...
well. I guesswAIT NO I REMEMBER!
(Editing Edna tsks at her own forgetfulness, but decides to leave it in for comedic effect.)
we have recieved
S̵̛̼̘͂̿̾͘P̶̙̻͉͔̉͑̏̈̅͑͝͝ͅA̸̺͊̊̇͑M̶͉͓͔̱̍͛ ̸̡̰̠͔̪̲̟͚̔͑̈́̊̿͘̕͝C̷̬̯̣͛Ò̴̼̖̠̅̅̊̄̈́̚͘͝M̵̠̼̳̱͍͒̕M̶̳̠̻͖̺̗̤̮͆E̶͙͍͕̹̥̰̣̣̲̒͆͒͑̉̍̓̌̕ͅN̵̹͍̠͈̱̭̪̆̀͜T̴̡̛͚͚̟̩̤̩̑̍͋̏͐̑̚S̵͈̦̻̪̬͖̻̪͛̅͜
Yes my friend, after a YEAR of no spam comments (making for a verrrryyyy boring celebration post) we have MULTIPLE SPAM COMMENTS! WOOOOO!
At least, I think they're spam. It could just be a confused person. Who knows. But yes, they are from the same potential human. And there are only two of them. So we're not just reviewing spam comments, oh no oh no oh no, we're going to review the blogs of this spam commenterererer.
Our Honored Spam Spotlight
My friends, meet the individual who I can only guess is referring to themselves as "GBY." That's a boring name, though, so we're going to make it "Geráld Butingham Yip." We'll call them "Gary" for short ( am assuming they are male given their profile picture).
Gary left his two comments back in July on a post I had made in May. The post was a cover reveal for indie author Jenna Terese's new book, Ignite.
This is what our intriguing individual had to say about that in Comment 1:
So as you probably know, reader, I am in fact a Christian.
So when I beheld this comment with mine own eyes, I presumed momentarily that this may be an individual who is attempting to witness to me. Which would mean they have not been around my blog very long but that's alright.
But our friend Gary has some fundamental issues in his theology which we will now go over, line by line.
"IGNITE: very passionate wurd, girl, one which describes the utter sense of ONEness in Seventh-Heaven..."
Well first of all - thank you! I'm sure Jenna really appreciates that <3 It is a very passionate word for what I am sure is a very passion-led project on her end, though I have failed to read it yet so I can't know for sure.
Second of all, well, I'm a bit confused. You say "oneness," which is the belief that the Trinity is not three in one but is in fact just one, but theeeen you refer to the Trinity, so I'm a tad confused as to what kind of belief you subscribe to.
Now as for "Seventh-Heaven," I think you have been mislead. Seventh-Heaven is actually not a thing. It is an expression we say for when we, for example, have a darn good piece of devil's food cake (devil, get it?). Ex. "*eats cake* *shuts eyes dramatically* *with my mouth full, says,* ohhhh, man, I'm in seventh heaven."
If you mean to refer to just heaven heaven, you should just say heaven to avoid the confusion there.
Lastly before we move on, I don't understand what ignition has to do with onenesss. But okay!
"... or the overwhelming sense decay in Hell"
(I'm guessing there was meant to be a period at the end of that.)
I appreciate that you mentioned Hell! After all, what is the point in being saved to heaven if there's nothing to be saved from, right?
But mayyyybbbeee try a different approach when you're evangelizing, because that might make people think you're just fear mongering them into a cult, and not inviting them to pursue a relationship and religion that is beneficial to them in multiple ways.
"Nobody but you can choose2utterly reject Jesus and fall into the Abyss or accept the Trinity and live in the Paradise sHe has created4u since time began."
True! That decision would be on me for sure, since Jesus' sacrifice made it so that all people can choose to follow him or not. Because before He came, we couldn't really choose that. We could follow the law, but we could never follow it perfectly, and anything less than perfect is not enough, because less than perfect = sin = Hell.
So Jesus' sacrifice has made it so that we do not need to rely on the law, and our works in the law, to save us, for God knew that we wouldn't be able to do that.
