So, I have done my fair share of reviewing (I love reviewing, so that's not a problem for me). Then, I posted a story(not very short but not long either) in the general fiction review forum. And I got one response in five days! There was a real danger of my story slipping away into oblivion and so, I requested one member (whose critiques on other's work I find very helpful) to review my work. She was kind enough to respond to my request. Now my question is, am I being desperate here? Is that against the rule? Should I request other members to review my story?
If a member indicates that they're willing to review if asked, then there's no problem asking them to... I haven't looked at your stories yet, I've been too busy with other things to do much reviewing lately, but if no one is responding to your workthere are a number of possibilities. It could be that the story is about something that does not interest many people, it could be that there simply isn't anything constructive to be said about it (many reviewers don't really delve deeper than spelling and grammar, so if those are fine they might not comment at all) or it may simply be that, hard as it may be to face, your story just isn't working and needs to be rewritten for whatever reason. Anyway, don't lose heart, just think about the possible reasons that there might be for readers to stay away.
I took a look at your story, and I honestly don't know why you haven't gotten more reviews, at least before today. Usually I say that only stories that are short and unintimidating get a good deal of reviews, but your story is pretty short, and it's not difficult material to review either. (By that I mean that it's not terrible, but it's not flawless. Either extreme is a turn off for casual reviewers.) I'm sorry that I didn't offer a review myself, but I don't have the time right now. I read about 1/3 of your story so that I could knowledgably reply to this post, and I don't think you should be discouraged. I consider it bad luck and nothing more. Maybe people are turned off by Courier? That's admittedly a stretch. As far as asking for reviews, just be courteous and use common sense. If someone offers to do reviews, it's fine to ask them. If you just like someone's style but they don't explicitly invite review requests, I still think it's fine to ask as long as you're gracious in accepting no for an answer.
Lots of people here will be pleased if you ask them. Some specifically say that if you want a review, you should feel free to ask them.
I'd feel deeply flattered. I wouldn't mind at all to be asked privately or publicly for a review. However, I wouldn't like to make a review and then discover the text was posted specifically for a certain reviewer and that my review was disregarded.
Manav I had not realised that you were becoming disheartened. Don't be. Like you I went through a self doubting phase. I can only encourage you by describing my own thoughts, so please excuse all the 'I's. This Forum is not quite like any other which I currently subscribe to but when contributing to it I find myself taking especial care with my writing. That is a good discipline to acquire. It takes time to work out how to use the intelligence which is undoubtedly vested in the Forum. Some criticisms are useful, others I choose to ignore. Some fellow members I can see I might come to like, were I to meet them off Forum and I will have come to this judgement purely from how they write. Others members I can quickly come to the conclusion that they are not my cup of tea but I can avoid them and surely that is a reflection of life itself. That members don't want to bother to read what I have written, does not especially worry me now, because I have accepted that there is not that much interest in non-fiction. So I have the option - either to write fiction or to experiment with a broader range of non fiction topics. Perhaps I suffer from continuing to live in a previous era when lifestyle values were different. It is pointless for me to post horsey articles for this Forum because equitation is not the focal point of the Forum. However I have posted one or two articles simultaneously just to see if style wise they go down with an intelligent audience. Fundamentally I recognise now that I have to carve my own slot and if I fail, then that failure is in itself a message. I would not have sold many books would I! On this Forum I have already made a few friends across this world, as you surely have too, and from time to time I exchange personal messages with them as like-thinkers. How else could one do that? It does me no harm to be insulted every now and again. An insult, especially as a response to a misunderstood phrase written by me, brings me back down to earth. Stay with it Manav. Barry PS This is not just because you wrote a nice critique on one of my threads but it is because I include you in my 'like-thinker grouping'.
Oh sorry.. I don't know that I saw it yet. I don't think that's desperate at all. There's nothing wrong with asking for a review and I'd be flattered if someone thought so highly of my critiquing skills. I'll have to go read it now!
Oh sorry.. I don't know that I saw it yet. I don't think that's desperate at all. There's nothing wrong with asking for a review and I'd be flattered if someone thought so highly of my critiquing skills. I'll have to go read it now!
