1

(16 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

So many good entries in this contest. Judging it must have been tough!  Congrats to the winners. To Dirk, I knew you had it in you. Awesome story. A well-deserved win.

Bobbie

Excellent!! Way to go, Randall. Well deserved award.

Bobbie

3

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

SolN wrote:

Hi Bobby and dominique, your accounts should be all set. Let me know if you need anything else.

Sol

Looks like I'm good to go. Thanks, Sol!!

Bobbie

4

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I did the same thing, too. I had to go to Basic to get in the door. I was not only paid up for a year's Premium service, I won a free year in the last short story contest. I also lost about 150 points somewhere along the line. This is all a royal pain in the...uh...posterior region...for sure. I'm not posting or doing anything right now except waiting for my premium account back.

I'm trying to remain patient. I'm sure Sol is swamped and will get around to restoring my account when he can.

Bobbie

5

(10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Sol...

I tried to send email to the support@thenextbigwriter address via the link in the notice at the site and the email bounces. I then forwarded it to email address   support@thenextbigwriter.com  and it went through. Your link is missing the    .com    on the end.

Good to see the site back, even if it is still a bit wonky!!

Bobbie

6

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I just got the same request.

Hi Dae.

I feel your pain.
I've had all kinds of problems with wonky formatting and trying to meet the requirements of various agents/publishers. This one wants double space, that one wants 1.5 spaces, another wants no tabs to indent paragraphs, etc. QueryManager is a bitch on formatting, too. It doesn't matter whether you do the original text in Google docs or MS Word, it comes out all sort of f'd up half the time.

I have resorted to actually pasting it using the "paste as plain text" selection then going through and manually spacing each line where it needs to be. I don't do that on a complete manuscript submission, of course, but for a few pages, it's a pain in the butt but it works. I don't have problems pasting into the body of an email but for those who use submission forms, it's a battle royale sometimes.

Apparently, this is the cross a writer must bear.....

8

(18 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Way to go, Jack! Congrats!

Post a link?

Bobbie

9

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

When I first joined this website, I ran my debut novel LADY SILVER through for review...twice. When the final edit was done, I'd trimmed about 30,000 words and split the initial offering into two books: LADY SILVER and INTO THE WELL. I'm still working on the final edit to INTO THE WELL, but I've started the arduous process of shopping LADY SILVER around to agents and publishers. So far, I've received 14 form letter "thank you but no thank you" replies from agents. I've received two remarkably similar form letters from publishers.

Such is the name of the game. Engage thick skin shields and party on....

I have had one publisher ask for the complete manuscript, which I supplied. Still waiting on response (only been a couple weeks.) I've received three personal notes from agents, all saying basically that they liked the synopsis, the story looked intriguing, but they were more inclined to go with "less adult-themed" works at this point. If I wanted to edit it down to a YA work, they'd be interested in taking a second look. (Not happening. I'm not a YA kind of girl. I have to be free to drop an F-bomb now and then.)

So, still playing the waiting game.....

A friend sent me a link to a site that does professional editing and proofreading, etc. They were offering a free critique and edit of the first five pages of a manuscript. That's their hook to bring in new customers, I know, but I decided to give it a shot to see what they said. So I submitted the first five for LADY SILVER, which is the catalyst for this posting.

I tried a couple of other writer peer review/critique sites but none rose to the quality of reviews/crits/advice I've gotten here. I wanted to share with you what the editor said about my sample pages, which have had NO editing other than the great input I've gotten from tNBW and a couple of crits from another site.  I quote the editor in his email to me: 

"Regarding your sample, if the first five pages are any indication this seems to already be a more or less completed work of fiction with a vividly described setting, a good hook to kick off the plot, nicely snappy dialogue, a main character with personality, and very clean and polished writing. My changes to the sample are minimal, and I don't think further comprehensive editing is necessary here."

So...a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed my work here and offered feedback. You were and are a tremendous help, and I am eternally grateful to you all.

Pat yourself on the back...y'all done good!!

Bobbie

10

(10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Way to go, Randall! Congrats!

Bobbie

11

(34 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

How about this....

Write a short story, maximum 1000 words, in any genre. The only stipulation is the story must take place entirely in one location. That can be a campsite in the woods, the coach section on an airplane, restroom in the local Wal-mart, an elderly grandmother's front porch, a porta-potty, a local bar, a kitchen, an elevator....you get the idea.

Just a thought

Bobbie

12

(9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I got a review that totally HAMMERED my ass on passive voice (not complaining!! These are the sort of things I DESPERATELY want reviewers to point out.)
It brought a question to mind, so I thought I'd ask it here:

Is it okay to use passive voice in dialogue? People don't talk using perfect grammar. But is it okay to use it in dialogue even though it's a major NO-NO in writing in general?

Inquiring minds want to know and are too lazy to google it....

Bobbie

13

(11 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Holy moly! Historical fiction is SSSOOO far outside my favored genre, I honestly am surprised! Y'all done put a big 'ole smile on this old girl's face!

Thanks, Alan and dagny.

Congratulations dagny and Marilyn! Well deserved wins. And to everyone else who entered, thanks for making it such a fun competition. Great entries all!

Thanks again! Now....get back to writing...  smile

14

(2 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hi Dae.

Click "post your writing" at the top of the page. Go to the work you want to turn off and click the 'action' button on the right side of the table. Click 'edit'. Click on 'publish.' Go to the chapter you want to turn off and click on the 'active' button to pull down a menu. Click on 'inactive.' That should do it. To turn it back on, repeat the process and click on 'active' to open it back up. Hope that helps!

Bobbie

Wooo-Hooo!!

Way to go, Randall! Congrats! That's awesome!

Bobbie

16

(7 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Don't worry about it, Dirk. Concentrate on getting yourself well. Everything else is secondary.

17

(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Mariana Reuter wrote:

Congrats Bobby! The story has a lot of potential, that was evident from the first time you published it here.

Kiss,

Gacela


Thanks, Gacela! I appreciate all your help!

Bobbie

18

(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Rachel Parsons wrote:
Bobbie.R.Byrd wrote:

My momma always said it was bad manners to toot your own horn. But I was sorta proud of myself, and figured, "fuck it.
I'm old. Go for it."  smile

Old fashioned attitudes, in these days of the gig and hustle economy, not to mention 13% unemployment and competition for jobs not seen since the 70s. Toot away.

Around here, there are more jobs than people to take them. Guess you just gotta know where to look.  smile

19

(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

graymartin wrote:

Congrats! Much deserved!

Thanks, graymartin!

20

(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Ann Everett wrote:

BIG congrats!! Well deserved.

Thanks, Ann!!

21

(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Rachel Parsons wrote:

Congrats, Bobbie. And I'm glad you finally got to brag about it here. Do you know if they accept quirky half-SF/half-fantasy? Asking for a friend (heh).

Thanks, Rachel. I don't think there's a specific category for quirky half and half but I'm sure it would fit in one of the categories they have listed. There's a bunch, both fiction and nonfiction.

22

(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Randall Krzak wrote:

Many congrats, Bobbie! Well done!

thanks, Randall. You've been a great help. I appreciate it!

23

(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Don60 wrote:

Congrats!!!

Thank you, Don!

24

(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

jack the knife wrote:

Way to go, Bobbie!

Thanks, Jack!

25

(25 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

C J Driftwood wrote:

Congratulations!

Thanks, CJ. Appreciate it!