However, my friend, I noticed you said "sHe." It's spelled with just the H and the E :)
Also, on the "and live in the Paradise He has created for you since time began" bit, that's not necessarily true. Genesis gives us a clear list of what things God created, and when He was making all of that - before time began - He didn't say anything about making me a paradise.
He DID make the garden of Eden, which was perfect, because sin had not entered the world, but that has passed away.
God has made a waiting place for us, though, and we will go to heaven when it is prepared for us. But that is not the permanent place for us, because God will create a new earth.
So close, but no cigar.
"CHOOSE everything..."
Nono, friend, we do not choose everything. We choose one thing: God. And in following God, everything else that is good will be added to us.
If we choose EVERYTHING, however, that will mean we also choose sin. And that doesn't work. But I think I see what you're doing. I think you are referring to God as "everything," which makes some sense, but it can be quite confusing. So being straightforward is a lot more helpful than being poetic when evangelizing, at least in my opinion.
"...or lose everything."
Fair enough!
"I hope our BlogOramma will help you choose."
On to Comment 2, on the same post:
*eyes the floor above me*
Interesting, interesting.
Well, Gary, maybe don't say super ominous and vaguely threatening things when you're trying to evangelize. That's all I got to say on that one.
But wait, that isn't all Gary has to say.
Gary's Blogs
If we follow Gary's profile, we will see this not only an intriguing bio which concludes with calling the reader "curly," but also a list of many, many, many blogs. Many.
A lot.
Now, is it smart to click on a list of links from a suspicious looking account?
Well no, my friends, it isn't.
Did that stop me?
Well no, my friends, it didn't.
Gary's 20 websites all consist of the similar content and in a similar format. Usually his websites are only a single page, or a home page with posts, and they all are usually speaking of God, aliens, the "Upstairs," and generally attempting to convict and convert the reader.
This post is already long enough, so we're going to just review a few of Gary's websites.
Each website reference will be linked to, but follow that link at your own risk. I've really only included them so that you know these things are in fact real, and not a fabrication of mine which came to me via fever dream at 3:04 in the morning.
Here's Website 1: cuTNToo
This website starts off by saying Gary has information for us that will lead us in our writing journey. It tells the tale of Gary's time in purgatory(?) when he was in a coma. But he seems to get sidetracked as he tells it and then the website is telling us about all sorts of vaguely religious things and things about extroverts and metabolisms, referring once to Mork and Mind, and continuously referring to the Trinity as a "her."
Here are my favorite quotes from this website:
"So, gain altitude, not attitude."
"Compelled by the ominous quality of my expensive genius (outta Pop's prodigious pocket), I'm at odds once again withe plastic reality of the present."
"Meet this intoxicatingly bombastic ex-mortal Upstairs."
I am absolutely going to start saying these things, swapping out some of the words when needed. Like the second quote, I'll just swap out "present" to fit the context. Because it's honestly comedy gold.
Here's Website 2: GainAltitudeNotAttitude
I had to include this one because one of the quotes mentioned before is clearly a nod to this website. The former site and this one look very similar design wise, but surprisingly Gary has actually posted multiple times on this blog. Gary has been inactive on it since 2019.
Favorite quotes:
"Precious, precious RollyPollies in their black, RollsRoyce."
"I nominate YOU for bugOyear, every year (dragonflies would come in less-than-a-nanometer behind.)"
"Decide, Mountain Dewd." (The pun here is not lost on me and I find it deeply hilarious.)
A less light note: This blog in particular has some directly disrespectful things to Christianity. The whole referring to God as a "sHe" and the Trinity as a "her" was one thing - inaccurate though not uncommon - but referring to Judas "letting one rip" as God eats stale bread and fish with a raggedy sheep, and the said "juicy" passed gas overwhelming Israel and Jesus asking people if they would like to see the holy magnitude of the "phart," isn't even humorously bad. It's clearly a mockery of scripture.
Here's Website 3: Audacious DNA
This website is designed in a way which looks distinctly Easter-ish. It's rather nostalgic and sad at the same time, like an abandoned CD from the 90s that your grandma's church has in its storage rooms for some reason, causing you to wonder about many things and yet nothing at the same time. This makes sense, given this post is about Easter (I think).
This website has only one post, returning to the usual for Gary. It has also been inactive since 2019.
