For me, and maybe for you too, admitting to being an unpublished writer is sort of a little bit
like admitting to having contracted some disease in some bizarre circumstance. However,
here I am, admitting to the wonderful readership of this blog that I am an unpublished writer;
further to this that I'm proud of it too. This feels good, cathartic almost, like my first night at
Writer’s Anonymous.
I’m enthralled by literature, and always have been. I’ve learnt about myself over the years that
the gratuitous acts of writing and reading just do it for me.
So, a few years ago I decreed that no longer would I watch from afar, no more would I be
content with reading, I wanted to become part of the writing world, a world where ideas and
images conjured by language are king. With my mission confirmed I set down to diligently
sketch out a story that had been bouncing around in my head for a decade. It went well, the
words flowed, my pen moved effortlessly and almost supernaturally across the page: I was
fulfilling my dream of writing.
I reached a fair point, some 35,000 words and had judiciously self-edited a few times. I
decided that it was time to send off my baby to be critiqued by those in the know to see if my
delusions had any substance. I packaged up the first few chapters, bought a load of stamps
and envelopes to send to publishing industry bodies.
I waited and I waited and finally they started to return home to me.
I opened the first one with adolescent enthusiasm, tearing it open. Sadly, all that was
contained inside was the returned, unmarked, extracts I had sent and a standard rejection
note on a tiny complements slip. I, however, was not deterred. I posted off another batch of
submissions. The curse of the standard rejection letter continued.
Were they even reading it? Surely they could pass some kind of judgement? Surely I could
get more feedback than this? Doubt began to creep in, maybe I’d never know.
After three batches of submissions I coalesced. I didn’t know whether I had something
entertaining - even interesting - to say or if I should just stick to reading other people’s ideas
and give up on my dream. I wasn’t upset or disappointed, I just wanted to know whether it
was me or the system that had cast me aside.
Research followed into all the facets of the agencies, editing, and publishing process.
A couple of years ago I eventually hit upon an idea. If the professionals can’t tell me, then
how can technology help me and people like me to find out whether our work is any good?
I trawled the internet but couldn’t find anything that I could use for these objectives. This is
where the first seed began to grow for our new website - www.iwritereadrate.com.
In 2010 we began building out this idea; the seed began to germinate. An online community
for unpublished writers by unpublished writers. A democratic cyber-city where writers can
upload, sell, and receive ratings and reviews on their hard work. Where unpublished writers
can sell their passion for writing as well as their stories. A place where readers can provide
direct feedback direct to writers, have access to them and become part of the writing process.
A brave new world in the dynamic between unpublished writers and readers everywhere.
After all, the only way to know if what you’ve written is any good is to have other people read
it.
We successfully launched our Registration Page in December 2010 and are now looking to
launch the full site during the first few months of 2011.
You can register now to be given pre-launch access to the site to upload your work before
anyone else and you’ll also be automatically entered our competition to win an eReader at the
site’s full launch.
We Look forward to seeing you on our website soon.
Visit us for more details at:
www.iwritereadrate.com
