Crosstimbers Novel Workshop Application

We are authors with at least one active novel in progress.
We are authors with at least one active novel in progress.
Most of us are Affillates of the "Crosstimbers Author Consortium" 
We believe that all writers are seekers, on an ever-evolving journey of discovery. We've joined the workshop because it gives us the opportunity to guide each another on this journey and to share what we've each learned on the way.
We share the goal that our novel will find a publisher and be placed in bookstores and online sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Some of us are published authors with several novels in release. Others are still aspiring for their first publication. But we all strive for the highest standards demanded of commerically published novelists.
We are dedicated to helping each other by providing helpful, in-depth, and respectful feedback on author chapters and novels.

The primary purpose of the Workshop is to exchange reviews of our in-progress novels.

To this end, each author makes a list of chapters available to all members of the Workshop. Members select from this list and provide in-depth critiques both to the author and to the Workshop.

These are almost always in-progress novels, not completed first drafts. Most members have full-time obligations outside the Workshop and only do a limited number of reviews in any week. At the rate of 4-5 chapters per week, most novels would take ten weeks or more to complete. If you have a completed draft and are looking for a beta reader to consider broad issues of structure, plot, character arc, and so on, the Workshop probably isn't the appropriate place. We've designed the Workshop so you can get feedback on your chapters as you write them.

It's entirely up to the Workshop members which chapters they will review. A few members try to review every chapter by every author. Others develop relationships with one or two other members, and exchange reviews with that smaller group. But the purpose is to exchange reviews, so we expect every member will both post chapters for review and review chapters posted by other authors.

While it's not expected that every member reviews every other member, it's often the case that every member reviews the first one or two chapters posted by a new member. New members should also reciprocate by reviewing back. It's through this kind of exchange that members can mutually decide whether or not to continue exchanging reviews. Most often, the exchange continues until one side or the other stops reviewing back--there's not usually a discussion.

Since our shared goal is commericial publication, there are also discussions of other topics, such as query packets, teasers and blurbs, finding an agent, and so on. But the primary goal is polishing our in-progress novels and making them the best they can be.

You must be an author with at least one active novel in progress.
If you are not an Affiliate of the "Crosstimbers Author Consortium" , you must agree to the "Crosstimbers Code of Conduct" 
You must be at least 18
You must have at lealst one draft chapter to share with the membership
You must have done at least one in-depth review on Writing.Com to share with the membership
You must agree to respect the confidentiality of the works that you review

The "Crosstimbers Novel Workshop Application"  asks that you provide a link to a chapter of your novel and to an in-depth reivew that you have given. The managers of the Workshop may share this information with current Workshop authors to help assist in deciding whether you would be a good fit for the Workshop as it's currently configured.

How will we decide what's a good fit?

Partly it's subjective. Has your first chapter hooked at least some of us enough that we'd like to read more? Would we like to get reviews like the one you submitted?

Partly it has to do with member commitments. Do the Workshop members who would like to read your novel have the time, or are they already fully committed to other projects?

Partly it has to do with other factors. We try to keep our Workshop membership small, ten or fewer authors, so that we can get to know each other. That means that we need new members to "fit" in terms of genre. If we've got six fantasy authors and only two SciFi authors, a fantasy novelist might not be approved while a SciFi one would.

While your work has to be of good quality to be approved, it's supposed to be first draft. It's far more likely the decision will turn on other things, like matching with preferences of current members or the current mix of genres in the Workshop. We actually like working with eager-to-learn, first-time novelists.

The only way to find out is to apply, which costs nothing.

We'll respond to your application fairly quickly, usually within a week. If it turns out you're not a good fit, tell yourself that it's the quirky tastes of authors, or just bad timing. You should never think it's because you're not good enough.

Members of the Workshop will under no circumstances share the following outside the Workshop

passkeys,
chapter or book links,
chapter or book contents,
plot out line or character arcs
or any other material related to another another author's copyrighted material

Why is this important?


Members seeking publication will want to sell first rights to their novel in various markets to a publisher. Most US publishers what to secure "first North American rights" and "first online rights." "First rights" means in particular that the work has not been previously published in those markets.

Authors own the copyright of things they post on Writing.Com--there's even a copyright notice placed at the bottom of each item. But if the item is posted in the clear--without a passkey or other restriction--then the author has used the "first right" to online publication and cannot sell it later. For this reason, our chapters all have passkeys on them.

For novels, most publishers will permit sharing up to 5000 words or so for marketing purposes. You will find some Workshop members have the first two or three chapters of their novels on Writing.Com for this purpose. Also, publishers encourage sharing early drafts of your work with a small, select group of beta readers. The Workshop constitutes such a group. In fact, it can help you find a publisher if your query mentions that your work have been vetted by a Writers Workshop.

In addition to passkeys, Writing.Com also lets members limit who can see their items by group membership, so some authors have both passkeys and and share with the Crosstimbers Novel Workshop Group.Sharing with the Group avoids the necessity of sharing the passkey with the Group. However, if a member is in more than one workshop--there are several on Writing.Com--they can only share with one group at a time. In this case, they must use the passkey system for all the other Workshops they might be in. If a member reveals the passkey, it must not be shared outside the Workshop.

Likewise, Workshop ciritiques may not be shared outside the Workshop under any circumstances.

                                                                               
Affliate-only pages

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Our Roundtables are fourms where authors can exchange reviews of works-in-progress.
We're currently seeking leaders for the roundtables listed below.
If you're interested, write one of the Crosstimbers managers listed on this page.
If there's a roundtable you'd like us to create, let one of the managers know.

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SciFI Dominion Roundtable  (E) SciFI Dominion Roundtable #2309163 by Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈

(in development)

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Poetry Haven Roundtable  (E) Poetry Haven Roundtable #2309230 by Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈

(in development)

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Mystery Cove Roundtable  (E) Mystery Cove #2309306 by Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈

(in development)

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Romantic Hearts Roundtable  (E) Romantic Hearts Roundtable #2309351 by Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈

(in development)
Authors Helping Authors Discussion Board for mentoring WDC Black Cases (in development)

                                                                               
Open to all Writing.Com Members

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Shorts in July Contest  (E) Shorts in July Contest #2316362 by Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈

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23 Skidoo Contest  (E) 23 Skidoo Contest #2302607 by Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈

(Now closed--a chairty fundraiser for the celebration of WDC's 23rd Anniversary.)
                                                                               
Crosstimbers Founders and Senior Managers

A Christmas Carol St.Ann
Max Griffin 🏳️‍🌈
                                                                               

The "Crosstimbers Author Consortium"  is a loose association of adults who have accounts on Writing.Com.  Everyone who has been a member of Writing.Com for at least six months and falls within the the broad requirements of the Consortium may become an Affiliate.

Visit "Crosstimbers Author Consortium"  for for more information about us, our mission, our vision, and our various ongoing projects.