Favorite quotes:
"MEEKness ain't WEAKness, bro."
"He [Christ] actually made that filthy, stank in Lucifer BOW!!! to the Trinity!!! WhahahaWhahaha!!!" (I don't include this because it is accurate but because it is hilarious. I don't recall a time in which Christ made Satan bow.)
"Make a stand. Stand thy ground. Speak-up, bro. Never back down."
The second comment on this post is absolutely hilarious. The poor lad is as lost and confused as the rest of us.
An Interesting Comment on Gary's Site
On one of Gary's other blogs, Gary received this comment, and replied with the comment below it:
Now what I find interesting about this is 1. Maria seems to understand what Gary is saying, and 2. Maria's profile picture.
So I click on Maria's account to see further information about her. And I see that she has been on Blogger since 2014, whereas Gary has been on it since 2018. Maria's bio is all spelled similarly to the way Gary spells things.
When you click on Maria's blog link, you may believe that this is because she doesn't speak English as a first language. Yet Maria's English in her comment seemed perfectly fine. Interesting.
Also, once you translate Maria's website to English, you'll find it very interesting as well. Her blog, in English, is called "Mary's prayers," it has 112 followers, and she seems to have a bit of a testimony. She mostly posts videos on her blog, very Catholic looking videos. And she posts very many each day.
To the side of her page, she details how commenters have said that she claims her blog is new when really it's been around since 2014. She says that this is because that is when she made it, but that she only started using it recently.
Perhaps that is true, but I think the bit about the comments may not be, for I'm digging through her site and can't find any. I stopped eventually, for I was told that the website was not secure.
But anyways. That all is to say, I had thought maybe Maria was an account Gary made to comment on Gary's own blog, but unless Gary made this originally ages ago, this is not the case. Perhaps Maria is a real individual who just happened to agree with Gary's unconventional theology.
Concluding the Gary Segment
Alright, we've spent a good amount of time talking about Gary. Now I want to say something which I find necessary:
You may think that perhaps Gary is not a troll. That Gary is, instead, just a confused person. Or maybe a young kid who doesn't know what they're doing. Well, that I did consider, while I spent much time viewing his various websites.
First let me address the latter: Gary knows quite a big of science and historical people and things of that sort for him to be a child. Perhaps Gary is a very intelligent child, but if he were then I doubt he would have... well, done and said certain things.
Now to address the former: Sure, it's possible. But many of the things Gary says are wrong, hilarious, or disturbing. And also due to the abundance of websites Gary makes instead of using one or two for all purposes, the nature of Gary's typing (which you have only seen a sample of), and the nature of Gary's comments, Gary is, by all accounts, a spam artist.
And so, Gary, whether you are a real person or not, and whether you are or are not doing all of this just to spam people and get them to fall down the rabbit hole of your online activity, I hope we have no hard feelings. Thank you for the laughs!
Post Conclusion + Excerpt
Alright my inky friends, that concludes the end of this year's celebration for Bleeding Ink's existence. I'm not really sure that this post actually exists; it feels like a very long, very strange dream, which I'm semi aware of being a dream, but can't figure out how to wake up so I just roll with it.
Being very tired at the time of writing this probably doesn't help. Especially after spending so much time on Gary's websites.
But there you have it; updates, celebration, and something else that happened at some point but I'm now forgetting it. *yawn* I'm very tired.
Oh hey I just had a brilliant idea. I'm just gonna go like this real quick....
yAaAaAWWwwWwnNNnnn...
Okay now if you care to join in the fun, comment variations of that yawn below.
Why, you may ask? Well because if Ariel ends up reading this for whatever reason, I want to mess with her. Typing "YAaAAwWWnNn" has never failed to irritate her and get her to yawn in the past, at least in my experience.
Anyways.
If you made it through this entire post, well, congratulations. I honestly don't know how or why you'd do that, but go get yourself a cookie or something to reward yourself.
But before you go, I have one more thing. I said earlier that I want to be more open with my projects now. And so to start that off, here's an excerpt from Roslyn.
(For context: Roslyn is one of four Keepers of Elements; the Keeper of the Stars. The people of the world rebelled against their Keepers, and Roslyn was transformed into a small, flat, and circular stone. Michael has now been on his quest to see her turned back and reinstated for five years, and grows close to a milestone.)
He pulled Roslyn from his jacket pocket, then wandered outside the cave. He was tired, but also restless, and the rain had finally settled to a light sprinkle. So he went to the beach and sat down on a great stone. He craned his neck to look up at the stars, and his eyes fell on one that Roslyn always pointed to. He could practically hear her voice saying, “There it is - there’s my star.”
The first time she said that he had asked her why, but her mother had sent him away before he could hear the answer. He’d stayed up that night, sitting by his bedroom window and watching that star as he tried to determine what it had done to make it so special to her.
Now the star, once a strong light with a rim of purple around it, was glowing weakly. Beyond it he could imagine the smaller stars, the ones that required the powerful telescope in the observatory back in the palace to see, as they pulsed and changed colors to various rhythms. They were what made the sky so colorful, tinting the morning sky and bleeding across the night’s. But now, with the moon gone and more stars falling every night, with Roslyn gone… now the sky was just dark, and unbearably silent. Practically lifeless.
But not for long. Michael gently touched the star embedded on the surface of the stone. “We made it,” his voice was hushed, “We’re finally going to see Lennox.” He held the cool stone to his lips and closed his eyes.
Roslyn would be back soon. The moon would return, new stars would be born, the world would be anew when she ruled as Keeper. And most importantly, he would hear Roslyn’s voice again, and see her smile, and watch her thoughtful look as she gazed at the sky, and listen to her joyful laugh. More important than the moon’s return to the sky was Roslyn’s return to Michael’s life.
Just a little longer.
Alright, well there it is, my first risk with this story; sharing an excerpt on the internet where anyone can see it. Oh well! I hope you like it.
What did you think of this post? What was your favorite post of the year? What was your favorite part of this very large post? What did you think of our spam comments this year? What's something in your life that has reached a yearly milestone recently?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Best wishes, and in the words of Gary, "cya soon, girly."
- E.P.
P.S. I challenge you to start saying one of Gary's quotes on a regular basis.
Hello my fellow readers, writers, and creatures of procrastination.
Today, I'm going to be telling you about alpha, beta, and proof reading. I'll go over them one at a time, and in this order:
Alpha
Beta
Proof reader
I have been an alpha and beta many times (and am currently an alpha reader at the time of writing this) as well as an unprofessional editor for a friend that was in a pinch, and then a proof reader. With about... oh I don't know, three to four-is years of these kinds of reading added to my list of experiences, I've come to learn quite a bit about these processes.
Introduction on this topic at large
Writers need readers to help them along their journey of writing and publishing. There's many different kinds of readers for the many different phases of a project, and some writers don't put all of these types of readers to use. But almost all of them tend to - and really should - have at least some of these readers on their team.
These types of readers are...
Alpha readers - 1st draft reader
Beta readers - +2 draft reader
Proof readers - final/close to final draft reader
The goal of this post is to help you be the best early-reader you can be so that you both get a good experience out of your volunteer reading, and so that the writer whose work you are reading gets the most out of you as a reader.
We will discuss things such as reading a genre and/or work you dislike, go over different kinds of feedback and how to keep criticism constructive, how to keep up with the project your reading, and finding your strength as a reader in each department.
One more note before we get into this:
The most important thing to note about being any of these readers is that the writer will usually provide you with information as to what kind of feedback and help they need from you.
So keep that in mind at all times when being an early-stages reader.
Alpha Reading
An alpha reader is a reader which reads the first draft of the work which needs reading. Usually the first draft of a project has no more than one alpha reader, given the nature of an alpha is to be selected based on the writer's comfort level and trust, and then mostly used to help the author get to the next draft.
Like all the different kinds of readers, there's some sub-categories for alpha reading. These are...
Motivation, accountability, and brainstorming
The very very first reader an author will take on is often going to be an alpha for motivation to write and to brainstorm the story.
For my project Roslyn, what I was looking for in an alpha of this sort; someone who would read one chapter a day so that I would write at least one chapter a day and thus be motivated, and then that person would get to know the story through reading it so they could help me brainstorm and work through dry spells.
I have been this sort of alpha reader twice now, and I've found that the key thing to remember - as both a writer who has had alphas and as an alpha myself - is that feedback on prose, realism, formatting, grammar, even the plot, is not what is needed.
Your writer needs motivation and accountability to write the story, period; picking apart different aspects of it will come at a later time, with a later draft, and perhaps even a later alpha reader devoted to that.
This does not mean that you shouldn't tell your writer when you like something - that can actually be a huge help during this stage of writing (when is it not, really?). But it does mean that this isn't the time or place for criticism, constructive or otherwise.
Here's my dos and don'ts when I read as a motivational+brainstorming alpha:
Don't...
Deconstructing the draft
These kinds of alphas usually come after the first draft is completed, instead of during its process of being written. Often times the writer will want this alpha reader to be the same one which read for them while they were writing (the motivational+brainstorming alpha), but this won't always be the case.
The job of this reader is to tear apart the plot, rip it into bits in peaces alongside the writer. Sniff out every problem, help your writer find all the things that need working on. It is to find the strengths and weaknesses of the story so that it can be rebuilt in a later draft.
While this kind of alpha does involve much more bluntness and at times tough love, there is a right and a wrong way to do it.
Don't...
Do...
Specific-Goal betas
Sometimes writers will have a very specific goal with a draft and/or a reader. For instance, they may just want you to look for problems with character arcs, or maybe they want you to focus on the world building. Perhaps they want to make sure their magic system is strong and understandable, so they want you to focus on that and pick it apart like a deconstructive alpha.
There's really limitless possibilities in this regards, and this is also true for betas. So when you've been asked to alpha read for a writer with very specific goals, remember...
Don't...
General Advice for Alpha Reading
Alpha reading can be a difficult phase for both the reader and the writer. On the writer's end, they're trusting you with a very early stage of something they're putting a lot of time and work into. It's something that they, usually, have daydreamed about and worked for and filled entire notebooks with. It's precious to them, but it's also in the worst shape the story will ever be in.
Most writers know their flaws to some degree, or at the very least know that a first draft - regardless of if they have edited it or not - is going to have a lot of issues.
Because of both these things, you should be very honored if a writer has trusted you enough to ask that you help them through this stage of their project.
And also because of this, alpha reading have be a very difficult thing. If this writer trusts you enough to make you their alpha, chances are they respect you and consider you a friend. Or perhaps you're a family member. In either case, that puts you in a very awkward position for pointing out the issues in the work (when the writer has requested it) and even for reading it at all if you end up not liking the story.
So how do you read a story you don't like? How do you push through mountains of unpolished words and an uncompleted and hole-ridden plot when you don't even like the story? How do you admit that to someone who has put themselves in a vulnerable position?
I have been in that position more times than I'd like. Over the many WIP I've read for, I've adopted a sort of philosophy or guide for every one that I alpha for. That's the following.
Remember it is a first draft.
Or even a second draft, in some cases. Either way, it's early on, and the story isn't going to be perfect. That may very well be the reason you don't like it, and you might come back and read it when the book is published and find that you actually like the finished product.
In most cases, your job as an alpha has nothing to do with whether you like the story or not. An alpha reader is chosen more based off of the person than off of their reading preferences. So to answer the question how do you admit that you don't like the story, just don't. If the writer asks, you should of course be honest and say something along the lines of "it's not my kind of story, but it is also in the early stages." Most writers will nod and find that to be a fair answer.
But whether you like it or not, you should go through with alpha reading and be as useful as possible. For though it can be difficult, you've made a commitment that you need to follow through with by agreeing to alpha read.
However, I do find it easier if you...
Search for things to like about it.
Something I've learned is that I can pull myself through reading just about any project or book by picking out things I like about it, even if I don't like it as a whole.
When I alpha read a story that I don't like, I make sure to look for moments I like, or for lines I like, for world building, characters, cultural things, aesthetics, etc., that the writer has done well. Because there will be something that the writer has done that is uniquely their own, or that is done really well, or something of the sort, and if you can focus on those good things and the strengths in the story, it will be so much easier to read through.
It will also be far, far more beneficial to the writer if you balance your critiques with honest though searched for compliments. This isn't just being nice, this is actually going to help them so long as you don't over-do it and praise the whole work out of sheer discomfort. It will help them because they will not just know what they did wrong, or that you dislike, but they'll see what parts they're getting right, and they'll be able to hone in on those things and expand upon them in later drafts.
But again, remember that I said to balance your critiques and compliments; too much of either is not healthy for a writer - especially at this stage. And I don't mean to say that for every critic you must force a compliment, just that you keep it proportionate, honest, and put a little extra work into both things.
Don't critique stylistic preferences.
What I mean by this is that you need to understand the differences between a structural issue (be it in the sentence structure, the plot, the arcs, whatever) verses a preference issue. If you don't like the story, it probably is a matter of preference and personal taste; you saying that you dislike the writer's writing style, the world's politics, the aesthetic, etc., is not going to help in this area. Those things are for reviews of published books so that other readers can determine if they want to read the book or not based on their personal preferences.
If the writer ever asks, of course be honest with them. But remember that it is good to preface your response by admitting it is a matter of stylistic preference, and not of the integrity of the plot and things of that nature.
Beta Reading
A beta reader is a person, usually one of many, that is reading anything beyond the first draft (so the second, third, fourth, etc.). They lean more on the "test reader" side of things than alpha readers do, and are depending on the stage of beta reading they are often writers themselves.
Like all the different kinds of readers, there's some sub-categories for beta reading. These are...
Overarching story betas
These are generally accepted as the "first stage" or "first tier" of beta reading, as writers tend to go through multiple rounds and drafts with multiple groups of betas.
Their job is kind of similar to the deconstructing alpha; they are to keep an eye out for plot holes, things that confuse them, things that they think should be expanded on, and so on.
Here are my dos and don'ts for being this kind of beta.
Don't...
Reaction betas
I may be making this term up, but it's because I've been this kind of beta even if it isn't accepted as an official category by the writing community.
This is a bit different from the former category and leans more towards ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) reading, but it's earlier on in the writing process.
I've been on beta teams a couple of times now where the writer specifically wanted me to read their beta draft like I would any other book, but they had other roles for different betas.
So here's how I go about doing this.
Don't...
Don't...
General Advice for Beta Reading
This section is my general philosophy for beta reading. It's a much less personal process than alpha reading, but you will find some of the same notes from the "general advice for alpha reading" section.
Honesty is now even more important
Beta reading can still be sensitive work depending on the writer, but at this point the story is more fleshed out and the writer has ironed out more wrinkles in the plot. Depending on the stage of beta reading (plenty of authors go through two to three rounds of beta readers) it may be better or worse, but generally speaking this is the time when critiques are more useful.
I'd say it is more important as a beta to be honest than it is as an alpha (though of course honesty is always good), because if an issue gets past you it may make it into the final version of the story because the writer's eyes are adjusted to the project and they can't spot it (which is why they have betas to begin with).
So remember, while you shouldn't rip the story apart, always point out what you think could pose as a problem.
Stick to the writer's list of preferred feedback
The biggest thing that I'd like to stress for general beta reading, is remember to fulfill the writer's requests as much as possible. Almost every time I have beta read, the writer has provided me with a list of things they want me to do in regards to reading their work. The list is usually to do with their specific present goal for this project.
If the writer you are beta reading for (or even alpha reading for) doesn't provide you with a list, it's always a good idea to ask if there's anything they want you to do specifically.
I have had instances where the writer says no, and in that case I try to balance a bit of everything. I also, if I am in a shared document with other betas, will pay closer attention to the feedback they are and are not giving.
This bit is combined with the next part:
Balance out the feedback from the other betas
For instance, if I see that most of the readers are mostly giving emotional reactions to scenes and the story, then I'll focus more on the structure of the story, on the plot, etc. Or if I see that most of them are taken the critical route, I will focus more on finding the really good aspects of the story and try to cheer the writer on (still telling them when I find problems that aren't mentioned, and still building off of other betas' feedback).
Because really, encouragement and critiques are equally important to a writer and need to be balanced out well.
On that note,
Keep your critiques balanced
I've said this already, but here I'm going to talk about how I go about doing this.
When you point out a problem, it's good to preface it with a sign of intrigue, enjoyment, or a complement (always mean the complement you say, even if you have to look for it). Here's a made up scenario.
Say I'm reading a story about a gnome knight, and then the point of view switches halfway through the story to some new character who is a sprite doing sprite things that I really don't care about and believe distracts from the story. I would say something along the lines of...
"Because of how long we went before a POV switch, I adjusted and grown attached to the gnome's perspective and experiences. So this new perspective feels disruptive, though I may enjoy it otherwise. Maybe you could introduce this character earlier on?"
The underlined parts are specifically what I'm talking about in this case, but I always try to format my suggestions and critiques this way. I like to explain why I think what I think, help diagnose the problem, and then I'll usually say what I think might help phrased in a way that still invites the writer to come up with something else.
And on that note,
Know when to and when not to give an answer
Something a writer I've beta/alpha read for several times in the past said about my reading style is that she appreciates I don't offer answers all the time. Now that wasn't always intentional - sometimes I just don't know - but since that conversation I have begun putting it into intentional practice.
So even if I do have an idea, one that I think to be "the" solution, I won't always tell the writer. Sometimes I'll prompt them with a question regarding the problem and not give my own advice or thoughts on it.
I imagine I'm able to do this because most people I've read for are people I know fairly well and have read for repeatedly, so I've picked up on when it is appropriate to do that and when it isn't. I'm also a writer myself and have some vague idea of how a writer's brain works, as well as how stories work, so I can better understand which kind of reaction/feedback will be most useful.
Of course, when I first began reading for writers I didn't know this. I didn't even know the writers all that well. And when that is the case now during my early-reading, I really focus on the list and I'm generally more forward with everything.
Search for things you like about the project, even if you don't like the story
Especially when you don't like the story. Again, this has helped me through many a project and even published books. There will always be something you can pick out - the prose, the characters, the plot line, the style, the world building, the magic system, the culture, something. Find that something and hold on to it.
And if you do like the story, this is still a good thing to practice. Again, you don't want to over-praise or give a fake compliment, but a little extra work at enjoying the piece can go a long way.
Don't critique stylistic preferences
This is the exact same advice as the section under "general alpha reading advice":
What I mean by this is that you need to understand the differences between a structural issue (be it in the sentence structure, the plot, the arcs, whatever) verses a preference issue. If you don't like the story, it probably is a matter of preference and personal taste; you saying that you dislike the writer's writing style, the world's politics, the aesthetic, etc., is not going to help in this area. Those things are for reviews of published books so that other readers can determine if they want to read the book or not based on their personal preferences.
If the writer ever asks, of course be honest with them. But remember that it is good to preface your response by admitting it is a matter of stylistic preference, and not of the integrity of the plot and things of that nature.
Proof Reading
Proof reading is the most stand-offish kind of reading talked about in this post. It is drastically different from alpha and beta reading, because this is most likely one of the final steps before the writer considers the piece complete.
You may be one of several proof readers, or you may be the only proof reader. In either case, you should hunt through the manuscript for errors.
The jobs of a proof reader are as follows.
Spelling and Grammer
This is pretty self explanatory. You're looking for grammar and spelling issues that the writer may have missed, and usually you'll be marking up a document designated for this to save the writer time.
Don't...
Continuity
Continuity is very important, and very easy for writers to forget. I don't know how many times I've forgotten to write that a character has changed position in a room, so they just poof! into a new spot, causing much confusion.
There's also issues with characters' appearances. I know of quite a few books where characters' hair colors change randomly, for example.
Then there's everything that comes with fantasy: World building, magic systems politics, accents, language, and so on.
One big instance of a missed continuity error in a published book is in the mermaid novel Deep Blue. A character, who is a mermaid, "walks" across a room. Those are the kinds of things you are supposed to catch.
One of your major jobs as a proof reader will be finding the lack of consistency in these areas, should they happen, and point them out to the writer. Remember that, for all you know, this is going to be the final version of this story. You don't want to leave any mistakes in there if you can help it, you want your writer to have a polished and errorless manuscript (if such a thing is possible).
This means that honesty is now more important then ever. If you're uncertain of something but thing it may be a problem, it's better to point it out and explain your confusion than it is to leave it unnoticed until the work is published.
That being said, here are my dos and don'ts.
Don't...
And here's a list of continuity errors to keep an eye out for in a few different genres.
General
(Applies to all genres, not just those listed)
Formatting
Unless the writer you're proofreading for is horrible at formatting (such as myself), this shouldn't be overly difficult. You'll just be making sure everything is formatted correctly, with indentations, paragraph breaks, dividers, chapters, font, font size, paragraph alignment, page breaks between chapters, and things of that sort.
There's not really any "dos" and "don'ts" for this section. Just make sure that you are certain of any changes or edits you propose, as always.
Applying to be an Alpha, Beta, or Proof Reader
If you would like to be an alpha, beta, or proof reader for a writer you know or follow, here are some things to consider about the whole thing.
Consider before applying:
Do you like the story concept?
If you don't, don't volunteer/apply to fill any of these positions. Maybe you want to help out the writer because you believe in them, or because you want to show support, and believe you will be able to press forward while still being constructive, supportive, punctual, and encouraging.
That is wonderful. But it isn't worth the chance of you really disliking the story and not following through with the commitment.
Do you have enough time to devote to the project?
Most writers will give you some information on the story when they ask you if you want to read for them, or when they put out a general flier in search of readers. They should include their word count (and if they don't, ask them).
If you're unfamiliar with using a word count to gage this kind of thing, here are some books you may have read and their word counts, to help you get a better idea for it:
Eragon by Christopher Paolini - 158,910 words
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull - 115,587 words
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen - 105,948 words
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - 99,750 words
The Maze Runner by James Dashner - 92,520 words
Most Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan - 90k-125k words
The Ruins of Gorlon by John Flanagan - 86,673 words
The Giver by Lois Lowry - 59,189 words
The Bad Beginning: A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket - 29,038 words
Or, if you haven't read any of these books before, type the title and author of the books that took you the least and most time to read into the search bar at this link and compare the word count to the count of the work you are considering alpha/beta/proof reading for.
If the author needs you to read their project by the end of the month, but the count is one that you can't balance with every day life, then you should just tell the writer no.
And even if the writer says that they don't have a exact date in mind, you should set one for yourself so that you make sure you get it to them in a reasonable amount of time. Two to three weeks is a pretty fair amount for a finished work of an average word count.
So if you don't believe you will be able to balance the story with your day-to-day business, it's better to pass this time around than to be a reader who drops off the face of the map (though I'm sure we've all been there at some point).
Are you confident that you can meet the writer's needs?
Like I mentioned before, writers will usually provide you with some information to help you determine if you would like to read their work or not. When they do this, they also may specify what category of reader they're wanting (such as a general beta vs. a specific goal beta) and provide a list of specific needs they have/what your job would entail.
Go down that list and see how many things apply to you, how many things you're confident you can provide, and things of that sort.
If you check off their preferences and are capable of meeting their needs, then this may be a good fit!
(If the writer doesn't provide you with one, you could always ask, but they probably are more concerned with general feedback than they are specific things, so you probably won't need to worry about this bit.)
Where do your strengths as a reader lie?
This ties in with the section above.
Sometimes a writer may ask you what your strengths are, instead of giving you a list of preferences that they have.
When/if that happens, it's important that you have some kind of idea.
Now having multiple early-stage reading experiences under my belt, I've been able to ask the writers and authors that I've read for what their experience with me as a reader was. What strengths I had that helped them and things of that sort.
You can't really determine where your strengths are thoroughly if you have never alpha/beta/proof read multiple times, but you can make an educated guess based off of your own writing and/or reading experiences. You can also help the writer determine if you're a good fit by telling them what kinds of things you like doing and such - or if you have no experience in writing and early-reading whatsoever, they may have you read as a test audience of sorts.
All that is to say, be honest with yourself and your writer. If you know your strengths and weaknesses, then tell them so they can determine if you're a good fit or not.
If you're not sure of what your strengths are yet, let the author know and see what they think about it.
Post Conclusion
I would love to hear your answers, as well as your general thoughts.
Until next time, I remain,
- E.P.
